Homefront

THQ come to save the day and rescue us all from sudden boredom....
they have moved up homefront to the 18th of march from the 26th.
9 days mozza and 3 prestige to go place you bets here............X

urmmm i dont know if i can do it i have proper lost the will to live with the game.........................

well well it is up on the torrent sites so i will let ppl now what it is really like later once i have played it.....

My instant impression of Homefront's multiplayer was that it's a cross between Modern Warfare 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. You have the pacing and vehicular combat aspect from EA's franchise mixed with the gritty feel and loadout system from Activision's FPS. Homefront has some of the basic staples we're used to now, but Kaos is also introducing some new stuff that will really liven up the genre.

The big thing with Homefront's multiplayer is that you're constantly getting points that can be used to give you an advantage during matches. Battle Points, as they're called, are earned for doing anything that helps your team out, like killing an enemy or capturing an objective. With Battle Points, you can purchase a rocket launcher, get extra ammo, and much more. All this is tied to the D-pad and doesn't require the player to pause the action.

Battle Points are used to give players vehicles, too, though they can only be summoned to the battlefield during the respawn screen. You first only have access to the jeep, but as the match goes on, tanks, helicopters and more become available. Once a vehicle is selected, you'll be driving it into the map, and teammates can also spawn with you if they so desire. I really dug this vehicle system, as it's typically a mad dash to get to the vehicles in games like Bad Company or Halo.

Players will also have access to ground and air drones that can be remotely controlled. You're vulnerable in the open while using a drone, and overall, I didn't find them too useful. It does get pretty nuts when there are up to 32 players controlling drones mixed with the various vehicles. It's a good thing, then, that there are dedicated servers, even on the console side.

The preview session only had two playable maps and we were only shown one gametype, Ground Control. The mode is similar to Rush in Bad Company 2, where two objectives have to be captured and then the map gets expanded, revealing two new capture points.

THQ was only showing off the aspects of Homefront that set it apart from the main competition. So while there will be an unlocking system based on your progression, weapon customization and customizable loadouts, we weren't actually able to interact with those features.

There's definitely some balance issues I noticed, like a helicopter's missile barrage not killing a target. Some aspects, like switching weapons, seemed way too slow as well. Again, this was a pre-alpha build and Kaos Studios has a while to work out the kinks.

I wasn't really planning on playing another FPS between Halo: Reach and Call of Duty: Black Ops, but it looks like I'll be making an exception with Homefront come next year.

In a better world, Homefront would be a Dad's Army themed shooter, putting you in control of Captain Mainwaring and Jonesy as they take on Nazi marauders armed only with a British stiff upper lip and a sidecar-mounted railgun.

Sadly, developer Kaos overlooked such rich source material to instead offer a generic, yet potentially promising FPS set in a near-future world where the US has been invaded by a North Korea-led Asian alliance.

It's a bold, and some would say foolish move to enter a market already saturated by triple-A heavyweights, but building on the relative success of their previous title, Frontlines, Homefront looks to offer something a bit different from the Halos and CODs of this world by focusing more on multiplayer action of a larger scale – something I got to try out during a look at some early code of the game last month.

In terms of the basic gameplay, it's pretty unremarkable stuff. Squint slightly and you could be playing any old Xbox 360 army shooter. But it's some of the new ideas Kaos have brought to the table which could make Homefront a contender.

Battle Points, the games reward system, offers a refreshing alternative to killstreaks or levelling-up based kit unlocks. Do something good in the game (like capture a checkpoint, or blow someone up) and the game will reward you with points. These can then be saved, or spent immediately on a number of perks – most of which involve respawning as vehicles.

This quickly encourages a spend/save philosophy – is it worth buying a tank for the next two minutes if I could wait a bit longer and get a helicopter? - that offers a new tactical spin on even your most worn-out multiplayer formulas. It also means new gamers, with a bit of patience, can get their hands on some pretty tasty gear – music to the ears for those of us who can count on one hands the times they've managed to summon an AC130.

The vehicles themselves, though not new to the FPS world by any means, are pretty fun – though I found the controls very poor for some. The drones were the stars of the show, allowing you to zip around the playing field firing rockets, although I fear the novelty of this would soon wear off.

With up to 32 players able to scrap it out at the same time, you can create some pretty intense skirmishes with helicopters, tanks, jeeps and drones all colliding at once - and with no noticeable lag in the code we were playing.

The setting, though hardly groundbreaking, at least has a reassuring sense of legitimacy about it. Hollywood screenwriter John Milius was drafted in to create a scenario a cut above your standard action game plot – and you could feel the added polish simply from the intro sequence.

Unfortunately for John (and Kaos) the hypothetical events leading up to Homefront's third world war – based on Kim Jong-il's succession - may already have taken place by the game's release .

Obviously the considered approach to storylining will impact more on the single-player campaign, but its important too that the multiplayer arena at least makes sense. The armoury at your disposal is all based either on existing weapons and vehicles or ones currently in development – 2027 isn't that far away after all.

