[The Final Dakar]

In what will likely be a lost cause, I'm starting a thread for this.
Their last game was, mediocre, to put it mildly. However, Call of Duty fatigue has set in, and this game looks to address some of my issues.

Here's one of those promo vids for the multi. The breadth and depth of the game looks impressive.
YouTube - Homefront: Multiplayer Interview - { Including MP Gameplay } - { 720p } - { ENG }

I'm not exactly on board yet, but right now I'm quite receptive.

[sek929]

Interesting, what was the first game they made BTW?

I like the idea of merging vehicular combat into a FPS format, but nothing in that video jumped out at me saying "This is good enough to take you away from CoD." Of course there were a few clips of very high sniper nests and whatnot so I remain intrigued.

[The Final Dakar]

Frontlines: Fuel of War, or something like that.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by sek929 

I like the idea of merging vehicular combat into a FPS format, but nothing in that video jumped out at me saying "This is good enough to take you away from CoD." Of course there were a few clips of very high sniper nests and whatnot so I remain intrigued.

Well, it depends on a few things. First you have to be a little tired of CoD and willing to try something different. I am. Two, you have to accept that this won't be nearly as polished – after all it doesn't have the history or the resources of the Activision behemoth.

Personally, I was intrigued by the ability for air support to paint targets, and by the one warehouse incursion where two separate people were on top of crates. One of the things I find frustrating about CoD is how you can't climb stuff in almost arbitrary fashion.

[sek929]

I guess I just can't see buying yet another game solely for multiplayer, even though I'm sure the campaign is alright we all know my feelings on the generic war FPS campaign. I didn't get more than half through MW2, barely started BO, and beat Reach yet can't think of a single memorable moment. The multi would have to be streets ahead of CoD (if not in polish than in intriguing gameplay) for me to consider buying a game I will most likely play only half of.

I wish something interesting, like a new TimeSplitters would come out and shake up the FPS online multiplayer arena with something other than attack helicopters and assault rifles...

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by sek929 

I guess I just can't see buying yet another game solely for multiplayer, even though I'm sure the campaign is alright we all know my feelings on the generic war FPS campaign. I didn't get more than half through MW2, barely started BO, and beat Reach yet can't think of a single memorable moment. The multi would have to be streets ahead of CoD (if not in polish than in intriguing gameplay) for me to consider buying a game I will most likely play only half of.

Well, I understand your high standards given your general tight-sfistedness (only exacerbated by Reach). I think this is a tough enough sell for me, let alone anyone else (Jawbone excluded).

Originally Posted by sek929 

I wish something interesting, like a new TimeSplitters would come out and shake up the FPS online multiplayer arena with something other than attack helicopters and assault rifles...

Really? I loved TS2 dearly, but in retrospect all I was playing was a next-gen Perfect Dark (albeit with some wicked characters and a decent level creator). I don't think it'd hold up at all now.

So, no assault rifles or helis... what are you thinking of? I imagine Space Warfare is out of the question.

[Spheric Harlot]

Sharks with lasers and rainbow ponies vs. coordinated hordes of marauding zombie teddybears.

[The Final Dakar]

Sounds like a future app store bestseller.

[boy8cookie]

Release date? I'm sorta interested, but it depends on timing. If it's coming out anywhere near SC2.2 or D3 then no thanks!

[Stogieman]

Originally Posted by sek929 

I didn't get more than half through MW2.

Admit it, you couldn't get past the Favela level. LOL! Noob

Originally Posted by sek929 

barely started BO,

Hey, a least you started it.

Originally Posted by sek929 

and beat Reach yet can't think of a single memorable moment.

I'm starting to get the impression that you didn't like Reach.

[sek929]

Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot 

Sharks with lasers and rainbow ponies vs. coordinated hordes of marauding zombie teddybears.

Sounds good to me! I'd take a game with weapon choices more akin to Unreal and Quake Arena. Railguns, Rocket Launchers, Lightning Guns, etc... Online FPS games are in need of a overhaul soon.

Originally Posted by Stogieman 

I'm starting to get the impression that you didn't like Reach.

Reach is everything Halo has always been, it isn't a bad game...quite the opposite, but it's just a game I felt I've already been playing since the early 2000s.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by boy8cookie 

Release date? I'm sorta interested, but it depends on timing. If it's coming out anywhere near SC2.2 or D3 then no thanks!

Early March, though I think I'll be waiting for some reviews (or a demo) before I pick it up.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by Stogieman 

Admit it, you couldn't get past the Favela level. LOL! Noob

God. That level was pure evil. No need for infinite spawns when you're playing a game of "How many Enemy AI can we cram up your ass?"

Originally Posted by Stogieman 

I'm starting to get the impression that you didn't like Reach.

lulz

[Leonard]

Originally Posted by sek929 

Sounds good to me! I'd take a game with weapon choices more akin to Unreal and Quake Arena. Railguns, Rocket Launchers, Lightning Guns, etc... Online FPS games are in need of a overhaul soon.

The other good thing about Unreal, at least on the PC/Mac side, was there was enough tanks and vehicles for everyone. I didn't run into too many fights for vehicles in Unreal.

