Warhawk Operation: Broken Mirror details, trailer

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Operation: Broken Mirror has gone “gold” and will be available in the Playstation Store on April, 17th for $7.99 !!

To celebrate the release of our second Booster-Pack, our fine friends on the Playstation Store team have agreed to run a limited-time sale on Warhawk for just $29.99. This is a crazy-good deal and I can’t wait to get an influx of new players — But a warning to all you hardcore Warhawk players…please be gentle!!! :-)

Ok…to kick things off, scope the video below – it’s the trailer for our second booster-pack, Operation: Broken Mirror!

Granted, you probably just watched the video but in case you didn’t, here’s a quick summary of what Operation Broken Mirror includes:

  • 10 layouts on a brand new winter battlefield, Vaporfield Glacier.
  • 2 new Armored Personnel Carriers (Chernovan and Eucadian styles).
  • 10 bonus layouts for battlefields from the original game so that you can play with the APCs.

First let me write a bit about the new battlefield.

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So yes, finally it’s a snow level…something that everyone has been asking for. And no…our next expansion will not feature a lava-level !! :-)

It does feature dynamic weather so in some screenshots you will see the sun is shining, there are shadows and very little, if any snow falling. In others, you may notice that the weather conditions have changed. When the sun is behind the clouds, the snow is stronger, whipping back and forth, the shadows flatten and the lighting becomes more diffuse. And yes… the weather state is synchronized across the network.

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Vaporfield Glacier is a vast, windswept valley filled with huge chunks of glacial ice, raised highways, deep chasms, with military bases and research facilities scattered around the frigid landscape. At the heart of the battlefield lies Olsavik Village, a small abandoned town whose people have long since left their homes after years of bloody conflict in the Eucadian War.

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~burrr~

“I’m so cold….so very, very cold…”

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While our last booster pack, Operation: Omega Dawn sold really well (thanks to all of you) and was received very positively, some players on the Warhawk forums did voice a concern that the Omega Factory battlefield was too large!! Something that I must admit I was surprised to hear but nevertheless, it came from our player community so we took it very seriously.

So…we took a different approach with Vaporfield Glacier. The naked battlefield is in-fact larger that Omega Dawn. However, we decided to include twice as many layouts so that we could provide players with more variety in small and medium maps. We also included something else that our community has been requesting for quite sometime — asymmetrical layouts.

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So like I was saying, Vaporfield Glacier battlefield is large but it’s carved-up into a bunch of smaller layouts that would provide players with a lot of layout variation. Here are the layouts that you’ll get with Operation: Broken Mirror:

layout_Clayout_EL

layout_TAlayout_WW

layout_Glayout_S

layout_Dlayout_E

layout_BLlayout_OV

We’re really happy with the way these layouts play and hope all of you enjoy them as well. I was also really glad that SONY was cool with us doubling the number of layouts without increasing the price.

As you know from our previous Booster-Pack we like to “retro-fit” the new vehicles into the core battlefields to keep things fresh. In Operation: Omega Dawn, we included the Dropship into each of the big layouts from the 5 original core battlefields as “bonus” layouts.

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Well…this time around, we really wanted to increase the number of bonus layouts because the APCs play really well on both large and medium layouts. So I’m happy to say that Operation: Broken Mirror includes not 5 but 10 bonus layouts that feature the APCs.

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Now…on to the APCs. And they are jam-packed with Yummy Gameplay Goodness! I should trademark that so that I can say something like “our new booster features YGG technology!”

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…but I digress.

APCs – They have a ton of features so here’s a quick YGG summary:

  • APCs support a driver and 6 other troops in “pop-up” hatches that allow troops to use their own weapons, making the APC like a customizable weapons platform.
  • APCs act as mobile spawn points for your team so you can setup field bases, help coordinate ground assaults, and spawn directly into them as another player is driving them around.
  • When you spawn into an APC, your troop is rewarded with an additional weapon based on an internal loot-table.
  • APCs can activate a huge shield by placing an E-POD.
  • APCs have a boost ability that not only allows them to traverse distances more quickly, but it also acts as a ram-attack that obliterates other vehicles (except the tank because of its super-heavy armor).

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I’m probably gonna have to respond to a lot of comments and questions from this post so that you can get some specific answers. So let ‘em rip!

Oh, and because I know someone is going to ask me…”why is this booster pack called Broken Mirror?”

