RAGE 2

For all intents and purposes, RAGE 2’s story is stupidly simple. You meet the members of Project Dagger, fight General Cross and corrupt him with a virus that prevents more of his clones being made. The virus happens to be lethal to Walker, the protagonist, as well. But lo and behold, his friend Lily saves him, there’s a rendezvous with the Project Dagger members again and…that’s it. It’s not a terrible cliffhanger like RAGE 1 but that’s not saying much.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided – Augment Your Pre-Order

Based on anonymous reports, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided faced a number of issues in development including a possible sequel that may never see the light of day. However, Square Enix decided to start early with ruining consumer interest by introducing the “Augment Your Pre-Order” campaign. Basically, depending on the number of players who pre-ordered the game, a subsequent tier of bonuses would unlock. So one unlocked tier gave new costumes, another provided an extra in-game mission, four days early access, you get the idea. This didn’t go down well for a number of reasons. Even if you did pre-order of your own volition, you were at the mercy of other players pre-ordering to get all the benefits. Square Enix was probably banking on players to “encourage” others to pre-order through word of mouth, making this a low-key pyramid scheme. The publisher later explained that it was an alternative to different rewards for different regions but why didn’t it just give all the rewards to anyone who pre-ordered? Fortunately, it scrapped the campaign and did just that.

THQ has revealed that Crytek will make the next Homefront. Danny Bilson of THQ said, “Selecting Crytek to take Homefront forward underscores our strategy of working with the industry’s best talent. Homefront’s unique setting and storyline captivated gamers the world over. With Crytek’s industry leading technology and legendary experience in the FPS genre, we’re supremely confident that the next Homefront will deliver that AAA-quality experience that players demand.”

“We see Homefront as a really strong universe that has a lot of potential and that has been expertly created and marketed by THQ,” said Cevat Yerli, Founder, CEO and President of Crytek. “We believe that bringing our level of quality, creativity and production values to the next Homefront title creates an opportunity for both THQ and Crytek to deliver a truly blockbuster game. It’s really important to us that THQ has the faith in giving us a lot of creative freedom over one of its most important properties to allow us to bring the Homefront world to life in a new and innovative way.”

This is a really good partnership as Kaos Studios didn’t do justice to the first game. The game will release on the PC, PS3 and 360 in fiscal year 2014. It won’t be called Homefront 2 but the title is yet to be named.

THQ have launched a trailer for the latest Homefront map pack, The Rock.

It shows of the new maps in all their downloadable glory. Check it out above.

Today, July 28th 2011, ‘Homefront’ gets another map pack.  The DLC is called ‘The Rock‘ and will include two maps as well as being exclusive for the Xbox 360 for a short period of time before it is released for other platforms.. similar to the Call of Duty map packs.  The contents two maps are called Alcatraz and Bridge playable in Team Deathmatch like the last maps released (Waterway and Overpass). It will run you 400 Microsoft Points and if you a fan of the game you’ll want to stay up to date with the rest of the players as over priced as it might seem or as odd as it is released two maps at a time.  Never the less, I think ‘Homefront’ has one of the best online multiplayer mechanic around and is the underdog in today’s over saturated world of first-person shooter, so if you have not played the game, you might want to check it out.  More details on the DLC can be seen here.

Homefront is still going strong, which on a side note is why we gave the game such a good review.  The latest DLC has been announced which will be entitled ‘The Rock’ suitably because of one of the maps being the infamous Alcatraz prison.  The map pack will include two maps for the Capture and Deathmatch modes.  Alcatraz which was once known as America’s most infamous prison system is now ground zero for some a close-quarters tactical gun fights.  You will get to see the Golden Gate Bridge as it is secured for large scale warfare and the realism of war happening either on the Spillways near homes or on the to storefront.  War will still rage on in the streets of the California in the Waterway.

The ‘Rock’ DLC be available on exclusively on the Xbox 360 for 400 MS Points (£3.43) first then is will be available before on the PC and Playstation 3 a little later.  In other Homefront news, the original developer of the game being Kaos Studios officially closing THQ Montreal is supporting the game fully making this not the first DLC pack for the game.  More importantly Homefront 2 is still planned to be developed.  I for one can’t wait.

