Homefront: The Revolution Could Be The Dark Horse For 2015

THQ initially made a play at big-budget gaming by going after the likes of Call of Duty and Crysis when they released Homefront on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.  The results were very mixed as the game was cinematic and carried a cool setting but felt a bit aimless in identifying itself within a crowded shooter genre.  The game fizzled a bit and didn’t carry well with its online component after its first month or so in stores.  THQ eventually sold off their intellectual property as the studio was being dismantled and other developers and publishers were bidding on the potential money-makers that sat under THQ.  Homefront made a new home with Crytek, who is now in development of a second title, called Homefront: The Revolution.

Crytek is responsible for the likes of Crysis and Ryse: Son of Rome and are bringing those franchises high-quality visual standards along with The Revolution.  The second game will be based around a small militia using guerrilla tactics in an occupied US which is being occupied by the KPA (Korean Peoples army) and suppressing the American people.  This new Homefront game will feature interesting environments and objectives that will allow players to customize their approach in order to get any task completed.  Technology can be used to stealthily infiltrate enemy positions or players can straight up assault an encampment and hope to come out victorious once the shots have been fired.  This non-linear approach will give The Revolution a slightly different flavor of experience than you would expect from giants like CoD or Battlefield – a cookie cutter campaign that feels too scripted to feel like you’re actually playing your way and relies too heavily on good writing (otherwise they just fall flat – see CoD Ghosts’ or Battlefield 4’s campaigns for reference).

The landscape for shooters is getting a pretty sizable shift right now.  Games like Titanfall completely ignore the formulaic approach for shooters and offer interesting new ways to traverse landscapes, making everything seem fresh when really it’s just small augmentations that give the game a much different experience from your typical shooter.  Homefront: The Revolution carries little expectation in terms of impressing, which is why it should be considered a dark horse for 2015.  Crytek is a good studio that has experience with successful shooters and translating that experience into a different setting could bode very well for Homefront.  There’s a small gameplay trailer from E3 that’s being included at the end here.  Check it out and see for yourself why this game peaks our interest, especially since it’s still in an alpha stage.

Destiny Is Nearing, But Can Bungie Nail The Landing?

Bungie’s new entry into the FPS genre, Destiny, is creating quite a stir in the gaming world.  We haven’t seen a true MMOFPS title on the consoles yet, even PC gamers haven’t really gotten a true taste of it (Planetside 2 tries but has limited success).  Thus, Destiny will be our first true experience with this new genre taking form.  The game is in a closed alpha stage right now and will be moving to a beta stage in the coming weeks.  At that point all of those people that preordered the game will get their access code to the beta and will get up to a couple months lead time to get a feel for the game before they buy it.  While nearly everything about this game looks incredible there are some interesting things to note.

First, the Xbox One will see a noticeable graphical improvement as disclosed at E3.  Bungie and Microsoft reps commented on the state of the game graphically and have confirmed that, because of the most recent update to the Xbox One, the game will see a greater resolution on the platform.  As expected, the flexible power draw on the Kinect will likely be taken advantage of fully, netting an additional 10% power with the Kinect disabled.  Originally it was expected that Destiny would be run at either 720p or 792p, but with the extra GPU power it’s more likely that Destiny can make the jump to 900p without sacrificing frame rate performance.  This is great news for Xbox One owners, but what about the actual game you’re going to play?

Impressions from some prospective fans at E3 are leaning toward the game possibly being a bit too simplistic within combat scenarios.  Specifically, little strategy is required to take down foes and instead feels a bit more level-based when assessments of difficulty are made.  That means that when you approach a computer-controlled enemy (or NPC as some might call them) they will attack you but likely won’t utilize cover mechanics or dodge your attacks very well, if at all.  This is different from Bungie’s original endeavors with Halo, where Elites and Brutes were a bit more challenging to take down in situations where cover was an option.  So basically your success seems to be more geared toward your level and skill set.  The game is in its alpha build, but it’s late in the alpha build where most of the game should be pretty well built as beta is meant more for stress testing and last-minute touch ups before going to release.

