Comments on: HAWX: NYCC (Much) Cop?

By: dsmart

dsmart — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:22:29 +0000

That demo is KILLING me. Took like an hour to download (high demand for this thing?) on Friday night and I think I’ve already erased it. Thought the 3rd person (assist-off or whatever) would be awesome, like Ace Combat Plus, but man I was disappointed. All I wanted to do was roll 90 degrees, yank back on the yoke and turn hard around those freaking drones. Impossible. No “lock” on your perspective in that mode. MADDENING. After what seemed like 30 minutes, I “succeeded.” Succeeded in shooting down the drones and succeeded in swearing I would never buy this game.

It is quite clearly an arcade shooter. It wasn't billed to be anything more than that. So anyone going in and trying to pretend like it was billed as something else, is just being foolish. If you have a joystick and don't want the game developer telling u how to fly - while having a pseudo-realistic flight combat dynamics on hand, this (released yesterday) is how it is done. Pay close attention. /me = shameless bastard

it does look prettier and seems to be a little more fun than Ace Combat.

Really?!? Them's fighting words!! Have you even played AC6? I mean, played it on an HDTV, not some 4:3 antique from the eighties? HAWX doesn't even come close. Even the much touted GeoEye satelltite maps look quite rubbish once you start to actually look at the scenery. Thats the problem with using satellite imagery - they look good up top, but quite rubbish down below. AC6 looked and played better IMO.

By: DeuceMojo

DeuceMojo — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 18:57:10 +0000

Sunjammer, it will all make sense when the sequel comes out. You know…

COUGARZ

I hope they fix it too, it does look prettier and seems to be a little more fun than Ace Combat.

By: Sunjammer

Sunjammer — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:29:07 +0000

Also HAWX! HAWXXXXX!!!

Whoever came up with that name seriously needs a thorough trouncing

By: Sunjammer

Sunjammer — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 19:25:03 +0000

I absolutely loathe the camera choice they made. I don’t see how a camera can’t be third person AND capable of a better angle. It’s so far off from your plane you get next to no sense of speed (which the game has plenty of from a cockpit view), but this over the shoulder and down default angle makes me absolutely furious. Why the hell, exactly, am i not allowed to see IN FRONT of me. Better yet, why am i not allowed to control the camera with the right stick, now that it’s effectively useless anyway. What feature of this magical future-plan is it exactly that denies its pilots the ability to look where they are flying?

As a huge fan of the Ace Combat series, i’m really amused that they’ve basically made Ace Combat Gaijin Edition and made it so you can turn off the playability. I’m totally FOR the ability to pull off these kinds of absolutely insane stunts, but i’m not convinced i couldn’t be pulling them off effectively from the cockpit view. I hope they wisen up and allow for some assist-off camera options beyond the garbage on show in the demo.

By: itsallcrap

itsallcrap — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 11:45:02 +0000

Fix it! Make them fix it!

I really want this to be good.

By: CdrJameson

CdrJameson — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:42:10 +0000

When designing we often decide not to include ‘clever’ behaviour from the computer, because to the player it just seems baffling or random.

This is an important lesson.

By: phuzz

phuzz — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 09:01:12 +0000

It did take me a good 15 minutes on the demo before I realised that to make a tight turn in Assist Off mode you have to slam on the brakes and turn (then burn hard so you don’t stall). Once I worked that bit out it was a lot more fun, not quite as arcade-y as Ace Combat or something, but definitely easier to just fly about than a normal flight sim.
Although trying to take out tanks hiding between buildings with missiles was a bit of a pain in the arse.

By: Schmung

Schmung — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:59:57 +0000

Tried it on 360 and the infuriating camera broke me. I hated it utterly.

Jason : In order to do anything fancy with then plane you have to advanced mode. Doing this locks you to an external camera. A really, really bad external camera that makes doing simple things incredibly difficult because it moves around so bloody much that any sort of basic orientation is nigh impossible.

By: Jason Moyer

Jason Moyer — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 05:17:40 +0000

So, is there a point where the game forces you to play from some shitty external camera, or can you use the cockpit camera all of the time?

By: Rodafowa

Rodafowa — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:05:07 +0000

If you switch to Expert controls, you can do everything that Assist-Off mode allows you to do without having to wrestle with That Fucking Camera.

Still, it really is just a tarted-up, less tonto, slightly overcomplicated, slightly less fun Ace Combat. If you’ve got a FunSquareSuperPlus and you want an arcade flight sim, that should probably be your first port of call.

That said, the majesty of AC6 didn’t really shine through in the demo either, so… sigh. Life’s so complicated.

By: Consine

Consine — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 23:35:57 +0000

I love the demo on the 360! It took me a few tries to figure out the whole assistance off thing but once I did, it was awesome. I was pulling of insane 180 turns like in those crazy youtube vids. By no means is it supposed to be anything remotely resembling realism so this is strictly for people looking to have some good fun.
I keep playing the demo every day, the coop seems fun, and I can’t wait for it to come out.
XP systems and planes that go boom is a match made in heaven for me!

By: BobJustBob

BobJustBob — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 22:17:30 +0000

Sounds like you’d want the dev there so (in a fantastic world where it rains Vanilla Coke Zero) the dev could implement changes based on your feedback.