First Review: Homefront

     Alright. As y’all can probably tell, this is my first review, I’ll try to be gentle and not give away any spoilers.

     Homefront, released March 15^th 2011, developed by Kaos Studios and published by THQ is a rather solid shooter. It seems to take heavy inspiration in the way it handles from Call of Duty and the Battlefield series, but it doesn’t necessarily copy them. It more intertwines them in a nice ball of juicy goodness, from the way the guns and vehicles handle (Battlefield) to a perk and unlocking system for the multiplayer (Call of Duty).

     The execution of cinematic-like events is very well done as most, if not all of it were done in real-time looking through the eyes of the main character, Robert Jacobs. It accurately depicts the horrors of war and occupation in such ways as seeing the occupiers tearing family apart in the streets, herding people like cattle into internment and forced labor camps, and by basically treating the enemy like meat. There were some moments that were hard to swallow but I believed they were necessary to show the struggles of an occupied state. Some people won’t agree and like what is being shown, but to those I suggest just turning off the game or go into another room if one of your family members is playing it.

     

     The gunplay is tight, the controls feel similar to Call of Duty while the actual feel of the game is close to Battlefield, which I enjoy. You have your typical control setup, A is jump, X is reload, B is crouch, Y is change weapons, RB and LB throw frag and tactical grenades respectively, RT is shoot and LT is to aim down the sight. Click the left stick down and you sprint, click the right stick down and you plunge your knife into those unfortunate to be in the way with a nice juicy “thunk!” I enjoy the knifing more than I should.

    Nothing drastic is changed with the control scheme, which is fine. Why fix it if it’s not broken? The characters on the other hand, were bland and stereotypical. You have the guy who likes to swear a lot, the girl who doesn’t like to kill if she can help it, and an American-Korean guy who reminds me of Glenn from The Walking Dead (I like him). As I was rooting for the Resistance to whoop the GKR’s (Greater Korean Republic) ass, I could care less if the characters died (except for the Glenn-like dude).

     

     Aside from unlikeable characters, I found the single player mode rather enjoyable. The execution was phenomenal and the soundtrack was rather excellent, if juuust a little bit hokey in some places. It was short though, really short. I plowed through the game in about 6, 7 hours and I was taking my time. It got harder near the ending, but depending if you were in the groove of things or not you could clear the last level rather quickly (I wasn’t keep track of time, so let’s say around 45 minutes?) The individual chapters are long, having enough action to fill an extra chapter each, but there’s only a small amount (I won’t tell the exact number for those wishing to find out for themselves, as I like to myself.)

    The multiplayer is rather enjoyable as well. The killstreak system is weird, for lack of a better word, but I like it. In games like Call of Duty, you kill several people in a row without dying and you get a killstreak, a reward you can use (people who’ve played CoD games go ahead and skip down a line or two, this is for people who haven’t played those games.) Say you kill three people without dying, you can get a Recon Plane/UAV (same thing, different names) to reveal the enemy as small blips on your map. If you die at two kills though, you have to start all over.

      

     Alright CoD fans, you can start reading again. Homefront has a killstreak system, but it doesn’t matter if you’re killed or not.. well, then I guess it’s not technically a killstreak system, it’s just the easiest way to describe it. The system is, you gain points that only last for a single game for every kill. One kills is worth around 50 points, while special additions add another 30 points (special additions meaning headshots, revenge kills, avenger kills, things like that). All those points are cumulative not matter if you die or not. Now with those points, you can buy special abilities. These are abilities you’ve preselected for your loadout, such as an RPG or a flak jacket suitable for one life, or special vehicles such as a UAV, a small helicopter gunship, a hummer, an Abrams tank or an Apache gunship. These vehicles can be selected when you’re at the spawn screen, and if you select one you play in that vehicle until you die.

    This system I find is quite enjoyable, and while it’s hard to get a bunch of points for the higher goodies I think the challenge is worth it. Sorry about using the word ‘killstreak’ too, I guess that was a little misleading.

    Homefront’s multiplayer also has a leveling system, akin to Call of Duty pre-Black Ops. You gain a certain level and you gain access to weapons, no having to buy them (the BP – Battle Points – I talked about above is used solely for a match.)

   I’ve read that the multiplayer is similar to that of Frontline: Fuels of War, which makes sense because Kaos Studios also developed that game. I didn’t play that game however, so if anyone gets mad because I’ve compared it to Battlefield or Call of Duty, that’s the reason why

   Anyhow, I found Homefront an enjoyable experience. It was chock full of action-packed and gruesome scenes,  an incredible what-if scenario and the occasional witty banter, I enjoyed it even though I didn’t care for many of the characters. Anyhow, since I don’t have a suitable rating system as of yet, I suggest to all those interest to rent the game before you buy it, I see it as a love-hate thing. Especially with the beginning level, it’s just ripe for controversy.