Warhawk

"Online Battles Await - An In-Depth Warhawk Review"

Introduction

November 10, 1995 - WarHawk is released as a Single Player offline PsOne title and is generally well received by the public. It becomes a Greatest Hits title in March 3, 1997 and is left alone, in an undisturbed slumber for a whole generation: the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GCN era. During the time of its absence, many gamers such as myself were off playing popular games such as Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Final Fantasy X, Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, etc. as well as their later installments, not ever having known about the original WarHawk, and generally not being too interested in flight simulators anyway. The age of the PS2, Xbox, and GCN (the PS2's which has still to this day has not met an end) eventually diminishes with many people satisfied but also left in wonder. "What will the next generation of gaming be like? Will we be able to jump into our TV's, will our controllers hover in midair, will we still have to plug in our consoles to the wall?" As many of you know, these comments, some of them becoming theories, were all later disregarded and most of them forgotten as we were finally able to take a first step into the realm of the new generation.

Though unlike the first group of people who were able to do so, I was not one of them. In fact, I've only owned a PlayStation 3 Entertainment System for about a month now. And despite being new to what many still refer to as "the next-gen of gaming" even though it is technically the "current gen," I have learned the many ups and downs of being a PlayStation 3 gamer: Lack of games (though this drought will be over very soon) and the lacking of useful firmware updates (the lesser of two evils) being most, and possibly all the downs (for those who already owned one.)

Many people yearned through this drought, some still yearning now, for a game to be released that PS3 owners could brag about such as Xbox360's Gears of War/Bioshock or the upcoming Nintendo Wii's Super Smash Bros Brawl/Super Mario Galaxy. Factor Five's Lair was seen to be as what would become the savior for the PlayStation 3 and give owners something to brag about. The game was then released and was seen as a terrible let down by many. Many also felt the same (though on a much lesser scale) about Heavenly Sword, and thus people stopped paying attention. And though the newest incarnation of WarHawk, a now online-only game, had been released before the two titles on the 28th of August, 2007, it was not seen as a let-down like Lair was, and was seen by some (or even and quite possibly most) to be better than Heavenly Sword. Ladies and Gentlemen...having been one of the new PS3 owners who had not yet bought their first game for the system, instead waiting for this game to be released roughly two weeks later, I, Lionhart617 (MidNIGHTSpectre here on GameFaqs), will tell you of my online experiences with this game and how it was worth every penny of the $59.99 that I shelled out for it at release. Let the review begin.


The Review

First off, before even getting started on the actual contents within the game itself (just a second), let it be known that this game does NOT have to be purchased for $59.99. No, I'm not going to tell you about an offer that a store is having or anything, just going to point out a fact. The game's developer: Incognito Entertainment, gave PS3 owners the option of buying the retail version of WarHawk (sold in stores) for $59.99 (which includes a Bluetooth Headset, Headset charger, Headset manual, WarHawk game case, and WarHawk game Blu-Ray disc) OR of downloading this game on the free PlayStation Network for $39.99 (which obviously does not include a game box, Blu-Ray disc, or the Bluetooth headset,) and instead saves the game onto your PS3 Hard Disc Drive. Whether which version is better is entirely up to you as both versions are the 'exact' same game the only difference being that one has a headset and the disc, the other does not. There are ups and downs for both versions. Which one did I choose? Retail version. I needed a headset as I did not own one before.

Moving along to the actual game and nothing aside from that, there are many aspects of a video game in a review that need to be observed. The first one here...

The Graphics: (7.5/10) for HDTV. (7/10) for normal SDTV.

