To be honest with you this has shocked us a little as we think scores of between 7 and 8 out of 10 are by no means bad for a debut title, therefore we think Kaos Studios done a pretty good job, however there is no hiding the fact that Crytek should take Homefront to all new heights.

Details are scarce at the moment, however Crytek tend to stick with its own engines for its releases, therefore it would be fair to say that Homefront 2 (or whatever the next game is called) will either use the same game engine as Crysis 2, CryEngine3, or perhaps the seemingly inevitable CryEngine4.

THQ’s Danny Bilson has this to say on the matter “Selecting Crytek to take Homefront forward underscores our strategy of working with the industry’s best talent” and added “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” – this to us sounds like in terms of the storyline THQ was happy with Homefront, but in terms of general gameplay (and perhaps multiplayer) there is huge room for improvement – could this mean that Crytek’s target is to make Homefront 2 a serious Call of Duty / Battlefield competitor? It certainly seems this way.

Currently THQ has not revealed any information as to why Kaos Studios were snubbed for the next title (see update), however Crytek’s President, Cevat Yerli, did say that combining Homefront with Crytek’s creativity, quality and production values should deliver a blockbuster game – with games such as Far Cry, Crysis and Crysis 2 behind them you can’t help but agree.

You can see the official information regarding this news over at THQ.com, it clearly states that it will be coming to consoles and PC in 2014 – could this mean that it will be next-gen? We sure hope so!

Are you shocked to hear that Crytek has been chosen? Let us know in the comments section.

This map pack is called the rock map pack, it consists of four exciting new maps, these are called Alcatraz, Bridge, Waterway and Overpass. The DLC can be added to your 360′s download queue here, it costs just 400 Microsoft Points and is just shy of 450MB in size. We think that the pricing is very fair, let’s face it Black Ops DLC costs 1200 MP a pop, you do get 4 maps and a zombies map, but at triple the price of Homefront’s map pack you have to admit that Kaos Studios and THQ could have easily priced it higher.

The tagline which promotes this DLC reads “We’re going to take back San Francisco, one piece at a time”, the Alcatraz map will give gamers plenty of close-quarters fighting, Bridge will be a large map where gamers must attempt to secure the Golden Gate Bridge and the North Tower. Waterway will see you battle it out on a map which sounds pretty small, expect plenty of shopfronts and streets. Finally we don’t quite know what to expect from the Overpass map, the official description says “Battle in a fan-favorite Ground Control space for the first time in Team Deathmatch!” What do you make of this?

If you are a PS3 or PC gamer the bad news is that we do not know when this DLC will hit your platforms, like with Call of Duty: Black Ops Microsoft’s console has priority over its competitors when it comes to Homefront’s DLC, we will have to keep you posted as we hear more regarding a PS3 / PC launch date for the additional content.

We have embedded the official trailer for this DLC below, the maps looks great in our opinion and well-worth 400 Microsoft Points, do you agree? If you have purchased the content feel free to share your thoughts on it in the comments section below.

According to a recent article by Sebastian Gaweda over at gamerant.com, the upcoming DLC package – titled ‘Fire Sale’ – will provide Homefront gamers with two brand new multiplayer maps. The ‘Fire Sale’ DLC is scheduled to be released exclusively for the Xbox 360 on June 7th.

Unfortunately there has been no word on when the new downloadable content will be arriving on the other platforms. The two new maps aren’t the only thing that Xbox 360 owners will be getting on June 7th either, as they will also be able to download an 870 Express Shotgun.

Meanwhile, it appears that the developer has released a Homefront patch and an ability expansion pack for the Xbox 360. The patch should hopefully improve both network connectivity and overall game stability for Xbox 360 owners, while the expansion pack provides gamers with more options.

You can read more about the new patch and Ability Pack via the gamerant.com website. Are you looking forward to downloading the upcoming Homefront DLC?

We presume that the demo will be coming to Xbox Live, Steam and the PlayStation Network, as for DLC we can revaled that THQ plan “multiple drops” of “robust downloadable content”, however no further details were given. One thing you may remember is that THQ previously confirmed that DLC will hit the Xbox 360 first.

According to JoyStiq this news was revealed by THQ’s CEO Brian Farrell, he confirmed that both the DLC and multiplayer demo will arrive within the next six months, having heard mixed reviews about the game I never purchased it, therefore I will definitely check out the demo.

We think that it is in THQ’s interest to announce release dates and details regarding the DLC soon as people can quickly forget about first-person shooters once they become bored of them, I guess it all depend on the developers at Kaos Studios.

What would you like to see in terms of DLC? New multiplayer maps? More multiplayer weapons? Or perhaps additional single-player elements as the campaign was pretty short? Let us know in the comments section below.

The changes are virtually the same as the Xbox 360 version in terms of gameplay, however there are also various PC-exclusive faults and changes that have been made. Some changes that may improve gameplay now allow users to change the speeds of their mouse movement in the game’s controls menu.

Other issues that have been improved include providing chat whilst gamers are in the kill-cam view and also Kaos Studios have made changes to SLI/CrossFireX support. Various issues have been addressed and the game should run a lot more smoothly for gamers which is a good sign.

