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Try and catch me if you can!
September 4, 2007 | 9:29 PM PSTAMN's Review Policy: Our reviews are written for you. Our goal is to write honest, to-the-point reviews that don't waste your time. This is why we've split our reviews into four sections: What the Game's About, What's Hot, What's Not and Final Word, so that you can easily find the information you want from our reviews.
What the Game's About
Warhawk is a re-visioning of an old PlayStation 1 game. Next-gen gamers will be familiar with the title because of the infamous development process the PS3 game went through. When news first broke that single player was scrapped, the internet turned on its collective head. Fears were put to ease once the beta test, partly seen as an attempt to steal attention to the Halo 3 beta test at the same time, was announced and gamers were able to put the power flying war machines in their hands, quite literally. Warhawk was the first game to show off the SIXAXIS controller when it was unveiled to the world at E3 a few years ago. With a positive aura surrounding the game after the beta, does the final build of the game stack up with the hype?
What’s Hot
Let’s cut right to the chase: Warhawk is fun, entertaining, inspiring, stylish, polished, and eye-catching. That’s just about everything you want in a game. Finding an online game is quick and painless. The easy to use interface will be a dream-come-true for old PC blowhards. As you ping a game and join the fray, action starts in the blink of an eye. You start off on foot with no more than a knife, pistol, and a handful of grenades. You make a mad dash to upgrade your gear and dodge flak from all kinds of vehicles. The primal instinct of survival will kick in and grip you to play more.
Learning to master the vehicles is going to determine how long you last in battle. Thankfully, the balance between the ground and air based modes of transportation is remarkably fine tuned. Never once did I feel the one weapon, turret, or vehicle had an overriding advantage.
Not only were the tools of destruction balanced, the controls were equally as polished. Using either the analogue sticks or the SIXAXIS motion controls you take the fight to the enemy team. There is a consistent stock of vehicles to commandeer so if you have a plan, you won’t be stopped by pesky respawn times, unless your teammates have the same idea at the same time. If you aren’t keen on the SIXAXIS motion controls, you can opt out of them at any time, on the fly.
Visuals are excellent. For the amount of “stuff” that happens on screen at once. Explosions, bullets, insane draw distances, and something to look at every second all happen without lag. Thanks, in part, to the ping display so you know what games will give you best connection and smart, talented developers.
If you get the retail version, you’ll be happy to know the Jabra Bluetooth headset is a nice pack-in to justify the standard Blu-ray pricing. If you already have a headset, you can skip it and download it from the PSN for a $20 discount for the same game.
What’s Not
The biggest flaw in Warhawk is actually minor. The multiplayer only nature of the game will determine the fate of the game. Without a mode where you can play solo versus bots is not ideal at all. Currently, it is not a problem due to servers telling you they are all full but down the road game could turn into a ghost town if the community doesn’t stay.
Another area where Warhawk could be improved is the limited map count. There is a nice selection and each map can be zoned off (to feel like a new map for different game types) but the themes are the same. More than likely, new maps will show up on the PlayStation Store at a fee as an add-on pack.
At times, you’ll feel like there is too much going on. Warhawk’s control straddles the line between being complex and over-the-top-need-a-third-arm complex. With SIXAXIS control switched on, you have to really concentrate on what buttons to press when.
Final Word
Warhawk really shaped up nicely. With a tumultuous growing up, the kid turned into a fine young man. Warhawk is not groundbreaking, the developers will admit that, but what is there is the best of the best. Each facet of the game is so polished you can see your reflection. Battles are intense and you actually will get the feel for being in a war zone on a large and small scale. Warhawk if a fine showpiece to test the rough digital distribution waters with.
What the Game's About
Warhawk is a re-visioning of an old PlayStation 1 game. Next-gen gamers will be familiar with the title because of the infamous development process the PS3 game went through. When news first broke that single player was scrapped, the internet turned on its collective head. Fears were put to ease once the beta test, partly seen as an attempt to steal attention to the Halo 3 beta test at the same time, was announced and gamers were able to put the power flying war machines in their hands, quite literally. Warhawk was the first game to show off the SIXAXIS controller when it was unveiled to the world at E3 a few years ago. With a positive aura surrounding the game after the beta, does the final build of the game stack up with the hype?
What’s Hot
Let’s cut right to the chase: Warhawk is fun, entertaining, inspiring, stylish, polished, and eye-catching. That’s just about everything you want in a game. Finding an online game is quick and painless. The easy to use interface will be a dream-come-true for old PC blowhards. As you ping a game and join the fray, action starts in the blink of an eye. You start off on foot with no more than a knife, pistol, and a handful of grenades. You make a mad dash to upgrade your gear and dodge flak from all kinds of vehicles. The primal instinct of survival will kick in and grip you to play more.
Learning to master the vehicles is going to determine how long you last in battle. Thankfully, the balance between the ground and air based modes of transportation is remarkably fine tuned. Never once did I feel the one weapon, turret, or vehicle had an overriding advantage.
Not only were the tools of destruction balanced, the controls were equally as polished. Using either the analogue sticks or the SIXAXIS motion controls you take the fight to the enemy team. There is a consistent stock of vehicles to commandeer so if you have a plan, you won’t be stopped by pesky respawn times, unless your teammates have the same idea at the same time. If you aren’t keen on the SIXAXIS motion controls, you can opt out of them at any time, on the fly.
Visuals are excellent. For the amount of “stuff” that happens on screen at once. Explosions, bullets, insane draw distances, and something to look at every second all happen without lag. Thanks, in part, to the ping display so you know what games will give you best connection and smart, talented developers.
If you get the retail version, you’ll be happy to know the Jabra Bluetooth headset is a nice pack-in to justify the standard Blu-ray pricing. If you already have a headset, you can skip it and download it from the PSN for a $20 discount for the same game.
What’s Not
The biggest flaw in Warhawk is actually minor. The multiplayer only nature of the game will determine the fate of the game. Without a mode where you can play solo versus bots is not ideal at all. Currently, it is not a problem due to servers telling you they are all full but down the road game could turn into a ghost town if the community doesn’t stay.
Another area where Warhawk could be improved is the limited map count. There is a nice selection and each map can be zoned off (to feel like a new map for different game types) but the themes are the same. More than likely, new maps will show up on the PlayStation Store at a fee as an add-on pack.
At times, you’ll feel like there is too much going on. Warhawk’s control straddles the line between being complex and over-the-top-need-a-third-arm complex. With SIXAXIS control switched on, you have to really concentrate on what buttons to press when.
Final Word
Warhawk really shaped up nicely. With a tumultuous growing up, the kid turned into a fine young man. Warhawk is not groundbreaking, the developers will admit that, but what is there is the best of the best. Each facet of the game is so polished you can see your reflection. Battles are intense and you actually will get the feel for being in a war zone on a large and small scale. Warhawk if a fine showpiece to test the rough digital distribution waters with.
November 20, 2009
