
The year 2007 was a particularly good year for online multiplayer. Most notably, this was the year Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare launched, and its influence can't be overstated: it changed the landscape of multiplayer shooters for good. While I absolutely spent dozens of hours playing Infinity Ward's excellent FPS, another 2007 shooter had my heart — Warhawk.
Obviously, this third person shooter was a smaller scale offering than Call of Duty. There was no offline, single player campaign; it was online only, which was a fairly foreign concept in console gaming back then. It had a limited number of maps, weapons, and game modes. You could commandeer a small variety of vehicles, including the titular fighter planes. While you could level up to unlock various customisation options, Warhawk wasn't really operating on the same level as Modern Warfare. The thing is, though, it didn't need to be. It was a simpler game, but everything in it was excellent.
Despite early issues with server disconnects, I could not stop playing it. Getting into a round of team deathmatch, piloting a fighter jet/helicopter hybrid Warhawk to spots I could find weapon pick-ups, and engaging in tense shootouts with enemy players. Of course, there wasn't anything particularly unique about this game, save for the aforementioned transforming planes, but something about it was so compelling to me.
I really appreciated how lean it was. All of the weapons, most of which were standard archetypes, were useful in one way or another. All of the vehicles had purpose, and even the anti-air guns, in which you were kind of a sitting duck, could prove very handy too. I distinctly remember the sound design being incredibly good, with impactful gunfire and explosions, and the sound of Warhawks flying overhead every now and then. The sound aided the gameplay too; it just felt so good to shoot things in this game.
You could pull off some mad stuff, as well. I remember the delicious overkill of using the binoculars to call an airstrike on one hapless soldier, or blasting a Warhawk out of the sky with a well-placed shot from a tank. If you were good enough, you could use a sniper rifle to one-shot the pilot of a Warhawk, and it would not only kill the player, but it would blow up the plane. I could list plenty of other things like this, but needless to say, there was a lot of fun to be had with, really, quite a small number of elements.
Because the planes were so core to the experience, each map had lots of verticality, and there were so many great vantage points and spots to discover. While I mostly played team deathmatch, other modes like capture the flag and zones were equally fun. Even after the post-launch release of new maps and other bits and pieces, the content was on the slim side, but I didn't mind — this was an unpredictable, moreish multiplayer game I'd be delighted to play today.
The odds are stacked against a revival. Online servers were shuttered just over a year ago, and the studio behind the game, Incognito Entertainment, no longer exists. However, I think Warhawk could thrive on PlayStation 5. The ideal scenario would be a remake that keeps the gameplay feeling the same while refreshing the visuals for a 2021 audience. Perhaps the answer would be to make it free-to-play, and keep it going with cosmetic-based microtransactions and new maps every once in a while. Heck, it's perfect for a battle royale mode, too.
Sony's expressed interest in the multiplayer space gives me the smallest sliver of hope that it could happen. I know it's unrealistic to expect Warhawk to return, so I'm not holding my breath, but I think about it on PS5 with 3D audio, DualSense features, hopping into a match via Activity Cards, and I suddenly don't want to play anything else.
Do you agree with Stephen? Should Warhawk fly back into our lives on PS5? Have your say in the comments section below.
Comments (44)
Would love to see this make a comeback 👍
Warhawk was the first PS3 game I had. It was amazing. Poured a lot of time into it, which I rarely do with online games. It's simplicity and arcade-like feel was it's greatest appeal for me. I'd buy a direct sequel day one.
Warhawk is what got me into online gaming, and introduced me to friends I still game with to this day.
That being said, nostalgia is a liar, and while it's fun....it can't hold the attention it once did. But I really wish there could be some sort of updated version that could capture the old feelings while advancing with the times.
Starhawk tried....and sadly didn't succeed.
Warhawk more like Pacifistpigeon
The only game i need is Legend of Dragoon and wont shut up about it. 😁
Hands down my favorite ps3 game of all time. Crazy thing is I only bought the game because it came bundled with a heaset so I can play n chat in call of duty with my brother. Little did I know what greatness the game turn out to be. I can't explain how much I love this game, had so much fun with it, and when I hear the theme song it brings me so much good memories, yesss bring back warhawk
I enjoyed the game but Destruction All Stars has promise to be just as addictive.
Bring back Warhawk and bring back MAG
Syphon filter.parasite eve.resistance is what i want to bring back word up son
I like the first game on psone, I hope sony revives the series and make it single player with online multiplayer.
About the only online game I actually played for fun, I got pretty good at one point too. 😂
AND BRING BACK MOTORSTORM WHILE YOU'RE AT IT YOU COWARDS!!!
We need to think bigger - 512 player MAG
Forget warhawk, bring back Socom you cowards 😭😭😭
Socom and MAG defo but warhawk? I always thought it was massively overated..shocking this game got the praise it did..
Playstation Home needs a comeback.
