Reviews// Starhawk

Just like Warhawk, the online multiplayer action is where Starhawk really shines. It has the same frantic level of action and teamwork that will have you dying for "just one more go" even though you've been playing for hours.

Instead of just spawning like magic in the middle of the battlefield, you start the game by landing from orbit in a drop pod which you can steer slightly to land on and inflict damage to any opposing troops or vehicles that are within the territory your side controls.

Rift Energy is still given up by opposing troops when they die, but there is also a Rift Rig in each base that slowly hands out Energy. This means you're never totally without any means of building equipment lockers, walls or anything else you may require and so are not at a huge disadvantage if you can't get to someone to kill.

It's also in multiplayer that the aerial aspect of Starhawk makes the most sense. The Hawk vehicles that transform from aircraft to mech at the touch of a button aren't as interesting in the campaign, mostly because they take you away from the Build n' Battle side of the game. In multiplayer, they are as much fun as the aircraft were in Warhawk, which is to say, immensely so.

Multiplayer gameplay in general is hugely fun, in the same way that Warhawk was. There is the same sense of immediacy, there is no let up in the action, even the respawn delay gives you a chance to pick the best place to land your drop pod. Hopefully on some Hawk that's mixing it up in your base.

If I have to pick up on one fault then, as you may have already gathered, the gameplay is so similar to Warhawk it seems like a missed opportunity. The game modes are so very familiar, Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Capture the Flag don't lend themselves overly to Build n' Battle other than creating vehicle respawn points.

Only Zones, again brought over from Warhawk, gives any tactical advantage to building walls and defences to claim and keep territory. The other game modes are too frantic in their approach to benefit from the strategic thinking that Build n' Battle affords you.

However, Lightbox have promised DLC and map packs in the future and the best part is that the maps packs will all be free. Apparently Warhawk suffered from the userbase being fragmented by not everybody buying all of the expansion packs. So with Starhawk, map packs will be separated from paid-for expansion packs.

Hopefully the expansion packs will give us more game modes and open up the tactical side of the game more when playing online. Given the good job that Incognito did with Warhawk expansions I'm pretty confident, but it's yet to be proven, which is why this review has two scores.


Pros
+ Build n' Battle is a genuine inovation
+ Online multiplayer is done so very well
+ All future map packs have been promided to be free

Cons
- Unengaging tutorial dressed up as a single player campaign
- Perhaps too much like Warhawk

SPOnG Score: 8/10 (now) 9/10 (after game mode expansions)