Comparison

Dead Orbit vs HAWK

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Dead Orbit

Pilot a spaceship through deep space, battling an evil empire in this classic arcade shooter. Upgrade your weapons and defenses to survive intense barrages of enemy fire and meteorites. Experience stunning visuals and an electronic soundtrack as you fight to restore peace to the galaxy.

Highlights
  • Intensive arcade shoot 'em up gameplay
  • Vast variety of levels
  • Extreme boss battles
  • Upgrade shields, guns, missiles, lasers, and magnets
  • Stunning game visuals and skins
  • Accessible to casual and hardcore gamers
Features
Read full description

New shoot 'em up classic arcade shooter located in deep and dark space. Defeat the evil sky forces! Hop into the spaceship and fly through a chaotic barrage of meteorites, bullets and sky forces! Upgrade your space fighter and put an end to the evil Kraathu Empire. Why? Because only you can restore peace in the galaxy! Shoot 'em up! SHOOT AND EVADE TO SURVIVE Take your space fighter to the battlefield armed with an arsenal of cannons and missiles. Taking enough ammo to bring punishment to your enemy. Use your agility to fly through deadly enemy territory in this explosive 3D dark space shooter action arcade game. UPGRADE TO GET STRONGER Foes are getting stronger in each stage, so in order to blast 'em from each sector of the galaxy you need to upgrade your arsenal of weapons and defences. To protect yourself against their deadly projectiles the hangar is full of upgrades for your vessel of ultimate destruction. REACH THE STARS Fly your spaceship through the cosmos and galactic hexagon cities where enemy aviators and skyrockets await. Game on! Use your sky force and reloaded weapons to defeat the enemy since 2014! There are many scrolling shooters but none of them is like Dead Orbit. This stunning shoot ‘em up game combines the classic arcade elements with the new possibilities offered by current technology. The new installment just came out in a spectacular dark style. FEATURES - intensive arcade like arcade shoot 'em up gameplay - vast variety of levels await - extreme boss battles - upgrade your shields, guns, missiles, lasers and magnets - stunning game visuals and skins - accessible to casual gamers, as well as die-hard shooter addicts - incredible electronic soundtrack

About

HAWK

Engage in intense aerial combat against alien invaders in this thrilling shoot 'em up game. Team up with friends or other players in co-op mode to overcome vast enemy armadas and challenging bosses. Explore a wide array of aircraft, upgrades, and game modes for endless action.

Highlights
  • 240+ levels of aerial combat
  • Unique co-op multiplayer mode
  • Multiple game modes (Arcade, Team-up, Assault)
  • Vast selection of aircraft and upgrades
  • Epic boss battles
  • Stunning 3D graphics
Features
Read full description

One body is nobody! Gather your bros and kick the living heck out of tyrannical Autocrat's armadas in a series of breathtaking aerial battles! The enemy outnumbers you, but you're never alone -- the unique co-op mode allows you to join forces with either your bro or a new friend! Shooting never ends. With a broad range of aircraft and upgrades to choose from, a variety of missions and challenges, Hawk is a good ol' adrenaline overdose. There's absolutely no way you'll ever get bored! So be ready to attack. Maniac bros will help you choose the best guns and surprise the enemies with destructive missiles. Keep your strongest weapons reloaded to deliver a crucial strike to the enemies’ fighter jets. True bullet hell where metal melts. – Exciting campaign: more than 240 levels full of enemies and breathtaking action! – Unique co-op multiplayer: team up with your battle brothers to overcome challenges or join forces with random players for even more fun! – Additional modes: Arcade, Team-up and Assault, each of them radically changing the gameplay! – Perfect Shoot ‘em up: Lots of fighter jets, battle companions, ammunition and guns, and devices to choose from: your personal armory is packed with hi tech!. – Huge bosses: battle and defeat enemies that are so big they don't even fit the screen! And wipe out swarms of their minions! Find pieces of the Danmaku barrage of bullets. – Great visuals: Tired of space and lasers? Try out flying! Amazing 3d graphics will make you forget that this game genre is old school. Vertical shooters have never been better. Epic sky wars are full of excitement. Choose your «phoenix» and free the country from invaders. The symphony of air war and heroes' charisma are unforgettable! – Retro modernized: Played Shmup (STG) games before? Think this is retro? We prove you are wrong. This top-down shooter will make you say «wow» and revive the best impressions of your scroll childhood. No matter you are a fan of Strikers, Tyrian, Ace Squad, Razor or Airborn or you participated in battle actions in 1945. You will become the fan of our freedom squadron! Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Hawk.game/ PLEASE NOTE! HAWK is free to download and play, however, some game items can also be purchased for real money. In-App purchases may include random items. Contains ads. Brought to you by MY.GAMES

Screenshots

Dead Orbit4 screens
HAWK4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Dead Orbit at none against HAWK's shown. Dead Orbit also leads on review sentiment (71% vs 52%) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). HAWK's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 13 months) and ratings volume (9.3K vs 6). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Dead Orbit sells 12 one-off in-app purchases and HAWK sells 11 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

HAWK holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HAWK has 9.3K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 71% of Dead Orbit's written reviews are positive against 52% of HAWK's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dead Orbit ships an update every 13 months, HAWK every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Dead Orbit versus HAWK: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDead OrbitHAWK
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (6 ratings)4.4 (9.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews — better52.1% of reviews
Number of ratings69.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 13 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size253 MB798 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperInlogic Software s.r.o.Keystorm Holdings Limited

Customer experience

Dead Orbit

All ratings5 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative28.6%

HAWK

All ratings9,256 ratings
Positive85.6%
Neutral3.0%
Negative11.4%
Written reviews2,024 reviews
Positive52.1%
Neutral8.2%
Negative39.7%

Bugs and requests

Dead Orbit

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

HAWK

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Rewards not appearing after levels
  • Overdrives/abilities not functioning properly
  • Inconsistent server connectivity

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved matchmaking for co-op
  • More varied level and enemy designs
  • Ability to rewatch cutscenes
  • Cloud save/sync across devices

In-app purchases

12 purchases

Dead Orbit

One-time12
  • Skin Draco$0.99
  • Skin Fire$0.99
  • Skin Red$0.99
Show 9 more
  • Skin Alien Skull$0.99
  • Skin Ram Skull$0.99
  • Skin Human Skull$0.99
  • Skin Toxic Fire$0.99
  • Skin Violet$0.99
  • Skin White$0.99
  • Skin Yellow$0.99
  • Skin Orange$0.99
  • Coin Doubler$3.99
11 purchases

HAWK

One-time11
  • Black Box Stabilizer$1.99
  • Premium Pack$2.99
  • Personal Offer$2.99
Show 8 more
  • 1 Pilots deck$3.99
  • Crystal Pack$4.99
  • Premium crystal pack$4.99
  • Avalon Battle Pass$4.99
  • Crystal pack$9.99
  • Premium crystal pack$9.99
  • Crystal pack$19.99
  • Premium crystal pack$19.99

Questions

Is Dead Orbit free?
Dead Orbit is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is HAWK free?
HAWK is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Dead Orbit or HAWK?
HAWK is rated higher. Dead Orbit averages 4.2 out of 5 from 6 ratings, while HAWK averages 4.4 from 9.3K ratings.
Do Dead Orbit or HAWK have ads?
HAWK shows ads; Dead Orbit does not.
Which is updated more often, Dead Orbit or HAWK?
Dead Orbit ships an update every 13 months, and HAWK every 2 months. Most recently, Dead Orbit was updated on October 24, 2026 and HAWK on October 30, 2026.

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