Are you ready to fly into the danger zone? Sorry for the cheese, but it fits the dialog you will come across in Top Gun: Hard Lock. Here we have another attempt to drag the Top Gun name out of the mud in the gaming world. Hard Lock comes in at $40, so it’s safe to say 505 Games was aware of what people thought of previous Top Gun games.
Top Gun: Hard Lock offers 14 playable planes across 15 campaign missions. There is multiplayer, but since no one is playing it, it really doesn’t matter. Campaign missions are comprised of several sub-missions that you need to complete in order to progress. You may start by having to hit a specific target, switch to defending some larger aircraft, followed by providing cover for ground units, then finally returning to your aircraft carrier to defend it. There are also secondary missions you can complete. These missions are optional, but completing them will usually reward you with additional assistance such as extra ground troops or additional friendly aircraft.
While the types of missions you perform don’t vary much, the scenery and combat scenarios do. Protecting two large birds in a tight valley with SAM batteries all over the place calls for a different approach than flying over the coast with those two same birds. Your weapon load out will change throughout the campaign as well. One mission you’ll have access to long range Air-to-Air missiles, and the next you may be equipped with cluster bombs. You’ll also come across radar-jamming planes, thunder storms that will affect your electronics, and radar stations you need to watch out for. The combination of scenario, weapon, and locale switches help so that you don’t feel like you are playing the same thing over and over again.
One downside to the single player is that it takes a while to really get started. I was already in the seventh mission before the game grabbed my attention. Barring a few exceptions, missions typically take around 30 minutes to complete. Depending how much of an ace you are, the campaign should last around 7-8 hours. In addition to the single player campaign, there is also Danger Zone; a game mode which throws enemies at you in increasingly difficult waves.
Dog fighting takes a page out of Ace Combat’s book with its hard lock system. If you can get lined up with your enemy the hard lock button will indicate when you can lock in with them. This will switch you to a camera angle right above your wing and your plane will stay on course with your enemy as you try to keep them in your reticule long enough to get a missile lock so you can blow them away.
Initially getting a missile lock can be quite challenging. However, throughout the hard lock your enemy will attempt an ACM (Air Combat Maneuver) to try to get behind you. During these sequences a prompt with arrows will appear on screen that tells you what direction you should be pressing your left and right analog sticks. If you’re fast enough, you are rewarded with a larger reticule for that hard lock; if not, your enemy will slip behind you and now you are the prey. At first the ACM sequences are very easy, but get increasingly difficult and complex as you progress through the game.
Enemies can also initiate hard lock with you, so if you’re just flying around without maneuvering enough, expect to get chased down. Outside of hard lock, dodging missiles is more about reaction than maneuvering. Once a missile gets close enough, it’s as simple as pressing the correct button that appears on the screen to either dodge or deploy flares. However, if an enemy is close enough you will find that the prompt time is much shorter.
One thing I did appreciate about the dog fighting is that the player is actually rewarded for learning the feel of each plane and how to maneuver it. As you progress through the game you will find that enemies can close in on you more easily, meaning you will have less time to dodge a missile. In cases like these it’s better to make sure that your enemy can’t lock on to you at all. If you learn how to maneuver your plane properly using dog fighting techniques the tables can be turned on enemies before they are able to get a lock.
I mentioned sound earlier, and I wasn’t exaggerating about the cheesy lines. You will hear lines like ,“I feel the need… the need for speed”, “now we’re in the zone”, and other cheesy lines over and over again during dog fights. The overall voice acting takes me back to old FMV’s back when you had to play games in DOS. 505 Games may have been trying to go for nostalgia, but it just came off cheesy. On the flipside, the soundtrack was not bad; maybe even good.
Visuals are another area that hold Hard Lock back. While I would say the planes and other items in the air are standard fare for the current generation, the visuals of the ground and anything on it look awful. The game has a grainy effect to it, and that’s fine. I understand that they are trying to make it seem like an 80’s film, but the muddy, pixelated units on the ground are pretty much inexcusable for a retail release on a major console. Not only that, they didn’t even take the time to make sure things on the ground were actually touching the ground. I caught a SAM battery that appeared to be at least 5 feet off the ground. It would be different if you didn’t interact with ground units that much, but you do. Also, when you are targeting a ground unit, a box pops up that shows you that unit up close until you destroy it. They should have put more love into it.
With the exception of the visuals and audio, Top Gun: Hard Lock did exceed my expectation. While I wasn’t having the time of my life, I never found myself bored while playing. While it’s not a bad game and comes in cheaper than most new releases, unfortunately for Hard Lock there are better dog fighting games out there for cheaper. I believe 505 was on the right track, but they should have pushed harder before bringing this game to market. Better voice acting, cleaner visuals and better game progression pacing would have improved this game . 505 Games showed that it’s not impossible to make a Top Gun game that isn’t bad. Hopefully next time they push a bit harder so it can stand up next to Ace Combat and (the first) H.A.W.X.
