While bringing nothing new in other aspects, this game should be loved just for the most cinematic gameplay ever.
The story, while being quite decent for an arcade, is an absolute fail being connected to a Tom Clancy's brand. It generally centers around an elite squadron of US military air force, named H.A.W.X(High Altitude Warfare Experimental Squadron). After a brief tutorial the team leaves US to join up with a private military company Artemis, who seems to have much more confidence in them. After a while, Artemis roughly changes sides describing it as a more profitable move, and we return to serve our land and fight against the now strengthened(Not without our help) traitor. The story bears a Tom Clancy-styled betrayal-military stroke, but it has an array of underdeveloped characters and is generally told badly. Not to mention that there are some notable mistakes, which I will discuss later.
The reason why I classified this game as Underappreciated is that most reviewers didn't seem to get the most out of it's innovations. Sure, the core gameplay is simple, even basic: Directional controls, minimal keys for changing between a couple of weapons with ridiculously big amount of ammo. But what else to expect from an arcade? The real innovations are exactly the ones that made up all the hype: Experimental control systems. E.R.S, or the Enhanced Reality System, is not that realistic, but in the first half of the game, when you can't disable assistance, it is crucial to performing some really tricky moves, like doing bombing runs in AA-controlled areas or hitting a pinpoint target in the middle of skyscrapers. While looking silly(You must fly through holo-triangles to follow the calculated path), it is very cleverly programmed, and always gives an extremely optimal route from wherever you enable it. But generally, it is made for making the easy, assistance-enabled gameplay even more easier. The disabling of this system is what makes this game stand out. after you've done that, the camera pulls off dramatically, shifting to a side angle and focusing on a chosen target. That way, the direction is something you can stop worrying about, so all of the keys transform into powerful maneuver triggers. The control over your plane in this mode is so absolute that, with training, you will perform jaw-dropping moves, like controlled stalls for shaking off pursuers or manual missile evades. The mistake of this system is that it is hard to get used to, and the game gives little motivation to explore all of it's potential. Nonetheless, it is easily one of the most cinematic experiences in the genre ever.
What's more important though, is that the levels are somehow very well balanced. I have never seen such a controlled amount of, hmm, diversities in missions. You are always given one heavily scripted, rollercoaster-styled level with lots of tension, after which you get a couple of basic kill-em-all maps for calming you down. Then the routine starts all over, and it really can't be called a repetitive experience. I'll leave the rating for mission variety to other users, as it is completely opinion-based.
The presentation, in short, is good. Plane models include all of the famed birds, like the iconic F22 Raptor, the stealthy F117 Nighthawk, the supersonic SR-71 Blackbird, the maneuver king SU-47 Berkut, and some guys, like the XA-20 Razorback, that I didn't recognize. They are made very nicely, with the polygon count not bursting the limits but staying tolerable along with some great smoke(The 3D shader smokes are becoming a pleasant common thing these days), air shimmer and reflection effects. While some people praise explosions, I found them a little too blurry and generally not that great. The GeoEye feature is something like satellite imagery used for modeling maps. The developers said that every tree, every house stand where it should, and is standing at the present moment. The scenery itself looks groundbreakingly realistic from above(Guess that's GeoEye working), but up close some stretched textures and 2-polygon models(Not literally) start to hurt the eye, but nothing's too bad.
Some other things about optimization. The game is ported perfectly, with my aged 8600GT giving me maximum settings on Direct X 9, along with, oh god, Anti-Aliasing. A steady 30 frames per second. It's a steady "A" for Ubisoft in the "Optimization" graph.
The sound design is something I can't genuinely rate, because like most citizens of Earth I can't definitely say if the planes' sounds are true to their real-world counterparts. Nevertheless, the engine sounds great, with the sound calming down or burning up when you slow down or accelerate from a stall. There is quite some monotone voice acting from the big bad generals of US and Artemis, and there are also more friendly but somehow even more irritating comments from teammates. The musical score isn't bad, especially when it starts to learn to pop up in exactly the right moments.
All in all, underrated is definitely the right word for the game. If anything, it's a giant leap from Blazing Angels for Ubisoft Romania. The game still manages to pull it off with extended gameplay features, like level-ups from mission challenges and quite the number of planes to unlock. Any gamer missing a high-quality aerial arcade game will definitely want to pick this one up. As for the persons who say that the game's bad because it's not realistic enough, they should learn to see the differences between this and a simulator, and pass.