Still there's little here that hasn't been seen already in MAG or Battlefield 1943. Homefront's single-player campaign set some tongues wagging at E3, but at the moment my simple advice to the more established FPS franchises out there would be: "Don't panic!"

First-person shooters hardly struggle in terms of popularity or volume of options. Since the HD console era began, they have cemented their position as an ever present at the top of Western sales charts. However, unless you’re already an established brand such as Halo, Call of Duty or Battlefield, it can be a difficult market to crack.

Into that environment enter Kaos Studios’ Homefront, the team that brought us the multiplayer focused Frontlines: Fuel of War. Without wanting to sound too condescending, it’s reasonable to assume that displaying ‘from the team that brought you Frontlines’ on the box blurb will struggle to shift many copies with the aforementioned franchises occupying shelve space in close proximity.

So it had better impress to avoid an early retirement at the bargain bin.

The set-up: the year is 2027 and North Korea have decided to get their Genghis Khan on by conquering the majority of the globe, leaving small pockets of poorly trained resistance fighters. Step one for a successful shooter, provide an epic and implausible plot (or epically implausible), achieved.

Step two; make sure your multiplayer is equal parts fun and addictive.

Based on our pre-alpha multiplayer session, the early signs are promising that step two is on its way to being satisfied. Describing it in one sentence by saying it plays like Call of Duty with a Battlefield approach to level design wouldn’t be too far off the mark.

Up to 32 players can battle it out online across maps that vary in size and scale, some granting you the ability to take control of vehicles; namely, helicopters, tanks and humvees. This Battlefield-esque set-up is coupled with a Call of Duty style perks and damage system (i.e. it doesn’t take an entire clip to dispatch an enemy).

The two maps we were let loose on were ‘Cul-de-Sac’ and ‘Farm’. Cul-de-Sac is an 8 vs. 8 map set in a claustrophobic, bombed-out residential area in which fighting takes place from building to building and between burnt out cars. Significant advantage can be gained by controlling upstairs windows and laying waste to the opposition on the streets below.

Farm is a significantly larger proposition that allows for 16 vs. 16 matches and consists of open fields, dotted with barns, large trees, a small river and a partially destroyed silo/storage area. Farm provides some excellent opportunities for sniping and causing apocalyptic levels of damage; not least because it allows you to commandeer vehicles and unleash a whole new degree of punishment unto the enemy.

On both maps we played ‘Ground Control’, a capture point based game mode in which both teams fight to secure two designated locations and gain credits for holding them. After the available credits have been exhausted the two points changed location and the battle focuses on another section of the map.

It’s hardly something fresh or unique but it does force players to make use of the whole map and develop new strategies and avenues of attack as the round progresses. This is especially interesting on the smaller Cul-de-Sac map as the tight, narrow passages between buildings provide a range of options for creatively minded armchair soldiers to exploit as the capture point switches places.

Perhaps the most interesting feature of what we played was the Battle Points (BP) system, granting you the ability to purchase vehicles, weapons, attack drones and ammo on the fly during battle. BP is earned for everything you might acquire experience points for in other shooters, including kills, assists, securing capture points, avenging team mates etc.

Your tally is displayed in the bottom right hand corner of your HUD along with your purchasing options. To spend your points you just need to hit the relevant direction on your D-Pad and it’s yours. For example, if you’re having a particularly successful round as a sniper and run out of ammo you can simply purchase some more, allowing you to retain your spot on the map. Or, if a helicopter has suddenly appeared in your crosshairs, you can arm yourself with a rocket launcher (if you have the required BP) and give yourself a chance to take it out quickly and easily.

You can push the boat out a little more and arm yourself with a brand new vehicle or drone. Drones are controlled remotely so you can hole yourself up in a safe, quiet corner as you guide your mini-tank or chopper around the battlefield clearing the path for your squad mates. You’ll need to watch yourself though as drones have limited ammo and battery life and cannot be relied upon to last the entire match.

Helicopters, tanks and jeeps can be bought between deaths, before you spawn, (as well as during the heat of battle) which is great if you want to start your next life in a vehicle without stressing over having to race your team for a spot in the tank, helicopter etc. If there’s a free spot in a vehicle that’s already in the fight it’s also possible to spawn directly into it without spending any points.

It’s worth noting that BP doesn’t carry over from game to game, so if you don’t spend it you lose it. This intensifies the matches as each round is almost always filled with powerful weapons, drones and vehicles (for those maps that support them).

Again, what we saw was pre-alpha so there’s likely to be a number of changes before it releases next year. However, the basic concepts of shifting capture points, Battle Points and varied maps supporting different numbers of players seem to work well and allow you to approach the fight in a way that suits your playing style.

It’s going to be a tough challenge to upset the balance and topple (or even equal) the brands that I mentioned at the top of this preview, but things seem to be moving in the direction. Let’s hope it stays that way and we get something that turns out to be a viable alternative to the established order.

nice !