Warhawk Preview
By SWA Obi-Wan
and SWA Solo

One of the most Highly anticipated games to come out for the PS3 is brought to us by Incognito, the Maker of such classic games as Twisted metal and Twisted Metal Black, and War of the Monsters. Incogs Newest addition Warhawk is set to release later this summer, and by the look of the game it is set to be a huge Splash on the PS3. After cutting the single Player Mode Incog put all it’s focus on the AAA Multiplayer Online experience, and boy does it show. Running up to 32 players online Warhawk is lag free and seamless.

The gameplay is based on what the games Producer Dylan Jobe calls the “love child between Battlefield and Unreal Tournament”, and Boy oh boy he aint kidding. Warhawk is fast paced, I mean really fast. The speed in which the action in this game happens is unparalleled. The game is loosely based on the PS1 cult classic of the same name. The original Warhawk was a flight Sim only, But this isn’t your daddy’s Warhawk.

Warhawk Features Seamless ground and Air combat, and offers epic Warfare. The first time you find yourself Battling it out to secure a bridge against heavy opposition and one of your teammates Screams overhead out of nowhere to drop a cluster bomb to wipe out the competition, you know you have never played any game like this before. The Game offers only 5 maps that can be resized to you preference, the maps are huge. Maps of this size have never been seen on any shooter ever (think 6-10 times bigger than your average SWBF map).

The ground combat offers a different style from other shooters giving it a more “Arcadish” kind of feel. Characters can carry an assortment of Weapons (combat Knife, Grenades, Semi Automatic Pistol, Machine Gun, Flame thrower, Rocket launcher, Mines, Sniper Rifle, and Binoculars ). Each weapon is balanced to serve it’s Purpose (combat knife for up close combat to Sniper Rifle for longest).

 

As fun as straight up combat on foot is this game was designed to be a more Vehicular style of warfare, weather in a tank or Jeep on the ground or Warhawk or Nemesis in the air. Because of the size of the maps you find yourself spending the mass amount of your time in vehicles with short little combat stints on foot. This without question makes the game very different from other shooters. The tank allows two players to enter with one driving and manning the big gun while the other can “pop” up and down out of the hatch and use any of the normal ground weapons he has in his inventory. The Jeep carries 3 people, one driver, one in the passenger seat and one in the Back on a 50 Caliber machine gun. If you want to get somewhere fast use the Jeep, but if you want Muscle there is no substitute for the Tank.

 

Flying in the game Warhawk requires basic skills. While the left joystick controls basic movement of your craft, the right stick enables you to do various tricks such as barrel rolls, loop-de-loops, and donuts. The RI button controls your machine gun, your primary weapon, and your R2 button controls your secondary weapons. These weapons include short-range homing missiles, long range homing missiles, electromagnetic shockwaves, guided missiles, cluster bombs (a bomb that when detonated, unleashes several mines), air mines, and two evasive accessories: stealth (which can prevent you from getting locked on by missiles for up to 200 seconds) and chaff, which when deployed can stop a group of locked on missiles. If you are not a fan of the standard flight controls however, you may choose to use “Pro Flight”. This is a more advanced flight control which allows you to use both left and right joysticks for your flight controls. You can do anything the standard flight allows and more. Although your chance of survival using your own tricks is slightly higher than standard programmed tricks, these controls are hard to master and are not used by many.

     

There are 5 game types for players to enjoy on all maps. Deathmatch is a free for all type game where every man is for himself in air or on ground. Team Deathmatch very much resembles Conquest on the SWBF games where you go around capture command posts and fight the enemy with the team that scores the highest wins. Like TDM Zone play makes players capture command post but he higher level you capture it at makes your team gain more territory. As you link these territories together you gain Bonus points and you gain Weapons and vehicles on the map . Dogfights are air only Matches where you spawn in your plane and you cannot land or get out. Capture the Flag is pretty much self explained, if you have played other shooters you know how this goes.

Player and plane customization is a nice addition to the game. As you move up in rank you earn more and more options to customize you Characters and your Planes you can change heads torsos, legs, add insignias, and Skin tone. On your planes you can change your paint styles, and add insignias.

 

Warhawk offers 20 ranks from the beginner rank of Recruit to the Highest rank of Supreme Commander. Players earn ranks by meeting certain Requirements such as points earned, and various Ribbons, Badges, and medals. There are an endless array of awards that can be earned from Weapons proficiency to number of wins a player participates in like the Awards there are a ton of stats to track from kills and points to how far you drive to even tacking of your progress over time. Stats and awards can only be earned in “Ranked” Servers.

Server settings offer 3 types, Player is a server where the host can compete alongside his fellow gamers. Dedicated Servers turn your PS3 into a server host. Players who run a dedicated Server cannot compete in it. Same rules apply for a ranked Dedicated Server. Severs offer a large amount of setting from setting the amount to team damage to Allowing/Disallowing split screen play, to choosing the rotation of your maps and game styles. When setting up a Server the game reads your Bandwidth and sets the max amount of players to ensure you will never play in a laggy server.

     

The lore of Warhawk pit’s the invading Chernovins against the Eucadians on the world of Eucadia. The two sides are virtually the same. They both have the same weapons and Ground vehicles, and although the planes look different they Function the same with identical maneuvering and weapons capabilities. The maps very offer the lush territory of the “Islands“, the Crumbling “Destroyed City” in the air, The grand Canyon like “Badlands”, The string of Little towns of “Eucadia”, and the Jungle like atmosphere of the sky Islands of “Archipeligo”.

Warhawk’s Community settings are limited, but well done. The game offers A buddy list taken directly from your PSN buddy list which is quite nice. The list can tell you if your friends are online offline and what server they are playing in as well as giving you the option of joining the game they are participating in, and thwe ability to view their Profile. the Clan options are Basic, but functional. The Leader boards offer a ton of Stats to track leaders in making it open to however you choose to play the game.

Warhawk has taken an old and somewhat stale game type and given it a new feel. It is an addictive gameplay experience that will give you long term playtime. As stated before the game will be released in late Summer, and will be available on Blue ray disk and by Download on the PSN Store. From my experience on the Beta I would give this game a 9.6 in a review, but I will wait for the final Version to Review this game. Regardless Warhawk is a must buy for you PS3 catalog.