Starhawk - PlayStation 3

This Battlefield Is Not For Foot Soldiers

Jeff Marchiafava — Mon, 07 May 2012 22:40:00 GMT

LightBox Interactive’s spiritual successor to Warhawk takes to the cosmos with a novel mix of RTS and third-person shooting. While I appreciate the large player counts and wide-open battlefields, the on-foot gunplay and lack of multiplayer modes are disappointing.

Starhawk features a sci-fi western theme reminiscent of the cult television hit Firefly, minus the charm and memorable characters. The environments are impressively large and open, though your interactions with the world are limited apart from the structures you order down from space. The inanimate parts of the environment look fine, but character animations and other visual details pale in comparison to most modern shooters. Outcasts (the story mode’s enemies and one of the multiplayer factions) are particularly ugly thanks to their constant blue glow, which is caused by rift energy, the main resource you fight over for the duration of the game.

The new single-player campaign has been a major talking point for LightBox, but it accomplishes little beyond introducing players to Starhawk’s fairly complicated gameplay. You play as Emmett Graves, a gun for hire who protects rift mines from invading Outcasts. While the setup is interesting enough, every level is built on a multiplayer map, and your objectives boil down to defending an area from incoming waves of bad guys on land and in space, before moving on to the next location.

Rocketing down into battle via a launch pod is always satisfying

Most levels require a healthy mix of on-foot shootouts, land and air-based vehicular combat, and strategy-oriented base building. I was impressed by how easy it is to switch between these gameplay styles; you might gun down a squad of enemies, build a few auto turrets and walls for defense, and then jump into a Starhawk for an impromptu dogfight all in a matter of minutes. While I had fun creating choke points and mowing down rows of mindless foes with auto turrets, some missions drag on far too long (including the final, ridiculously drawn-out boss battle), and I ran into a few frustrating checkpoints. Throw in some cheaply made animated cutscenes, forgettable characters, and dumb AI, and I was happy to move onto multiplayer by the time the credits rolled.

Unfortunately, I have mixed feelings for Starhawk’s multiplayer as well. On one hand, I appreciate the wide-open battlefields, 16v16 match sizes, and strategic elements. However, the emphasis on building structures and vehicular combat makes the ground game the least compelling component, which is a problem for a third-person shooter. Aside from the ever-entertaining spawning mechanic that has you rocketing down to battle in a launch pod (and hopefully pancaking an enemy in the process), being on foot with an assault rifle and pistol feels downright impotent when up against rocket-equipped Starhawks and heavily fortified bases. When your best chance to help your team is to build a wall around your base or place an auto turret, Starhawk’s sense of achievement pales to that of other team-oriented shooters.

For better or worse, the gameplay cycle of multiplayer also heavily favors the team that works together. Successful teams earn more rift energy, which allows them to build more structures. These structures provide more weapons and vehicles, which in turn makes it easier for them to kill more enemies and get more energy. While I played a few matches with late game turnarounds, most matches were heavily one-sided affairs – or stalemates if both teams focused on building up their bases.

Piloting a Starhawk is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the game

My biggest surprise and disappointment with multiplayer was the lack of modes: Besides the standard deathmatch and team deathmatch, Starhawk only offers capture-the-flag and the domination-style Zones mode. There’s also a boring (and sometimes broken) 2-player co-op horde mode, which no one would blame you for skipping. CTF and Zones are as fun as they are in any other online shooter, but given Starhawk’s interesting mix of gameplay, I would have enjoyed some more creative scenarios for competitive play. The lack of modes is even more perplexing given Starhawk’s robust online support, which includes character customization, clans, leaderboards, an event/tournament calendar, and plenty of options for setting up your own matches.

I really wanted to like Starhawk, and got some enjoyment out of the open battlefields, RTS elements, and large-scale matches. However, the lackluster single-player campaign is entirely forgettable, and without some more creative modes, the multiplayer’s lopsided (albeit entertaining) action keeps Starhawk grounded on the launch pad.

Latest Starhawk Trailer Is A Quick Refresher On Single-Player

Jeff Cork — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:43:00 GMT

Starhawk's multiplayer has soaked up much of the game's prerelease coverage, and for good reason. Up to 32 players can compete online, battling on foot and in the air for domination. If multiplayer isn't your thing, however, you won't be left out. A new trailer for the game sets up Starhawk's single-player campaign.

Players take on the role of Emmett Graves, a scavenger for hire. Things get personal when he's asked to take on a mission in his former hometown of White Sands. Suffice it to say some shady dudes have moved into town, and Graves isn't going to try to talk his way out the problem. Take a look at the trailer below.

