Ubisoft today announced development of Tom Clancy’s HAWX (high-altitude warfare), a game focused on mid-air combat. Scheduled for release in Fall 2008, the game will appear on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows PC.
Tom Clancy’s HAWX turns consumers into elite pilots of the future, with “an intense and authentic aerial combat experience.” The story begins in the year 2012, as the era of the nation-state draws quickly to a close and the rules of warfare are ever evolving. With more and more nations becoming dependent on private military companies (a la Army of Two), the benefits of such PMCs are apparent, yet there are growing concerns surrounding giving them too much power begin to mount.
Here are the key features of Tom Clancy’s HAWX, directly as we received them from Ubisoft:
- Enhanced Reality System(E.R.S.): E.R.S. is in-game technology that helps turn novice aviators into elite pilots of the future. The Enhanced Reality System is the backbone of the HAWX flight experience: radars and incoming missile detection, anti-crash system, damage control system, tactical map and information relay, and weapons trajectory control. E.R.S. also allows players to issue orders to their squadron, making this system as iconic to HAWX as the Cross-Com system is to Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter.
- Assistance Mode: Players can ease into their flight missions and gain a level of comfort with the use of the assistance mode. Once employed, players can take full advantage of their technological support through the E.R.S and gain maximum piloting security. If the situation calls for the player to unleash the full potential of the aircraft, the assistance mode can be switched off and all safety features will be deactivated. This comes with increased risks, but allows the player advanced dogfighting maneuvers and stunning third-person views.
- Revolutionary Multiplayer: For the first time ever in the air-combat genre, players will be able to experience the entire solo campaign in four-player jump-in co-op mode. In PVP mode, players can challenge up to 15 friends in intense dogfighting sessions and find out who’s the top gun. Winning players are rewarded with experience points and money to unlock more weapons.
- Realism and Authenticty: Players have the opportunity to take the throttle of over 50 of the world’s most famous aircrafts, as well as being able to dogfight over realistic modern landscapes that have endured years of post-war trauma.
