Starhawk Review
An innovative shooter that is worth checking out for PlayStation 3 owners
Most of the single player campaign offers the chance to try out all of the buildings and their mechanics, essentially familiarizing you with what works best depending on the situation. The game’s structures all offer unique and standalone benefits, so there is no build order to worry about – just deploy what the heat of the battle is calling for. For example, one of the most expensive items is a shield generator that provides cover from attack to all nearby buildings from outside.
Incoming ground troops can be taken care of with some basic turrets, while jetbikes and jeeps provide mobility and a mounted weapon. Functional buildings like repair arms, sniper towers, and supply depots offer indirect services to the battlefield, while jetpack stations and Warhawk platforms let you soar the skies. The poster toys of the game, Hawks are units that can take on the form of either mechs or aircraft. Transforming from one to another is not only smooth and simply quite cool to watch, but is rather functional in the game, providing the game’s only flying unit and a strong ground assault as well. Thanks to well-balanced weaponry and other in-game vehicles, Hawks aren’t game-winning units by any means, but are still a blast to use.
All of the mechanics translate rather seamlessly into online with up to 32 players. For all game modes, players have a home base where everyone is free to build anything they wish, which can be used by the whole team. Rather than have Energy barrels, players draw their resources directly from the rig over time, giving some flow to the resource balance and building process. Players need to be aware of their teammates so that resources aren’t wasted on duplicate structures, plus there are considerations for available space to be made. There is also a building limit to be aware of that disallows you to build any more than a certain amount.
Players spawn into multiplayer via pods dropping from the sky, and there is a limited amount of control that allows you to land anywhere in your team-controlled area. Landing on a friendly building allows you to quickly take advantage of it, while crashing down on an enemy vehicle destroys it instantly. The game has shipped with 10 maps, two per one of the game’s environments which range from dust canyons to outer space. Most of the maps are large, allowing for sufficient use of vehicles and plenty of space to maneuver.
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