Warhawk

""Come on. Spawn binoculars!""

I can summon up the Warhawk experience in one word: addictive! If you go into a server with 32 people in a deathmatch, its mayhem. You won't be putting down your controller until you've killed that turret gunner or shot down that nemesis (a jet in the game) with your swarm missiles. There's a whole array of things in this online experience. So lets get to persuading to buy it

Graphics 8/10
Yes it looks a bit cartoonish (just the ground troops) but the rest looks pretty good. The planes look really detailed (especially if you're checking it out in customization), explosions look great, and environment is on the up-low. You wish you could play this game at nighttime but too bad, no map like that. The graphics aren't the strongest point but they shouldn't make you rip out your eyes and eat them (if that's what you're getting at)

Gameplay 10/10
This is where the game shines. The weapons are pretty sick like these binoculars (remember the title?) that emit a green glow until it targets something. Nothing happens until 2 seconds later, the place/person/vehicle is blown up by a huge explosion. It's fun watching the troops going flying. Another great weapon is the knife, which takes you off the radar and can kill a troop in one swipe. But the weapons isn't even the best part. The vehicles are. There's nothing like jumping into a tank only to be blown by a Warhawk electrocuting you. The dogfights with the planes are superb. You're following someone, trying to lock on the plane with your missile, when they drop a mine in the clouds and blow you up. Sum it up in one word: crazy. Also 32 player deathmatch are to DIE for (pun intended).

Controls 9/10
Pretty solid except it takes a while to get used to the plane controls. For troop, simple. R1 shoot, O is crouch, X jump, d-pad switch weapon, and R3 zoom. Vehicle is R2 accelerate and L2 reverse.

Audio 8/10
Nothing superb except the title screen one. I was humming that while walking down the street (people looked at me) But the sound effects are pretty good. You can hear the explosions, the planes humming, knife sounding, soldier groaning, fire fueling(?) out, and gunshots all easily.

Story 0/10
There is no story. Just a classic blue vs red, up vs down, ps3 vs 360 story. Two random races that have different planes and costumes.

Navigation 9/10
Everything is really simple to find out. Shows a trophy for ranked, X on the trophy for unranked. DM for deathmatch, TDM for team deathmatch, CTF for capture the flag, and ZNS for zones (some weird mode that I don't know about yet but assumes is splendid.)

Having a friend over and kicking his ass with other people online on the same tv 10/10

Having split screen in the same multiplayer really makes a difference. You can "team up" together in deathmatch only to betray him when his back is turned and suffer a repeated punch to the arm. You can have up to 4 people (only did it with 2) playing on the same server on the same tv. Doesn't that sound great? I wonder how 3 people split screen would look like.

Overall 9/10
This game is a blast and will keep being a blast until you're just tired of playing (I guess) but that won't happen for a long time. The title screen music is fun to hum in the shower, the binoculars are cool for blowing up people who want to just camp, and for knocking down people who want to be knocked down a building.

Buy or rent
BUY IT (It is only $40 dollars man)

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/03/08

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