The strategic implementation is fairly crucial in a FPS, though, and omissions like these could make the game tail off too quickly and leave the combat something of a “lowlight” rather than a highlight.  Bungie haven’t really made anything like an MMO before and it’s unclear how much talent they brought on board to help shape the game when Destiny was birthed, but our hopes are high for this game being one of the best things about 2014.  Failing to reach anywhere near our expectations could be somewhat troublesome for Bungie since the game has such a huge amount of money being invested into the game.  They need to recoup their dollars, which means they’re going to need to sell something in the neighborhood of 100,000-110,000 copies to get their development and marketing costs back (the game is estimated to cost at least $500M to make and likely more when taking advertising and DLC content into consideration).  The 100,000 mark won’t be difficult to hit with so many consoles out there already, but if the game ended up taking an uninspiring metascore of 70 it would likely be a huge blow as those gamers on the fence about buying this might decide to wait for it to go on sale or find a used copy.  Many people look at both fan and critic reviews to gauge the quality of a game and whether they buy it or not.

We’re planning to pick it up as we think Destiny ending up being nothing special is quite unlikely, but we’ve been wrong in our assumptions before.  Just look at Watch Dogs – a good game that underwhelmed given all the boasting that occurred months prior to its launch.  It nabbed a metascore of 82 between the PS4 and XB1 versions and is enjoying successful sales, but the games market is meager right now compared to what it will be like when the next-gen consoles experience a Niagra Falls effect in video game releases this fall.

Unisoft Show Assassin’s Creed Unity, Rainbow Six Siege, The Division, Far Cry 4 at E3

We just can’t get away from the mountain of news and it feels like we’re just not able to keep up, but we’re trying.  Several known and freshly-announced games from Ubisoft were shown and demoed at E3 all day.  On Microsoft’s stage, Assassin’s Creed Unity was shown off.  The new ACU will feature cooperative play in the open world of AC that typically is reserved for single player action, meaning you can progress your story with friends – something I’m sure we’ve all wanted for a little while now.  The new game also features the best graphics of the series hands-down, even on the Xbox One which saw a slight downgrade in graphical fidelity on last years Assassin’s Creed Black Flag launch.  Rest-assured you’ll be murdering for justice in glorious next-gen beauty.

Also seen from Ubisoft is the highly anticipated Far Cry 4.  Successor to the heavily-praised Far Cry 3, the fourth installment’s first 5 minutes are available for streaming and showcase what we believe is the new villain.  Available on November 18, 2014 you’ll be able to survive and explore another open-world environment which seems to be set somewhere in South America (but that’s a guess until we get more details later this week when more Far Cry 4 info and demo material potentially becomes available).

One title that mysteriously vanished into thin air was the extremely intriguing Rainbow Six Patriots which had a trailer that got pretty heavy when a terrorist faction rigged a civilian with C4 during rush-hour traffic on a bridge.  Patriots was scrapped for unknown reasons but Rainbow Six: Siege has taken its place.  RS Siege seems to feature a more tactical team based approach that greatly induces nostalgia for those that played the early entries of Rainbow Six.  The game looks pretty technical but approachable.  The key is great teamwork and communication on top of planning when situations like hostage rescues come into play (which was featured in the multiplayer gameplay video made available earlier today).  The game also allows players to make their own way within the confines of a house with explosives, allowing you to create high ground in a closed-off room simply by destroying the floor/ceiling.  RS Siege allows for 5v5 multiplayer and carries no official release date, yet.

Tom Clancy’s The Division was postponed 2015 but saw a strong gameplay demo on Microsoft’s stage that morning showing what Ubisoft has done to progress the game since its initial unveiling a year ago.  The Division is definitely an open-world FPS shooter that borrows from the MMORPG genre noticeably, perhaps more than Destiny in some cases.  For instance, when you shoot an enemy player you’ll see damage indicators come up showing the amount of damage you’ve inflicted on the player (just like you’d see damage indicators above a character you’re hitting with spells or weapons in World of Warcraft or WildStar).  The game is shaping up to be both gorgeous and incredibly deep with missions, dynamic area events plus faction rivalries/shootouts.  The game was pushed to 2015 after Ubisoft hoped to have it out this fall.  No word on whether this game will see an early 2015 release yet or not.

