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Warhawk
Warhawk is the latest PS3 game from Sony
Computer Entertainment that allows players to experience the thrill of
white-knuckle aerial combat with hundreds of enemy fighters,
bone-crunching armored assaults and high-intensity infantry combat in a
massive, all-out war fought both on the ground and in the skies.
Although Warhawk features an entertaining yet brief single player game,
the real magic is in the multiplayer aspect which means it is
recommended to have a broadband connection.
Features
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Pilot the most
advanced Fighter in the Fleet – Fly or hover to engage in intense
dogfights with hundreds of fighters, massive flying battleships and
enemy ground forces.
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Fight on Foot, in
Ground Vehicles, or in the Sky – Next-gen multimodal design throws
players into a deep gameplay experience. Fight in the war as a foot
soldier, vehicle driver or ace pilot—whenever you want.
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An Epic Level of
Ambient Warfare – Players must defend their land and accomplish
missions within a massive, fully interactive battlefield of Eucadian
and Chernovan forces.
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Discover a Vast and
Unique World – Hundreds of square miles of high-resolution terrain
filled with a brave new world where old and new technologies merge.
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Experience an
Expansive Online Community – Players can join in epic multi-modal
32-person online battles, constantly evolving with downloadable
content and a variety of online game modes.
The strong points of
Warhawk have to be it's versatility and ease to get into the game. At
times some multiplayer games can be a little overwhelming if you haven’t
been gaming since the release date, however Warhawk's simple gameplay
mechanics can get you up and running in no time. After you wait the few
minutes for Warhawk to install, it’s off to find a server to perform
some match making. The servers load quickly which is a bonus if you are
egger to get into the action and you are painlessly dropped into a
chosen spawn point. Just like that you’re entered into the smoke filled
war ridden landscape of war, knife happy gamers and rockets galore. I
was impressed with the loading speed within Warhawk, and its ability to
run at top speed without too many cases of lag.
The modes available in Warhawk might be seen as a little light for a
pure online shooter. However at least the core modes are covered with
two others added for a little spice. The traditional online modes are
Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag. The spice is offered
in two modes one called Zones which a territory takeover type game and
the last mode is Dogfight which is a 32 player battle in the sky. If
you’re a regular to the online gaming world these modes will be
underwhelming at first, but they are actually enough to keep your
interest.
I would have liked to see a few more modes included in Warhawk, since
there isn't a single player component, however sometimes it’s good to go
back to the basics and get to the old school grab flag and run gaming.
If you're into the quickies then nothing beats a little deathmatch
battle and Warhawk has no trouble offering a few intense minutes of
multiplayer fragging madness.
One area where Warhawk starts to feel a little bland is connecting with
the player on an emotional level. There isn’t much to grasp here beside
shooting, jumping in a jet, and capturing a flag. The quick passed,
almost comical style of Warhawks animation doesn’t help either. The
graphics themselves look realistic concerning everything except the
players. The in game characters and glowing items and weapons really
hinder the overall effect of seriousness in Warhawk. I would have rather
had a more gritty game to match some of the cool weaponry like the heavy
rocking tanks and Warhawk fighters.
Taking from the original Warhawk, the real beauty of the new Warhawk is
the flying aspects. This is what defines Warhawk from the rest of the
crowd and keeps it interesting in the heat of battle. Aside all the
normal war machines, the Warhawk or Nemesis fighter is a fun diversion
and a strong asset on the battlefield. This fighter jet can be control
with traditional controls, or by using the Sixaxis tilt controls which
have to be enabled. Unlike, the confusion that was Lair, Warhawk is an
easier to control without the feeling of being overwhelmed or out of
control, but this is lent only to the air vehicle. The ground vehicles
will take a little more ractice and are unfortunately too hard to
control, I actually felt like I was a bull rider at the rodeo. I
recommend that gamers keep their patience and learn to fly the fighters
because it deepens the game experience making Warhawk a little more
original then the ground and pound offense. You'll know what I mean when
you're in the middle off attacking a ground based skirmish and then you
find yourself blind sided and brought into an intense dogfight, it's
moments like this that can leave you breathless.
Aside from learning to
deal with the Sixaxis controller, the general controls are solid and
fluid. Weapons can be selected by using the D-Pad and other actions like
vehicle positions are simple to learn. Since Incognito devoted all their
time to a multiplayer mode we have a top notch polished game that
integrates a lot of different factors into a smooth fun experience. One
of these factors is that no one has the advantage when you’re warped
into your spawn point. All you will have equipped is the knife, and the
pistol, which necessary isn’t a bad thing... I’ll get to that in a
moment. The skilled players will start to come out on top in one on one
battles, but it’s still possible for a loosing team to come back with
some crafty teamwork balancing defence with a strong offence line. Even
though Incognito tried to keep the game as balanced as possible I still
found a few issues that are hindering its perfection. Now, lets talk
about that knife.
The main unbalancing issue deals with the weapon side. Some might argue
the pistol is too powerful; however it’s apparent that all the power is
in the knife. The knife which is extremely over exaggerated is a poison
often killing players in one swipe. This makes the knife the most
powerful weapon in the game and when you factor in how fast your player
moves the unexpected and inexperienced can be easily dismantled. It’s
all fair in love and war they say, and everyone has the same advantage
it just seems the knife much more than it should be. I know the
development eam must have worked on balance issues for a long time given
their importance to the online gaming, so I’m sure they are concerned
and will balance little issues out over the length that Warhawk is
supported.
The levels in Warhawk are divided into 25 sections over 5 different
maps. The variations jump from large open battles to close quarters in a
city setting. The 5 main maps are Archipelago which is a group of
islands surrounding a castle. The Badlands a desert type setting. The
Destroyed Capitol which takes place in skyscrapers in the ruins of the
Eucadian capital along with Eucadia which is a mountainous land with
villages and the final map and popular Island Outpost a base vs. Base
setting. The maps can support up to 24 and 32 players on dedicated
servers, or 8 if you’re hosting on a normal ADSL connection. The battles
are the best when it’s insane and packed full of crazies. The more the
merrier applies to Warhawk.
Before I end this review, I wish Warhawk
had a few other features that are starting to become common practice
with multiplayer games. First off, Warhawk offers no instructional
training within the game, so you’re fighting blind for the first few
rounds until you figure the system out, this becomes more important when
you get behind the controls of the Warhawk fighter. Also Warhawk doesn’t
let you play against computer controlled bots. This would have helped
give the player the chance to learn the game and have some experience
before jumping into the competitive nature of online gaming. This is
just one downside that is a minor setback overall. All is forgiven after
a few runs, but the initial voyage into the battlefield could be
discouraging to new gamers especially if you’re up against gamers who
have been into Warhawk since the beta. In the end... it's still a damn
fun and entertaining blast! |