No, what they need to bring back it’s Twisted Metal
@Brasilkilla I will buy a MAG remaster or sequel day one. Still some of the most fun I've had in a MP game. But like Incognito, Zipper shut their doors also. They can always hand it off to another studio.
This game had hands down the best capture the flag game mode offered in any multiplayer online game . The maps all be it there were only 3 if memory's serves correctly but the maps them selfs could be broken down based on the type of game mode . Plus the fact that there were so many ways to get around the map really made the game play fun and enjoyable. I'm not sure why Sony hasn't tried to roll out something like this again or even a new socom .
@IndyColts87 yesss same here, mag was definitely ahead of its time, i loved that game. I felt so bad when Sony shut down zipper, they had some of the best mp games, but like you said they can always hand the IP to another studio even though I don't think the demand is there for another MAG or warhawk
I'd rather see a Killzone remastered trilogy with the first being completely remade.
Warhawk is still one of my favorite PS memories.. pumped so many hours into it.. and the DLCs weren’t too bad for back then either! Would love for a remake!
I've said on here time and time again they need to bring it back and it should have had a PS4 release and a PS5 it's a great game
I've only played 2 games online games for large amounts of time - FFXIV, and Warhawk.
@Xnx_gaming Amen. I have no idea why Evolution ditched a series like Motorstorm for another racing sim.
@Xnx_gaming now that was a game!
I could get behind this. I would also love to see them take another crack at Lair, it was a great concept with mediocre to fine execution, it could have been so much more.
Seriously? Bring back? Cowards?! Plz you live on old games? Multiplayer games only?! Jesus go f... Your... live on future games.new franchises,etc i dont want know about old pathetic ***** multiplayer games. With no bavk history or etc. All right?! when life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade! Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! I don't want your damn lemons! What am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life's manager!
Do you know who I am? I'm the man whose gonna burn your house down - with the lemons! And new Games!
This game was great so much fun
I would actually implode. Warhawks community was amazing, I got the demo forest and it was so thrilling. Playing my first proper online game and everything was so amazing, decided to buy the game and wow what a decision. I played it on my ps3 not too long ago, for what was not that technical a game, they made something that was very special to a lot of people. RIP INCOGNITO. I hope someone like guerrilla makes something similar.
The multiplayer shooter genre is full of quality games. There's always room for another, but I don't see anything special in Warhawk. It thrived largely because it was one of the first PS3 games. The sequel, Starhawk, wasn't successful.
Developers are better at creating new games than news media are at coming up with ideas like this one.
" it changed the landscape of multiplayer shooters for good"
Uhm nope, nothing worse and more pathetic than cod multiplayer.
Would rather see a remake of the PS1 original. Or Dropship from PS2.
Warhawk back in the day blew my mind. One of the first multiplayer games I started playing, along with UT3, RFOM and MW when I got my parents to hook up my PS3 to the internet. Starhawk didn't quite do it for me with the drop pod spam. I think you can still play it online via a modded PS3 or RPCS3 but I don't expect it to ever get another shot in the mainstream. Sony will take a look at it and go, "EA Battlefield/Battlefront is close enough".
Man... I'd rather see a Killzone 2/3 remaster with multiplayer... and I doubt that will even happen.
i didn't play this until about 2009, and even then it felt a bit archaic.. it would need a complete overhaul and remake to modernise it for current standards. i'd rather see a combined Killzone 2/3 multiplayer remaster.. or something like MAG but within the Killzone universe with guerrilla's level of polish. MAG was great in concept and ambition, but exceedingly average in execution — the shooting was exceptionally bad, imo, which is a fatal flaw for an FPS. by contrast, Killzone usually excels in execution and the shooting (particularly in KZ3) is excellent.
From what I remember, it had a STEEP learning curve. I don't think it would do well in 2021
Please bring back War Hawk. I am older but this game helps with my one eye exercises it also helps with my hand and one eye coordination and memory. I hated it when they took it down
Best game ever!! Sooooo needs a comeback
I was thinking the other day about how they should add a "warhawk" mode to Destruction Allstars or something. That game can work as a platform for all kinds of multiplayer ideas from Sony's past. A Twisted Metal mode or season is a no-brainer in my mind.
@Brasilkilla I agree which is disappointing. I think MAG on PS5 would be amazing. Valor all the way!
@MSStateDawg well I've just dug my copy out, see you online.
@IndyColts87 yess a MAG remaster would be awesome on ps5. 60fps, 250 player battles, more maps and a little less TTK(time to kill, imo mag only flaw was emptying a full clip to kill someone with full health)
if Santa Monica Studio developed Starhawk, maybe there’s hope for them or another studio under Sony to revive Warhawk for current gen consoles. this game was fantastic and i can see them pushing the concept forward in new ways, and also bringing back classic maps.
Plzzz bring back Warhawk
Tap here to load 44 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...