Buy it new or prepare to give THQ 10 dollars for the ability to get past level five in the upcoming shooter.
THQ will be using it's own kind of online pass in its shooter Homefront, Shacknews reports. The pass, which allows full access to the game's online features, will be included with every new copy of the game and those who purchase the game secondhand will be able to obtain their own via a 10-dollar purchase.
In contrast to EA's mostly all-or-nothing online pass, THQ is not restricting online access to just those who have one. You'll still be able to play and compete online, the catch being that you'll never progress past level five out of a total of 75 in the game's multiplayer.
This little factoid raises a few questions. Recent Call of Duty games (and other games that have used perk-like systems) have taught us that certain skills, guns, and game modes can be locked out to people under certain levels, so it's quite possible there will be much, much more content restricted to users without a pass that THQ or game developer Kaos aren't mentioning yet. That said, all maps will be available to everyone.
As Shack notes in its report, this isn't the first time THQ has used an online pass system, since its UFC Undisputed 2010 debuted with one as well.
