Warhawk flies on console

FOR a long time, computer gamers had it over their console cousins when it came to massively multiplayer games.

While the PC hacks were battling foes in their thousands, using the likes of World of Warcraft, the console sloggers were making do with two or four-player split-screen action in their lounge room, or poorly done online mutliplayer games that were as troublesome to log into as they were to find in the first place.

With the arrival of the latest generation of consoles has come the opportunity for console gamers to meet enemies from across the globe, and Sony's recent release, Warhawk, taps directly into that desire to vanquish living foes, not artificial intelligence individuals.

Warhawk is unique in the PlayStation lineup because it has no single-player mode.

This game was designed from the very beginning (it being a sequel to the original PS2 game) to be played online.

The game is also unique in that PS3 owners can choose to go to a traditional retail store to buy the disc and its accompanying manual, or simply download the game directly from the online PS3 store (surely the future of games purchasing).

The download procedure might be a trifle lengthy, but serves the core purpose of getting the game to your lounge room.

Warhawk's premise is simple: two factions, the Chernovans and the Eucadians, are battling it out for supremacy in an island-based world.

First-time players create a character (which can be embellished over time as you increase your rank), then head to a lobby, choose a server and a side, and dive into the action.

At its heart, Warhawk is nothing more than a first-person, team-based shooter. Teams battle for control of various points around an island using a variety of weapons and vehicles.

The central vehicle is the Warhawk, a sort of hover fighter that manoeuvres through the environment engaging enemies, strafing targets, and so forth.

At first, the control of the Warhawk is a bit of a handful, but with practice the machine becomes a joy to fly and can quickly become your favoured method of achieving a tactical advantage.

In most games your character will be created on land with basic weapons in hand, and the fun here is to move through the island, capturing territory (which gives you new spawn points).

Visually, Warhawk is not quite up to the standards of other PS3 or Xbox 360 shooters such as Halo 3, but the multiplayer element makes up for this.

In all, it's not a bad offering for those hankering after multiplayer on the console, and a real boon for those wanting to make mincemeat of capable enemies rather than predictable computer chip intelligence.

SPECIFICATIONS
Publisher: SCEE Platform: PS3 Price: $99.95 BluRay disc, $49.95 download
Rating: 7.5/10