Ever since Top Gun tore up the skies in 1986 and made us all feel the need for speed, getting to sit inside the cockpit of a high-velocity plane became a boyhood dream of ours. Then we found out that you need to be short, good at maths and hardy enough to withstand G-force and so on. Needless to say, video games journalism seemed like a much safer alternative.

Playing HAWX 2 confirms that we made the right career choice, especially considering how the game's very first mission ends. Initially, you'll assuming the role of HAWX 1's returning hero pilot Colonel David Crenshaw, who is subsequently captured by shady insurgent forces (of course) and declared MIA after three nuclear warheads go missing in Russia, before taking the reins as other pilots from three nations.

In typical Clancy stylee, HAWX 2 weaves conspiracy and intrigue among its narrative threads and tells its story from three different perspectives, so while you start out as Crenshaw, you'll soon be playing as American pilot, Major Alex Hunter, British RAF fella Lt. Colin Munro and Russian airman Captain Dimitri Sokov, who are all involved in the same overarching plot that runs throughout the game. It's the same old Clancy stuff though, with enough frankly missable military blather and techno-babble to have you constantly clawing at the 'skip' button during the cut-scenes.

However, telling the story using three different nations is a neat device that ensures you're presented with a veritable hangar-full of fighter jets to choose from, each of which is lovingly crafted and can be drooled over in the selection screen, where you can rotate and zoom in and out of each model, if you're so inclined. And once you're in the skies, things handle with just as much arcade style as the previous game, although this time, some missions demand that you take-off and land, which isn't nearly as daunting as you might think.

Taking-off is a simple operation, where you merely press a button to start up your engines and then use the triggers to taxi to the runway, accelerate, brake and keep your nose straight with the bumper buttons. When you reach optimum speed, pull back on the analogue stick and up you go. Easy. Less simple is executing a landing, as it's easy to come in too hot and crash. Slow right down and pop out your landing gear when prompted though, and you'll come up against few problems. There's always assistance just a single button away too, if you need it.

In the air, the is much as you'd expect, with fast-paced dogfights the order of the day for the most part, with an occasional shift in objectives to keep things varied. Like early on in the game for example, when you're tasked with controlling a UAV to scan a suspicious enemy complex where Crenshaw is potentially being held or a bit later on, when you're manning the artillery in a heavily armed gunship to protect a vulnerable transport plane from hostile ground targets and helicopters, before escorting a jeep to the safety of a waiting ship.

Both levels reek heavily of CoD 4's remarkably similar 'Shock and Awe' mission, but HAWX 2's versions are genuinely different takes, which has you dispatching a variety of targets while zooming in and out, switching weapons constantly on the fly and keeping your wits about you at all times. Granted, it's not exactly in keeping with HAWX 2's remit as a flight game, but we welcome anything that mixes up the gameplay and keeps things interesting nonetheless.

It's almost like Romania compiled a checklist of scenarios to put in the game during development, cherry-picked from and other games. So, airborne refuelling is in and a launch from the deck of a naval aircraft carrier into a huge skirmish with a tangerine sunset seemingly lifted straight out of Top Gun is in. HAWX 2's locations are a bit of a mixed bag apart from these scenarios, so for every majestic snow-covered mountain range and sun-dappled ocean, there's a bland, endless desert.

Playing HAWX 2 is still as accessible and arcade-centric as ever, meaning that it's uncomplicated, if slightly throwaway fun. Settling in for a long session with the game can be interminable stuff though, so we'd recommend tackling HAWX 2 in small sittings. HAWX 2 is still undoubtedly an improvement over its predecessor and the presentation and gameplay is much slicker than before. However, despite boasting a host of modes like Survival, Free Flight, and competitive and four-player co-op, there's a nagging feeling that HAWX 2 isn't quite the thrust forward for the franchise that we were hoping for. If you enjoyed the original HAWX, you'll find a lot to like here, and dogfighting is enjoyably robust. It's just a shame that the sequel fails to advance things in any kind of meaningful way with a tired narrative and copious missile-dodging that will rapidly wear thin.

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By Richard Walker