Hawken

Hawken isn't a story-based game, but the world in which the game takes place has a bit of backstory.

Illal was once a beautiful planet, but corporate greed and war destroyed its natural order. The Giga Structure is a virus of sorts that manifests as self-replicating patches of metal structures, and although not directly harmful to Illal's inhabitants, it takes over buildings and nature, leaving them uninhabitable. The planet is currently under quarantine.

Currently, the reason behind the fighting is a fuel source called Vitrolium. Humans have invented giant mechs--mechanical bipedal suits--in order to fight each other for possession of Vitrolium.

The story is purposefully vague, but the world is gorgeously rendered. Hawken's themes include environmentalism, the power of greed, and...well, mostly, just really cool mechs.

• Is fighting as a mech more impersonal than if you were killing human characters, or is it the same since the "people" are only other players regardless of how they appear on screen?