Grand Theft Auto 5 Coming This Fall To Xbox One

The game news is literally spewing out from the interwebs, and as predicted just last month the Grand Theft Auto 5 entry that launched just prior to the newer Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles is finally going to land on said platforms.  Slated to come this fall, GTA5 will feature “enhancements and new details” over the original release.  GTA5 was a must-play on previous generation consoles, but if you missed it and have enough cash left over after spending it on the dozens of take-my-money titles due out this fall then it is in your best interest to pick it up.

Halo: Master Chief Collection Revealed

While we knew something Halo-related was on the way and Halo 5: Guardians wasn’t coming until fall 2015, we hadn’t been able to dial into what exactly was going to be talked about at Microsoft’s E3 presentation today in Los Angeles.  But now we know what was only rumored previously: Halo: Master Chief Collection is confirmed for November 11, 2014.  The package will include 1080p editions of Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3 and Halo 4 all running at 60 FPS.  In addition to the campaigns, we’re told that the new collection destined for Xbox One will also include all of the maps and many of the game modes from all four games.  The map count will total over 100 since there was DLC for Halo 2, 3 and 4.  It wasn’t completely clear whether you’ll play all maps and modes from a centralized matchmaking system or whether you’ll be partitioned into individual game lobbies for a particular game.  We think this will be a consolidation effort but we’ll have to confirm that.

The games looked amazing and included a sneak peak at Ridley Scott’s Nightfall mini series that is slated to launch with the collection and the package includes an early beta access to the Halo 5 multiplayer – scheduled to open up in December 2014.  There was a small tease of in-game footage of Halo 5: Guardians and all we can say is “daaayum”.  343 Industries weren’t kidding when they promised incredible graphics.  There isn’t a dedicated video of that footage just yet but you can hit up gametrailers.com to see bits of the press conference or watch the entire E3 briefing from Microsoft on your Xbox One or Xbox 360 consoles if you’d rather.

E3 Events Kick Off Today With Microsoft’s Press Conference

A friendly reminder to those that are able to tune in: Microsoft’s E3 Press Conference goes live at 9:30am PST.  You can watch it live either via e3expo.com, Spike TV, or directly from Xbox Live on your 360 and One consoles.  We’re expecting to see Halo, Gears of War, Fable, Sunset Overdrive and some indie games on display today on top of perhaps a few brand new IPs.  We could also see some new Call of Duty coverage though we hope there isn’t a heavy amount of time devoted to it since there’s so much to hear about from Microsoft.  It’s an exciting time and this week will be filled with gameplay demos from all the big dogs.

Xbox One Dev Kits and OS Update Improves GPU Power

The hate coals being heaped on Xbox One by PlayStation fanatics and PC “master race” mainstays for its lesser graphical performance have been not been small nor quiet.  The 1080p debate has been brought up time and time again and, while it’s not the most important thing to define a gaming console, it is something to be weighed when a consumer is considering which console to buy.  Usually, the Xbox One outputs at 792p or 900p for bigger released games (like Titanfall, Ryse or Watch Dogs) and only occasionally tap into a full 1080p native image (Forza 5, Halo: Spartan Assault, Wolfenstein: The New Order).  Today, along with the release of the June update for the Xbox One operating system, Microsoft also included significant increases to GPU bandwidth through software improvements and an updated development kit for studios building games for the platform.  The result will be greater graphical power readily available for games and could be the difference maker in seeing 900p and 1080p be the two most common resolutions.  1080p may still not be the mainstay resolution with the new update, especially for games like Battlefield that have massive amounts of players on a map simultaneously, but it moves the needle in that direction at the very least.  DirectX 12 will probably be the final nail in the coffin when it comes around later this year (though we won’t expect to see any DX12 games on Xbox or PC until middle of 2015).

The stock for Xbox One continues to rise as Microsoft backpedals more of their initial marketing and sales strategies.  The omission of Kinect will give gamers a cheaper option for picking up an Xbox One and these software enhancements will make current and potential buyers feel comfortable with an investment.  Whether you believe Microsoft’s policy alterations since last year’s E3 are all good or not, the important thing is the platform is improving and gaining momentum in the press over PlayStation.  With big exclusives likely seeing new light next week at the Los Angeles-hosted E3 Expo Microsoft may finally have the opportunity to electrify their new platform with great games that offer more unique experiences than the rival platforms.  This is the most exciting time of year in terms of news and we’re all ready to have the floodgates released upon us.

