I was not impressed by Homefront's single-player campaign when I first previewed it three months ago. Apparently, Kaos Studios took notice. With the game's release only a month away, an updated preview build -- covering the first three levels of the story mode -- has been sent out to press, and I was shocked to find that nearly every complaint I had with the older build has been addressed. Add in its compelling multiplayer component, and Homefront just might have what it takes to survive in the ultra-competitive FPS market.

Homefront's core narrative as it's imagined in the gameworld is still every bit as arresting in the updated build. Witnessing the game's North Korean occupation of Anytown, USA for the second time was no less brutal to bear. Civilians are rounded up and executed, with the cries of newly orphaned children coldly ignored. It's hard to imagine that the gravitas of the game's opening moments could carry on throughout the story, but Homefront manages to keep this momentum going. In the next two levels, you'll go through a detainment camp, the ruins of a school and a garbage dump ... filled with dead bodies.