Homefront Review

I’ve had quite a lot of exposure to Kaos Studios’ latest game, Homefront. It seems like there’s been some sort of PR overdrive to get the word out on this game, and in many ways it has worked, as the buzz has been steadily building up to the weeks before its release. I was fortunate enough to attend a press event a few months back and experience Homefront first hand, and I was genuinely impressed with what I saw. Having now played the complete version of the game, it’s good to see that the game’s appeal still exists, but there is plenty of room for improvement.

Homefront does something that no other FPS game has done so far, and that is to bring the battle home – in this case, to the United States. Where other games invade foreign countries or reenact historical battles, Homefront’s storyline and setting will absolutely blow you away. Following a series of events that are beautifully narrated in the opening cinematic, the U.S is invaded by a unified Korean Republic, and subsequently taken over. Major cities are in chaos, and the Koreans swiftly execute any prisoners they take. Though lengthy, the opening cinematic sets the game’s unique tone, and slowly unravels what’s in store for you. After escaping from Korean forces, your character joins a small group of rebels who are trying to organize some sort of force against the foreign invaders. Be prepared for some rather stale conversations between your supporting characters, as you idly stand by and wait for them to shut up.

Once you’ve digested the initial fragments of the story, you can then turn your attention to the extraordinary lengths that Kaos Studios has gone to in order to make this game look and feel as realistic as possible. Your environments have been designed to look as ravaged as possible, yet somehow retain their original charm in a very eerie sort of way. You’ll battle in fast food outlets, abandoned neighborhoods, and even savanna-esque areas.  Regardless of where you go, you’re always left with this foreboding feeling that this place was once someone’s home, and it has been brutally changed forever. It’s certainly a grim image to run with for a game, but the presentation and storyline go so well together that it’s a formula that just works. However if you look past the game’s story, you won’t find much difference with any other FPS game. Guns, grenades, and some flaky team AI are all present here, so it’s really only the story that tends to drive the game forward in the single player campaign. Certainly one gripe that gamers might have is how short the campaign feels – even though the length is similar to most other top FPS games, it still feels that Homefront could have done so much more, given its unique storyline.

But even if you moan about the campaign, the true joy of Homefront lies in its spectacular multiplayer. The game will let you spawn as a particular class of soldier, so you may go in with assault weapons, opt for heavy weaponry, or stay out of site with camouflage and a sniper rifle. Though this may sound like any run of the mill FPS multiplayer, the key element here is in the accumulation of Battle Points. As you progress through the maps and pick off your enemies, you earn points that you can spend on class-specific upgrades. For example, you can opt for reinforced armor or an RPG launcher, or even spawn an aerial drone or mini-robot that you can directly control on the battlefield. This point system makes the multiplayer mode an absolute scream to play, and you can even spawn into battle in a tank or artillery truck. This constantly evolving battlefield and tug of war with points keeps the action fresh and frantic. You also have a mode which ranks you as you carry out particular missions on the field, and as you complete each mission you are rewarded with specific upgrades. At the same time, your enemy is notified of your progress and you are marked as a priority target on the field. It’s a deliciously evil way to run the multiplayer mode, and there’s an endless amount of fun to be had.

After all of that though, the game does have some annoyances, in addition to the short single player campaign. While the game visually does a decent job of depicting a war-ravaged America, it sometimes appears to be a bit bland in areas, and not consistent with other parts of the game. There is of course the issue of companion AI, where sometimes your allies won’t target an enemy properly, or simply won’t get out of your way so you can attack. They’re minor gripes in some ways, but they keep the game from being as perfect as the studios would have wanted it to be.

Homefront has certainly made some lofty claims in trying to set itself apart from the watered-down FPS genre. But strip away the storyline and multiplayer, and you find just another mundane shooter. Still, full credit goes to Kaos Studios for delivering a game with such a unique setting that it’s bound to garner interest. Hopefully future DLC will keep us coming back to the battlefield for more.