Game: Warhawk

Since PS3 sales seem to have been skyrocketing over the past 2 months, I decided that I should brush the dust off of my own and pick up a new game in hopes that there would be a good number of online players to compete against. In light of this, the game that I decided to get is Multiplayer only, and also a bit of an Unreal Tournament clone minus the huge amounts of blood, but still has its great moments nonetheless.

"Warhawk" somehow managed to slip under my radar upon its initial release this past August, but after a recommendation from a friend of mine I picked it up. From what I have played, the plot of the game is...well...nonexistent. There are two sides, a good handful of weapons and vehicles to choose from, and stuff that can go boom, so why not go to war? "Warhawk" works because there are so many ways to play that anyone who is at all interested in this type of frantic, multiplayer action will find their niche in the gameplay and is sure to have a blast.

In every match you have the decision to remain an infantry soldier, get into a truck or tank, or take to the skies in a helecopter/fighterjet hybrid. While it seems like the aerial combat is emphasized as the main portion of the game, being an infantryman or a tank driver can be a surprise left hook that can completely screw up the enemy team's strategies. As I said before, the tank driving and flying portions feel oddly reminiscent of a game like "Unreal Tournament", but that definitely is not a bad thing.

The weapons one can choose as an infantryman in the game are pretty bare bones and expected. You've got your starting pistol, a knife, a machine gun, a homing rocket launcher; nothing that will blow you away, but at the same time everything packs enough of a punch to get you from point A to point B. The real perk for being an infantryman are the immense turrets that they can hop into to wreak havoc upon any nearby vehicle, especially the flyers. At the same time, Tanks are particularly mean against infantrymen, as they can blow up a turret or a person in a moment's notice, but a truck with a turret on it can run circles around a tank. Then again, an infantryman with a mine or rocket can take out the truck in a snap. The ground battle is pretty well balanced, but the air battles are heavily air-to-air combat based, but this portion of the game has the best control and is the most polished.

Sound-wise the game is pretty typical explosions and gunshots, but it sure is cool with surround sound to hear one of the fighter jets give your head a buzz cut at full speed as an infantryman. The main songs are only heard in the menus and are trying really hard to get an epic feel to them, but its almost overkill with how loud the songs are compared to the majority of the gameplay. The menus are well polished, although it took me a few plays before I realized that I could customize what my character looked like in game. The ground areas sometimes look cheap and the character models move in an awkward way that is unpleasant to the eye. Overall, though, this game has accomplished a great feat; I have actually started playing my PS3 again.

Score: 8.3 out of 10. A fine, fun game, but lack of a single player campaign and somewhat limited choices in how to fight really draws away from the score. One of the better games in the PS3's lineup as of now, and at least it takes a stand for multiplayer games outside of the first person shooter genre.