Not exactly the highlight of this game, but it does deliver pretty well. Explosions look realistic as you shoot a WarHawk/Nemesis (what we call the fighter jets in this game) down with your tank/turret in the air, or as you step on a mine and are sent flying upward, when you're blasting a tank into smithereens with an RPG or a grenade, etc. Clothing and armor is very realistic looking, an added bonus due to being able to customize your own character. All vehicles take real-time damage, their appearance changing according to the amount of damage it has taken. Flames appear on the vehicles once it gets close to exploding, etc. Though the graphics of this game are not anything special such as seen in games like Gears of War, MotorStorm, and popular upcoming PS3 games with superb graphics such as: Metal Gear Solid 4, Devil May Cry 4, Final Fantasy XIII, White Knight Story, etc. it's not bad enough to be have something to complain about. In fact, there's really nothing to complain about the graphics at all. They're still better than most current PS3 games on the graphical aspect, and most certainly better looking than anything the Wii could do (though graphics do not at all make the game, but a lot of people are expecting god quality realism since this is the next-generation of gaming.) Even the nut head High Definition extremists don't seem to be complaining saying things like "OMG JAGGIES I'M GOING TO DIE, HELP" and the like. Oh, and now that we're on the HD subject, obviously the PS3 doesn't require an HDTV for all or any of its games. I've played this game on an SDTV before (standard definition: as in your old mom's TV that you used to play your PSOne games on) and while it does not look the same and is not as detailed as an HDTV would make it look, it isn't unbearable like in games such as the text in Enchanted Arms (which is a bad game anyway.) Again, the graphics of this game give no one bragging rights, but they're good enough to feed your hunger for next-generation visuals. The graphics deliver enough for me to give it an 7.5/10 or 7/10. Now moving along into another aspect of the game...

The Sound: (9/10) for SD regular audio. (8/10) for Surround Sound.

Audio: Something that most people don't really care enough to brag about/notice the difference, when the differences are still actually there. "If I can hear something loud and not fuzzy, it's fine." Unlike the Nintendo Wii and the Xbox360, the standard Blu-Ray disc (any PS3 game) holds 25GB of data. A standard DVD9 (Xbox360 game) holds 8.5GB , and obviously has nowhere near 25GB of data. So taking this into account, what is all this extra space on Blu-Ray used for? Well, to be quite honest, not all of the games use Blu-Ray to its full potential. Such as "StrangleHold" (a decent game) that uses the Blu-Ray space on their collector's edition to also include an actual movie into the same disc that has the game in it. Though that doesn't mean that other PS3 games have a bad use for it, though some uses are better than others. WarHawk does not take advantage of the Blu-Ray disc space at all seeing as how you can download it on the PSN for 800MB. This game also, on technological standards, more than likely could have been put on the 360 (aside from things like the amount of players in a game at the same time which far exceeds the number that 360 could do) so that also serves as a reminder that this game doesn't use Blu-Ray to its advantage (though not a bad thing since most people don't have surround sound anyway, which is what most of the Blu-Ray space is being used on right now - Uncompressed Audio.) But aside from that and getting to the main point at hand, WarHawk's audio is just like the graphics. Not anything special, but not bad either. I have had no problem with the audio as everything sounds mostly as it is supposed to sound (especially when you're driving a jeep, maneuvering a tank, or flying a WarHawk/using a turret) yet also low enough to not wake up mom and dad. The only gripes I have with the sound is how the handgun bullets sound (a decent noise though) since they sound more like you're shooting plastic ammo rather than a real "POW!" going into your enemy's brain. The grenades also have this problem of sounding too "quiet" but again, the sound isn't a big thing in this game because I'm sure most people don't say things like "CRAP! I THREW A GRENADE AND IT SOUNDED UNREALISTIC!!!!! ARGHHH!!!!!! ...Oh, look I died." so sound isn't a big thing in this game in my book. In a standard technological aspect (as I'm not a sound geek/perfectionist, even though I do have surround sound) I give the game's audio a 9/10. As for surround sound, I'd give it an 8/10 (still not bad.) What WarHawk does is, despite being highly compressed, uncompresses data whenever it is needed. That is possibly why the bullets and grenades sound so bad. Not a big deal though. Moving along...

