Homefront's story and atmosphere can be unsettling, but multiplayer is the only positive in an otherwise decent shooter.
Homefront follows a rather complex set up of terrorism, political intensity and military themes. The game is set in 2027, and follows a desperate reality of American culture. North and South Korea have joined up to form the Greater Korean Republic. Years later, The United States declines in society and economics and eventually falls to a savage Korean occupation. The player takes control of Robert Jacobs, a former Marine Helicopter pilot who was taken by Korean forces for failing to oblige by their commands. He sees the harsh reality of the "new" America if you like; a ravaged, disparate society in struggle. Then, he is rescued by a team of gunmen, eventually forming a resistance of which Jacobs is then part of. The introductory coach sequence is dark and very strong, displaying executions of citizens, sheets covering dead bodies and even children crying for their dead parents; its that deep. It gives a feel of intensity and the ongoing struggle of these innocent people can be harrowing. The story is provides a unique look at military storytelling with regards to other generic shooter plots, even though it can often tread a fine line between its political dimensions and a case of xenophobia amongst the antagonists of the story. Still, It's nice to see an intelligent story in a shooter, and I would love to see where this premise goes in any potential future installments.
The premise is strengthened by the atmosphere. It's intense, considering the military occupation and their actions, as well as the ongoing massacre of civilians. When playing, you'll feel as though you are fighting for a reason; gunning down Korean enemies and undergoing objectives means something. That's difficult to do – most other shooters have objectives that don't give an emotional response – but Homefront does.
Gameplay will be literally instantly familiar to dozens of other first-person shooters. The control scheme is similar while being slightly different, and there are a host of objects (grenades, weapon attachments etc) that you'd find elsewhere, and killing enemies and competing core objectives is again the familiar incentive for FPS games. The actually shooting, with the ever-reliable ADS mode, sprint and melee features, are solid enough but don't extend any boundaries of the genre. There are some decent action sequences and cinematics, but its disappointing that Homefront's premise meshes with such decidedly standard gameplay. Such a bold premise, combined with a great shooter, could have made for something special, but Kaos failed to deliver in that respect. Still, everything works and nothing is bad, but more effort could have gone into the shooting mechanics.
Everything feels good, but the visuals certainly do not. They are without doubt the weakest aspect of Homefront. Everything is clean and nothing is terrible, but it is very underwhelming. It is at its best when exploring the backyard of the Resistance HQ, with bloodied bodies and a ravaged atmosphere and some decent lighting. It is at its worst with iffy textures, poor lip synching, horrible fire effects and weak animations. There are also framerate dips when in high-scale fighting. The environments feel ragged, what with aliasing and constant screen-tearing and clipping. The in-game cinematics also look dated. A more focused look on the animations and environments would certainly have aided the story, but not here, which is disappointing.
Voice acting is pretty good across the board, and the sound effects are decent but not mindblowing. The soundtrack is understated but works well enough within the premise of the game.
The AI is extremely hit or miss. At times, the enemy AI can be solid, taking cover efficiently and meleeing when in your proximity. However, like many shooters, they follow the obvious "stay in cover" routine or sitting on a turret until you flank them. Even worse, some enemies run straight at you into the open for an easy shot. On harder difficulties, they are exceptions to a more fierce, brutal enemy.
The level design is extremely linear though. Environments follow a very narrow and strict path, and open firefights are too cramped and not wide-scale enough, which is strange, considering Frontlines: Fuel of War's seemingly open approach to each battle. This is another weak aspect, as it makes the gunfights feel more repetitive than they should be.
The campaign is relatively fun. There are some decent environment structures, and some stealth moments to mix things up slightly. The final sequence, which I won't spoil, is rather dramatic and brings about the only thing that can be described as "epic" even though it really isn't. The story ends rather abruptly, which is questionable.
Like I stated earlier, the campaign is very short. It is around five hours long, which is starting to seem like a popular trend nowadays. The Call of Duty series has become notorious for this, and Homefront follows in the same vein. The missions are challenging enough, but it won't ever clock in at over five and a half hours, which is very disappointing but unfortunately unsurprising.
There are collectibles in each level in the form of intel. They bring about much of the backstory and themes prior to the occupation of the United States. There are over 60 to collect, though they aren't all that exciting to hunt for.
The multiplayer is a strong feature of Homefront. Supporting 32 players, Homefront contains many modes you'd find in Call of Duty and other shooters. Among Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and Deathmatch modes, Team Deathmatch is probably the better mode. The large number of players is more than likely the reason why the multiplayer suite is more successful. There are many ranks to unlock, and attachments and perks to unlock. I guess many gamers are more expectant of this type of reward system, especially since Call of Duty 4, so Homefront delivers. Emphasis here is also on vehicle combat much like Frontlines: Fuel of War, although the multiplayer never takes advantage of the great settings. The maps are quite big and open, but they should feel more intense and dark, instead feeling like a regular battlefield.
Many gamers could label Homefront anything from a Call of Duty wannabe-clone to a decent shooter to a solid story-driven campaign. The thing is – they are all correct. Homefront may feel slightly cramped in its similarities to Call of Duty in cinematic and mechanics, and its visual and audio presentation is nothing to write home about, but its a decent shooter nontheless. Multiplayer is the mainstay of the Homefront experience, but a second playthrough of the campaign will bring finer detail of the military occupation in a bolder light.
The visuals don't help proceedings and the length is inexcusable, but Kaos has nailed the strong premise and relatively solid mechanics, and added enough style to Homefront's multiplayer to make it a worthwhile purchase. Solo gamers will definitely need only rent, multiplayers fans the core opposite. Whatever your interpretation of the product will be, it's likely you'll find enjoyment. If you can forget the length, visual and familiarity issues, you'll enjoy the fantastic story.
SUMMARY
Presentation 9.0 - A solid story around interesting themes in an involving setting.
Graphics 6.0 - Visually, compared to its influences, Homefront disappoints with poor lighting, dated textures and underwhelming environments.
Audio 7.5 - Solid voice acting, adept sound effects and a decent score.
Gameplay 7.0 - There's nothing here you haven't seen before, but the setting makes up for the lacking gameplay.
Replayability 7.5 - The campaign is short, but the multiplayer is fun.
Overall - 7/10