When I turn on my 360 to play a combat flight game, all I really want to do is hop in a plane, shoot down some guys, and maybe do a bombing run or two. If I can cause a few million dollars in damage to a rival army’s air force, life is good. What I don’t want to do is deal with stupid A.I. allies, stupidly hard escort and “defend your base” missions, and mind-numbingly slow breaks in the action.
At its core, H.A.W.X. 2 is a fantastic middle ground between a hardcore flight sim and an arcadey dogfighting game a la Crimson Skies. The action is fast and frantic, and the responsiveness of the controls allows for some crazy stunts without feeling so weightless that it’s unrealistic. Don’t expect to stop on a dime here; paying attention to your surroundings is vital to not becoming a pile of shrapnel sticking out of the side of a building.
