Let online-only war fly into your hearts (Warhawk (PS3))

Member Name: DaveAshton

Product:	Warhawk (PS3)
Date:	06/10/09 (27 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Engrossing combat, several styles of play.

Disadvantages: Steep learning curve, no plot, no offline mode

Before I say anything else about Warhawk, if you haven't set your PS3 up for online play, don't buy it. It's an online-only game. Also, if you only like games with a solid plot-line, again this isn't for you.

OK, onto the review. Warhawk is a third-person war game, featuring on-foot, vehicle and aircraft styles of play, so if you're not a fan of flying, the game still has things for you. At the time of release, there were only 5 maps to fight across (although, each map had several different layouts, for example if you were playing a small, no-aircraft, every man for himself deathmatch you would only have access to a small section of one of the particular maps, whereas a larger fight or different game type would allow access to the whole map). There are 3 expansion packs available, which add new maps and vehicles.

Straight out the box, the game has 4 different types: Zones, which involves you capturing specific areas for your team, Deathmatch, which is every player for themself, Team Deathmatch which involves 2 teams trying to kill the opposition, and Capture the flag, which requires you to steal the enemy's flag from their base and return it to yours, all while they're trying to do the same with your flag.

If you update the game (which is mandatory to play it), you will get another 2 game modes. Hero makes 1 player on each team more powerful and harder to kill. Killing the other team's hero earns your team a signifcant number of points. Collection involves each team racing around the map trying to collect nuclear cores. There are 4 available at any time, and the objective is to return them to your base.

Gameplay-wise, the game covers several bases. Every time you enter a game, or respawn after death you will be a standard infantryman, with just a pistol and a handful of grenades. The main role of infantry is to capture objectives, collect cores, capture flags... pretty much all the major things in the game. Also, infantry can use gun and missile turrets to attack enemy forces. If you don't want to walk everywhere, you can jump into any vehicle you can see.
The second gameplay style is as a driver / gunner in either a tank or a jeep. The tank is a one man vehicle, with the same player controlling the main gun and the actual locomotion of the tank. A second player may jump into the turret, and fire one of their handheld weapons out of the top hatch. Jeeps can hold 3 people, a driver, a gunner, and a passenger. Jeeps are more useful than tanks in my opinion, as you can race towards objectives with 2 teammates, meaning you can capture areas easier. Also, flag capturing is easier in a jeep, because you can have a gunner to watch your back, while being quicker than a tank.
The third way to play (and arguably the main way, the game is even named after one of the aircraft from the game) is as a pilot. The main use of planes in the game is to hunt down enemy planes, therefore clearing the way for your team's ground troops to secure objectives. Flying has a very steep learning curve in Warhawk, with veteran players often preying on newer players to claim easy kills.

I find Warhawk to be a very good game to waste an hour or so on, but spending too long in one go can lead to you getting frustrated with the game, especially if you're having a bad day and not playing quite as well as you know you can.

It is possible to play Warhawk against other players on the same console by means of a split-screen set up, but in online games the players must be on the same team. For offline games, the players may be on opposite teams.

Oh, and if you fancy a match, my PSN ID's on my profile ;)

Summary: One of the best flight games in years.