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Starhawk is due out on the PlayStation 3 on May 8.

Vehicles Tear Into the Spotlight In New Trailer

Jeff Cork — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 20:06:49 GMT

Vehicles are a big part of the Starhawk experience, so it's probably a good idea to prepare yourself on what they each have to offer. If the names JetBike, Razorback, tank, and Hawk don't mean anything to you now, you'll be a pro after watching this new trailer.

The clip below shows off some of Starhawk's vehicles, from the fast-but-vulnerable JetBike to the transformable Hawk. There's something for everyone, unless you want an ice-cream truck or something weird like that.

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Starhawk is due out May 8 on the PlayStation 3.

Alert: New Starhawk Screens Incoming

Jeff Cork — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 19:39:00 GMT

If you haven't gotten your fill of Starhawk, perhaps these new screenshots will help. Sony has released a wave of images from the game's single and multiplayer modes, and they've thrown in a dev diary just for fun.

As expected, the Warhawk successor is filled with vehicular and on-foot mayhem, with plenty of pretty explosions. Once your brain has processed those images, take a look at the dev diary below. It features LightBox Interactive's president and CEO, Dylan Jobe, talking about how the team is putting the finishing touches on the game following its open beta. Enjoy.

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New Starhawk Trailer Drops

Matthew Kato — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:37:00 GMT

Forget the thrill of discovery, finding new planets is all about conquest. Check out the race to claim territory in this new Starhawk video.

The trailer highlights the game's third-person action, as well as its focus on instantly building RTS-like structures to change the maps in your favor.

You can jump into Starhawk and its 32-player online multiplayer (there is also a single-player campaign, too) on the PS3 in May, and it's currently in public beta.

Also be sure to check out some new screens of the game's spacefighter combat.

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You Want New Screens? No Problem

Adam Biessener — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 23:02:00 GMT

Just when you thought you were going to go to bed tonight without seeing five new screenshots for Sony's upcoming multiplayer sci-fi brawl, here I am shattering your foolish preconceptions with the unstoppable power of the GI content distribution network.

Bam.

As Phil noted in his extensive Gamescom preview, Starhawk is about flying around in spaceships shooting each other. At some point, there may be objectives. At others, you may just be wrecking dudes. Either way, spaceships. So that's all right.

Starhawk is coming out exclusively on PlayStation 3 next year.

Starhawk Goes Exactly Where You'd Expect -- Space

Phil Kollar — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:38:00 GMT

Speaking today at Gamescom, Lightbox Interactive president Dylan Jobe revealed a major new element of his studio's upcoming space western shooter, Starhawk. As you might have guessed from the title, Starhawk will feature maps taking place in large space environments, and I got to watch one in action.

The map I saw consisted of a large amount of open stars for dogfighting in the titular Starhawk ships, as well as a handful of small space stations for close quarters combat. The game's unique build options will be available on the space stations, where players will be able to call down launch platforms in order to spawn Hawks or sniper towers to add some ranged help. They'll even be able to spawn buildings while flawing in a Starhawk.

The space map I saw also took advantage of another major addition to Starhawk: jetpacks. In Warhawk, jetpacks were only available via DLC, but they were so popular that Lightbox decided to make them a core movement option in Starhawk. Players who foolishly launch themselves off of gravity-protected platforms will get to watch their on-screen avatars fall to the planet below and burn up in the atmosphere.

The final new feature that Jobe showed off in his Gamescom presentation was the addition of a “stomp” move for the Starhawk's mech form. This powerful attack will quickly get rid of any infantry that are bugging the machine.

I didn't have the chance to actually go hands-on with Starhawk at Gamescom, but between the addition of a strong single-player campaign and space combat, I'm already much more interested in this title than I was with Warhawk. Hopefully Lightbox has even more intriguing surprises up its sleeves as we near Starhawk's release.

For more details on Starhawk, check out our interview with Dylan Jobe from back in May, take a look at the screens in the gallery below as well as this new trailer.

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New Starhawk Video Sets Stage For Epic Showdown

Jeff Marchiafava — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 21:40:00 GMT

Today at Comic-Con, Sony debuted an early cutscene from Starhawk, which demonstrates LightBox Interactive's graphic novel-like approach to storytelling.

The animated intro fills players on the main mission of Starhawk's Emmett Graves. Graves is a former resident of a town named White Sands, which has been transformed into a town of despots after being cut off from civilization by a mysterious man known as the Outlaw. Graves is a Rift salvager, a mercenary hired to protect the Rift harvest from Outlaw's forces who are threatening kill anyone who stands in the way of the valuable payload.

