Warhawk

Sony's air combat game makes good.

	Version PS3	Developer Incognito	Publisher SCE	Genre Online combat

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By Alex Wollenschlaeger

Spare a thought for Dylan Jobe. The affable designer at Sony studio Incognito will forever be known as the guy who got on stage and gyrated in support of the Sixaxis controller. That was back at E3 in 2006, when Warhawk was still a very different game - at least as far as most of us knew. Already the flight sections of the game were included, but we had no idea that it would have its singleplayer ripped out or that the dogfighting multiplayer we had been shown was actually only part of the experience. The game we have today is the better for it.

Flight is only a small part of what makes Warhawk so compelling to play. In addition to the jeeps and tanks you can pick up on the battlefield there are also turrets and standing guns you can command. This isn't just dogfighting. This is full on war.

With Warhawk, it's very much a case of the pieces being placed in front of you and the task of turning it into a fun experience is in your hands and the hands of the people you happen to be playing with. Exactly who those people are is an important part of the experience and Sony has taken care to cater to the social elements of the game, adding clan support and generally making it easy for you to get in and play with your friends. But it's the online-only nature of the game that also results in some of the most frustrating parts of the experience.

Consider the Warhawks themselves. Whether you're using the tilt-controls or not - and honestly, though they work fine, I just couldn't get into them - the aircraft are out-and-out fun to fly. They're nimble and powerful all at the same time, and the range of weaponry you can snap up out of the air only extends their appeal. It's a shame then that they're very often commandeered by the best players in the team. These seasoned players make it more frustrating to be in the air because you will often go only a few seconds before someone gets a missile lock on you. It's worth fiddling with the server settings to make sure you play against people of your own skill level but I found it difficult to get it just right.

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