'There's no going back. You got Korean blood on your hands. You're in the Resistance now'
The year is 2027. North Korea, South Korea and China have joined forces, invaded the United States and are murdering all who oppose them. You adopt the role of Robert Jacobs, a former US Marine pilot who is forced onto a bus taking you to a 're-education' centre. Your bus is intercepted by American resistant fighters and so your conflict against the KPA (Korean People's Army) begins. The story sets the player on a series of missions where you and your crew of US resistance assault areas under enemy control, in an attempt to retake America piece by piece. However, the years preceding the year 2027 do not really make a lot of sense. For instance, the two Korean countries and China club together without even an ounce of confrontation between them mentioned. Also, countries from Europe are barely discussed, but if America were to actually be assaulted, it would be fair to expect countries such as the UK and Germany to be fully involved. Homefront's story also comes devoid of any kind of humour and shows some very graphic scenes, one or two including children. It is fair to say Homefront delves into some dark territory.
Homefront is categorised as a linear FPS (first person shooter). The combat here is nothing special as it feels very familiar to every other FPS on the market. The game does nothing to change the formula of go here, shoot them, blow that up, move to next area. Were it not for the environments and the enemies you face in Homefront, this would be a rather forgettable title. On that point, it must be said that the areas you visit in the game are well made, despite the fact that you will occasionally come upon invisible walls, blocking places that you should be able to explore. Sneaking through a farm full of rogue American survivalists and being part of an epic battle atop the Golden Gate Bridge are personal highlights of mine, and are certainly levels that I shall replay a number of times. There is also a good amount of variety here. One mission has you piloting a helicopter, getting dangerously close to tankers so your allies can hijack them, then protecting them through a city. This was one of the best vehicle levels I have experienced in an FPS. There are also certain points in the campaign where you can target enemies for your goliath, a ground attack drone, to obliterate. Unfortunately you never actually take full control of this vehicle which I felt was a bit of a shame.
However, Homefront does not come without its fair share of flaws. Its most notable one being the duration of the campaign. It will only take the average player 5 hours or so to play through. While this was disappointing, it is a good sign that it left me wanting more. The AI (artificial intelligence) is certainly a negative. There were a number of occasions where enemies spawned right in my face and other times where they walked past me without batting an eyelid. The KPA also seem to be able to take a lot of punishment before they go down for good. This would not be such a bad thing if you had a lot of ammo at your disposal but it seems to be scarce and you will frequently have to pick up fallen enemies guns as you go along. The game also has next to no replay value. Unless you want to challenge yourself to beat it on a harder difficulty, there is no incentive to play through the game more than once. Multiplayer servers are down at the time of reviewing so it would be unfair to comment on that.
Despite the dodgy AI and brief campaign, Homefront was an enjoyable FPS. Despite its linear nature, the game provided some excellent moments. The story, while far -fetched is interesting and has a lot of potential. Homefront was a solid first entry in what could be an exciting franchise. With the announcement of Homefront: The Revolution for the new generation of consoles, things are looking good and I cannot wait to see how this series progresses.
