Without Warning is a sad piece of software not because of what it is, but because of what it could have been. The story is tear-jerkingly bland, but the way it was attempted to be told is commendable. Terrorists have attacked a chemical plant and are planning to do not-so-nice-things with the contents therein. A task force has been sent in to stop them from completing their plans, but were bushwhacked and are now scattered. On top of all that, the deeds of people working within the chemical plant take part in the action as well.
This is where the commendable part comes in. The way the game is laid out is similar to the show 24. The entire game takes place within 12 hours of events at this chemical plant. Each level is a different period of time, and you take control of one of six people in each period. Three are part of the aforementioned assault team sent in to stop the terrorists, and the other three are innocent bystanders who were caught up in the mess while working inside the chemical factory.
The problem with the game is that all effort to make something cool was wasted on the concept, leaving nothing left to work on the execution. As I mentioned before, the characters are as interesting as pieces of balsa wood, and the plot is limited to idealistically driven terrorists trying to do something nasty. As each part of the story unfolds, the same types of incidents occur, just with you in control of a different character.
Further dousing the flames of what could have been a thrilling storyline is the lack of any emotional connection between you and the game. Throughout the entirety of this fiasco, you are not only trying to kill robot-like terrorists, but also trying to save hostages. When you find a hostage and free them, they say nothing and then simply disappear into the ether.
