Although it fails in its single player mode, the multiplayer mode is what makes Hawx worth the money.
In terms of content Hawx does fall a little bit short. The campaign doesn't feel too short but could do with a more dramatic ending. It leaves you with the feeling that the 'ultimate final' mission is not there. However, the available missions are generally quite fun with the exception of a few which are really more like tutorials.
The controls in Hawx are quite easy to pick up. Yawing and turning together effectively is the only thing that needs any getting used to and even that takes less than an hour to master.
The 'co-op' mode allows you to play missions together with your friends in LAN which is good fun. The game also adjusts the difficulty of the missions with the number of players involved which means that teaming up doesn't necessarily make the mission easier.
The team deathmatch is perhaps the strongest point of Hawx. This multiplayer mode allows you to engage other human players in dogfights. Although the absence of a traditional 'free for all' mode is largely missed, the team battles can also be very interesting. In fact a 1v1 game saturates quite quickly in Hawx as all the planes are very similar in feeling and dodging most missiles is actually quite straight forward. But with a minimum of two players in each team in a team dogfight it really is fun because there's no stalemate.
Its possible to fly in two modes in Hawx. The assistant on mode gives a cocpit view which is the general view and quite easy to pick up. The assistant off mode gives a camera view but its difficult to master. However the plane is far more manueverable in this mode. There's a trade-off so both modes are quite usable in any situation.
On the graphics side Hawx does quite well. The planes look good, the scenario looks good and the battles look good. The blur and the afterburner in particular gives it an intense look. Even the shooting and targeting aids look cool.
Hawx has a fair bit to offer to any shooter fan but it easily could have been a lot better. If you have friends you can play multiplayer with then Hawx is a no brainer.