Warhawk had an odd journey to its release on the PlayStation 3. It started as a launch title for the new system but failed to make the release date; it was also going to be a retail game with both single and multiplayer options—it ended up being an online only multiplayer game with a limited number of maps. The odd part is that even after its somewhat rocky development, Warhawk flat out delivers, and is one of the best reasons to own a PS3.

You can download it from the PlayStation Store for $39.99 or you can pick up the retail package with a Jabra BT125 Bluetooth headset for the usual next-gen game price of $59.99. Having the option to download is nice, but getting a wireless headset is great if you don’t already own one for future online games for the PS3.

You fight in the air and on the ground, much like the Battlefield games, a game that Warhawk obviously takes inspiration from. There are weapon upgrades to the vehicles used in both modes of combat scattered all around the map. You can then select the weapon by pressing one of the eight directions on the d-pad. The neat thing about the controls of the game is that you are able to decide if you want to control the game via the Sixaxis motion-based system or control it like most 3rd person action games out there. The Sixaxis controls while in the air take a while to get used to – and you may not get used to them at all. There is a distinct advantage for someone who can fly well with the Sixaxis controls. It frees up the analog sticks to aim all around the screen and not just directly ahead. You could be flying one way and aiming at an enemy on your periphery while on regular controls you can only aim straight ahead.

The game supports up to 32 people playing at the same time with absolutely no slowdown. The graphics are quite good for an online game with no tears, pop-ins or graphical anomalies seen. The water effects look nice and the explosions look pretty real. The sound in the game is also excellent. The game was mastered in THX and pops out of the speakers nicely.

The overall balance of the game is surprisingly good with no weapon being overpowered and the ammo limit on the bigger weapons while running is nice. The most exciting part of the game is when you go airborne. It helps you travel the map quickly and allows you to attack both air and ground targets in flying and hover mode. There are plenty of weapons on the ground and in the air to take down flying targets though, so everything evens out in the end.

Warhawk can be played in four ways: straight Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and Zone Mode. The first three are self-explanatory, but the fourth deserves some explanation. Zone Mode is much like Capture the Flag except you are working to acquire bases on the map. Once you get a base you want to camp out because the zone around the base will increase as you hold it. If you have two bases close together and their zones intersect you create a large zone which makes it even more difficult for the opposition to overtake. This mode is fun, but it also has the biggest chance to become a match that takes up the whole allotted time. The way to combat that is for the game host to set a score limit that will end the game once one team hits it.

One of the problems with Warhawk is that it only includes five overall maps, but there is more to the story: Each map is made up of five different sub-maps depending on the number of overall players in the game. Theoretically this makes 25 maps available, but if you only play in games that have 32 players in them you will only be playing those same five maps. The same goes for 16 player maps on down. The game is balanced enough where knowing the map may not be too much of an advantage, but people that play for a long time may find hotspots. The hope is that Incognito and the Santa Monica studio are working on more maps. Chances are good those maps will have to be paid for, but hopefully there will be enough maps to justify the cost.