Homefront, the flawed 2011 shooter from Kaos Studios, is getting a sequel from Crytek. Homefront: The Revolution moves the action to the streets of Philadelphia. Four years after the Korean People’s Army has invaded and taken over large portions of the United States, the player character will be called upon to lead a rebellion, and fight for truth, justice, and the American way in open-world guerrilla missions. Players will be able to take on campaign missions in 4-player co-op and use a variety of methods to accomplish their tasks. In Polygon’s preview, designer Fasahat Salim demonstrated how players will need to remember that they are the underdogs.
If you’re gonna go in all guns blazing, you’re going to get hit with a lot of firepower in return,” Salim said. “They’ve got a lot of guns, they’ve got a lot of drones, they’ve got a lot of superior tech that you don’t have. All of these things may come together based on how you approach the situation. If you can get in and get out before they have a chance to respond with all of their firepower, you’ve done well.”
Homefront: The Revolution will launch in 2015 on PC, PlayStation4, and Xbox One.
Microsoft has announced Forza Horizon 2. According to IGN, the sequel to Forza Horizon moves the open-world racing from Colorado to Southern Europe with a music festival being the catalyst for the racing. Key personnel and technology is being shared between developers Playground Games and Turn 10. A weather system will make it’s debut for the franchise, and the “Drivatar” system from Forza 5 will be used to supply AI-controlled drivers to race against.
Forza Horizon 2 will launch this Fall for Xbox One and Xbox 360.
The typical “just add Cthulhu” approach would make Witchmarsh a mere sidescrolling shooter, although a charming one. It certainly looks like it’s got one foot planted squarely in the sidescrolling shooter camp. Just look at the animated images on its crowdsourcing page of an investigator shotgunning what look like a couple of byakhees, or the firing arc of the bow straightening the longer it’s pulled. Seems at first glance like a hearty action game under a Lovecraftian sheet, in which era-appropriate characters shoot at Lovecraftian things. Maybe a “Metroidvania”. Arkhamvania?
But Witchmarsh has greater ambitions beyond its 2D sidescrolling action. From the description:
An action RPG set in 1920s Massachusetts. Create and manage a team of investigators in a story-driven supernatural mystery…Witchmarsh combines the eccentricities of the 1920s with elements of mystery and horror; think equal parts Lovecraft and Wodehouse. You’ll come across a host of oddball characters, from flappers and the nouveau riche, to petulant swamp wizards.
It’s an intriguing list of features, particularly with the promise of exploration, flexible character development, and co-op multiplayer. I’m imagining a combination of the boardgame Eldrich Horror and Adventure on the Atari 2600 and a Bioware RPG. The promo video demonstrates that the developers at Inglenook know atmosphere. Just the name of their studio speaks volumes. Inglenook. So suspiciously quaint that of course it would conceal unspeakable horrors.
Witchmarsh just met its target funding and has an estimated December release.
No real-time strategy game achieved what Rise of Nations did as well as it did. The crown jewel of defunct developer Big Huge Games, it balanced tech tree strategies that almost matched Civilization for depth, with the immediate rock-paper-scissors unit combat of Age of Empires. The innovative “Conquer the World” Risk-like campaign concept became a staple of many RTS games that followed it. Adding the Thrones and Patriots expansion opened up new strategies with merchant trade routes and government rule options.
The only problem with Rise of Nations is that it came out in 2003 and retail copies have been hard to get since then. Many gamers missed the boat on this great game and the troubles with Big Huge Games, 38 Studios, and the State of Rhode Island made licensing a tricky proposition. During the 2013 liquidation sale of Big Huge Games’ and 38 Studios assets an anonymous buyer purchased the rights to the “Rise of” properties. Either Microsoft was that buyer, or they were able to strike a deal with the bid winner to purchase it from them, because Rise of Nations: Extended Edition is now available for pre-order on Steam.
The extended edition includes the Thrones and Patriots expansion content and adds slightly improved graphics, widescreen monitor support, and Steamworks multiplayer matchmaking.
Bohemia Interactive’s April Fools’ joke was a commercial for go-karts in Arma III that parodied the infamous Jean-Claude Van Damme Volvo truck video. Like the Tauntaun sleeping bag, the concept was too good to leave as a joke so the karts are now being offered as DLC for Arma III. Players that purchase the Kart DLC will get a selection of pint-sized race-cars, drivers, a starter pistol, and track objects to use in the editor. Take a break from shooting enemies and zip around the included racing scenario!
With the karts, Bohemia has announced a new strategy for their DLC offerings in Arma III, versus the way they handled DLC in Arma II. In an effort to not split the multiplayer community, mechanical features like new physics, ballistics, AI improvements and so on, will be free to all. Assets like the karts or the upcoming helicopters will be usable by non-buyers, but there’ll be an in-game nag about it and there may be other restrictions. The example used by Bohemia is that a non-owner may not be able to pilot a DLC helicopter, and only be allowed to board it as a passenger. DLC scenarios may be locked off as well to non-owners, but they’ll be able to join multiplayer servers using the new assets and even take part in user-created missions with the new equipment.
