A great game that is just held back from perfection by several flaws
But first, I’ll start with the story. There is no story, at least not in the normal sense of having a single player mode. Rather, apparently there’s a war going on between Chernova and Eucadia, as the first has invaded the latter for some reason. The Chernovans are red team and their vehicles are sinister looking, while Eucadia are the blue heroes (perhaps its communism vs. democracy, I don’t know). The two teams face off against each other in multiplayer mode, online or local.
As for the positives, there are a lot. The graphics are indeed stunning, using a fair share of the PS3’s graphical power to make stunningly real looking environments. Gameplay is easy enough to pick up quickly as you jump in any match, which helps since the manual isn’t really useful. You run with joysticks, switch weapons with the directional pads, shoot with R1, throw grenades with L2, your standard shooter controls. There’s a fairly realistic design in weaponry as well. You have your bazookas, battle Rifles, pistols, knifes, mines, binoculars (for calling in an automatic air strike, perhaps from a satellite or invisible plains), snipers, and a flame-thrower, which I don’t think is actually a weapon used anymore but nonetheless is fun to use. Your vehicles are also fun to use, with planes (Warhawks for Eucadia and Nemeses for Chernova), tanks, and jeeps. The controls for these vehicles are similar enough that it doesn’t feel odd using them, and you can choose to invert the controllers if you wish. The Warhawk/Nemesis has a similar weapon system to the out of vehicle player, only the primary weapon is always a machine gun and secondary weapons are what vary. The weapons range from cluster missiles to chafe and air mines. The online matches can be crazy with up to 32 players, and it never really seems like there’s much of a lag or cheaters. Usually matches are played in rotations of five, one game for each match, although less can be used. Gametypes include your standard death matches, team death matches, capture the flag, zones, and dogfights. The objectives in games besides doing whatever it says in the title, include capturing areas similar to Star Wars Battlefront or Territories in Halo 2. The game is really fun in the heat of battle, as explosions occur regularly as planes drop bombs and tanks shoot at you. There is a ranking system. It uses an actual military hierarchy, with the lowest being Recruit/Airman and the highest is General of course. The ranking system is based on a points system. The points come directly from the points you score in a match. Points are earned through killing enemies, grabbing the flag, getting a zone, etc. Each rank has a certain requirement point to reach it. You can also earn badges and ribbons by accomplishing specific tasks in matches. For example, “Bandit Machinegunner” (or something like that) is awarded as a badge for killing 100 enemies with machine guns on your airplane (not in one match). Higher levels of badges are available than bandit, with the highest being Warhawk. The ranking system is very useful for having the players earn ranks through their own skill; rather than be based on team wins. As you gain levels, you gain new customization options for your characters and planes.
However, as you gain levels, the game’s flaws become much more glaring. Occasionally the game will set you back to Recruit or Airman for no apparent reason whatsoever, losing you your customization options. You’ll keep the points and get everything back when you level up again, but it’s nonetheless extremely agitating to have this happen. You’ll go from a cool looking Chernovan with a mean ass paint job on his plane to the defaults. Additionally, there is occasionally a lack of consistency from match to match. Mines will change in explosion ranges, one knife attack will go from an instant kill to doing little, and vehicle weapons may vary. This may not be noticed by all, but it does happen. The way the game hands out suicides and betrayals can also be annoying. You can get points taken off for an ally flying into your airmine or if you’re fighting someone and they step on your mine when you’re close and your killed, you’ve got a suicide. Mines aren’t particularly common weapons, but this can be extremely frustrating, especially the first when you have stupid allies who don’t pay attention, or who may stand next to a mine you’ve laid down and shoot it so that they get blown up. The five maps are all massive. This causes the game to become extremely boring very fast in matches with few people. Some smaller maps in addition to the large ones may have been a good idea. Yet, none of this really matters. The game is extremely fun despite its flaws. It’s hardly the AAA title the PS3 has been waiting for, but its still a well done multiplayer, heck you might even say its better than the Halo 3 beta (though, a complete game should be better than a beta, so that might not be a good example). If you enjoy third person shooters, clans, and online play, I highly recommend Warhawk for any PS3 owner.