Warhawk (PS3)

Developer: Incognito
Publisher: SCEA
Release Date: Sept. 4, 2007
System: PS3
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Fly around and shoot stuff. Then go on the ground and shoot stuff more.

0:01 The booming opening score seems more appropriate for Saving Private Ryan than some highly stylized war shooter.
0:03 Connected to a random server and loading.
0:04 My speakers are filled with garbled British voices. Also: Any game that onyl takes thirty seconds to give me a flamethrower is ok in my book.
0:06 Flamethrower vs. Jeep. Jeep wins.
0:08 I come across a guy in a turret. I get killed as I try to get in.
0:09 I get shot down just before I get in flamethrower range. I REALLY want to kill someone with this thing!
0:10 Everyone's in a Warhawk but me. I can't figure out how to get in.
0:13 Here's the problem: you're supposed to hit square, not circle, to get in the plane. They look exactly alike in the on-screen instructions.
0:15 I finally get in a Warhawk, but I can't figure out how to use the motion controls real well. Then the server gets disconnected. Just as well -- I had zero kills.
0:16 An 8-person server seemed quite empty. Let's see the action with 32 people.
0:18 Now we're talking. I figure out how to get out of hover mode and really fly the plane! Then I get shot down with a missile almost immediately.
0:20 I finally shoot someone with the flamethrower. It's my teammate, who then gets blown up but good by a plane. I'm next.
0:22 I somehow kill myself with a flamethrower. The other guy doesn't have a scratch. What in the world?
0:25 I die again and have no idea how. This seems to be a constant. But now I know what team I'm on. I think.
0:26 That's some pretty smoke... from my charred plane wreckage
0:29 I';m being driven around in a tank by a stranger. Then we both get blown up together
0:31 I finally get an intentional kill. A ground troop with a rocket launcher! Whoo! Fun!
0:32 The ever present garbled audio speech is getting REALLY annoying.
0:33 Our team loses, no doubt I didn't help matters. But I'm finally getting the hang of how things work.
0:37 Flying around and doing loops with the sticks is really fun, but only useful for avoiding lock-ons. I still can't seem to actually hit anything when I'm in the plane.
0:43 The guy driving my tank just crashed into a pole.
0:46 Why does R2 accelerate the car a car. Why can't I push forward to go forward? Three different control schemes for three different vehicles is not exactly intuitive.
0:48 Overheard on the chat channel: "We have to own the never to have them own... not us."
0:49 Driving my jeep into the ocean is the best action I can get. Where is everyone?
0:52 Jeep vs. tank = Tank wins.
0:58 Our team wins! I think I did something to help, but I really can't be sure.

Would I play this game for more than an hour: Probably
Why? It took me an hour just to figure out how everything worked. It'll take at least another to figure out if the game is any fun.

This review is based on an early, public beta version of the game provided by Sony.