One of the big perks of Sony’s 2011 press conference aside from the stunning showcase of 3D visuals, was the after party. Â Once Sony lifted the curtain, which Jack Tretton presented Sony’s upcoming lineup from in front of, a world of Sony’s upcoming lineup was free to explore. Â Among the many games I got to get hands on with, Starhawk was one of the most impressive of the bunch.
As I was given a guided tour of the game, and warned that the game was in pre-alpha mode, I noticed that game looks extremely polished. Â Even at this early stage of its life. Â What we got to test drive was the game’s multiplayer component, which was a standard capture the flag affair. Â Though aside from the name, it was about the only similarity between other games in the TPS genre.
The building mechanics in the game give it such a dynamic feel, that it was a little hard to grasp all of the possibilities at first. Â While the gameplay may seem straight forward, it becomes something much more when you start wrapping your head around the unlimited possibilities of building. Â Sniper Towers, Turrets, Garages, they all play into the tug-of-war battle between attacking an enemy’s flag and defending your own, at least in the gamemode that was on display.
After this demo, Starhawk went from being on my “maybe I’ll play it” list to my can’t miss list. Â The action is frantic, the graphics are superb, and the gameplay is flat-out fun. Â What was truly remarkable, was the warning that accompanied my time with the game, and realizing that this game wasn’t even close to being finished.
