The multiplayer mode allows up to 16 players at once to fight to the death. The scoring system is actually built around this blowing up enemies lets you win the stage, but if you really want to get a high score, you must get multiple hardlocks in a row. This makes it a lot easier to get that instant-kill missile strike on your opponent. If you complete the QTE quickly and continue to hold it, your targeting reticle increases in size next time you're the chaser. Completing a QTE isn't just a live-or-die thing, as the speed with which you do so also has an impact on the hardlock. Complete a QTE, and you'll be back in the chasing position. On the other hand, surviving lets you once again turn the tables on your foe. Remain still, or let the enemy target you and … well, let's just say that missiles are just as effective on you as they are on your enemies. The enemy's reticle appears behind you, and you try to dodge it. If you get hardlocked, things switch around. Fail it, and the enemy hardlocks you instead. Complete it successfully, and you'll remain the chaser. If the hard lock sequence lasts long enough, you're challenged to complete a Quick Time Event.
Machine gun hits are more helpful but far weaker. Holding it on an enemy long enough to lock in the missile is extremely difficult, especially with the enemy bobbing and weaving all over the place. When you first enter the hard lock sequence, your targeting reticle is pretty miniscule. Firing your machine guns does more damage, and a missile strike while hardlocked is basically an instant kill. At this point, the camera changes to a more cinematic angle, and the heavy flying is automated, so your goal is to catch the enemy within your reticle. When you get behind an enemy, you have the option to enter a hard lock sequence by pressing X. What really sets apart Top Gun: Hard Lock from the other arcadey flight sims is the titular "hard lock" system.
If an enemy locks on to you, you've got to quickly barrel roll to avoid it or get blown to pieces. Barrel rolls are useful in combat, but as mentioned, they're also necessary to avoid enemy missile locks. This involves zooming in close and hitting the afterburners just as you pass by, and it causes quite the distraction when you do so. Near the end of the demo, you're told to buzz the command tower of a ship. For example, afterburner isn't merely used to go fast. Each of these is pretty crucial and plays into more than what you'd just think. Back allows you to pull a "cobra stop," which allows you to quickly kill your speed. Forward on the stick triggers your afterburners for a huge boost in speed. Right and left on the stick allow you to do barrel rolls to avoid missiles. The right analog stick is dedicated to various special tricks and moves. Top Gun: Hard Lock gives you a lot of mobility options. In order to compensate for that, you'll need to take advantage of some of the more unusual combat options. Ace pilots can and will dodge your missiles, even if you lock on. However, the downside to this is that missile strikes are only really effective against weaker pilots. On top of that, you have infinite missiles they gradually recharge after use, so it will never be a long wait between shots. You can even equip multi-lock missiles that let you attack multiple enemies at once. Missiles aren't quite one-hit kills, but they're hard to avoid and incredibly powerful. Machine guns can be manually targeted, while missiles can be locked on by holding the enemy in your targeting reticle for a long enough period of time. You have one button for missiles and one for your machine gun. The left analog stick functions as your joystick, allowing you to move up and down. The pilots have aged and now are combat instructors, while you play as a hotshot rookie trained by Maverick and his pals. The single-player story is a pseudo-reboot of the original "Top Gun" movie. Top Gun: Hard Lock is both a single-player and a multiplayer experience. You're in the cockpit of a deadly jet fighter and tasked with blowing up anyone and anything that gets in your way. Top Gun: Hard Lock is a good, old-fashioned, arcade-style flight sim.