Sunday 24 September 2006
With Warhawk sadly delayed until next year, we zeroed in on the multiplayer sessions running at Tokyo Game Show for some hands-on time to tide us over, and came away happy with how it's progressing.

The PS3 motion-sensitive pad controls were an even cushier fit than we found Lair's to be - perhaps because developer Incognito has had a little longer to get to grips with it, with Warhawk being the first game to publicly demonstrate waggle-o-matic flight at this year's E3.

Flying the Warhawk just feels right and dogfighting with nine other players in a 5-on-5 match had us banking and weaving all over the place.

Above: Creator Incognito promises all the destructibility you can handle in Warhawk's battle-torn nation

The multiplayer match took place on an island dotted with military installations and it's possible to jump out of the Warhawk for some on-foot action or to climb into a waiting tank or jeep.

This side of the game felt a lot clunkier, though - even if it's only because a fairly ordinary third-person shooter can't help but be a let-down after we'd been corkscrewing through a brilliant blue sky with twists of the wrists.

Our only other complaint - and it's not really the game's fault - is that of all the PS3 titles on show, it's Warhawk that really rams home the PS3 pad's lack of rumble.

The only feedback for moving the controller around is the sonic response of the Warhawk's engines - it's a fair effort, but the movement feels too light and floaty compared to the chunky 1950s-military-in-the-future style of the game itself.

Still, it's an obvious improvement on the solid E3 version and it'll be interesting to see what difference the extra time makes to the game. For a brief look at the TGS version, hit the movies tab above for Sony's official trailer.