Warhawk

"The Best Online Gaming on any Console"

Warhawk is a multiplayer only title developed by Incognito exclusively for the Playstation 3 platform. The game plays very similar to that of the highly popular PC series Battlefield, with a few differences I will address later.

The game was released with two different versions as well: One being a Playstation network only version priced at $40, the other a Blu-Ray disc version priced at $60.

The Blu-Ray version has a number of advantages over the PSN version. For one, the retail version comes packed with a Blu-Tooth headset and a manual. The headset is of pretty high quality and can keep its charge for quite a while; this is a great buy for those who do not yet own a headset.

Secondly, the BD version comes with some bonus videos. There are a few gameplay trailers and a "Making Of" Warhawk video. None of these are really worth it since all the Trailers are downloadable via internet or PSN, and I'm sure the Warhawk video has already been uploaded for view online, as they seem to talk about the game as if it hasn't been released yet. In a nutshell, there aren't any exclusive videos on the Blu-Ray version.

Finally, and most importantly, the retail version allows the player to use multiple PSN IDs . Many players have multiple users in one household. If you were to purchase Warhawk over the PSN, you're suckered into playing the game on a single PSN ID (As of this review, though it's doubtful this will be changed in the future). It wouldn't be much fun sharing an account with a ten year old only to have him completely screw over your rank. There was a lot of griping in the community about this, though I've been told it is plainly stated when purchasing the game over the PSN that the game is tied to one account.

Now that our introduction is finished, I'll get to the meat of the review.

Graphics: 9/10

Warhawk does a fantastic job in this department. Granted, this game is not the best looking game you'll ever see. It's not even close. However, considering the large scale of battles in this game, and the fact that it'd be perfectly possible to have 31 other individuals on one screen without a single dip in framerate, the graphics are pretty damn impressive.

All player models look adequate and there is a huge scale of customization options available making your character look unique.

Gun models go very well with the characters. I've not noticed any issues with characters holding weapons. They seem to fit the character models perfectly. The player runs with his rifle in front of him, and his RPG on his shoulder with absolutely no clipping.

Warhawks, tanks, and jeeps fit into the landscape perfectly. None of these vehicles seems out of place, and are absolutely equal in quality to the player models providing graphical consistency throughout the game.

There's not one model that seems to be extremely well done and another that looks like mush. Everything in the game seems to be on the same graphical level.

Environmentally the game is on par with the character models. The textures, again, are adequate and flow well with those on the players, ground vehicles, and Warhawks. The trees look nice and fit the environment well. The water looks decent and is not at all out of place.

One of my favorite things are the clouds in the sky. They look very good, and I've gotten myself lost in them a couple of times while flying. It's even possible to drop off a mine in the middle of a cloud, concealing it from the enemy, or perhaps to just use the cloud for visual cover.

Another nice effect is the explosions of vehicles and Warhawks. The vehicles will start to smoke, and eventually blow up causing debris to fly everywhere. Afterwards, you'll see a black frame that is still burning and giving off smoke adding a nice tough. Warhawks, when destroyed, simply blow up into multiple pieces. They look a bit like fireworks, though the effect adds quite a bit of immersion.

The most impressive feat of Warhawk is the draw distance. It's quite possible to snipe someone from what's probably a mile away. It's easy to spot health pickups, weapons, and enemies from across the map.

Overall, you won't have your jaw dropping with the effects from Warhawk, but you'll find that they are adequate, and you'll be more than pleased with the consistent framerates and huge draw distances. With the high quality explosions and all the action going on, the graphics will definitely have you feeling like you're in an all-out warzone.

Sound: 9/10

The explosions, the guns, the planes, everything. It's all great. I don't know what I can say here. There's no music other than that on the title screen, and all the sounds are aesthetically pleasing.

Why do I knock off a point, you ask? The VOIP (Voice over IP AKA Mic) quality. It's simply horrid. Half the time you can't make out a single word your teammates are saying, the other half, the mic is all scrambled.

This is not due to the headset supplied. The voice even sounds terrible and is completely inaudible over the TV speakers. As a matter of fact, I've started wondering why I even use the headset. I can't understand anyone, and I'd be surprised if anyone understands me.

I am firmly hoping future patches will increase the quality of the VOIP, because right now it's simply horrid.

Gameplay 10/10

The meat of the review: The gameplay.

As I've said, this game plays a lot like the Battlefield series. However, Warhawk strays away from any sort of realism, and is completely focused on making the game fun and balanced, no matter what your preferences are.

