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Homefront is a game I’ve been meaning to check out for a while. I remember when it released, I remember hearing it was average, and I decided to wait for a sale before I nabbed a copy. And that’s what I did. Developed by Kaos Studios and published by THQ, Homefront was released for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 in March, 2011. For this review, I played the PC version. It does come with a campaign and multiplayer mode and in my experience, as of this review, the multiplayer is dead. I found some servers but no active players so this review will only focus on the single player. Homefront is the last game Kaos Studios developed before shutting down.
The plot is set against the backdrop of an alternate history; North and South Korea unite to form The Greater Korean Public. Korea becomes a superpower and invades and takes over much of the United States. The story opens in Colorado during the Korean-American war and the player assumes the role of Robert Jacobs, a former combat pilot. He’s ordered to a re-education camp in Alaska and after the bus he’s on is ambushed by American resistance fighters, he’s recruited to help them recover fuel for U.S. military forces. That’s the gist of things and I find the premise, atmosphere, worldbuilding, and even visual storytelling to be more interesting than the actual events of the plot. In my opinion, the campaign does a great job conveying a war torn United States and the brutality that goes along with it, making for a grim atmosphere. That’s the real highlight – seeing parts of the country destroyed and abandoned and brutal acts of violence. Unfortunately, I found the characters you spend most of your time with and the actual quest for fuel the plot takes you on to be rather uninteresting. The campaign is also very short. I beat it in just over four hours.
One way I would describe the campaign is like Call of Duty but not as flashy. Another way would be mediocre. It’s not bad or terrible but the gameplay doesn’t do anything we haven’t seen before and standout moments are few and far between. It reminds me of Call of Duty because of the way the campaign is structured. You go from skirmish to skirmish with scripted sequences peppered throughout and the action slows down in between to convey story beats and drama. You’re accompanied by NPCs most of the time who are basically your guides through the campaign. They tell you what to do and when to do it, stealth sequences included. You go where they go and do what they say and you’ll be fine.
What’s cool is the dystopian American setting; shooting your way through destroyed suburbs and more rural areas. This is a game with plenty of product placement, like real world stores and restaurants, and it works, adding a sense of realism. At least I think so. Ultimately, I think the idea of shooting your way through occupied America is a neat concept. Based on my experience, there’s nothing really wrong with the gameplay but it does feel very been there, done that, and the gunplay is a bit underwhelming. Some weapons do feel better than others. You can equip whatever weapons you find, some come with attachments, the controls are fine, the set pieces are alright, and there’s plenty of action, but nothing is ever exceptional.
For the most part, the campaign has you going from A to B and either shooting the baddies in between and/or listening to NPCs talk. You will also have to defend areas and cover friendlies from time to time. The more narrative parts of the campaign typically force you to walk and listen. Combat consists of a lot of running and gunning and you’ll engage Korean troops and armor and survivalists. Enemies run around and shoot and their grenades frequently land right at your feet which can be annoying after a while. Every so often, you’ll come up against a sentry tower and you’ll need to get behind it to blow it up. There’s always plenty of objects and things in the environments to use as cover and friendly NPCs will tell you what targets to prioritize if any.
Homefront’s campaign is pretty average overall but I admit there are some cool firefights, especially towards the end, and some of the set pieces and scripted sequences are cool. There are times where you’ll get to use a device to target enemies for an attack drone vehicle thing called the Goliath to deal with and you’ll ride in vehicles and aircraft and get to blow away foes in rail shooter-like sequences. You’ll also shoot your way through a store as it’s burning and crumbling all around you, fight alongside American soldiers, and at one point you’ll get to pilot a helicopter and use it to gun down foes. Then there’s other sequences that aren’t quite as exciting like stealth where you just do what you’re told.
The campaign is short as mentioned earlier and the environments are linear. NPCs and information on the HUD will tell you what to do and where to go so getting lost is basically impossible. You’ll navigate around the suburbs, rural areas, different houses and buildings, and a prison zone, among some other areas and the only incentive to explore is to find news clips which act as a form of collectible. I will say, the environments do a good job conveying a war torn look with debris littered about, bombed out buildings, and abandoned vehicles. You’re always battling through areas that look like they’ve been through hell.
Visually, the game looks okay. Some of the animations appear janky and pop-in is often noticeable but the environments are detailed, character and weapon models look pretty good, and the visual effects look cool. The action is backed by solid audio work. Weapons fire sounds good and firefights sound chaotic thanks to all the gunfire, explosions, and shouting. The soundtrack is filled with a good mix of ambient and intense orchestral-sounding tunes, the latter typically kicking in when the bullets start flying. On the technical side, the game ran smooth and I encountered no major issues.
When I finished the campaign, I thought to myself I’m glad I waited for a sale. Homefront isn’t a terrible game, at least the campaign isn’t, but it is very average. I didn’t get a chance to try the multiplayer so I have no idea if it’s good or the real draw of the game. I find the premise interesting but the actual events of the plot along with the characters just don’t do it for me. On the other hand, I find the atmosphere, worldbuilding, and visual storytelling to be pretty good. But with an uninteresting plot and average gameplay, there’s nothing that really elevates the campaign to anything above average. It’s very in the middle, at least among its contemporaries. The action rarely excites. The gunplay is decent at best and while many of the set pieces and scripted sequences are fun, most are not all that spectacular. Nothing is awful but nothing is great, either.
I only recommend Homefront if you can get it on sale. If you’re interested and find it for under ten bucks, I would say go for it. Just know there are better shooters out there. I can’t speak for the multiplayer but as for the campaign, in my opinion, the premise, atmosphere, world building, and visual storytelling are great but the actual plot and characters are lackluster. The gameplay is average and there’s very little here that hasn’t been done better in others of its kind.