After changing hands and facing delays in the Homefront franchise last year, the open-world first-person shooter is back on track for its release in 2016.
Before it comes out on all three major gaming platforms (PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One), it's Microsoft's console that gets first dibs on the closed beta of Homefront: The Revolution.
Players will be able to get their hands on the game from Feb. 11-14 exclusively on the Xbox One console, Xbox Live's Major Nelson announced. As it is a closed beta, slots for accessing the game are limited. In fact, the only way for players to get in on the the guerrilla warfare world of Homefront is by acquiring an Xbox One Beta Token.
Xbox and Deep Silver, Homefront's new publisher, have been holding promotions for players to win those very tokens to access the game, but most have already been given away. Thankfully, Deep Silver says there are still some keys left that can be had just in time for the beta by signing up at the Homefront: The Revolution website.
The return of the game revolves around a Korean takeover of Philadelphia. It's in 2029 that the protagonist, Ethan Brady, leads a resistance movement against the Korean invaders to win back America's birthplace of independence. Now there's a reason why this isn't simply called Homefront 2. Developer Dambuster Studios says "everything is new" in the game, hence the more apt title, Homefront: The Revolution.
Lucky players invited into the closed beta will have the opportunity to play the game's newest mode called Resistance. Basically, Resistance is Homefront's four-player online mode. Gamers should note, however, that since this is a beta there may or may not be the occasional drop in frame rate, graphics and animations.
Microsoft's Xbox website describes it best - in Homefront: The Revolution, it's up to gamers to "turn Occupation into Revolution" and call on oppressed civilians in the game to take up arms with the players against the Korean opponent.
Assuming all goes well during the beta and there aren't too many drastic changes or bugs, Homefront: The Revolution should be seeing an official release in just a few short months. Microsoft says copies of the game should be available for purchase by everyone else on store shelves beginning May 17. In the meantime, hardcore Homefront players can watch the latest trailer of the game below.