As usual, one contest ends another starts! This time we are giving copies of Operation Flashpoint: Red River and 15 Xbox 360 codes for Homefront Weapon Camo Skin Pack.

Each of these contests have different rules and threads. You can check them out below.

Homefront DLC codes Giveaway

Operation Flashpoint: Red River Giveaway

Special thanks to Zapak Games for sponsoring copies of Operation Flashpoint: Red River and E-xpress Games for the Homefront codes.

So how do you get these? It’s simple. Just tell us that you need one and we will email it to you right away.

Please do note that we have just 15 XBOX 360 codes to giveaway.

Thanks to guys at E-xpress Games for sponsoring this awesome giveaway!

Less Patriotism

Apologies in advance for stepping on anyone’s toes with this one. My usually snobbish nature regarding stories in games was somewhat appeased by the fact that the story in Homefront wasn’t actually half bad. With some interesting set-pieces and a well evoked atmosphere, the single player had an impressive campaign; at least to begin with. What started off as a unique subversion of a guerilla warfare story, soon descends into very extreme patriotism. I can understand why it’s their, but it’s very in your face and potentially limits the appeal of the game to non-American gamers. It’s something that is hard to detach from the themes of the game but, if Kaos can manage it in Homefront 2, they can a wider demographic to get involved in the series’ plot.

Better marketing campaign

Awkwardly timed semi-realistic media coverage of an impending Korean invasion? 10,000 balloons falling into the San Francisco Bay following a GDC promotion? Not exactly a good start on the marketing front for any game. Whilst it didn’t have any impact on the quality of Homefront, the general public don’t need any more reasons to think of gaming as an irresponsible hobby. Let’s just hope that THQ avoid giving the ignorant masses any more ammo when Homefront 2 rolls around.

More varied achievements/trophies

The multiplayer achievements weren't too bad, but the single player trophies could do with some more variation

Whilst the achievements list in Homefront was okay, it wasn’t exactly remarkable. The challenge was definitely there, but the witty titles and varied objectives generally weren’t. This was especially true of the single player achievements. Sure it’s a small and fairly inconsequential point, but a good trophies list can really help more competitive types get into the game. Let’s hope Homefront 2 can come up trumps in this department.

Better PS3 support

There’s always one platform that gets left out in the cold. In the month that Homefront has been on the store shelves for, Kaos have been busy patching up various faults in the 360 and PC version of HF. Yet, at the time of writing, a PS3 patch has only just been submitted to Sony for approval. I can understand that it must be tough treating all systems equally, but it’s shameful that the PS3 audience have been side-lined in this way.

For fans of THQ’s recent FPS, Homefront, you’ll be pleased to know that updates and additions are on their way.

A patch for the PS3 version of the game has been submitted to Sony for approval. Meanwhile PC gamers will be getting a dedicated server tool.

While no release date for the PS3 patch has been announced, developer Kaos said it’s working with Sony “to fully test and deliver this update as quickly as possible. This PS3 update should address many of the issues our community has identified with the game over the past few weeks.”

Regarding the dedicated server tool for PC, Kaos have said “With its easy to use graphical interface, players can now manage and maintain their very own server,” it said. “We are happy to help experienced tool developers who are looking to create their own remote control (RCON) tools.”

Dedicated server tool features
Set server name
Password
Kick team killers / Max team kills
Set max players (players can specify from 2-32)
Round time
Respawn time (1-10 seconds)
Score limit:
– Team Deathmatch (1000-30000)
– Ground Control (400-2000 – the higher the number specified, the longer the match will take to complete)
VAC secured (yes/no)
Auto team balancing (yes/no)
Friendly fire (on/off)
Disable vehicles (yes/no)
Record game (yes/no)
Player list
Local and global ban list
Server administrators will also have the option to kick players, enforce spectating, or swap teams

It seems for Homefront the only way is up.

Thanks to CVG for the info.