But your right we need something NEW.

I was thinking of Assassins vs Ninjas, but what kind of vehicles would you have in that?

[The Final Dakar]

Pandas?

[Spheric Harlot]

with lasers!

[The Final Dakar]

Too derivative of sharks.

[Leonard]

Pandas with rocket launchers!

[Leonard]

Back on the subject... This seems to be a better video than what I saw before. I must have seen a single player video trailer.

I like the idea of drones - both aerial and ground, and vehicles. But I'm not sure I see the balance between the power weapons and the smaller weapons.

[The Final Dakar]

Whoa, this thread did way better in two hours than I expected it to do over it's entire lifetime. That's probably not a great sign for Call of Duty's future (Not that they should be scared or anything, but they might wanna start caring about their games again).

Originally Posted by Leonard 

I like the idea of drones - both aerial and ground, and vehicles. But I'm not sure I see the balance between the power weapons and the smaller weapons.

I have to imagine the video is one of those best-case scenarios. I don't foresee lots of situations where there are multiple helis in the air and tanks on the ground unless the games are very long or they are very cheap. I haven't played Battlefield, but I also have to wonder about class diversity. If all the drone can do is paint targets, will anyone really use it?

[boy8cookie]

32 player games.

[The Final Dakar]

Now instead of 5 idiots on my team, there will be 15!

[Leonard]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

Now instead of 5 idiots on my team, there will be 15!

Think of them as decoys, distractions, and sacrificial lambs!


Give me a brotherhood of assassins, anyday, at least they do what I tell them to.

[The Final Dakar]

Actual news!

First a bit of a repeat:
Homefront dev explains the importance of dedicated servers | Joystiq

"You have to think about your constraints when you're making a game," Homefront senior designer Brian Holinka, of developer Kaos Studios, explained to us at a recent press event for the game. "If we host a server on a console, all of a sudden, that console is both server and it's playing the game. That really lowers everything: player count, the number of vehicles, everything. Dedicated servers allow us to offload all that work and basically all the client has to worry about is running the game."

Through dedicated servers, Homefront will support a chaotic 16-versus-16 online mode, where every player can summon a vehicle at will. "It means everything is bigger -- there's more players, more vehicles, more targets, more airstrikes," Holinka hyped.

"It really helps us offload a lot of work," he reiterated about the servers, "and now our scope is a lot bigger." But can you really call a 32-player match "a lot," when a game like MAG has littered the virtual battlefield with 256 players? We asked Holinka why Kaos wasn't using the dedicated servers to expand the number of players per match even further, and he reminded us that "we had more in Frontlines," the studio's previous game. Apparently, the team tested out larger battles for Homefront, but "it just didn't work," Holinka said. "We just found it wasn't fun. It just plays better at 32."

Well, they're good at making it sounds like they know what they're doing.

"If you played a level with 50 or 60 people in there," the developer found, "every time you turn around, you'd get shot."

Sounds like Black Ops. Heyooooooooo



Homefront multiplayer preview: Battle Commander | Joystiq

It seems Kaos is making a concerned effort to make the online experience of Homefront rewarding both for skilled players and novices. The Battle Points system, or the online in-game currency, is one way of leveling the battlefield. The system not only rewards kills, but support actions, and allows all players to respond to dynamically changing skirmishes. A newly revealed feature called "Battle Commander" is yet another way Kaos plans on making the online fun for everyone.

Battle Commander "makes large scale warfare personal [and] rewards players for having vendettas," senior designer Brian Holinka told us. It's Homefront's take on the killstreak: perks that empower players that rake in consecutive kills. But there's an important twist: with each "perk" that you receive, you become an increasingly vulnerable target, with the AI assigning personal assassination missions to the opposing team in order to bring you down.

It's a rather simple concept, but it makes for a surprisingly fun competitive experience. Earning killstreaks manages to feel even more rewarding thanks to a five-star progression system. Earning your first set of three kills will get you to your first star, rewarding you with a contextual, new power. For a run-and-gunner like myself, I was slightly more resistant to damage. As I worked my way to the second star, I was able to take on two or three people simultaneously with no problem. As I reached the third star, I felt genuinely invincible. I remember someone trying to shoot a rocket at me, and me brushing off the splash damage, continuing my rampage.

You can earn these killstreaks in vehicles, as well, earning special vehicular bonuses. Other classes should be able to earn other rewards as well (although I didn't have a chance to experience them myself). At three stars, I was very aggressively pursuing four stars, but it wasn't long before I was swarmed and destroyed by the opposing force.

How was I stopped in my tracks? For each star you get, members of the opposing team are alerted to your presence. Selected by the AI, these players are given a special "mission" to hunt you down. They will know where you are, and will earn a big boost in Battle Points for taking you down. Of course, those Battle Points can then be used to give the other team an edge, giving both sides a fighting chance to win.

Seeing these various systems balance each other makes me appreciate how intelligently designed the multiplayer is. In a room filled with random game journalists from all over the world, Homefront managed to give me close contests consistently, round after round. Six matches, across multiple maps and modes, (paired with random squad mates) all offered a challenge, and all felt satisfying.

