After getting our hands on HAWX at the New York Comic-Con we knew we had to dig deeper into this 4 player co-op title. Thankfully the game's community manager Adrian Avram came to the rescue and answered our questions concerning the game's cooperative mode.
Co-Optimus: Was the game designed with co-op in mind from the beginning?
Adrian: Yes, absolutely. The game’s mandate from the start was to offer seamless, fun coop throughout the entire campaign.
Co-Optimus: Can you play co-op through the whole single-player campaign or is it just relegated to choosing a mission? Basically, do all players get to see cutscenes and the story in co-op mode?
Adrian: You can play co-op through the whole single-player campaign, all the players being able to see the cutscenes and the story in the same way that they would see them in singleplayer.
Co-Optimus: When playing in co-op do all players get the progress saved or only the host?
Adrian: Everything the players get unlocked in the campaign progress, achievements/trophies, challenges, unlockable items is saved for them, regardless if they are host or client.
Co-Optimus: Does the HUD show you the co-op players so you don't run into them?
Adrian: Yes, your teammates are clearly shown on the HUD.
Co-Optimus: Is friendly fire enabled and can it be disabled?
Adrian: HAWX does not have any friendly fire option, so you will not be able to shoot down your own teammates.
He's on your tail. Hit the brakes and....
Co-Optimus: Is one of the four co-op players chosen as leader of the squad? Are there quick commands to issue to your team (attack my target, etc)?
Adrian: There is no squad leader. All players have the same abilities. In Team Deathmatch, each player can request to be defended or to have his target attacked, and any teammate can accept this request. However, we removed this option from coop even though it was initially there, because we found it to not be effective enough. Targets and threats expire at a much faster rate in coop, so a target or threat is never relevant enough to require attention. Team tactics like splitting in groups to cover different areas of the map are more important, and we found that the most effective way for players to decide this kind of tactics is simply through in game chat.
Co-Optimus: Are there AI wingmen you can give orders to over the headset if you already have 4 players in the co-op game?
Adrian: No, in co-op the wingmen control is removed. However, this doesn’t mean that the tactical aspect decreases in value – in fact it is more important here. In coop, the number of enemies is larger and players must coordinate with each other in order to handle them in the most effective manner.
Co-Optimus: Will there be a replay and/or screenshot saving system, so that we can revisit our best co-op moments?
Adrian: We will have a feature like that for one of the platforms. We will communicate about it soon.
I can see my house from here
Co-Optimus: What is the one defining feature in H.A.W.X. you are most proud of?
Adrian: That must be the “Assistance OFF” mode. The extreme maneuverability in this mode, combined with the “Cinematic camera” view makes the player able to perform never seen before extreme maneuvers and intense dog fighting action, never seen before in any other flight game.
If you have a question that wasn't answered here, you should try checking the official forums. Adrian has done a great job of answering user submitted questions! Thanks again Adrian!