O! Say can you see by the dawn’s early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming, whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, o’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
As red, white, and blue as Homefront may run in its patriotic storyline – of Americans taking back their country from the occupying forces of the Greater Korean Republic – the more stereotypical elements of American content like the “super-sized†format or in-your-face action are notably absent. However, some more eyeroll-inducing aspects remain, such as advertising and overly-clichéd moments of grand actions and melodrama.
Having played Homefront on the Playstation 3 my first complaint has to be the numerous bugs. While playing through the game I found myself taking large breaks, chiefly since I felt the game was trying to encourage me by hanging on loading screens several times. My most memorable bug, however, was in ‘Chapter 4: The Wall’, when various houses in the level entirely vanished, allowing me to walk out of the game world. Despite moments like this I continued playing… funnily enough, for the story.
Written by John Milius of Red Dawn and Apocalypse Now fame (he also wrote the one-liners for Dirty Harry), I had high expectations for the game’s story. What was delivered was a scarily realistic premise followed by a very 1980s action movie-esque story which I suppose we should’ve been expected, since John Milius hasn’t done anything particularly noteworthy since the 1980s. [Ed: Plus, everyone knows that his high was Conan.]
The story begins in 2011 when the UN slaps North Korea on the hand for further nuclear testing. Following the death of Kim Jong-Il in 2012 comes the empowerment of his son Kim Jong-un, who reunites North and South Korea into the aforementioned Greater Korean Republic. Simultaneously, the United States is crumbling due to a combination of oil shortages and rising prices caused by a war between Iran and Saudi Arabia. This results in the withdrawal of American forces from the Korean Peninsula and other overseas countries, an overabundant financial deficit… and then the country is struck by a new strain of bird flu. Honestly, if it takes this much to make the story plausible then that in itself is frightening. Although throughout the depiction of this series of debilitating attacks against the USA, I couldn’t help thinking of Monty Python’s Black Knight.
The final blow comes in the year 2024 when Korea announces the launching of a new space satellite program, supposedly to replace a satellite that the United States can no longer afford. Unfortunately for the United States this satellite is actually a thermonuclear device which activates in 2025, hitting America with an EMP and knocking out its electric grid and most electronics. This allows the Greater Korean Republic to swoop in and take over everything west of the Mississippi River – after irradiating it of course.
This is where the interesting part of the story ends; after this it feels like a different writer handled the rest of the game. You’re thrown into the role of a former marine helicopter pilot named Robert Jacobs, living in Montrose, Colorado. Upon waking up you’re quickly rushed out of your house via a beating and being thrown down the stairs by the KPA, then sat down in a bus for a tour of the neighbourhood to witness just how much times have changed. Initially what I saw led me to believe the game was going to be pretty tame, until one scene which surprised me. In it a mother and father were stood before a firing squad and were trying to calm their child down – before they were shot, with the child then crying over their crumpled bodies.
Deep down, part of me imagined a alternate universe in which this child became that world’s new Batman, single-handedly saving the United States from the Korean invasion.
Shortly after this incident Jacobs is rescued by the resistance, led by one Connor Morgan, and drafted into the fight against the Korean invasion. During various firefights you’re given glimpses of what life has become under the occupation and the horrors of the war waged by the resistance. This leads to one of the bones I want to pick with the game. How many times do I have to hear the words “oh my Godâ€? I understand the attempts to shock me as a player, but I don’t need to be notified of this every time something occurs.  As things progress you’re betrayed by a settler, your home is destroyed, and a city is set ablaze: you’ll hear the phrase a lot.
Before I can continue I have to point out a moment in one specific level, ‘Chapter 3: Fire Sale’. Your partner Rianna boots open a door leading to a parking lot outside a Tiger Direct store, which features one of the most stunning displays of in-game advertising I have ever witnessed. Although there are ads throughout the game, in this specific area you’ll find logos depicting Hooters, NOS, Coffee Beanery, Jansport, Cabinets To Go, Diablo Primary Weapons and Fender. David Votypka, the design director of Homefront, stated in an interview with G4TV that the in-game advertising with real brands was included to establish a connection between the player and the real world. They could’ve used fake brands and it still would’ve had the same effect with me; as it is, the placement seems gratuitous.