The devs have said there should be a demo, so more pumped than ever.

[boy8cookie]

Sounds interesting, a sort of dynamic game of juggernaut.

[The Final Dakar]

It sounds like a lot of it is grounded in preventing blow-outs. It'd be damn hard for a team to keep crushing an enemy if:

1. They all become marked
2. Once they die the opposing team gets enhanced offensive bonuses for killing the marked

[Leonard]

This is starting to sound really interesting.

Sorta reminds of the user-created Minotaur tank someone created in UT2004. Yeah the tank can take alot of damage and kill things in one shot, but you also become the target of every enemy on the map, and every enemy calls out the position of the enemy Minotaur tank.

[The Final Dakar]

YouTube - Homefront: Multiplayer Kill Highlights

Looks like a lot of what I was asking for after MW2 and before reach – a modern shooter with larger-scale battle and vehicles.

Those little drones look like sons of bitches though.

[Leonard]

Maybe there are EMP guns to take out drones. Of course I'm sure a regular gun could take out a drone in a few shots too.

[The Final Dakar]

It looks like they have EMP grenades. Doesn't make them any less annoying.

[mattyb]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

YouTube - Homefront: Multiplayer Kill Highlights

Looks like a lot of what I was asking for after MW2 and before reach – a modern shooter with larger-scale battle and vehicles.

Those little drones look like sons of bitches though.

Looks good. Lets hope that dedicated servers on XBL doesn't equal the shite that MW2 and BO PC players have to put up with.

[The Final Dakar]

YouTube - Homefront: 10 Minutes Multiplayer Walkthrough - NEW - { 720p } - { ENG }

This looking more and more like a cross between CoD and Battlefield, though I hope it's slightly less team work dependent than the latter.

Battlepoints = Killstreaks
Abilities = Perks

The guy completely overplayed the "I don't have to die to take out this tank." Theoretically you would if you had different killstreak… er, items to be purchased.

[The Final Dakar]

With a release date March 8th, every day that passes without an announcement of a demo makes me wary.

[Leonard]

What, you're worried it's going to be late?

Didn't you have a shelf of games to play, that you haven't played yet?

I know I have Mass Effect 2 DLC to play, I have to get to level 50 in AC:B MP to get to, and I still have Fable 3 to play (I delayed playing Fable 3 until after AC:B).

Besides, I don't think Homefront will be late. It looked fairly ready from the videos.

[The Final Dakar]

No, I'm worried we're not going to get a demo.

[sek929]

No demo is a surefire way for me not to buy this game. I really am not looking forward to games heavily relying on teammates rather than mindless run-and-gun.

[Leonard]

Dakar posted this in another thread but didn't post it here:

Homefront arriving one week late on March 15 | Joystiq

Here's how I see this playing out:
• No pre-release demo
• Weak sales
• Demo released to try and spur some sales

Edit: Whoops, wrong thread.

I guess I was on the right track. Still, I'm thinking about getting it.

After all, what else is coming before June/July? When's Portal 2 coming? Not that I'll get it.

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by Leonard 

Dakar posted this in another thread but didn't post it here:

Thanks.

Originally Posted by Leonard 

I guess I was on the right track.

No you weren't.

Originally Posted by Leonard 

Still, I'm thinking about getting it.

Only way I buy this without a demo is if this thing gets 90s across the board.

[KCrosbie]

I got a feeling that 2011 just isn't going to be up to par for video games. Not seeing too many games that are must have.

[The Final Dakar]

Jesus, don't let Jawbone hear you say that.

[sek929]

I'm very excited for Portal 2, also Bioshock Infinite.

[The Final Dakar]

Infinite is 2012, brother.

I suppose I'll get Portal 2 just for the co-op.

[sek929]

Well then just P2 for me.

I loved the first game, excellent gameplay, some of the best dialogue in any game I've ever played. Looks likes the upped the gameplay ante huge in P2 but I only hope they keep it as dark and funny as the first one.

[The Final Dakar]

If there's a company you can trust, it's Valve.

[Stogieman]

Let's hope they do a better job this time on the 360 than they did with Left 4 Dead.

[The Final Dakar]

What was wrong with L4D?

[Stogieman]

Just 2 off the top of my head.

- Buggy DLC (Glitched/Unobtainable achievements)
- Title updates that wipe out your achievement progress. (A lot of people that were working on the Zombie Genocide achievement are still pissed off about that one.)

[The Final Dakar]

Hmmm, not problems I ever saw.

[KCrosbie]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

Jesus, don't let Jawbone hear you say that.

I guess for 360 owners. Not too many exclusives.

I, however cannot wait for Mass Effect 3. Hope it doesn't get delayed to 2012.

[The Final Dakar]

Gamasutra - News - THQ Sees Most Preorders Ever With 200,000 Homefront Reservations

It's likely that preorder count was boosted significantly by a recent promotion from streaming games service OnLive, in which the company is giving away its Microconsoles for free (usually priced at $99) to a limited number of players that preorder Homefront before March 14.

To me it reinforces the people are desperate to move away from CoD angle.

Oh, and no prerelease demo confirmed.