To explain the system a bit more thoroughly, while you’ll be able to use premium content everywhere – in singleplayer, the editor and multiplayer – if you haven’t yet purchased it, notifications will be shown. These become more prominent the longer you use an unowned asset – and only when you’re using it – we have no intention to present ‘ads’ to you when you are not actively playing with unowned content.
A DLC bundle that includes Karts as well as the upcoming Marksmen and Helicopters DLC is being offered with a 25% discount on buying the DLC separately.
Relic and Capcom have announced their plans to migrate PC games from Microsoft’s Games for Windows Live service to Steam. With the imminent shutdown of GameSpy and the rumored July closure of GFWL, developers and publishers have had to scramble to set up replacement matchmaking strategies or just let games multiplayer features die.
Relic is in the process of moving Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and its three expansions from GameSpy to Steam and the same backend matchmaking system as their most recent RTS title, Company of Heroes 2. Dawn of War II is also moving to Steam to avoid the shutdown of GFWL, and its standalone expansion Chaos Rising (which already uses Steam) will get an update to provide consistent backend systems. Philippe Boulle, lead designer of the Dawn of War franchise, cautions players to expect some technical difficulties in the short term as the kinks are worked out.
Capcom also has plans replace Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition’s GFWL matchmaking with Steam’s service. Players will be able to update their game by adding the original GFWL product activation code into Steam on May 30th and get a new 100% GFWL-free version of the game. Unfortunately, any DLC purchased through GFWL will not transfer to the new Steam version.
Bethesda Softworks has revealed BattleCry. It’s a free-to-play multiplayer action game with 32-players being developed by Austin-based BattleCry Studios. The hook? No firearms. It’s set in a world in which gunpowder was outlawed and international disputes are settled with teams facing off with bows, swords, and other more civilized weapons. The art may look familiar to fans of Dishonored or Half-Life 2’s City 17. It’s the creation of Viktor Antonov, whose distinctive style is becoming a genre of its own. Eurogamer spoke to BattleCry Studios head Rich Vogel to find out what sets this game apart from the crowd.
“We got our inspiration from Devil May Cry, God of War and Arkham Asylum.”
BattleCry has a tentative launch window in 2015.
The next Electronic Arts Battlefield game is going to be Battlefield Hardline, developed by Visceral Games. Apparently, Visceral has been paying attention to the kind of gameplay Payday has been offering. It moves the all-terrain action, vehicle mayhem, and shooting from a strictly military affair to a cops and robbers theme. Here’s a leaked promo video to prove it. The video refers to it under the working title of “Omaha” but it’s Hardline through and through. Heavily-armed hoodie wearing bad guys fight SWAT teams in alleys, rooftops, banks, and other urban locales. The singleplayer story features a typically convoluted big-budget shooter plot. Undercover cop Nick Mendoza growls as buildings explode around him in Frostbite glory.
Battlefield Hardline has been rumored for months, but the really substantial leaks started yesterday when gamers accessed hidden data in the Battlelog site. Things seem to be semi-official now. Even the official Battlefield YouTube page has a Hardline logo today. We’ll likely know more about Hardline at E3.
At the end of State of Decay, you blow up a wall and escape from Trumbull Valley. Except in a zombie apocalypse, there’s really nowhere to escape to. So it’s back to Trumbull Valley. For the past year, developer Undead Labs has done their best to keep Trumbull Valley interesting and relevant with the Breakdown DLC. But eventually, you can’t drive around a bend in the road, look behind a rock, or cut through an alley without knowing the exact landscape you’re going to see on the other side. In an era of procedurally generated terrain, Trumbull Valley feels even smaller than it really is.
So it’s pretty exciting to finally go someplace new with the Lifeline DLC, which takes place in a new downtown environment. And which is out on Friday. Surprise! I wish more developers could spring their release dates on us three days in advance.
It’s also pretty exciting to have plenty of ammo, air strikes, and skilled soldiers for your early missions. Oh, look, I’ve found a hunting rifle and I don’t even need it because everyone already has a pair of assault rifles and my influence is topped out even though I just carelessly called in a pair of drone strikes. The idea is that you’ll gradually run low on supplies and, I presume, get overrun and eaten. But until then, Lifeline is a great way to give zombies the what-for in a new setting.
The capture the flag mode is back in the PC version of Titanfall. Respawn had removed the CTF playlist from from the PC version of the multiplayer shooter last week due to low player counts. Since less than 1% of the PC population played Titanfall’s CTF mode, the game’s matchmaking service, codenamed Stryder, was having issues finding suitable games and players were experiencing “overlong” wait times. Respawn moved CTF into the “Variety” playlist which bundled together all the game’s modes into a random shuffle. Unfortunately, this meant CTF fans would have to accept whatever game mode came up until a CTF round started. After a week of gamer outcry, Respawn has moved CTF back into its own playlist. The blog update sums up the new matchmaking strategy.
