Set in the lawless frontier of space, Starhawk provides fast paced shooter action allowing players to instantly alter the battlefield by calling down offensive and defensive structures to your advantage in real-time from an orbiting drop ship, all while blasting away at enemies in the middle of huge single player or multiplayer firefights.  Experience the intense frenetic combat on foot, in land vehicles, or in the skies while playing a full singleplayer campaign, engaging in epic 32 player battles online, or teaming up with friends in offline and online co-operative play.

The Starhawk Public Beta begins this Tuesday, January 17th. This is a crucial step as the developer will be testing all sorts of things, including game balance, server traffic, and general bugs. This is also a chance for more players to finally see what LightBox has been working so hard on.

Who gets in, and when?

(North American Starhawk Beta schedule)

• January 17: All PlayStation Plus subscribers and all Private Beta participants (who haven’t erased their original Private Beta files).
• January 31: UNCHARTED 3 Beta key holders. These voucher codes were found inside of North American copies of UNCHARTED 3.
• February 7: Visit GameStop and PlayStation on Facebook and see how you can get early voucher codes.
• February 14: IGN.com (details to be revealed soon)
• February 21: Everyone with a PlayStation Network account…in other words, everyone who wants in, gets in!

Starhawk’s feature set begins with a host of weaponry and a multitude of vehicles for high-speed, extreme combat combined with intense vehicular warfare on both land and air.  The game’s innovative Build & Battle system lets players alter the moment to moment action by giving them the ability to change the dynamic of the battlefield instantly with a selection of base structures at their disposal, all while in the midst of the fight.  By the touch of a button players can violently deploy a number of buildings, vehicles, or artillery to strategically complete mission objectives and defeat enemies.  Through the sophisticated architecture of the PS3 system, the instantaneous customization that Build & Battle provides, as well as the breadth of gameplay that spans multiple modes, is made possible. 

The Starhawk universe is set in the distant future, out in the far reaches of space where factions battle over a rare and dangerous resource known as Rift Energy.  In this galaxy, colonies of humans, called Rifters, explore a scattering of planets, known as the Frontier, in attempt to mine this energy to make an honest living, but find their way of life threatened by the Outcast, a ruthless species of humans who have mutated into psychotic monsters due to exposure to this very same Rift Energy.  Caught in the middle is Emmett Graves, a hired gunslinger ostracized from society because of his own exposure to Rift Energy, leaving him partially mutated, but still able to retain his humanity.  Starhawk allows you to take on the powerful role of Graves who is drawn back to his home settlement of White Sands on the Planet Dust to face a mysterious outlaw and his war band of Outcast warriors only to discover that this job may mean more to him than he could have ever imagined.  He will soon find out that his family is involved in the clash between the Outcast and the Rifters and therefore must decide between those close to him and those he swore to protect.

Key Features:

• Intense Air, Ground, and Vehicular Combat – Experience action-packedrun and gun gameplay on foot orpilot vehicles for an incredible rangeof combat.
• New Build & Battle System – Change the battlefield to youradvantage and call downequipment, vehicles andfortifications instantly from anorbiting drop ship.
• Full Single Player Campaign and Co-op Modes – Bring justice to thelawless frontier of space as outcast gunslinger Emmett Graves or team up with friends in 1-4 online or offline player co-op mode.
• Epic 32 Online Multiplayer Battles – Engage opponents via multiple maps spanning various unique worlds.
• Fully Leverages PlayStation 3 – Starhawk’s breadth of gameplay that spans multiple modes (air, ground, vehicular), as well as the innovative Build & Battle system can only be done seamlessly, without pause, on PS3. 
• Dogfighting in Space – Starhawk’s solo and online multiplayer campaign will include space flight gameplay (picture fighting through massive space stations and asteroids), in addition to the action-packed run and gun ground combat on foot or in different vehicles.
• Community Features – Player hosted tournaments, leaderboards, and clan support with additional friends list and quick match features.  Users can also keep up to date with the community events calendar, ticker tape updates, and a Starhawk Android app that will allow users to keep track of friends, clan mates, and stats when not online.