Having only recently launched, Battleborn is already getting a new hero. The first of a planned five free heroes that will be added to the game’s roster, Alani is coming on May 24th for season pass holders and the 31st for everyone else. She’s another healer character, so players can expect her to be called on to support other heroes’ engagements and be a key support figure in team strategies.
Alani will cost 47,500 in-game credits to unlock for use. That’s a lot of lane pushing. Alternately, players with the season pass can unlock the new character using a free Hero Key that will come with the update. With the release of each new hero, Gearbox will supply season pass holders with a Hero Key to get a jump on all the dirty peasants that will be forced to grind for their heroes. Hero keys can be used to unlock any character the player isn’t able to access. If you’ve been stuck trying to beat all the co-op missions on advanced difficulty and you’re still not at Command Rank 40, you can use a Hero Key to bypass the requirements for Ghalt. Better yet, once you do fulfill the requirement for Ghalt, you’ll get your key back and can use it on another locked hero.
These three games want to dominate the first-person shooter market and they’re coming for your dollars. All three games had beta access periods over the weekend and bouncing between them has taught me one thing: May is going to be rough for shooter fans. There’s only so many hours in the day, and Doom, Overwatch, and Battleborn all want your attention. If you want a mix of old-school arena multiplayer mixed with newer Call of Duty sensibilities, then Doom from id Software and Bethesda will have you covered starting on May 13th. If you want Blizzard’s take on Team Fortress 2 before it went hat crazy, Overwatch will give you all the hero class shooting you can handle on May 24th. If you’re craving a mix of Borderlands with a beefy helping of MOBA gameplay, Gearbox’s Battleborn gets an early jump out of the gate on May 3rd. Basically, May is going to be crowded with grinding for levels while shooting at other players.
Buried in that release calendar is poor Homefront: The Revolution. On the 17th of May, Dambuster Studios’ open-world co-op sequel to Homefront squeezes out between these three juggernauts. While the other three games are focused on cartoon story setups, Homefront: The Revolution tries to hit the gritty with North Korea’s future-tech military occupying the United States. The player works to free Philadelphia from the oppressors through the judicious use of guns, a motocross bike, and exploding RC cars. Strike that. It’s just as much of a cartoon as the others.