In addition to explaining the game's premise, the video also shows how Lightbox is seamlessly transitioning between in-game visuals and the animation used for cutscenes. For more on Starhawk's story, check out this behind-the-scenes video.

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Behind-The-Scenes Video Covers Starhawk's Story, Universe

Annette Gonzalez — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 20:22:00 GMT

Lightbox gives fans an inside look at how the Starhawk story has been developed, plus shows off concept art, and provides background information on lead character Emmett.

Take a look at the PlayStation Blog for more info on the game and get details on Starhawk's presence at Comic-Con (there will be hands-on opportunities and a panel).

Check out the behind-the-scenes video below:

From The Frontlines Of Starhawk

Matthew Kato — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 14:52:00 GMT

Starhawk was officially announced not long ago, but developer LightBox Interactive is already showing off a portion of the game's multiplayer with this video.

The official PlayStation blog has this video of a multiplayer, 8-on-8 CTF tourney at the LightBox offices (using the Acid Sea map), and you can see some of the ways you can build on the battlefield on the fly.

Check out our interview with Lightbox's Dylan Jobe as he tells us all about the game.

LightBox's Dylan Jobe Talks Starhawk

Dan Ryckert — Fri, 13 May 2011 08:30:00 GMT

Fans of Incognito's 2007 multiplayer-only Warhawk have been waiting for a few years to find out what new studio LightBox Interactive is up to. Made up of former members of the Warhawk team and led by Incognito/SingleTrac vet Dylan Jobe, Lightbox recently revealed their new game at an event in Austin, TX. Starhawk is the spiritual follow-up to the team's last game, and it once again lets gamers take to the skies or keep the battle on the ground. This time around, the new Build & Battle system allows players to drop in support structures and base defenses during the battle, introducing light RTS elements to the equation. We'll have a full preview in the next issue of our magazine, but you can check out the first details in our interview with Dylan Jobe right now.

The 1995 Warhawk was single-player only, while the 2007 Warhawk was multiplayer-only. Tell us what we can expect from Starhawk in terms of mode breakdown.

With any great shooter, you always end up logging way more hours with multiplayer than single-player. But just because you log way more hours on multiplayer doesn’t mean you should short-change single-player. We weren’t really happy with (2007’s) Warhawk’s single-player so we ended up cutting it, it just wasn’t coming together. With Starhawk, our single-player has come together really quite well. It’s got fresh new mechanics, a new cool world, and it’s one that I feel really good about keeping in the game.

Is it going to be comparable to other single-player campaigns in terms of length?

Yeah, you look at a lot of shooters out there and they can fluctuate. Some shooters are like five hours, and you can beat some in like eight. From my perspective, a marketing guy is always like “you gotta be at a minimum of whatever hours.” I think there’s some truth to that. If you release a game that’s too short, you’re kind of short-changing the players. But at the same time, quality trumps everything, right? So we’ve laid out a number of missions. Which ones actually stick in the game, we’re not sure yet. There’s a lot of editing that goes on. I think our single-player campaign will be comparable to Call of Duty or the other key shooters out there.

A lot of developers will split up their campaign and multiplayer teams. Is that the case with Starhawk, or is it all one team?

Splitting the team, from my experience, is not necessarily the best thing to do. There’s a couple reasons why. Sometimes studios have all of their network programmers in a separate department, and then their gameplay programmers throw stuff over the wall and then they just strap it to the network. That’s not really solid. That’s not necessarily a good way to go. Our approach that’s working out pretty well for us is all of the gameplay programmers are required to make all of their stuff online, right from the get-go. In our co-op mode, when you can fight against A.I., you’ve got a couple guys fighting together as Rifters against the Outcasts, all of the A.I. code and all of that stuff is already synced across the network. Our game is very, very network-integrated from day one, because everyone writes the network code. Even our game designers that write scripts for missions or multiplayer modes, they do all the synchronization themselves.

Starhawk will contain a four-player co-op mode. Will the entire campaign be playable this way?

Looking at it, this story is about Emmett Graves. Do we want to introduce another character to kind of mix things up? We actually said “no, we don’t.” We would much rather create a mode even though it costs more from a production standpoint, we’d rather create a new mode from the ground up that is really geared for co-op. For example, the demo you saw here, we were protecting that rift, and building our defenses and all that. Our co-op mode allows you to do that. You have four players, you all play together, you share rift energy, and you try to survive as long as you can.