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Well… and maybe this gives too much exposure into how my mind works (or doesn’t work I guess), I found the fracture patterns of broken glass very similar to the crystalline structures of ice and snow — So there…”Broken Mirror”

0052 – 006F – 0063 – 006B – 004F – 006E – 0021

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430 Comments

70 Author Replies

  • Oh man. this looks amazing!

    I can’t wait to get it!

  • Dylan,
    Thank you for continuing to support this spectacular game!! Thank You!!

  • Awesome atmospheric stuff for the level! BTW is that some new music? If so will that be in game for those oh so dramatic moments?

  • Im playing warhawk right now(took a break to see whats happening in the gaming world)

    I cant wait to play this map.I just played an awsome omega dawn game a little bit ago.
    These packs are really shaping this game very well.

  • I’ve gotta admit…the incog team is really ahead of everyone else in terms of support, updates, and just generally being tied to the community. I’m really impressed. By the way Dylan…what’s that key code/alpha-numeric sequence at the end of your post mean?

  • @Madgame
    Methinks Dylan is being oh so sneaky, again…

  • New maps are great but we need more tanks, guns, and such…. like a flame thrower for a vehcile (tank killer truck) or a shock trooper type weapon so I can bounce an electrial bolt killing several enemies at once, maybe a new variation of warhawk (just for aesthetics….like the ones I can choose for my PSN icon?), or a portable flak cannon so when I run out of portable missiles and the warhawk is bearing down I still have a weapon for my last ditch effort…………just some ideas

    • Hello Mr. Craazy !

      I can see your point about wanting us to add more weapons and tanks. However…

      …right now we are spending a big chunk of our time working on our next FREE upgrade which focuses a lot on 2 new game modes that will be added to all battlefields (core & boosters)

      We\’ve already had some initial play tests with these new modes and they\’re really fun — I can\’t wait to release them in the v1.4 patch.

      Also working on another feature for the v1.4 patch that I can\’t really talk about now…but I will be sure to include it when we unveil the v1.4 patch.

  • Ok can someone tell me if the Vehicle and weapons from OBM will be available in OD.
    And really Dylan I think owners of OD should get OBM for a discounted price.

  • Dylan, As a beta tester for this game i’ve fallen in love since day one thank you for blowing my mind over and over again with these new maps. Snow fall!!! i love it can wait to see more.
    Any word of which maps will be chosen for the medium apc maps? Because I know there is a diffrence between Vari large and medium maps and the regular large and medium maps.

    • Here the specific Bonus Layouts included in Operation Broken Mirror:

      Eucadia Battle for Eucadia
      Eucadia Valley Battle
      Island Outpost Island Battle
      Island Outpost Installation
      The Badlands Desert Warfare
      The Badlands Supply Chain
      Destroyed Capitol Spire Shut-In
      Destroyed Capitol Road to Ruin
      Archipelago Island Warfare
      Archipelago Acropolis Assault

  • This looks great but I’m not spending a dime on Warhawk anymore. My rank haven’t been updated since 2007. That’s just lame!!!
    I’ve emailed Sony about the situation many times and they just give me the run around. So, no more Warhawk for moi.

  • very nice!!! Dylan, can you tell SCEA to release the PSN Cards so I can get all of the Booster packs!

  • so the rogue spreadsheet was true! broken mirror was (and is) coming out on “abril de 17th”.

    That must mean that everything else on that sheet was (and is) true. Hmmm, maybe.

    Sooo, are you guys getting that rain level worked out for us next???

  • Hey dylan broken mirror looks awesome! question though:
    Is the combat dropship going to be accessible on Vaporfield Glacier, or are the combination of the apc and dropship available on any map?

    Also, i have a friend i’m trying to convince to get the first booster, but now she’s worried that it’s going to be free once this one comes out, set her fears to rest? Or are there any bundles planned soon with both boosters?

    Thanks and keep up the great work!

    • Great Question!!

      Currently there is no \”cross-pollination\” of booster-packs.

      We discussed this a lot amongst the team members here in the studio and felt that mixing them would fracture the player community too much.

      A player that bought Warhawk and maybe didn\’t like Omega Dawn but loved Broken Mirror, could just upgrade to the second booster and play on OMB servers just like normal.