The patch is up and running right now and should automatically download the next time you start Homefront via Steam. You can see the entire list of changes from Homefront’s official website here. Tell us what you think of the changes in the comments section below, remember to state any problems which have not been fixed.

This news was revealed on the official Homefront website, the announcement is quite brief and vague, however it does confirm that more information regarding the patch will be published tomorrow.

The statement does confirm that along with the profile freeze issues, developers have worked on a lot of improvements “under the hood”, also Kaas Studios has confirmed that they are working on DLC for the game, that said they stay very quiet about it.

We must admit we like the fact that Kaos Studios admit that the game is not perfect and that they thank Homefront players for their patience, obviously it would be better if the game was better upon release, but at least the developers are acknowledging the problems which gamers are reporting

We would love to hear from you if you have downloaded and installed the patch, if so have you noticed any changes? Are there still problems? Was it a large download? Let us know in the comment section below.

In 2011 and on systems like the Xbox 360 and Sony PS3, you expect some level of graphics that should be far superior to the PS2 or original Xbox; there really is no excuse to lower the graphics to that level, no matter what the story. Sadly Homefront has done just that, the first thing that hit us while reviewing the game was graphics, and the lack of anything remotely above average.

You can see a few screenshots on this page, and this was after we tried to get the best from the game. We did not expect graphics to be the level of Crysis 2 (the best yet on a games console), but we also did not expect them to be of such a low standard.

Kaos Studios developed Homefront and THQ published the first-person shooter, which since its release has seen reviews bashing the game from all angles, but its not all bad. After playing Homefront for a good hour you start to forget about the lack of realistic graphics, and start to enjoy the story.

It’s hard to believe, but there was a bigger shock than the bad graphics, and this was the impact the story gives. From the start you’re met with a small movie that takes you through the downfall of the United States, and how the “United Korea” movement aims to take over the world.

This in itself is an shocking thought, but the way you’re taken through the storyline, from sitting on a bus at the start of the game, and watching blood splat all over the bus window from someone’s head, and children running around with bullets flying, its shocking.

Homefront certainly can boast one accomplishment, and this is a daring story that has impact from the start. We take our hat off to John Milius, who wrote the story and helped give the game something many others lack. Whether you like Homefront will depend on your need for graphics, for us it was a nice experience for a couple of hours, but sadly poor graphics is something that’s hard to ignore on a system like the Xbox 360 or PS3.

You cannot have everything in a game (well most of the time), but Homefront fails to please at a time when the FPS genre is crowded with massive titles. If Homefront had anywhere near the graphics of Crysis 2 with it’s great story, then we would’ve been more compelled to play for longer. Sorry Homefront, but you just don’t cut it in 2011.

Have you played Homefront, and if so what do you think?

MORE SCREENS:

In a previous post we stated that gamers were reporting problems of freezing during online gameplay. This problem would be enough to infuriate any gamer during online play, so it is very pleasing to see that people are working hard to fix the bugs.

The first update that will be released will be aimed at the Xbox 360 and will be coming in the next day or two according to the message on Homefront’s page. It is said to fix the ‘Freeze’ issue that gamers are having and also will fix the matchmaking service to stop players being matched with distant server locations.

A second update is also mentioned in their message and it can be viewed from the site here and is well worth a look if you are a Homefront gamer. It mentions fixes coming for the Playstation 3 also so do not worry Playstation owners, you are being listened to as well.

Have you experienced any problems with Homefront? What do you want developers to fix?

In a post by Eurogamer we are told that 70% of sales were taken up by Xbox 360 gamers, which is a staggering percentage. Eurogamer stated that this may be due to the huge marketing campaign Microsoft held in order to make their exclusivity DLC deal worthwhile and not just a lost cause.

It would definately seem that they have succeeded here and regardless of the disappointing IGN review, the game has taken off in both America and Europe, in which it sold 375,000 copies in America alone on its first day on the shelves.

Eurogamer gave the game 6/10, a more diasappointing score than IGN’s, however their comments were more or less the same. It would seem that the reviews are mixed, the professionals think there was hype over nothing, whereas the fans think the game is still worth buying. What is your view on Homefront?

According to David Jenkins on the metro.co.uk website, the controversial first-person shooter managed to knock BioWare’s Dragon Age II game down to No. 2. The Xbox 360 version took the biggest share of the overal sales, with a massive 70% of buyers choosing to purchase that version.

Meanwhile, the PlayStation 3 version took 26 percent of the sales and the Microsoft Windows version just 4%. The recently released PC title Total War: Shogun 2 entered the chart at number four, while 2K Sports’ Top Spin 4 game debuted at a slightly disappointing number 13.

Sega’s PlayStation 3 title Yakuza 4 on the other hand debuted at number 25. Last week’s No. 2 Pokemon White version dropped down to number 3 this week, while the Pokemon Black version dropped to number 5. EA’s Fight Night Champion 3 was this week’s No. 6, while Just Dance 2 took 7th position.

Finishing off the Top Ten were FIFA 11, Killzone 3 and Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, which made its way back up the charts from being at No. 13 last week. Are you surprised to see the Homefront game at the tope of the UK game chart?