Starhawk Impressions

Recently the Starhawk Private Beta opened up to the public, going up in stages the first allowed in where PSN Plus members. Being a plus member i figured i would post my thoughts on the game from what i have seen so far.

Now of course bear in mind this is from a BETA and as such it does not in any way represent what the finished product might end up being. But seeing as the game releases May 8th 2012 its probably a good indication.

If you recognized the name it is because Starhawk is the spiritual successor to a very early PS3 game called Warhawk. Warhawk was a 3rd person multiplayer only game, featuring huge 32 player multiplayer complete with vehicles, jetpacks, and tons of game modes and server options. Warhawk in fact remains one of the most robust multiplayer games on the PS3.

 

So lets talk about the 2 modes currently in the Beta, CTF and TDM

Starhawk multiplayer has a new mechanic that sets it apart, and that is building in real time. You have the ability to summon in various fortifications and buildings, from walls to shields, jetpack dispensers and even hawk launch pads. (Hawks being the new plane / mech tools of badassery) This should tell you something major about this game from the start. This game is one to be played in a clan and with friends, teamwork is VITAL and building with strangers with no teamwork will just result in a long stalemate between the two sides. I have never seen a game of CTF end in anything but a stalemate. No really. I have played at least 10 games that have all ended in a score of 0-0.

Why is this? Because both sides fortify their flag. Walls, shields, turrets, anti air turrets, this means one man cant lone wolf run in and snatch the flag (a tactic i was king of in Warhawk) This means unless your team can get a coordinated strike to blitz the defenses you just wont get in its as simple as that.

Another thing you will discover is that there are no Nodes or Command Points, if you want a forward spawn you need to go build it. Building a spawn beacon is easy, but it will get ripped down very fast unless you can fortify it, once again teamwork will be key.

So that is how CTF plays out, but what about Team Deathmatch? Well once again the game will be decided by who can build the best fortifications. Guns don’t spawn on the map, so if you want a sniper rifle you have to build a sniper tower. If you want a rocket launcher or shotgun you need a bunker. If you want a hawk you need a launchpad and so on. A guy running around with a jetpack and rocket launcher will cut through unarmed enemies like a hot knife through butter, and few things can cripple the enemy like ripping their defensive buildings down. In short no matter which mode you play, your going to want friends, teamwork is the name of the game.

 

Those are the modes, now on to the maps. There are currently 2 maps in the beta, mining facility constantly under a thunderstorm and a space station.

Both maps show one of the best parts of the game, and that is the vertical nature of levels. In the mining map there are pipes all around the map, if your a sniper and you get up there you can very easily kill the enemy without them having a clue, on the space level there are 3 different levels, so you can very easily get the drop on the enemy.

One of the best things about the maps is the fact that choke points have been avoided. Both maps have 3 main paths to each base, this is to avoid one choke point being fortified to hell. It also allows for you to set up forward bases to continue laying the heat on the enemy. Once a side is forced onto defense its going to be hard to come out of it if the other side has forward spawns.

The maps are also for the most part mirrored, so neither side has much of an advantage over the other in terms of the map’s layout. Other touches like hidden tools and ammo as well as scattered resource containers make the maps feel well populated.

 

The game is named Starhawk lets talk about the Hawks

For a long time in Warhawk i was a ground troop, never bothering to learn how to fly the Warhawks. But it became clear to me that if one side had a good pilot, or team of them they would destroy. Air superiority was the key in that game, and while that has been lessened a bit in Starhawk the fact remains he who rules the sky will control the flow of battle. Warhawks are able to hover in place, and this resulted in frequent Air to Ground attacks, these where a bit cheap and pissed many people off in Warhawk because of how powerful a plane could be against groundtrops. Rather then get rid of this it has been made a feature of the Hawks! A starhawk starts as a huge mech, then you transform into a jet and take off. Able to dogfight, transform land and ground-fight the Hawks are an amazingly powerful tool. I have only seen about 3 of the Hawk’s weapons so far, the rest have not been put in the game yet.

The 3 weapons are Swarm missiles, they operate the same as they did in Warhawk more or less. Slower moving harder to scrub homing missiles (my weapon of choice) and Anti Air Mines.  All hawks also come with chain guns, and a chaff ability that cools down after use.

One of the hardest things to do in Warhawk was scrub missiles, and that has been made a touch easier in Starhawk. Now you just pull up down left or right on the stick and press X to do a scrub. This will use some boost, and of course may not get the missile off your tail, but is much easier then flailing around and looking like a drunk pilot wich was the scrub method in Warhawk.

So how do the Hawks do on land, well they are slow but powerful. Unchecked a hawk could rip down buildings and mow through enemies at a nice clip, but they cannot hover anymore. So you cant hover and strafe, you have to land and this means you are much much easier to kill. Any trooper with a rocket and some grenades can take you down if your not careful.

The bane of any pilots existence is Anti Aircraft or AA weapons, in Warhawk the main form of AA was Flak and Missile Turrets. In Starhawk there is only one form of AA turret, and that is the Beam Cannon. These are the second most resource expensive turrets and will auto shoot at any hawk that flys overhead, you can also hop in them to manually fire at ground targets if you wish. These bad boys will more or less make an area a no fly zone, you could get away with a very quick missile run if your lucky. But if you want to attack a position with beam turrets in a hawk you will want your ground troops to disable them first.

 

 

Overall i am very pleased with Starhawk, i cant wait for more maps and more modes to hopefully be added before the Beta ends, and i know i will be picking this game up on day one.

Now when can you expect beta access? Here is an easy guide to the Beta!

 

Keep up with Starhawk on their website at: http://starhawkthegame.com/index/

Keep up with Beta news here: http://www.lightboxinteractive.com/Beta