      If we mixed them, it would add another dimension of server variability, in essence, we\’d be strong-arming players into buying all the packs…simply to make sure they could find a server to play on.

      in this day-n-age of publishers \”experimenting\” with digital pricing models…the team and I are taking a strong stance that we don\’t want to exploit players by passively *forcing* them to buy every single booster-pack we develop.

      Players should be able to pick and choose which ones they want.

      Ideally, a player should want to buy all of our booster-packs…but not forcing you to do so keeps us honest and makes sure that we continue to develop great booster-packs that you buy because you *want* to…not because you are being *forced* to.

      Hope that makes sense.

  • Asymmetrical layouts? That way lies madness. What next!?! Girl players? Pink weapons sporting hello kitty? Dogs and cats living together!?

    • Madness indeed…

      …they were tricky to balance as you an imagine but we feel pretty good about them.

      of course our players will *certainly* tell us if they don\’t think they are balanced!!!

  • The Price Drop with along with the Expansion Pack(s) is about to push me over the edge on buying this game but i really wish i could communicate with people so maybe i should pick up the Bluray Pack In instead. I know from the beta this game is amazing but money is tight.

    Anybody have good ideas on Bluetooth headsets that i can pick up which are cheap so i can buy this off the PSN?

    Anyways, Sir Dylan you guys may have just got another customer in the Warhawk universe.
    (Yes i have just Knighted you – love me)

  • 0052 – 006F – 0063 – 006B – 004F – 006E – 0021

    Should we be hunting for clues?

  • Hey could you tell me, will there still be the dropship in all the levels and layouts that include a APC?

    Great post BTW, how come you don’t play your game all that much. Your stats say you have played like 45 minutes.

    • LOL…

      …I have had to play using a different PSN account so that I could observer the game without people acting or playing differently.

      :-)

  • Dylan Jobe you are amazing!!!!

    Seriously though, Warhawk was actually my first online game, and also happens to be the best game I have ever played in my life, I will always remember it as the most fun game ever created. And Im sure many would agree.
    I really appreciate the work you and the devs put into this game :)

    So, whats next for boosters? maybe Chernova or the map from the original trailer with the capital ships, that would be cool

    Also any chance of giving us a hint at the new game modes your working on?

    Josh

  • This looks great Dylan!

    I have to ask though…

    Is there any chance we could get the back story as to why/how/what the Chernovan and Eucadian’s are fighting for?

    There seems to be a lot of thought put into Warhawk and its style and continuity… I know the single player campaign was scrapped, but we would still love to get the skinny as to why the fight is happening.

    I know in the end, it probably doesn’t matte, however, having a back story really helps to spur the imagination, as well as make people “pick a side” that they feel they identify with.

    Now, since there are no plans for a single player component, throw us a bone :)

    I’m thinking to be on the practical side, you guys could announce it here and maybee post it on warhawk.com

    Thanks for your time :)

  • Alright my last question for now, with the dynamic weather-ness be in other maps as well?

  • 0052 – 006F – 0063 – 006B – 004F – 006E – 0021?

  • Will any of the new updates include changes to hosting games? It would be nice to be able to save hosted game settings. The current ability to save map rotations is nice, but having to set all the rest each time is irritating.

    Great game! thanks.

  • Rock On? You are such a tease.

  • Thanks so much Dylan for all the continued support.

    Omega Dawn was geared more for Air and Broken Mirror is geared more towards ground; I know that the new stuff has not dropped yet, but can you give some details about what directions you guys might be going for the 1.4 update?

    I know, I know…..the PR ninjas; but maybe something to keep our minds wondering.

    • …its way, way to early to be talking about the next booster right now.

      The team is currently focusing a lot of efforts on our next free update, the v1.4 patch.

      Once I\’m allowed to tell you guys more, I\’ll be sure to make a post!

  • i have 2 questions. can you add a way for clan leaders to send clan invites while in the game so we dont have to quit. and also you should add something like gamebattles in warhawk, but it would probably be to hard.

    ANd hopefully you guys dont make omega dawn free!!!!!!!!!!!

    • we won\’t be making Omega Dawn free. IMO, that would be a bad policy to set and also be pretty crapy to all the great players out there to spent their hard-earned money on Operation Omega Dawn.

      We have been discussing the idea of a dual-booster bundle…maybe at some discount for players that want to purchase both Omega Dawn and Broken Mirror at the same time. But nothing is finalized yet.

