PS3 Informer

Warhawk Review

In what was supposed to be a remake of a flight game using a sixaxis controller and HD graphics, Warhawk has come a very long way since it’s reintroduction at E3 2005. First unveiled as a remake to the semi-popular PS1 title, the single player version was scrapped because it wasn’t up to par. Thankfully, the mutliplayer aspect more than makes up for this.

Guns, vehicles and warhawks are all great. Each one has its strengths and weaknesses making it less of a game of rock-paper-scissors and more of a game of strategy, weapon skills and a little luck. In essence, it evens the playing field and makes it feel more like a real war. (Without the bummer side-effect of really dying.) A person on the ground can take out a jeep, tank and warhawk with relative ease with the rocket launcher, mines or some good grenade throwing, but can also be taken out fairly quickly from the jeep’s 4x4, the tank’s gun or the warhawk’s missile. Also, the maps are littered with 4x4s (similar to the ones equipped on the jeeps) flak cannons and anti-air missiles, allowing a person to play defensively if they so please.

There are 5 modes of play in Warhawk. There’s the standard Death match, Team Death match and Capture the Flag, a king-of-the-hill-esque Zones mode where controlling a zone nets your team a certain amount of points at regular intervals and Dogfights where it’s a free-for-all fight with warhawks. There are ranked and unranked servers online. Ranks allows you to gain levels and medals (with the promise of trophies when Home launches) but doesn’t allow for split-screen play. Unranked allows 3 of your friends (or paid servants) to jump in on the action via split-screen but without the added benefit of ranking up and gaining medals.

Though all this may seem like a cookie-cutter game, Incognito has done a fantastic job of integrating all these aspects into an extremely enjoyable game. Warhawk is the 1 game PS3 owners should not be without!