It's been knocking around for a while now, but Sony Computer Entertainment and developer LightBox Interactive have finally officially unveiled Warhawk follow-up, Starhawk, which takes the franchise into the far reaches of space.

Warhawk was a multiplayer-only shooter developed by Incognito and released in 2007. Since then, the game has had a loyal following online, which means that Starhawk should come as music to fans' ears.

Starhawk's new setting sees players engaging in the same kind of third-person on-foot and vehicular multiplayer action, but on desolate moons, where you'll battle for highly valuable 'rift energy'. However, this time around, there'll also be a single-player story to play through.

There'll also be a potentially game-changing feature in the 'Build and Battle' system, which will enable players to drop various stuctures into the battlefield on the fly from an in-game menu, adding an extra layer of real-time strategy-style gameplay to proceedings. Sounds intriguing!

Starhawk is due to release sometime next year. Check out some of the first screens below.

[Via Joystiq]