Starhawk: The Digital Foundry Verdict
Five years after the release of Warhawk, its sequel presents itself as a very similar title in which the core gameplay remains relatively unchanged. This is hardly a bad thing in itself - the intense aerial encounters are as addictive as ever, and the Build and Battle system generally makes combat more interesting and unpredictable. The foundation of the game is rock solid and it's safe to say LightBox Interactive has delivered one of the most entertaining PS3 multiplayer games released for quite some time.
The technology underpinning the experience also manages to impress. Large environments and battles are crammed with dynamic light sources, generous use of alpha and particle effects - all of which help to deliver a sense of spectacle and intensity to heated single- and multiplayer games. Of course, there are a few stumbling blocks along the way. Performance could be smoother when the engine is put under stress, and the sub-HD framebuffer in combination with an overly aggressive post-process anti-aliasing solution can makes things appear softer than we'd like.
In terms of gameplay criticism, the campaign mode feels held back by the limitations of being based around training players for the online game - the main event, if you will. The limited number of environments is enough to sustain prolonged multiplayer matches as the nature of unpredictable human competition keeps things interesting, but drawn-out battles against bots won't hold your attention for long. We also feel that the combination of different gameplay styles also could have been developed a little further, with more building and weapon choices being a good starting point.
That said, the game is clearly geared towards online play and in this respect, the experience more than delivers - which makes its lowly debut in 17th position on the UK sales chart both mystifying and somewhat disappointing. It's a beautiful game that's superb to play and it's exclusive to PlayStation 3 - we highly recommend you check it out.