If you’re searching for 5 minutes without starting a game, Stryder will eventually widen your search to include neighboring continents. This means you might end up in a game with a much higher ping than you’re used to, but as players pointed out; playing is preferred to not playing at all!
The Pilot Hunter mode, which was also removed from its separate playlist last week, remains in Variety mode.
Beam me up Han! The free-to-play multiplayer space combat game, Star Wars: Attack Squadrons, has been scuttled. A notice on the official website breaks the bad news to fans of spending money who were looking forward to purchasing tiger-stripe paint jobs for their X-Wings and Gunstars.
We want to thank all of the fans who participated in the closed beta of Star Wars: Attack Squadrons.
After much consideration, we have decided to cease development so that we can focus on other
Star Wars game experiences. We truly appreciate the time you spent engaging in the beta.
Star Wars: Attack Squadrons was announced in December shortly after Disney purchased LucasArts and the Star Wars property. It is unknown what project developer Area 52 Games will be moving to next.
The Forza Motorsport 5 Car Pass was supposed to end with the release of this month’s Meguiar’s Car Pack which gave owners of the DLC bundle six add-on packs with 60 extra cars to hoard in their virtual garages. Turn 10 is extending the scope of the Car Pass to include the next two car packs. The June pack (which actually comes out next Friday) and the July pack, each containing 10 more supercharged automobiles, will be added to the Car Pass at no extra charge. That’s 20 more cars to scroll past when you choose the same Subaru Impreza WRX you’ve driven in the last dozen races.
The Forza 5 Car Pass is available for $49.99.
Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light may share the same Russian literary setting, but each title has unique gameplay elements and distinctive flavor. 2033’s desperate scrabbly survival-horror contrasts with Last Light’s somber moments punctuated by bursts of violence. But beyond tone, there was also four years of cutting-edge tech between the two games. 2033 doesn’t look bad – in fact, it’s still a great looking game – but when compared to Last Light, you can see what the devs were able to do with their engine in those years.
4A Games and publisher Deep Silver want to bring Metro 2033 up to the standards of Metro: Last Light. The Metro Redux package bundles the two games with all the DLC and features “re-mastered” versions of both games. Metro 2033 will be recreated in the more advanced Last Light engine, and the previously third-person cinematics are being remade in first-person to align with Last Light’s storytelling. Beyond the graphical, Redux will give 2033 improvements like day/night cycles, stealth takedowns, and weapon customization. Last Light will get a couple of small additions like watch and inventory checking as well as a bit of a graphics pass.
Technical changes aren’t the only thing Redux offers. Want to experience Last Light more like 2033? Play Last Light in the new “Survival” mode and you’ll have less resources and a slower pace. On the flipside, fans of Last Light can play 2033 in a style more to their liking by enabling “Spartan” mode. Everybody wins!
The Metro Redux disc bundle will be available for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC for $49.99. The Redux version of both games will also be available separately for $24.99 each as digital downloads.
Crytek has announced their new entry into the 5v5 lane defense action genre, otherwise known as a MOBA. Arena of Fate, developed by Crytek Black Sea, will let players choose from a roster of characters with special powers themed around – well, I’m honestly not sure what the theme is here. Crytek says the player characters are based on “history’s greatest heroes” but they’re including Baron Munchhausen and Frankenstein along with Nikola Tesla and Jack the Ripper, so take it with a grain of salt.
“Imagine Joan of Arc and Robin Hood cooperating to hunt down Little Red Riding Hood – Wouldn’t that be terrific? But besides the game’s iconic heroes, which everyone in the team really loves, we are also challenging ourselves to carefully craft a streamlined player experience that allows for both greater accessibility, and rich, deep, action-packed gameplay. We are very excited to meet the first wave of players in the arena this summer, and will be listening carefully to the feedback we receive and making the community’s contribution a key part of our efforts to perfect the fun.”
Arena of Fate will be playable at E3. Gamers that want to join the beta can apply on the official site.
ZeniMax Online has announced that the adventure zone, Craglorn, will be added to The Elder Scrolls Online tomorrow. Craglorn is skewed towards groups of veteran player characters and adds much-needed end-game content to the MMO. ZeniMax Online had expressed a desire to add content to the game on a four to six week schedule. Craglorn’s release tomorrow would arrive at the end of six weeks from the game’s launch.
In related news, parent company ZeniMax Media has filed their formal lawsuit against Oculus in a Texas court. Earlier, ZeniMax had claimed that former id Software founder John Carmack had given proprietary ZeniMax technology to Oculus while working with both companies. The filing (available as a public record) accuses Oculus of benefiting from ZeniMax’s intellectual property and parlaying that into a $2 billion Facebook buyout.
