Homefront is surprisingly good in some areas, very dated in others.
GAMEPLAY - Unfortunately the gameplay is a combination of a dated engine and trying to copy an already great franchise. Let's talk about the former first. This game is run on the now very dated Unreal Engine, which really shows its age here. It did the same thing with Singularity last year, and it feels even more dated here. Until the new Unreal Engine comes out, this seems like a very cheap and campy way to build a FPS around. Also, the designers tried to make this a Call of Duty clone. Everything from the weapons to the dialogue to the "Holy crap" moments. It's like this was supposed to be THQ's version of Modern Warfare under the Unreal Engine, which just doesn't come across well. Rather than move-at-your-own-pace combat, it's very limited and slow at just how fast you can move before pre-determined scripts have a chance to carry out what they were written to do. On the plus side though, the guns sound good, and although most are just your typical assault rifle, each feels different. I felt like the shotgun was a tad bit overpowered though, as I could kill people 50 feet away from me with a shot or two at most. Finally I would say that the difficulty is kind of up there in terms of a shooter. I played through on easy, but couldn't make it through a single level without dying 3 or 4 times. Sometimes I felt like the AI was way too punishing. For example, on the second or third level you come to a street with a guard tower at the other end, and it felt like every enemy soldier was throwing a grenade at me constantly. It made it very tough to survive, and I noticed this grenade-happy behavior throughout the game. Overall, the gameplay feels solid, but at the same time you can't help but notice the similarities to Call of Duty and the dated Unreal Engine. I didn't play the multiplayer, but the single player is pretty solid if you don't mind the difficulty. - 6.5/10
STORY - Here is the high point of this game. The developers concocted a very realistic, believable, and most of all disturbing story that conveys almost 2 decades of history in the opening movie alone. Between the opening movie and the first few minutes of the beginning level, you really felt the realization of what was going on, and this just kept up all through the game. I really enjoyed the story and it was really the thing that kept me going despite the lackluster gameplay. I was just very disappointed with the ending, and the fact that Connor felt more like the main character than the guy you play as did. - 9.5/10
GRAPHICS - The graphics were knocked a little bit by critics, and I can see why they would say that. To me they're fine though. They actually look better than they did on Singularity last year, which also used the Unreal Engine. If they were any worse though, I would agree that they look pretty ancient. - 7.5/10
SOUND - Again, the things that people on your team would say felt very much like what people would say in Call of Duty. Stuff like, "Reloading!" or "Check your fire!" That felt kind of corny that they used the same exact lines from Call of Duty, but at the same time I didn't care. The music here was actually pretty good, and it fit the mood. I was also pretty impressed by how different a lot of guns sounded and felt, so overall I would say that this game is well above average in this area, even if the dialogue felt incredibly familiar. - 8/10
LENGTH/REPLAY VALUE - While there are only 7 levels, you could make the argument that most FPS games don't have incredibly long single player campaigns these days. While this is unfortunate, this nonetheless is just short of being par for the course. I personally wouldn't replay this game, but it's fun for a day or two, making it a great rental. I almost wish I would have tried the multiplayer to see if it was worth it, but overall I didn't really care once the single player was over with. - 7/10
BOTTOM LINE - Homefront isn't an amazing FPS, but it has a great premise and will keep you busy for an afternoon. I definitely wouldn't recommend buying it unless the multiplayer is something that appeals to you. This is a good rental for what there is though. If you enjoy a good story with a decent single player campaign, this game definitely delivers. One thing it does have over Call of Duty is that the guns do feel more realistic, even if 85-90% of them are assault rifles. I had fun with this one, but I will say that the difficulty did make me want to throw my controllers a few times, even on easy. - 7.5/10