Homefront Multiplayer (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) Preview
Homefront – First Person Shooter video game.
We recently had an opportunity to get an early hands-on look with the multiplayer aspects of THQ and Kaos Studio's upcoming shooter Homefront. At E3 earlier this year we had an opportunity to check out the heavily cinematic single player offerings and another opportunity to ask the developers some tough questions; we'd encourage you to check out those in-depth previews to get some background on the story of the game. Prior to this event little was known about the multiplayer offerings of the game, but after spending some time with a very early build and speaking with the development team, I can make two certain statements: it's ambitious, and it's fun.
The principle design element of Homefront's multiplayer offerings is that it's a large scale warfare game, offering "on-the-fly" strategic choices. This translates to large maps, lots of players, and a system that allows you to instantly buy items and weapons on the battlefield with the press of a button. A modern military shooter offering both ground and airborne vehicles, as well as drones, it's best described as a combination of the Battlefield series and the Call of Duty series, with a few unique elements that make it differ from the rest of the crowded space.
One of the key features that makes Homefront's multiplayer different is the innovative use of a "battle points" system. While competing in matches, you'll earn these battle points by killing enemies or drones, assisting in kills, completing objectives, or virtually any action that is beneficial for your team. These battle points can be spent in the match to purchase additional ammunition or weapons, or saved up to purchase larger items like ground or aerial drones, or massive hellfire air strikes. Rather than the Battlefield model where vehicles are scattered around the map and on first-come first-serve, you can choose to spend your battle points to respawn with a vehicle or aircraft. That leads to the question, to buy a drone or a rocket launcher now, or save up for a few minutes and purchase a larger tank or attack helicopter to inflict massive damage on an opponent. It's an interesting dynamic that offers a unique element to the tried and true multiplayer formulae, and leads to more intense battles as a multiplayer match progresses.
Homefront – First Person Shooter video game.
We recently had an opportunity to get an early hands-on look with the multiplayer aspects of THQ and Kaos Studio's upcoming shooter Homefront. At E3 earlier this year we had an opportunity to check out the heavily cinematic single player offerings and another opportunity to ask the developers some tough questions; we'd encourage you to check out those in-depth previews to get some background on the story of the game. Prior to this event little was known about the multiplayer offerings of the game, but after spending some time with a very early build and speaking with the development team, I can make two certain statements: it's ambitious, and it's fun.
The principle design element of Homefront's multiplayer offerings is that it's a large scale warfare game, offering "on-the-fly" strategic choices. This translates to large maps, lots of players, and a system that allows you to instantly buy items and weapons on the battlefield with the press of a button. A modern military shooter offering both ground and airborne vehicles, as well as drones, it's best described as a combination of the Battlefield series and the Call of Duty series, with a few unique elements that make it differ from the rest of the crowded space.
One of the key features that makes Homefront's multiplayer different is the innovative use of a "battle points" system. While competing in matches, you'll earn these battle points by killing enemies or drones, assisting in kills, completing objectives, or virtually any action that is beneficial for your team. These battle points can be spent in the match to purchase additional ammunition or weapons, or saved up to purchase larger items like ground or aerial drones, or massive hellfire air strikes. Rather than the Battlefield model where vehicles are scattered around the map and on first-come first-serve, you can choose to spend your battle points to respawn with a vehicle or aircraft. That leads to the question, to buy a drone or a rocket launcher now, or save up for a few minutes and purchase a larger tank or attack helicopter to inflict massive damage on an opponent. It's an interesting dynamic that offers a unique element to the tried and true multiplayer formulae, and leads to more intense battles as a multiplayer match progresses.