If you prefer riding in tanks, you can do it. However, a skilled Warhawk pilot could take you out, or even infantry armed with mines, grenades, or an RPG pose a threat as well. But, at the same time, a quick tank driver poses a threat to both the Warhawks and infantry, and is capable of taking them out with a single shell.

If you prefer flying Warhawks, there are plenty to go around. However, keep an eye out for tanks, infantry armed with RPGs or sniper rifles, and the ever so deadly anti-aircraft guns coming in two flavors: The flak cannon and the plain old rocket launcher version. But, again, a skilled Warhawk pilot has a chance of destroying all of these, including the AA guns.

Warhawks also have quite an arsenal at their disposal. Every Warhawk is equipped with a machine gun. This machine gun has infinite ammo, but if the gun is fired for too long, the machine guns overheat and the pilot cannot fire for a few seconds. Optimally, it's best to fire just until the gun overheats as it takes longer for the gun to cool down after completely overheating. The MG is the Warhawk's bread and butter, and the other weapons are only used in conjunction with the MG.

The Warhawk has eight different options for the secondary weapon. Every Warhawk automatically comes equipped with five swarm missiles and one chaff.

The swarm missiles are your basic missiles, and you may lock on up to five swarm missiles at one time. These missiles, while the most widely used, are highly inaccurate and easily dodged by the enemy. It's imperative to be very close to the enemy when letting these guys off.

There's also the chaff, which is simply something one deploys to lose missile lock-ons, possibly saving one's life. Used correctly, one can even land inside the enemy's base, completely avoiding AA guns.

The Warhawk has as many weapons as infantry soldiers do, showing the emphasis on the plane. They all vary and have their own strengths, such as the homing missiles, which are extremely effective against other Warhawks, and very powerful against ground troops. It's easily the most versitile vehicle in the game. The Warhawk is only weak against AA guns, which is understandable. But tanks, infantry, and jeeps are all vulnerable against a good Warhawk pilot.

If you enjoy running on foot you can do that as well. As you've already noticed, the average soldier has quite an arsenal at his disposal. He's capable of taking out any vehicle by himself, provided he has the resources available. The infantry has your generic weapons available: Rifle, pistol, mines, RPG, sniper rifle, etc.

Infantry also have the option of using anti aircraft guns and machine gun emplacements. The AA guns are simply deadly, and are the best defense against Warhawk attacks. AA guns can also be used against ground troops, but are not very effective.

The only vehicle that gets no love (Offensively) is the Jeep. It's the fastest ground vehicle, but has virtually no offense. The MG on the back is rather useless, even against infantry, though it can pierce tank armor. However, the Jeep has the ability to hold three people, and is fast enough to run from a tank making it the best transportation vehicle. It's extremely useful when capturing points or flags.

What really sets Warhawk apart from other online games is the balance. This is, plainly put, the most balanced multiplayer game ever. Whether flying, riding, or walking, it doesn't matter, you always have a chance to kill or be killed. This title has some amazing gameplay, and allows you to play whatever you're in the mood for.



The game can be played in four different flavors as well.

The first, of course, is team deathmatch. It's pretty self explanatory. It's you and up to fifteen teammates against the opposing team of sixteen other players. The game basically revolves around capturing various points around the map. When a point is captured, your team has a larger number of vehicles and weapons available, since there's basically a jeep, tank, and Warhawk at every spawn point, and it allows you to spawn closer to the enemy base.

The second is plain old CTF. Capture the flag is basically identical to team deathmatch with one exception: You guessed it - The enemy has a flag at their base that you must attempt to capture, while simultaneously defending your own flag.

The third is just deathmatch. Deathmatch is fun on occasion, but after playing deathmatch for a few minutes, you'll realize that Warhawk is largely based on team-based gameplay. The deathmatch just plain doesn't feel right. Still, it's nice to have the mode there when you're in the mood for a ridiculous amount of mayhem.

Finally, my favorite: Zones. Zones plays identically to team deathmatch. However, instead of frags giving your team points, it's holding zones instead. Zones have three levels available, and the higher the level of your zone, the more points your team accumulates. While in team deathmatch it's not one-hundred percent necessary to capture points, in zones, that's the name of the game.



Conclusion:

Warhawk is, bar none, the best game released on the PS3 platform to date, and is easily the best multiplayer game released within the past few years. This is a game every PS3 owner should have, as it provides incredible replayability and an unparallelled feeling of placing the player in an actual chaotic battlefield. While not perfect, this game comes close, and will be patched in the future hopefully correcting minor issues. This game is easily a...

9/10

Not perfect, but very close.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/17/07

Game Release: Warhawk (US, 08/28/07)