Warhawk

(Sony for PS3)
by Mike Delano

Are you one of those gamers who hate storytelling in games? Infuriated by the long-winded dialogue of the Metal Gear Solid or Final Fantasy series? Mash buttons to avoid even the minimal cut scene intrusions in Resident Evil 4 or Gears of War? Here’s a game for you. Warhawk, which can only be played via online or local multi-player, not only completely ditches the idea of a single-player campaign, it even strips the multi-player matches of any real personality. The maps, while gorgeous, are completely generic, from “the forest” to “the sky towers” to “the desert.” Your character is just a faceless dude in military garb, and most of the weapons – from pistols to machine guns to rocket launchers – have all been seen before. It’s enough to make the similarly online-only Shadowrun for the 360 seem like a paragon of depth with its various character classes. The one thing that distinguishes Warhawk is the aircraft in the title. Zooming around the huge maps in these aerial death dealers is nearly enough to forgive all else, and certainly enough to justify a $40 download from Playstation Network. There are few games that can match the frenzy of a 32-player Warhawk match, where mid-air dogfights rage on while players on the ground scramble for anti-air turrets or simply go at each other with everything from tanks to knives. It’s severely lacking in charm, but Warhawk makes up for it with pure adrenaline.
(www.us.playstation.com)