The Game Play: (8.5/10)

The sole reason why you chose to read this review, or any other review in the past: The Game Play. "Does this game suck?" "Is this game worth $39.99?" My answer? Yes. In the mere 800MB of data that this game holds, you have the ability to create your own personal character (you won't have 'too' many options in the beginning, but as you go up in rank, winning more medals and ribbons along the way, more customization of clothes that your character wears/insignias that you can place and color on your jet/character, the face that your character has, the cool paint on your WarHawk, will be made available for you to choose.) Game modes that are included in this game are Capture the Flag (where you make it to your enemy's base, retrieve their flag, and bring it back to your base for a whopping handful of points,) Team Death match (kill the other team members, alongside your teammates, as many times as you can in a variety of different ways on the ground or in the air,) Death match (every man for himself, on the ground or in the air,) and Zones (capture as many neutral bases around the map as you can, whether you find new bases and take them as your own or take back from your opponents what was once yours.) These game modes may seem very simplistic, but truth is that thing are not that easy. ALL of the maps are loaded with numerous amounts of vehicles (scattered all over the place, not just in your base,) weapons, hiding spots for you to snipe with, turrets, bases, etc. to allow for more than 1000's of different ways that your round can pass by. Many unexpected things can happen in a simple game of WarHawk. You might be trying to snipe people and then someone runs up and kills you from the back with their combat knife, you might be trying to fend off 4-5 or MORE jets at the same time with a single tank, might get chased around for miles in your jeep by another jeep with a friend in the backseat, shooting you along the way. Many things can happen in this game. There is no surefire way to know who you will face, how good they will be, what their tactics are (whether they be good or bad) and how the whole game will pass by. WarHawk allows a maximum of 32 players to be in the same game simultaneously, which is 32 different people with different motives, different skills, and different tactics. This game is so unpredictable that sometimes your own team mate will try and stop you from reaching your team's goal. Ultimately, aside from completing the main objective of the game you are in, the main thing you have to do is to gain as many team points/combat points as you can in the safest most surefire way, in order to gain more ribbons, more medals, and go up in rank (which again, allows you to further customize your character or WarHawk.) Don't forget that there's also an 85% chance that downloadable content (whatever it may be) will be made available on the PlayStation Network, as has happened with most games, even some that aren't online such as Ninja Gaiden: Sigma.

"Okay, okay. So the game play blows your socks off. What about the story?"

The Story: (10/10)

Hands down the BEST thing about the story in this game is that you, as for some reason feared by well-known reviewers from GameSpot, etc. get to make your OWN. If your friend tells you: "Man, this RPG has such an AWESOME story! ..How about that game WarHawk? Is the story in that game any good?" you will not have just one story to tell, but a THOUSAND OR MORE stories to tell. You can tell him stories of an opponent stealing the flag from your base, your teammate shooting RPG's at jets above you in the tank while you maneuver it and shoot from the turret, your mean intention to destroy your team mates by shooting homing missiles at them/running them over, your heroic flag captures in the jeep after being pursued by 4 jets and a tank, and much more. (10/10) (Note that the game has no single player mode, and therefore, no "true" Story mode. Though this does not fail to please people at all, as noted in other reviews in this website.)

Conclusion - The End of the Review

As said before, with 32 simultaneous players online and up to 4 which you can bring with spare controllers from home, you can't go wrong. Despite this game being online only and there being no single player mode, it does not at all fail to deliver, especially if you bought the identical but cheaper $39.99 version. 32 people, 32 minds, 32 side-objectives, 32 ways of getting to the main objective. Also, if you buy the retail version of WarHawk, you get the Jabra B125 Bluetooth headset which is very easy to use, lasts 6 hours of talking time, and which you can use to communicate with your team mates to plan tactics and overall act as one. WarHawk may not be Metal Gear Solid 4, Resident Evil 5, or Super Smash Bros Brawl quality material, but it is certainly something out there that you should NOT miss out on. WarHawk was my first next-generation game. It did not fail to live up to its name.

Graphics: (7.5/10) - Not a bad score at all. Fairly decent. Not the highlight of the game. - Good

Audio: (9/10) for SD Regular Audio. (8/10) for Surround Sound - Good.

Game Play: (8.5/10) - Wonderful

Story: (10/10) - This game really doesn't have a story. No single player mode.

Overall: (8/10) Not a bad score at all. If this was the last game coming to the PlayStation 3, then I'd give it a 9/10. I'm only giving it an 8 because games like Metal Gear Solid 4, Ratchet and Clank Future, Resident Evil 5, Final Fantasy XIII, and Devil May Cry 4 possibly deserve the 9 or the 10 in the future. This game delivers well for the time in which it was released, there are hardly any complaints, and you don't even have to go to the store to get it. Go buy this game NOW. Thank You for reading my review.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/02/07

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