Eventually the resistance breaks down the wall confining Montrose – or Colorado in general, it’s not clear – and makes its way towards California. They seek help from a settlement of survivalists with whom a deal was previously cut but the original negotiator has been killed, and now the survivalists are looking to turn you in for a bounty – and for fun of course. Hand-in-hand you follow Connor “the voice of freedom†Morgan through the survivalist camp which leads to the most enjoyable part of the entire game: ‘Chapter 6: Overwatch’. Whilst piloting a helicopter the player dodges missiles and blows things up; unfortunately it’s also one of the briefest levels in the entire game.
Whatever happened to predictability? The milkman, the paperboy, evening TV? We’ve reached the final level – ‘Chapter 7: Golden Gate’ – and San Francisco. Having joined up with elements of the U.S military the resistance makes a push to recapture San Francisco. It’s another hand-holding mission across the Golden Gate Bridge, ending with an anti-climatic and clichéd action-movie moment whereby one life is sacrificial for the benefit of all, and an abrupt jump to the credits.
In closing, Homefront is a mediocre game which echoes 1980s action-drama films with a flavor of current events. As I progressed through the game I felt that I was watching an interactive movie in which my hand was tightly held. My teammates could take out entire waves of enemies while I hung back, admiring the environments and smelling the flowers.
In previously mentioned  interview with G4TV, the design director of Homefront also stated that the single player campaign would be five to ten hours long depending on experience. This flatters me: I must be a pretty impressive player given that it took me a little less than four hours to complete the game.
The soundtrack was also disappointing; with no particularly memorable score I usually found myself playing RUSH in the background to get me through the game’s duller moments.
Without any really memorable moments I believe this game will soon fade and be consigned to bargain bins. For 14.99$ it will be found alongside Terminator: Salvation, and two Connors can argue on who truly has the voice of freedom.
That Homefront is short and linear there can be no contention; that it offers some epic moments later in the game is also true. That the game fails overall to offer anything substantial or meaningful in its campaign is undeniable. That I yawned my way through most of it is incontestable. What is open for debate is this:
Why the fuck is this game receiving middling reviews when it’s just as bad as some of the other highly-lauded linear shooters out there?
I don’t get the fascination with this Ferris Wheel game design, but I had thought that the lack of control over events and the short playthroughs were what people liked about such games. I don’t see what makes Homefront so markedly inferior to its bed partners, and as a result I am baffled by why this should merit lower scores.
This second opinion is OVER.
*Kicks over chair, storms out of the room*
*Comes back in, picks up chair, sits back down again sullenly as if after being told off by teacher*
This sold over 1 million copies? I guess people do like these kind of games.
I bet the cost of a copy of Terminator: Salvation that CEX has four shelves full of copies of this in about two months’ time.
Comments
18 responses to “Homefront: Singleplayer Review”
I'm inclined to agree with the majority of people who rated Homefront as below average, even in relation to the recent surge of crappy, generic FPS games. It seems to lack the oh-so-amazing set pieces that make all the other short, linear FPS games out there really appealing to consumers (I refuse to use the term 'gamers' to describe them). This means Homefront ends up offering almost exactly the same experience as other, similarly dull FPS titles, but without one of their main selling points.
Also, like Kevin, I managed to complete the whole thing in less than 4 hours – and that's with my amazing skill of being consistently rubbish forever at every FPS game ever created, except Nerf: Arena Blast.
Yeah, the playthrough is a little short, but then I finished Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 in exactly the same amount of time.
Nerf: Arena Blast… now there was a game. I'm not sure if it was the first non-Epic title to use the Unreal engine but I'm going to pretend it is, just so that I can claim it was the predecessor to all of these U3 First Person Steroidal Shooters.
ALSO I get why a lot of people don't like 'blockbuster FPS' titles and why they are, objectively, not terribly good singleplayer games, but I find the snobbery surrounding them a bit irritating as I will quite happily enjoy that kind of game and I don't regard myself as someone short on gaming pedigree. ;)
This is the second title I had hoped would lead to a decently interesting game and turned out to be a dud (no BC that other title wasn't Crysis 2). Perhaps one day when steam offers one of their ridiculous sales and the titles are cheaper than dirt I'll pick up Homefront and MOH, play them back to back and pretend they were one complete game.
