Full Review for Homefront by Season

Introduction

Homefront sets up a scary-real future-fiction scenario. A nuclear weapons-wielding North Korea has united with South Korea, overtaken Japan, and crippled the you.S. Military with a nationwide EMP blast. Coupled with a severe economic downturn and the unexpected spread of a lethal virus, the United States is left vulnerable to this relentless rising superpower.

In the boots of an underdog freedom fighter, players must face this overwhelming threat, using whatever resources you can get your hands on.

Graphics

While Homefront's visual palette may be drab and it's textures sometimes muddy, it's "enemies on our soil" aesthetic continually reminds us that we're literally fighting this war in our own backyards. Set pieces and scripted events, supported by chilling imagery, are well placed throughout. Whether stealthily navigating a highschool athletic field turned detention camp, exchanging fire from behind the broken fuselage of a plane that went down due to an EMP, or witnessing a bulldozer dump bodies into a mass grave, the presentation is rarely less than absorbing.

Homefront also uses real-world brands to great effect. While a Full Throttle vending machine might feel like intrusive in-game marketing in another title, here it serves as a Stark reminder that we're fighting this war on our own turf. Engaging in combat in a Hooters parking lot and seeking refuge in an abandoned White Castle similarly firmly place the campaign in middle America.

Sound

Homefront's sound design is certainly not something that's going to be discussed much, as it's soundtrack is exactly what you'd expect from a typical first-person shooter: dramatic overtures designed to either get you hyped up for battle or tug at your heartstrings. It does this effectively, but with little surprise.

The gunfire and explosion sounds feel weaker than Call of Duty or Battlefield, almost as if the player always has a suppressor attached, so those looking for a realistic war zone experience may want to steer clear.

The voice acting of the campaign is often downright cheesy, and this is not helped by the very poorly written dialogue. However, it is unlikely that the game's voice acting will disrupt your experience. There are bigger issues with this game than it's sound.

Gameplay

While Homefront's concept is refreshingly intriguing, it's story falls short. The director of the similarly themed Red Dawn and co-writer of Apocalypse Now delivers a flat script, starring equally thin characters. The narrative and supporting cast simply don't do enough to leverage the potential of Homefront's rich set-up. In a generation that's seen story-driven shooters evolve into the likes of Bioshock and Black Ops, players expect more than one-note storytelling and "f word" spewing allies.

The actual gunplay is pretty standard stuff, so if you've peered down an iron sight, lobbed grenades, or sprinted to cover in any number of other shooters, you'll feel comfortable with it's controls.

The sole exception to the expected "lock and load" mechanics is the "Goliath", a drone-like vehicle that packs some impressive, screen-clearing attacks. Players don't directly pilot these death-dealing sidekicks, but they do use a remote mobile scope to pull the trigger on selected targets.

Homefront plays it surprisingly safe in terms of mechanics, setting itself up for unflattering comparisons to the best of the best (Call of Duty and Battlefield). Familiarity isn't always a downside, however. The logical and functional operation does allow players to easily step in and get the job done.

The concepts of Battle Points and the Battle Commander modes bring fresh ideas to the standard, frag-focused fare. The former feature is a currency earned for kills and completing objectives. They can be spent in-game for small upgrades, such as flak jackets and airstrikes, or you can break the bank in a pre-spawn screen on more serious hardware such as ground and air vehicles. The correct choices depend on the battlefield situation (and your mood).

The Battle Commander feature layers optional objectives on top of each modes main goals. Depending on your performance, it may send you on a personal vendetta to eliminate the sharpshooter who's earned his entire killstreak at your expense. Conversely, it could reward the top gun with a perk, such as the ability to see through solid objects, but with an attractive bounty on his head.

Lastability

While players are accustomed to shooters have truncated solo runs, Homefront's campaign feels painfully short by any standard (two to six hours depending on difficulty and playstyle), and it doesn't help that it ends abruptly with a climax that seems overeager to set the stage for a sequel. The campaign offers some replay value for those who want to grab all of the collectibles that help explain the backstory of the game, or for achievement hunters (who will have to play through the game at least three times as the achievements gained on higher difficulties do not stack with the lower ones).

Thankfully, the campaign servers as an appetizer for the real main course: the online multiplayer. Kaos Studios justify Homefront's multiplayer modes with innovative thinking, and thoughtful execution. Supported by dedicated severs, 32-player matches, large-scale battles, and unique features, Homefront's multiplayer mode excels even though it's modes are essentially slight variations on standard deathmatches and objective capturing.

I view this game as an alternative for those who are bored of Battlefield and Call of Duty, but still want to play a shooter. It has some interesting and unique concepts, but I can't see it having an active playerbase after Battlefield 3/Modern Warfare 3 are released.

Overall

Complemented by absorbing environments and evocative imagery, Homefront's presentation succeeds in immersing players in it's plausible nightmare. Sadly, a weak script, unremarkable gameplay, and a short campaign undermine much of the promise in solo play. Thankfully, the war online, supported by the Battle Points and Battle Commander systems, adds considerable value to the total package. It's a bit light on modes, but if THQ can keep the pipeline flowing with post-launch content, Homefront could potentially draw a few recruits from Call of Duty's frontlines.

Final Score: 66%