Troubled Skies
Warhawk has all the makings of an absolutely killer online experience... if Incognito can work out the kinks.
Published: September 9, 2007
Still, once you get the basics down, the game offers a nearly endless string of situations that play out not by some kind of pre-scripted events, but by the random confluence of teammates and enemy players all doing their thang. I remember one moment during the beta where myself and a teammate were getting into the flow of jumping into a jeep and screaming for the enemy base. I'd hop out, grab the flag and jump back in and we'd make a dash for it back home. At one point, our ride was blown up by an enemy Warhawk and after being pelted with shots and almost dying, I took down the plane with a rocket launcher but we were without a ride.
Another teammate rolled up in a jeep at top speed, honked the horn and pulled the e-brake, doing a perfect 180 and giving me an open call to the rear turret. What followed was one of the most intense races back to the other end of the map I've ever seen in a game. Planes were dive bombing us, tanks were firing at us, and all the while I was looking back, keeping the Warhawks at bay. It. Was. Awesome. And it's just one example of what can happen when the game is hitting on all cylinders.
Despite all of the server-side issues that the game may have, once you actually get into a game, the visuals and audio don't disappoint. Sure, there's the scale of the maps (there are five core maps with five increasingly larger configurations to accommodate different game sizes), and there's a whooooole lotta brown on all of 'em, but the sexy looking water and detailed, organic bits of rock that jut out of the sea or wall in a level all make for some impressive backdrops to all the action.
Of course, you'll spend most of the time looking at how the Warhawks twist and roll, how the jeeps with their bouncy suspension rock and slide all over the place and how the foot soldiers all run with a almost cartoonish gait. To top it all off, the game usually runs at a rock-solid framerate, even with lots of activity on the screen.
Aurally, the game is just as solid. You'll have thunderous explosions, plenty of Doppler effects as planes go roaring overhead, hear the squeak of the suspension in the jeeps and the clear, punchy, bassy shots from the rocket launchers all the way down to the standard pistol. The music, what little there is, is a welcome, majestic, sweeping complement to the action, and usually kicks in either right after seizing a flag or after winning a particularly dicey shootout.
Simply put, if Warhawk can iron out a laundry list of frankly game-breaking bugs, it'll be one of the most amazing experiences you can buy for the money (and, yes, it's actually worth that $40). That's a big if, though, and I'm putting it on good faith that the game will turn around based on the fact that the best parts of the game and the core gameplay are so incredibly polished and balanced that I trust Incognito to get things worked out. One thing's for sure, though: if they don't do it soon, they're going to miss out on the window for creating the next "it" game for the PS3.