The continuity jump at the midway point shouldn't prove to be any harder to understand than any recent CoD game.
Maybe one day if I have nothing better to throw my money at I'll also pick up CoD:Blops.
There are many things to be said about Blops, one of which is that it is possesses a remarkably coherent narrative compared to Modern Warfare 2 and even Crysis 2 (a far better game, but also one with an annoying tendency to fail to connect the end of one mission with the start of the next).
Not to mention that CoDBLops has a much more memorable name.
I can't talk much about CoD:Blops as I haven't played it, not that I feel I need to for very obvious reasons.
Heh, yes, it contains nothing you will not have seen and been turned off by before.
I'm glad I'm not the only on who found Crysis 2 had a really hard time with story coherency. There were times I felt like I had missed something important somehow. And no matter how much they irked me I didn't skip any cutscenes (thinking of it now, I don't think I even had a choice to skip them if I wanted to).
Yeah, that was my problem too. I think the most jarring example is the moment when you get knocked out of the window by the Cell commando and then… you're halfway across the city and Gould is absolutely fine. What the fuck?
WaW also made by Treyarch who made CoDBLops and Call of Duty 3, the games considered the weakest in the already weak series of Call of Duty games…
Yeah, I know it's a Treyarch title (who else would it be after the Infinity Ward split :). BlOps is probably better than MW2, not that there's much in such arguments.
Also, I've figured it out, I will purchase all three (Homefront, CoD:Blops and MOH) and combine them all into a massive convoluted story. One General Patton, who after being recruited by his government to take part in the questionable Cold War battles only to be tortured and questioned by the very same administration about his involvement. Decades later he finds himself in Afghanistan fighting another questionable war after which he decides he's had enough of his governments antics and decides to settle down and live a normal middle American life only to find himself…decades later fighting for the freedom of the institution he had given up on.
I smell blockbuster.
Paging Michael Bay!
If they'd release all three games as ONE, I'd definitely pay 39.99$ for it!
…
Or maybe wait until it finds its way into a bargain bin.
Or you can borrow my copy.
It's all good, thanks though! I think you can go right on and sell it back while there is still a couple coins to make off it. As you know, I just got Red Dead Redemption + Undead Nightmare Bundle. O and I have yet to install Mass Effect 1 & 2 on PC.
home front is getting hanged after the mission in which they find out the mass graves. the player gets in the care and the game just stops risponding. any one plzz any solutions… plzz mail at vicky_cool207@yahoo.com
I enjoyed Homefront's SP campaign. It is unquestionably the 'high' point of a terrible design trend towards absurd levels of linearity, and it's insultingly short, poorly told and just plain stupid. The ending sucked, and over half the game is spent with your characters' actions out of your control. All those criticisms are valid. However, I thought certain set pieces were really cool (escaping the burning minimart springs to mind – great use of environment and scripted events), and I really liked the setting even though I concur with the criticisms that it's underused and devolves into generic gameplay despite opportunities to go elsewhere. I loved the scene where you discover the victims of the lynch mob in the survivalist camp, that was pure horror film. Plus I love pretty much anything set in rural America, I'm a sucker for that landscape, particularly when it's invoking all of the southern gothic twisted farm machinery and creepy old barns and churches, the whole setting just works for me and lets me see right past all those awful, awful flaws. It's not something I would particularly recommend to people, but overall I had more fun than I expected.
Although it was brutally linear, the actual gameplay was less linear than CoD. In Blops, I felt as though I might as well have not been there at all, but at least I was there. In Homefront, I felt as though I actually wasn't there for most of it – my presence was entirely unnecessary, even resented by the game, which would have got things done quicker if I hadn't been throwing spanners into the works by standing in the way of NPCs or running to the wrong door at the wrong time, but at least during the rare occasions when you can actually play it yourself, it behaved somewhat like an FPS, instead of a strange stilted skill/reaction minigame dressed like a shooter as Infinity Ward/Treyarch have been putting out. I would say it's more of an FPS than CoD is, but less of a game than anything calling itself a game should be. But it had a creepy rustic setting and and so earned my love the easy way, like so many poor products before it. Oh, and it has fantastic music.