  • Also, this is a HUGE request that i know has a HUGE following. People really, really want the ability to be able to set weapon limits in player server……being able to have sniper only battles or Knives and Nades….with out having to police the use of other weapons over the mic’s

    • we\’ve talked about \”mutators\” here in the studio as well. Haven\’t made up or minds yet…but I know there is a interest in this feature fo sho.

  • 0052 – 006F – 0063 – 006B – 004F – 006E – 0021

    Everyone… This is HEX CODE. Converting this to characters it says….

    Rock On!

  • Sometimes I see it’s snowing and sometimes not, it’s in specific layout?

    My second question is the booster pack will release quickly after the patch, with the patch or will be moths after the patch?

    • the weather changes regardless of layout.

      We are currently tracking an April 2nd release date for the v1.3 patch and an April 17th release date for Operation Broken Mirror.

  • This looks sweet, but what hell is with adding a few things (which are cool), and then charging money for it. I know it takes time and money to make these add-ons, but why cant we have some free maps, or some kind of incentive for free every once in awhile? I’m going to buy this booster pack, but still I wish we could get a booster pack like this for free some time soon!

  • THANK YOU FOR THE NEW UPDATE AND BOOSTER PACK.
    I LOVE WARHAWK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Oh, Dylan. I think I have a decent question now. Have you guys put any thought into warhawk and ps3/psp integration. Like being able to see a map on the psp or gives you your current stats while in game and lets you know if you’ve gotten a ribbon or medal.

    I know this doesn’t pertain to broken mirror, but I’m just looking for some way to use my psp with a game on ps3.

    And I like how this booster comes out at about the same time GT5P comes out…hmm, thanks haha!

  • Nice post Mr. Jobe. I have a few questions for you. In your initial 1.3 Blog post we saw a Vaporfield Gl….. under a screen select photo. Was this an intended hint or something that was looked over? Also, how much more powerful will the .50 cal be after 1.3? One final thing I am curious about is the sales figures of both Warhawk (overall downloaded + hard copies) and the sales figures of Omega Dawn. Your answers to these questions would be appreciated! Thanks – Sal

    • It was very intentional…I choose my words, and images very carefully. So yes, the inclusion of that battlefield in the server list was a hidden hint…

      The .50 cals have previously sucked IMO…we made some big changes to the 50\’s in the v1.3 patch — and hopefully you and the rest of the players are very happy with the balance changes.

      And I would be \”shanked\” so brutally if I posted our sales data dude you have no idea !!!!

  • I didn’t see the dropship in any of those clips.

    Is this correct? We will never be able to use the APC and the Dropship together?

  • The Code Means:
    “0052 – 006F – 0063 – 006B – 004F – 006E – 0021”

    “Rock On!”

    Its written in Unicode characters :)

  • Also Dylan, what are you guys doing about stat padders, because it is a little annoying that so many people are above me in the leader boards by cheating.
    Instead of weeding them out one by one, wouldnt it be easier to just disable dropping the flag, or even better, get some sort of system in place where any player with over 1000 points is immediately kicked from a game and has those stats discounted. Just an idea.

    The Booster looks amazing btw. Cant wait :)

  • Wow, I am seriously considering buying this game while the sale is still on. Not sure that I can resist at that price.

  • @ #20 reson8er – I would love to know more backstory also.

    This expansion looks great, and I love that there are a ton of map layouts. I think some people complained about the OD expansion because they didn’t play enough on the smaller layouts. In my opinion, it has the best maps in the game so far. Hopefully BM will bring more of the same. I noticed at the start of the trailer a trooper is running in a building, and I hope this is available on the maps. The Eucadia map has all of these great buildings that are half destroyed, and you can’t get in them…

    @ Dylan Jobe – Any chance the weather on these levels has an impact on gameplay? (ex. snow is “slippery”, wind makes flight harder, etc.)

    Anyways, can’t wait until the release. Warhawk is a great game and it is nice to see Incog’s continued support.

    • great observation about the buildings in the trailer…let me clarify.

      YES — the buildings in the center of Vaporfield Glacier are fully traversable. Meaning that some of the collision \”bondo\” that we used in the core game levels has been done away with for the new level.

      So…yes, you can climb on roofs and hide in the destroyed buildings of Olsavik Village.

      Your second question, NO…the weather doesn\’t change the physics of the game. We thought long and hard about this and in the end felt it was better to *not* screw with the core dynamics of the game.

  • Yay! I got it!