2015 Will See Release of Mortal Kombat X For Xbox One, 360, PC

Developer NetherRealm is currently in the middle of their creation process of the next iteration of the classic fighter franchise Mortal Kombat.  Due out in 2015, Warner Bros will publish Mortal Kombat X on both previous-gen and current-gen platforms along with the PC platform.  Warner Bros has made some comments on the game being more expansive than previous versions with new characters (with multiple fighter-styles) and game modes but is leaving most of our questions about the game to be answered at the now-less-than-a-week-away E3 conference.  For a tease of what’s to come check out the 2-minute CG game trailer posted below.

Quantum Break Confirmed For 2015

Remedy Entertainment’s “Quantum Break”, one of the big teases from E3 that is to be an exclusive for Xbox One, has finally received a confirmed release year.  Now slated for 2015, Quantum Break will combine both a full-scale game alongside a TV series in which feeds off of your in-game experience and, to some unknown extend, your choices.  Little else is known, but as you’ll see from the teaser trailer below we will be getting a bigger dose of Quantum Break in August at Gamescom, which also means this game will likely be scarce (if present at all) at the June E3 event.

Xbox One June Update To Brings External HDD Support and Much More

Microsoft’s Xbox team has been hard at work bringing their new console up to speed with the features that were promised nearly a year ago at the LA-hosted E3 conference.  It has been a bit of a bumpy road at the start but the Xbox One has seen smoother sailing over the last couple months, especially since the big push for firmware and OS updates that came along with the release of Titanfall in the middle of March.  Still, features are missing that were said to be a core part of the Xbox One experience.  Both this week and in the next few weeks a few of those big misses are going to be fulfilled.

First off, Microsoft’s Skype application has finally gotten a huge update that delivers on the demo experience from the early promotional ads where Skype is running as a snapped application.  Now you can play Titanfall or Forza while having a video/voice call with a friend in real time without having to completely leave your game.  Socialites rejoice, this is a big one for anyone that uses Skype or feels the need to make calls without having to juggle devices to make that happen.

Also getting teed up is a big June update to the Xbox One OS that is set to bring improvements and new programs to Xbox One owners and Xbox Live subscribers.  The coveted external hard drive support is said to be a part of the update next month, which will allow users the ability to save content to the drive and use it as an extended media device or backup game save device.  In the future, Microsoft claims the Xbox One will be able to support dual external hard drives.  In addition, owners of Xbox Ones can copy their games to their external hard drives and bring the drives to a friend’s house and play them on their Xbox.  Pretty cool, right?  The forums at the official Xbox website have been constantly hit with questions as to when this feature would be released.  It shouldn’t be much longer now.

Also slated for the new update is the new Xbox Live Gold subscribers game programs which includes the Games for Gold program originally launched on Xbox 360 last year as well as Deals for Gold.  Games for Gold will offer a free game every two weeks (or unless otherwise detailed by Microsoft) so long as you’re a Gold subscriber.  The same goes for Deals for Gold, which will offer discounts on games that otherwise wouldn’t be accessible.  So while Xbox Live runs you $60/year (but realistically you can get it for 20-30% cheaper depending on the time of year and where you shop), you can make much of your money back in free games and deep discounts.  The actual savings advantages are as-yet unknown, but the general idea is that Gold subscribers could save 50% on titles like Forza Motorsport 5 and Ryse: Son of Rome.  This could put them at or under the $30 sale price, which is a great deal on higher profile games such as these.  We’ll hear all about this at E3 at the latest, where Microsoft is scheduled to give a major press conference the morning of June 9.

Lastly, the June Xbox Live update is said to improve the Friends application and allow for your friends’ names to be displayed.  If you’re like us, we have lists with 60-80 Gamertags that have been accumulated over the past several years and it can be hard to remember who is who, especially when people go through Gamertag changes.  That’s all we know about the June update at this time.  Around a month ago, Larry Hyrb and some other Xbox team members hinted at both June and July being big for new console updates, so we’re keeping our ears to the ground after E3 to hear more about what’s happening over the summer.  One has to wonder when the digital sharing system will be implemented on the Xbox One, which was confirmed to be in resurrection mode after Microsoft had to back away from the service upon a handful of policy changes around the E3 time-frame last year when the Xbox One was initially unveiled.