Firehawk: FPV Drone Shooter

type of ♥♥♥♥ the IDF would use

[h1]This game is AWESOME...even though I kinda SUCK at it![/h1] [h3]One of the coolest concepts applied to a video game I've seen in recent years.[/h3] Who would have thought that making a drone flight simulator combined with combat-shooting gameplay and rogue-lite progression elements would be like capturing lighting in a bottle? This is one of the coolest games I've ever played in the last two decades; such a cool concept that I am surprised it took any developer so long to create such a game until now! Very simple but addicting gameplay loop. You start with nothing unlocked, you complete missions, racking up currency for every enemy you neutralize, and spent your earnings either upgrading your drone's equipment for the current run, or unlocking new content for any future runs. Your drones [b]do NOT[/b] keep all the upgrades you buy for the next time, hence the rogue-lite elements of the game. If you unlock them during gameplay, then you will get to buy said upgrades during your next run, improving your chances of clearing the game. There's a 15 mission strand you are expected to clear all in one go, and you can save your progress and resume your run at any time. Increasing the difficulty level with increase the rewards you earn after clearing a mission. I have only played on Normal so far, which is a good balance for most players; it took me three runs of losing to finally clear the game after having unlocked decent-enough weapons and equipment to survive long enough. There's also other game modes I only tried briefly, like the Survival Mode which is a test of skills to see how long you can last on the battlefield without any pauses or breaks. Like I said in the title of my review, I kinda suck at flying drones, and this game's physics model is remarkably GOOD at demonstrating what it's like to fly a drone. That being said, even if you are new to flying drones or new to any sort of flight simulation game, [b]do yourself a favor and play on Realistic Mode![/b] The Simple Mode's control scheme feels awkward and janky even though the game is doing most of the heavy lifting for controlling the drone. You're going to want full control of the drone yourself; even as an amateur, the Realistic Mode's control scheme is more sensible to understand once you get a feel for the physics. I've been playing this game on an Xbox Series controller and I've been doing just fine. The game's default settings for joystick sensitivity, deadzones and rotational movement are very well-tuned and work very well. [b]If I can do it, then so can you![/b] Half of the dopamine rush that comes from playing this game is flying the drone itself. When you're hurling your drone through obstacles, buildings and tunnels to make those difficult shots on hard-to-reach targets, it's an incredibly satisfying feeling. Can't remember how many times I said "[i]DAMN that was NICE[/i]" when I landed some tricky shots on targets while my drone was at an awkward angle upside-down trying to dodge the kitchen sink of projectiles being thrown at me from every direction. Graphics are acceptable, nothing special but there's a surprising amount of little details here and there. [hr][/hr] [h3]For as much as I enjoyed this game, it still feels like it's in Early Access. Lots of things I'd like to see addressed in the future.[/h3] I played a demo of this game during the Steam Next Fest 2025 event. A lot has changed since this game officially launched, but it needs quite a bit of tweaks from my perspective. [list] [*] The MOST-IMPORTANT thing to me is [b]full controller support, which, as of this review, the game currently lacks.[/b] Most of the UI is able to be navigated by using a controller to move the cursor and select menus and other UI elements, but some of the more-important stuff cannot be selected or configured if you're using only a controller, such as scrolling through the Unlock Tree to browse unlockables, or even selecting a display resolution from the Options menu. There's multiple UI elements that contain multiple tabs or pages which cannot be browsed through with a controller; you have to click through them with your mouse to see the rest of the contents. I'm grateful for the current implementation of controller support, but I'd like to see a complete integration in the near future, hopefully soon. [*] Those [b]Hunter Swarmer drone enemies need to be nerfed![/b] Not only are they fast and unpredictable, but they have too many hit points for a normal enemy encounter and they have incredibly strong, accurate weapons that hit you for big damage. I've lost most of my runs to these guys. They should be tweaked a little bit because they'll prove to be too much for most players, even on Normal difficulty. [/list] [hr][/hr] Other than those things, this game is a blast to play. Glad I discovered it. Here's hoping for continued support from the developers in the future. They've cooked up something great, it would be a shame for it to go to waste!