Today the Blu-ray edition of Warhawk was released on our not so sunny European shores. Just like Heavenly Sword, which was also release a week previously, Warhawk is one of the original high-profile games for the PlayStation 3. A single player Champaign and Multiplayer mode had originally been intended for the game, but design decisions eventually lend to the game focusing solely on a multiplayer only experience. If you've haven't been following the news coverage for the game, you may not know that Warhawk was original released as a PS1 title back in 1995. However, the game's first iteration only contained the single player story.
The "new" Warhawk has been created in the spirit of fast paced flight and ground combat games. Think Star Wars Battlefront, meets Battlefield 2, meets Ace Combat. The game boasts an impressive range of play stylés and this is brought together veryimpressively in a simple 'Red vs. Blue' affair. In-game you take control of planes, tanks, jeeps and of course your foot soldier. All of which requires some getting use to, but there is a good amount of depth to them too. It currently contains five maps (of varying sizes) and just four game modes: deathmatch, team deathmatch, capture the flag and zones. It had also been billed as an important game for introducing the SIXAXIS motion control, but unlike LAIR you are not forced you use it.
The gameplay itself is fantastic! Some how the pace and excitement of the game draws other people in too. I've only played a few games today, but there's nothing like evading a missile in a dogfight and then catching your rival by surprise with a quick rocket up the tail pipe. The SIXAXIS functionality is usable, but still requries added concentration if you wish to survive. While it would be interesting to know more about the two factions (the Eucadians and the Chernovans) fighting this "timeless" war and their back stories, the gameplay more than make up for this.
When it comes to the game's release their have been two options for gamers: downloadable (from the PlayStation Store) or Blu-ray disc. There aren't really any major differences between the versions besides pricing (£19.99 vs. £39.99) and the added value of a bluetooth headset (Jabra BT125) that comes with the disc edition. For this reason I decided to wait for the Blu-ray version before taking to the skies.
In addition to this, the other two features that attracted me to this offer were LAN support and some "exclusive" behind the scenes extras (developer interviews, concept art, trailers, etc.). These features were announced for the North American copy of the game and I figured they're [SCEE] not going to cut any of that out of our one. But how wrong I was. When the game arrived today the first thing I checked, once the menu screen booted, was for 'special features'. No link. What if it's hidden away in the options menu? No. El Zilcho. Nout! No Warhawk special features for us here in Europe. What's up with that SCEE!?
Seeing as its relevant now, I think this is the perfect time for me to have a quick rant about SCEE's cross-region "changes". The only examples of a Sony Computer Entertainment game where Europe have the best version when it comes to gameplay and extras are ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. Both of these games were developed by the same team in Japan and featuredextras like a two-player mode in ICO and a 'making of' video on SOTC.
On the other hand, when 'Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando' was released here it featured none of the TV adverts or 'making of' movie, and the same was true for its sequel. Any limited editions DVDs, particularly for Japanese titles like Final Fantasy X or Xenosaga II, are never released in large quantities. 'Space Channel 5: Part 2' was completely cut from release after less than 2 months. A more recent example is God of War II, which SCEE decided to sell in a standard and limited edition, containing game disc and bonus features. But therefore giving Europeans less chance of owning the same content that all the US versions have.
Of course this isn't the first time Sony Europe have cut movie content from one of Incognito's games for the European market. The coveted, clasśic 'Twisted Metal: BLACK' contains absolutely NO story videos in the game. Not only that, iconic moments from the gameplay, like by ability to shoot down the jumbo jet in the second level, have been removed. Now since the game was released in late 2001 there could have been an extreme amount of controversy concerning its content and themes, so maybe this is justified.
But why do SCEE cut all these other features and extras that just add more value to the game in other regions? What I'm getting at is even though these features are of little importance next to the game itself, why should one region get them and another does not. It's bad enough having to wait for later release dates, It's worse when SCEA announce great content for one of their games and then SCEE decides "nope, not having that here thank you".
Well, at the end of the day I guess they're only "extras". I'm sure SCEE have their legal, technical or some other draw out corporate answer to why we don't get some of this content. But if anyone has the US version of Warhawk Blu-ray, I'd like to know what's on the disc. Still, Warhawk is an amazing multiplayer combat game that is more than a little addictive. Nice one Incog'!
