Warhawk

"A very fun game, despite its many flaws."

Let's face it. This generation of gaming is defined by the shooter. And here we have yet another one to add into the already plentiful genre. It's a third person shooter-both on the air and on the ground. It's online multiplayer only. There is no campaign. Some may think the lack of a campaign is somewhat detrimental to the experience, while others may not. So, given this quick overview, how does the game stand up to all of the other shooters out there?

The gameplay is relatively simple to understand. On the ground, you'll be able to choose from a wide range of weapons (rifles, grenades, flamethrowers, RPGs to name a few) and vehicles (jeeps, tanks, turrets to name a few) to engage in warfare. In the air, you'll be able to choose from swarm missiles, homing missiles, and a pilot's favorite, the TOW missile. You can either fight on the ground, or dogfight and take out ground troops in the air. This remains the game throughout the games six modes. Capture the Flag should be pretty obvious to anyone; it's standard stuff here. Collection is like Capture the Flag, but you collect "cores" to score points for you team, The more you cash in at once, the higher your score will be. Hero mode revolves around the team's "Hero" as he gets points for the team. Every minute, a new hero is revealed (unless he gets killed of course). The Hero gets a ridiculous damage boost, and it'll probably be your best minute in the game. Death Match pits everyone against each other in a free for all ground troop showdown. Team Deathmatch should be pretty obvious to anyone who's played a shooter; nothing has changed here. Kill and score. Zones is my personal favorite. Each "zone" (we like to use "base" in game) can be expanded to level 3, widening your team's circle on the map. Your team gets points over time in this mode. When you look at your map, you'll see colored circles surrounding the zones. The larger the colored circles, the faster your team generates points. It's my personal favorite because it does the balancing act quite nicely (at least moreso than other modes; balance will be discussed later). As for my personal worst...hard to say really. I like all the modes, so it's hard to pick a duffer.

Another aspect of the gameplay is the rank up system. You need a certain number of points (which come from teamwork and combat) as well as certain awards to rank up. Some are easy, others not so much. Ranking up merely gives you (and takes away) access to servers as well as new paint jobs for your character and vehicle.

As I mentioned earlier, the game is online only. There are three servers you can join. Official servers, player servers, and dedicated ranked servers. Official servers are always ranked and run by Sony. Player servers are unranked and run by people. Dedicated ranked servers are player servers that are ranked. This leads me into one of the MAJOR flaws of the game. In a player or dedicated ranked server, the host can kick anyone, anytime, for any reason. Hosts can get themselves tons of points this way (thankfully this is illegal and you'll probably get your stats wiped for doing this). Unfortunately this destroys the credibility of the leaderboards. The game loses major points here. The positive here is that the online is lag free, even in Japanese servers.

The balance is where this game also loses some points. The game is broken towards good pilots. A good ground troop can come prepared with every weapon in the book with good knowledge of their use, and still get OHKOed by a pilot. Two or three great pilots on a 16-man team can carry an entire team on their back. In any of the modes, air power decides the game. Don't like flying? Too bad, you're going to have to if you want to stand a chance. Lovin' killing in your tank. Me too. But guess what. Being a good tank driver/ground troop means next to nothing when matched with being a good pilot. A good pilot is going to rip a tank to pieces. That TOW missile that pilots get can OHKO almost anything in the game. A pilot's other weapons can be DEADLY in the right hands when attacking the ground. A great pilot can dodge anything and everything. But, despite this,there is water for every fire. No strategy is unbeatable, which is what makes this game shine.

Being an online only game, the community must be reviewed. Unfortunately, it's not very good. Most people aren't very nice. It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Lots of four letter words are said over mics. There's always the mute button, but teamwork is key to winning in this game. Teamwork isn't always used. Time and time again you'll be stuck with a team of base campers and/or lone wolves. Not the way to win, guys. The primary fault here goes to the lack of a campaign mode, as you'll only get a training mode. You'll have to practice on unranked servers in order to learn how to use your weapons well. With a campaign mode, at least you could have some sense of strategy before diving in. Warhawk does a poor job fostering a good community, which really is quite a shame.

Graphically, the game shines. Everything is spot on perfect. No interference with the gameplay or anything. It really is a thing of beauty; a work of art.

The replay value is absolutely amazing. I always find myself coming back to this game when I don't feel like playing anything else. Who doesn't love a good old virtual war when you're bored? It just doesn't seem to tire.

Overall, this is one of the superiors on the PS3, despite the many major flaws. For a lot of people, it's either a love it or hate it type of game. So, to sum it all up in my obligatory pros and cons list:

+Amazing gameplay
+Excellent replay value
+Great graphics
+Lag free online

-Poor community
-Balancing issues
-No campaign mode; you jump right in with no prior knowledge

So, buy it or rent it? Rent it. And if you love it, buy it. Keep in mind it's not for everyone.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/25/09

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