Project Thursday

Ok, let’s stop beating around the bush; the Playstation 3 is struggling. There’s no denying the power this $600 piece of questionable joy is capable of, but all that falls by the wayside without good games to back it up. The fact of the matter is the PS3 has slim pickings when it comes to modern classics (let alone ones that are exclusive to the system).

Enter Incognito, Inc. with a reimagining of an old classic, Warhawk, exclusive to the PS3. But is Warhawk worthy to be praised with the likes of past Incog, Inc. hits like Twisted Metal, War of the Monsters, and Downhill Domination? And more importantly, is it worth your hard-earned cash?

Warhawk is a multiplayer, third person shooter with very heavy emphasis on using a variety of vehicles spread across an expansive, battle-scarred landscape. When I say "multiplayer," I mean only multiplayer. That’s right kiddies; there’s absolutely no single player game experience here (not even A.I. controlled bots to practice with). Just you and up to 31 of your friends in an all out brawl.

"But Michael, what happened to the single player Sony jabbered on about at E3?” I hear you ask. Well, after evaluating their game, Incog, Inc. found the multiplayer of Warhawk more compelling than the single player campaign and opted to scrap it altogether. So, if you don’t have a broadband connection, or if being tea-bagged by someone 1,000 miles away isn’t your thing, stop reading right here. This game is clearly not for you. If, however, you’re the one that likes to do the tea-bagging, read on. You’re in for a wild gaming ride.

This is a no-frills, balls-to-the-wall, multiplayer shooter. There’s no heart-tugging story about an epic struggle between two endearing empires here, folks. It all breaks down to the Red Team versus the Blue Team. Screw politics; if he’s wearing a color that isn’t the one you’re wearing, gun him down. It’s as beautifully simple as that.

This simplicity carries forward directly to the gameplay, and this is a very good thing. Never before have I seen a multiplayer game so meticulously balanced in all respects. A simple foot soldier has just as equal an opportunity to take down a mighty Warhawk, as a tank would. Players can seamlessly shift from running and gunning on foot to hopping into any vehicle that may be in their vicinity. You’ll be hopping in and out of tanks, jeeps, the titular Warhawk (jet), and a wide array of turrets.

I found it odd however, given the heavy vehicular emphasis placed on Warhawk, that amphibious-based vehicles are nowhere to be found in the game, nor is the ability swim across any body of water. Unfortunately, simply touching water kills you instantly, ala (older) Grand Theft Auto games. While not a deal breaker by any means, it does seem like a missed opportunity for what could have potentially been some excellent naval battle action.

Special mention should be made regarding the excellent controls featured in Warhawk. By default, the game utilizes the dual analog sticks, providing players with a basic, easy-to-learn control scheme to jump right into the action. For more advanced players, you may opt to turn on the game’s Sixaxis motion-sensing controls and Pro Flight options. Unlike other games using this feature on the PS3 (cough Lair cough), the Sixaxis controls here are responsive, fun, and even allows skilled players to use their analog sticks to fire in one direction while moving in another! Awesome! The Pro Flight option allows players to turn off automatic horizon-leveling in your Warhawk, turning the experience into more of a simulation than an arcade affair. Be warned though; Pro Flight does take a degree of practice to become familiar with.

While the overall gameplay is great fun, the same can’t be said for the relatively small variety of game modes available to choose from. There isn’t anything beyond the multiplayer bread and butter modes here, including king of the hill (called "Zones"), capture the flag, and deathmatch. While this can indeed be overlooked, considering just how much fun Warhawk is to play regardless of the mode of play, it would have been nice if Incog, Inc. tried to create a new, more revolutionary multiplayer mode to take advantage of those excellent gameplay elements.

A chief concern with most multiplayer-based games is lag. Fortunately, in that regard, Warhawk is rock solid. Low ping servers are plentiful, and I’ve yet to find any lag or ping spikes rearing their ugly heads.

However, that’s not to say Warhawk is without network issues. In the initial two weeks of Warhawk’s release, there were a number of network problems across the board; most notable was broken stat ranking system (thus, not allowing you to increase your player rank) and the occasional inability to connect to any games in progress. While these issues have since been corrected for the most part thanks to a quick server-side fix, there is still a bit of a wait for your stats to update after a match (but they do at least catch up eventually); usually between 15 minutes to an hour. Just don’t panic when you leave a match only to find your stats not yet updated. Just grab a Mountain Dew, choke the chicken, log back on, and everything should be rainbows and lollypops.

One nice touch that’s sure to keep you playing is the customizable character features present in Warhawk. At the outset, you’ll be able to customize some basic elements of your character (emblem, colors, etc.). But the real rewards come with continued play; you’ll unlock additional customizable parts for your character based on overall stats rank. The higher your rank, the more options you’ll unlock to deck out your battle-hardened avatar.

The game runs at a rock solid framerate, not once taking a dip, despite all the mayhem happening on the screen at once. And believe me, there’s a lot going on. Between the gunfire on the ground to the dogfights in the air, the game looks smooth and runs smooth. The character models sport a somewhat cartoon-like look, without dipping too far into the childish. Environments are vast and nicely detailed, from bombed-out cityscapes, to vast canyons and grasslands (not that you’ll really have time to admire the scenery).

While the game is strictly multiplayer it’s worth mentioning that it does at least have the ability to have four-player splitscreen, which can also be carried into any non-ranked, online match.

Warhawk comes in two price flavors. You can choose to simply purchase it over the Playstation Network (PSN) for $40 and download it directly to your PS3’s hard drive. Or, if you prefer to have a tangible game disc for your collection, you can choose to drop $60 for the Blu Ray disc version, which comes with a Jabra Bluetooth headset for voice chat (though oddly enough, very few players seem to use this feature).

Conclusion

All in all, Warhawk is an excellent addition to any multiplayer fan’s game library, and it gives Sony exactly what they need right now: a game on PSN that can compete with all the multiplayer goodness that Xbox Live has been beating them over the head with for years.

Whether you like shooters, flight sims, or driving games, there’s something here for everyone. With easy, pick-up-and-play controls, smooth graphics, non-stop action, and rewarding gameplay, I have no problem recommending this game for PS3 owners. Coupled with the fact that you can own this game for as low as $40, and sporting near unlimited replay value, there’s really no reason not to pick this baby up.