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HAWX pops up on Ubisoft's radar

French publisher unveils near-future Tom Clancy air combat game, now due on PC, PS3, and 360 this coming fall; first screens and trailer inside.

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Last week, French publisher Ubisoft purchased the book, film, TV, and game rights to the works of all-American author Tom Clancy. This week, it unveiled the title and release window for the latest entry in the writer's military multimedia empire, the air-combat sim Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. First appearing on radar last September, the game will arrive this fall on North American PCs, Xbox 360s, and PlayStation 3s. Previously, the then-unnamed game had only a "2008" release date.

Developed by Ubisoft Bucharest (Blazing Angels), HAWX is set in a near future where private military companies (PMCs) have begun to supplant national armies as the world's top armed forces. Following a fictional treaty signed in Iceland in 2012, PMCs even begin to take over the duties of air forces around the globe. However, given said company's "lax" view of international law, the move leads to more conflict than ever before, leading the remaining nation-states to try to restore world order.

In HAWX, players will be able to fly more than 50 famed modern combat aircraft. Though Ubisoft did not name any planes specifically, the first screens from the game show both F-16 Fighting Falcons, Harriers, and F-22 Raptors engaged in dogfights over war-torn landscapes. Besides the single-player campaign, the game will have both a 16-player online dogfight mode and a four-person co-op mode through the full campaign.

Ubisoft is touting one feature of HAWX--a new type of technology called Enhanced Reality System. An airborne answer system to the cross-com system in Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter games, ERS will give players access to radar, missile detection, anti-crash system, damage control, tactical maps, and weapon trajectory control.

For more on HAWX, check out the just launched official Web site or consult GameSpot's previous coverage.

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