    ***SPOILER***

    The numbers are in HEX and they say:

    R – o – c – k – O – n – !

    or

    Rock On!

    Woo!

  • Looks awesome. Im glad you wont make a lava level :P

    But how about a desert one?

    Ah man i cant wait for this

  • @Dylan (obviously)

    First, I’d like to start off by just simply saying WOW!! This looks absolutly incredible. I can’t wait to test drive that new APC (drive-bys in an APC will be incredible). And a mobile spawn point too? Your just spoiling us now Dylan, but we don’t mind.

    Now back to my question that i’ve asked before, eh hem. Is there a chance of any new DM servers that allow more than 8 player support? As i’ve said I love the tight 8 player ones, but my favourite severs are the Player Ranked DM’s with like 24 people in. But usually, the host quits either during a match or just when we are having fun. And besides, the Offical DM servers are full of lepers and n00bs, they are normally occupied by one to two people flying round like tits wasting everybodies time. If you overhauled more DM servers, then I think it’d be a more popular mode. But of course with the new modes coming soon, I doubt we have much to worry about.

    Any word on those new modes yet? Oh, and does this DLC have a little pic like OD?

    Ad

    • we are going to be updating the names and rotations for our official-dedicated servers in time for the release of Operation Broken Mirror so we can look to support some of these.

      Keep your eyes out for the change.

  • I think your brain works Hexadecimal… In decimal it would be:
    82-111-99-107-79-110-33

    Which eruhm… Looks like a key or something?
    But wait when we convert it to letters and leave out the 0’s we get: ROCKON!

    Am I Right?

  • Very nice Dylan, look forward to (hopefully) playing the new map.
    I say hopefully because I have no intention of buying anything, even something for my favourite game, from a PSN that continues to overcharge Canadians.
    If we are charged $7.99, and our Canadian dollar is at par with yours BTW, then I will buy it. If we are charged 12.5% more, as with all other downloads, then I will not, and I will do my best to make sure my friends do the same.
    It may be only a dollar, but I can see no reason for that extra dollar. As I said in another post, I can buy the headset-free Bluray version of Warhawk at EBGames for $39.99 (new), while the Sony Store regularly charges $42.99 for a download! Even the sale price gouges us for an extra 3 bucks, that’s 10% more, and for no apparent reason other than greed.
    In short, I’ve become one of the greatest fans of Warhawk, it is perhaps the best game for the PS3, but I will not be taken advantage of. I hope you have some influence with the marketing guys, and that you use it. Thanks.

    • I understand your perspective.

      I\’ll speak with our Playstation Store team. I must tell you ahead of time that the amount of influence I have over something like this is just about ZERO…but I\’ll see.

  • Dylan Please see post #9

  • one more thing, does this mean the “omega dawn” pack i downloaded, is going to be free now? I hope not, because we did pay for this not too long ago. If it does get to be free, will we (the ones who bought it) get a free booster pack download for free or a discount? Just asking because it doesn’t hurt to be a bargain hunter!

    • Omega Dawn will not be made FREE as the result of our Operation Broken Mirror release.

      We may do a discounted dual-booster bundle pack…but nothing is set in stone yet.

  • 2 more things. Some players cough*Craigerson and JBeezy*cough ;) have been lamenting over the need of a few “minimum ranked servers” where only top ranks would be able to join. Any news on this? Also, will any new medals/ badges be developed as the new vehicles/ weapons make their debuts? Here is a thread from the Playstation boards that may give some of you developers over @ incognito some ideas of what needs to be worked on. http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=warhawk&thread.id=344774&view=by_date_ascending&page=1

    One final thing that I am sure the majority of the PS community will agree with me on. The player of the “week” should NEVER be someone that is a padder.

    • we are looking to add a minimum rank option in the v1.4 patch.

      And we were just looking at this post just today!

      We are always looking at the forums for issues that need to be addressed.

      …btw, the put in a fix for the invisible air mines exploit in the v1.3 patch.

  • Also, please see post #34

    We really want to know for sure.

  • So it the next expansion going to be a level with no ground?? Instead of having ground you guys should take those massive warships from the original conception of the game and make them the ground parts of the map. Make them big enough to go in and fight on, but then hop in a WH and fly off of them for a air battle. Maybe 5 or 6 ships and one HUGE on for the center of the map. That would be the greatest.

  • This is great, Thanks for the update.

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