Starhawk Straight Talk

I said last night that I'd have some Starhawk impressions for you, but I forgot that since it is still a private beta that there may be some NDA concerns. Luckily, a quick web search revealed that there is no NDA for this one. Probably because this is nearly the same game I played at PAX this year. Anyway...


Starhawk has got to be one of the most frantic games I've played. That might have something to do with the fact that my team was getting stomped, and enemies were spawning everywhere, but I digress.

The good:
The Build-and-Battle system works flawlessly. Collect some rift energy, hold triangle to open the building selection menu to see what you can afford, and hit X to build (assuming you're in a place where it can be built). The building comes slamming to the ground, killing anyone it lands on. Build jetpack spawners, hawk spawners, sniper towers, etc. these structures can also be destroyed by the enemy. I can see that players willing to be pure builders are going to be the key in any successful strategy.

In the game where I was getting stomped, an enemy snuck next to our flag and built a spawn point right there. Chaos ensued-- it was a mad rush for my team to try to destroy the point with enemies dropping in all around us. Yeah...frantic. And even though I was on the receiving end of that beating, it was still completely awesome.

Planting mines in the enemy's base is still a laugh riot. So is sniping a dude from a sniper tower that you just built (which, by the way, comes complete with a couple sniper rifles). It's also awesome to get pinned down by enemy fire, and erect a wall between you to cover your retreat.

Aside from the BaB stuff, the controls were familiar to any Warhawk vet. The graphics were outstanding, and the gameplay kept me up way past my bedtime. I can see myself spending months in the Starhawk universe, just like I did with Warhawk.

The not-so-good:
Nothing here is really "bad" in my opinion, but there are several interesting things that should be noted...and it's likely that I only picked up on them because of all the time I put in with Warhawk. The hawks don't have a hover mode -- or if they do, I couldn't figure out how to use it. You're either flying or you're in walking tank mode. No biggie for me since I was never a great flier, but it's still an interesting design choice.

Also, you no longer have any control over any turrets. You build them, and they work on auto-pilot. Granted, there is probably more that I haven't seen yet, but I'm going to miss firing flak at the flyboys with my own two hands. Still, there is more that enough to keep you busy with the build and battle. Camping in a turret all match would not be good for the team.

I'll likely be in again tonight, so look for another post tomorrow.