Top Gun: Hard Lock Review [XBox 360]

The flight sim genre is one which has taken a lot of knocks, and is now roundly considered to mostly be something of the past, but there are a few games - like the Ace Combat series - which offer islands of perpetual hope for the genre, and it is that hope for resurgence which has clearly underpinned the decision to release this tie-in to the classic Tom Cruise air jocks film. There are obvious attempts to trade on the Top Gun spirit - to be honest, using the title but ignoring the film would have been sacrilege - with the familiar music almost played on a loop, and a clear parallel in both film and game's spirit. It's all very macho in content, as you'd expect, but there's also an aesthetic agenda of familiarity: the visuals are played through a filter, which adds grain, robs very fine detail and gives everything that adrenaline soaked 80s action flick feel. All in all it's not a bad looking game, environments are pretty enough without being horribly distracting, and the planes themselves are realistic and impressive. The effects too are well executed, and it makes for a strong surface for the flight sim - but really it's substance we are interested in. The star of the game's substance is undoubtely the Hard Lock combat system, which certainly takes tips from Ace Combat: Assault Horizon's Close Range Assault mode. Manouevre behind your target and lock on and the game shifts to on-rails, during which the player only controls the aim, with the objective to stay on the tail of your prey achieved through following control prompts with the analogue sticks. It might not be the most complex control mechanic, but the resultant air acrobatics are fun and good to look at, and it's definitely Top Gun: Hard Lock's chief selling point (hence the title).

The problem that all flight sims face is that of limited diversity in the gameplay experience: even if you have a trick as fun and engaging as the Hard Lock system, there is still a limited pool of play types that can be called upon, and for the most part developers are reduced to recalling over-tried and occasionally tired archetypes of the genre. While the Hard Lock system does offer something new (though obviously derivative of that Close range Assault system), it eventually reverts to type, trotting through the usual flight sim gameplay elements - bombing raids, civilian flight protection that sort of thing. And admittedly, Hard Lock is pretty good at the gameplay fundamentals - there is very little sense criticising it for its lack of complete innovation, because that is part and parcel of the genre - and flight sim fans will no doubt get a kick out of playing a game pattern they enjoy. But this is not a game for new things, and some criticism has to be levelled at the light-weight story and frankly terrible voice acting. At the final evaluation, Top Gun: Hard Lock is far from terrible: it offers sparks of entertainment, especially in the new Hard Lock system, and it offers a fundamentally engaging gameplay experience. There's just not a great deal to shout about.

Top Gun: Hard Lock is available to buy now on XBox 360 and PS3.