Warhawk

"Raises the bar for online combat, but not enough"

Brief Preface: As a general rule of thumb like most reviewers, I do not give out a "10" score under any circumstances. So for this review, a "9" signifies the highest possible score in any particular area.

Initially, I was wary of Warhawk when I had first gotten wind of it. It looked to me, comparable in many regards to a similar online combat series already available on the PC, the Battlefield games. After constant coercion I decided play it and see what all the hype was about.
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Audio:

Upon joining a game for the first time I was greeted to the booming roar of a low flying Nemesis fighter passing over me. Even though I do not possess 5.1 surround sound, I could clearly hear the effect pass over my character and it did not feel out of place in the slightest; although one wonders how much five channel sound plays an advantage in combat.

Now, while the sound effects and cues are very well done, Warhawk could do with a few more ambient noises and subtle nuances like strong whistling winds or heavy breathing which would greatly magnify it's immersive factor.

Voice chat and communication for the game, however, is simply "smooth as butter". Once you get the supplied headset (not from the downloadable version) it takes no time at all to set it up and charge it. From there, you can coordinate various strategies with your teammates all the while hearing them respond crystal clear. A much welcomed addition is the small speaker icon next to a name to denote when they are communicating over voice.
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Positional Cues/General FX: 8 (-1 for uncertainty in regards to 5.1+ channel advantage)
Nuances: 7
Voice support: 9
Total Score: 8/10
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Graphics:

The graphics of Warhawk are a mixed bag. On the one hand, the player experiences great fluidity and a smooth framerate while maneuvering on land or air, and the explosion and lighting spectacles are just as epic and engaging as the sound effects. However, the individual vehicle and player textures are just not as detailed as they have the potential to be, from observing other PS3 titles.

In addition, the environmental colours on many levels seem somewhat drab and washed out. One has to assume, however, that this may be due to the inherent design and creative intent of the worlds.
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Explosions, lighting effects, oh my!: 9
Fluidity, overall frame rate: 9
Vehicle and player textures: 7
Total Score: 8/10
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Controls:

Considered as three different entities in the Warhawk domain, the vehicle, player and anti-air control schemes are all similar in their execution however take various amounts of practice and skill to become adept with.

Controlling a Warhawk or Nemesis aircraft with any semblance of skill takes arguably the most time and commitment, and can be frustrating at first for new players. Once the controls are learned reasonably well though, the planes themselves do not require much effort to steer and maneuver, and the semi-auto aiming system makes launching aerial munitions almost trivial.

The anti-air mannable stations in the game are relatively straightforward, and feature the same semi-auto aiming system as the flyers and players which turns your reticule red if you are in range of an enemy.

The player controls can be somewhat awkward if the user is not familiar with moving with one analog stick and turning the camera with the other. Even with the semi-auto aiming system, targeting and shooting another player is at times frustrating with a non-automatic weapon. Otherwise, player combat is pretty simple in terms of sheer required controller actions.
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Player control scheme: 8/10
Anti-air control scheme: 9/10
Flight control scheme: 8/10
Total Score: 8/10
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Online Infrastructure:

Warhawk features all of the typical amenities of a game of its type; clan feature, buddy lists, a rank, player stats and special awards pages, and a server browser with a healthy variety of game types.

If one joins a low ping game and has a decent internet connection, there is little to no noticable lag or slowness, and the levels load rapidly. Warhawk supports up to 32 players per game and there is hope that this feature can be updated in the future to accomodate more, possibly 64.

Split screen multiplayer is of course useful when you have physical players over, however since the game was released without single player in the first place this feature is in lieu of non-online split screen, so the reviewer does not consider it particularly unique.

One feature that the reviewer feels should not have been overlooked is a type of "Quick Action/Quick Start Game" function for when you want a no fuss headfirst foray into combat. The initializing stage and navigating the server browser to find a game takes a bit of time, and there is no way to stop a server list refresh in progress
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Lag/Slowdown: 9/10 (score assumes a low-ping, 100ms or under game is played)
Communication/Server Features: 8/10
Other Features (split screen, etc.): 7/10
Total Score: 8/10
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Gameplay and Replayability:

Warhawk's general gameplay in the air is invigorating and full of suspense, action, excitement and satisfaction, especially when you blow someone up! The dogfights have not ceased to amaze yet and there is always some new tactic you can learn yourself to become better skilled and have more fun.

On ground however, this reviewer feels the infantry gameplay is somewhat dry and dull compared to aerial, and lacks a certain display of depth when it comes to planning infantry attacks and full-scale assaults. It seems Warhawk is somewhat confused; the infantry movements are too goofy and "cartoonish" to seem tactical, and the action too arcade-like (fast paced, run and gun) When I'm playing my infantry man on the ground and an enemy approaches and starts dancing around me with his flamethrower, it feels more like a twitch-response game of 3rd person Counter-Strike or Unreal Tournament.

However, this reviewer does realize that there has to be a reasonable level of overall action and engagement especially when the game is more or less designed to be pick up and play.

On to maps; Warhawk has various battlefields which feature numerous physical structures, landmarks and obstacles which can factor in to a team's strategy. However, unless additions are given within the game's lifespan, I cannot see myself wanting to continue to play the same maps or see the same weapons and vehicles constantly over and over.

On the whole the maps are big in scope but lack depth; specifically the inclusion of ambush areas and remote locations where a team can regroup.

Furthermore, with the clear advantage air has over ground in some of the maps, players in pick up games are tempted to sit in an aircraft for the whole duration and not utilize many ground features or engage in ground combat.
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Air Gameplay: 9/10
Ground/Infantry Gameplay: 6/10
Map Design/Features: 7/10
Overall Fun Factor: 9/10
Replayability (thus far): 9/10
Total Score: 8/10
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Conclusion:

On the whole, Warhawk is a game highly worthy of being a PS3 title. It's execution is flawless, but its concept flawed. Does it want to be a tactical online air combat simulation, a pick up and play combat arcade game, or somewhere in between? The game tries to blur the lines and appeal to the vast majority of gamers but lacks key elements which prevent it from having a great balance of both.

It has certainly, in this reviewer's eyes, raised the bar for any future console games of it's type. However there is still much more potential and vision yet to be realized.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/30/07