Ubisoft confirms HAWX demo dates

By Robert Purchese Published 10 February, 2009

Xbox 360 tomorrow, PS3 on Thursday.

Ubisoft has told Eurogamer that the Xbox 360 demo for Tom Clancy's HAWX will go live tomorrow, followed by the PS3 version on Thursday. A PC sampler will follow on 26th February.

On offer will be co-operative play for up to four friends, and three real planes to choose from. And they're better than fake planes, obviously.

Two missions are up for grabs: one covers training techniques, and the other sees players take to the skies above Rio de Janiro - recognisable because someone built a massive statue of Jesus there.

HAWX, developed by Ubisoft Bucharest, sits somewhere between arcade and simulation air combat. The clever bit comes from a stabiliser system that can plot trajectories for lining up attacks on ground and air targets, or be turned off to give a zoomed-out perspective and complete control over the aircraft to shake off missile locks and bogeys.

Being a Tom Clancy game, everything also looks very familiar, with little telly broadcast windows popping up in the corners of the screen to issue objectives. HAWX looks very nice, too.

Tom Clancy's HAWX will be out for Xbox 360 and PS3 from 6th March. A PC version will follow on 13th March.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (27) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • 3william56 #1 3 years ago

    Can you bomb Jesus?

    /calls the Vatican

  • Widge #2 3 years ago

    Well.... not expecting much, will give it a go to see if it surprises.

  • andijames #3 3 years ago

    Co op does seem the way to go in this gen these days.

  • MasterNameless #4 3 years ago

    "Can you bomb Jesus?

    /calls the Vatican "

    That was my very first thought when reading that!

    Turn the other cheek Jesus, for another volley of missiles! XD

  • mcmonkeyplc #5 3 years ago

    Sweet. I'm willing to try this.

  • KillallHippies #6 3 years ago

    To be fair, they could have easily filled the game with utterly fictional planes. I'm sure most console owners either wouldn'tt know or don't care.

  • Fleisch #7 3 years ago

    AWESOME game from what I've played at the Eurogamer Expo and at UBI tents at festivals...

    can't wait.

  • MasterNameless #8 3 years ago

    I must say, I'm really looking forward to the 4 player co-op aspect of this. Extra nice that the co-op is included in the demo. \o/

  • BobsUncle #9 3 years ago

    "they could have easily filled the game with utterly fictional planes. I'm sure most console owners either wouldn'tt know or don't care. "

    Bit of a sweeping statement there. So you are assuming anyone with a console is too thick to tell the difference between a real plane or a made up one? I guess you need to be a l33t PC Flight Sim player to have that top secret knowledge.

  • Gl3n #10 3 years ago

    I'm not getting this for hundreds of reasons, the main ones being, it's ubisoft and they spelt Hawks incorrectly.

  • BadBoyBonner #11 3 years ago

    Personally I am more than a little worried about this titles longevity - once the initial techniques are mastered it becomes a bit of a bore fest (which some previews have noted).

    Obviously this is due to the air being completely free of any obstacles - turn, lock on shoot down, turn lock on shoot down, turn....

    A bit like playing a FPS on a completely flat plain (like some of the old CS sniper mod maps) - fun for a little while but ultimately unfulfilling.

    Glad of the demo to see if I am wrong or right.

  • BobsUncle #12 3 years ago

    @Gl3n

    You down know it's short for High Altitude Warfare eXperimental don't you? and nothing to do with Hawks.

    So technically it should be HAWE, but that sounds stupid.

  • GamesConnoisseur #13 3 years ago

    Whilst we should welcome with open arm new addition to flight combat genre, I m not sure how it would go head to head with Ace Combat?!

  • MasterNameless #14 3 years ago

    Does Ace Combat have co-op? I can't remember... I do remember Ace Combat looking a lot better, especially the stunning smoke trails.

  • Coughthulu #15 3 years ago

    HAWE.

    Sounds like what the 'Tom Clancy' brand has become. I await 'Tom Clancy's Shopping At Asda' with baited breath.

    Anyone who played it at EG Expo: Better than AC6?



  • Kill_Crazy #16 3 years ago

    Glad there's a demo. Although i love flight games this looks like it could be a bit poor. Fingers crossed it's not.

  • merkdot #17 3 years ago

    time to get out the AV8R-02

  • bad09 #18 3 years ago

    Cool, glad they are smart enough to release a demo I'm quite tempted by this.

  • Fleisch #19 3 years ago

    Personally I enjoyed it more than Ace Combat 6 which i found to be a little...hollow.

    But i think its going to boil down to personal taste on arcade/simluation. I suppose a fair comparison is Forza vs PGR, both excellent racing games, just one is a bit more forgiving!

  • agparrot #20 3 years ago

    @Coughthulu

    HAWE.

    Sounds like what the 'Tom Clancy' brand has become. I await 'Tom Clancy's Shopping At Asda' with baited breath.

    Anyone who played it at EG Expo: Better than AC6?


    In a word, No.

    However, despite the tragic loading times of the expo version, once you played it for a little while, it did become sort of fun... but this may have been because I was deliberately attempting to perform the aerial engagements as near to the canyons and mountains as possible. Upside down.

    There is a very arcade vibe to the way that Missiles are avoided and planes are locked and shot - like a less slick Afterburner, almost.

    The view kept changing, too, from behind the plane to some weirdigan flypast camera - I was never sure if this was because of any of the buttons I had pressed, or was some sort of cinematic effect, but you have to remember I was essentially playing without instructions.

  • Monsta #21 3 years ago

    Anyone else keep thinking this is the new skateboarding game from activision

  • Coughthulu #22 3 years ago

    @Fleisch/agparrot

    Ok, thanks guys. Sounds like this is marmite again. :)

    I don't like the sound of the suddenly changing camera, though. :-/ Glad there's a demo!

  • Eraysor #23 3 years ago

    Please be good...the Ace Combat team needs a reason to improve their games for once.

  • mkreku #24 3 years ago

    BobsUncle: Bit of a sweeping statement there. So you are assuming anyone with a console is too thick to tell the difference between a real plane or a made up one? I guess you need to be a l33t PC Flight Sim player to have that top secret knowledge.

    Bit of a generalization, yes, but don't you think there's a slight difference between those who play Ace Combat and those who play IL-2 Sturmovik (for example)?

    [link url=http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=U3SpB16qnK4
    ]http://www .youtube.com/watch?v=U3SpB16qnK4
    [/link]

    I do.

  • Brogan #25 3 years ago

    mkreku

    i think i know the difference. Ace combat players have touched girls boobs? only cause it's a shit game and you have to find something to do with the rest of your afternoon



  • BobsUncle #26 3 years ago

    @mkreku

    Yes. People that play IL-2 Sturmovik are dull as fuck. Or they must be to find it interesting. That's my sweeping statement back. That goes for Falcon 4.0, Flanker 2.0 and LOMAC. All of which I own and are so fucking dull it's unbelievable. I was even using a Saitec X-35 to make it more fun, but no, still boring.

    The only PC flight sim I've really enjoyed was Commanche/Hokum. It was realistic, but not so realistic it became a chore.

    Anyway, the point is console owners are not as dumb as elitist PC gamers think.

  • metalangel #27 3 years ago

    I too am seriously doubting this will beat Ace Combat 6. Apart from those stupid cruise missile missions (which thankfully fuck right off fairly quickly) it was jolly exciting... especially if you chose an attack plane like the A-10 or Tornado and concentrated on tank busting operations. I can't be bothered to argue the whole console gamers are thick/PC flight simmers have never fondled boobs things as I am not/I have.
    Edited by 1 at 11/02/09 @ 16:04