War sweet war
In a day and age where the terrors of war are conveyed stronger in online gaming than the ‘News Of The World’, it’s easy to be desensitised to the bleak images and news on modern day conflicts. Log onto Live and you’ll see soldiers jumping up and down in the same spot in sheer panic, encounter glitch upon glitch due to someone’s terrible connection, and hear some bloke screaming to their kid in the same room what the difference is between Lidl Cola and Dettol. Enter Homefront, an underdog in every sense of the FPS world to slap the unappreciative couch potatoes and drag them through the bleak, horrendous and disturbing traumas of life on the frontline, in suburbia.
Rather than ravishing you with eye melting explosions pumping up your adrenaline like a car engine on Dr Pepper, Homefront interjects rampant slaughtering on your part with some truly disturbing imagery. The Korean Army seem to live on the basis of ‘An eye for an eye’, answering your gun toting mass killing ways with bundles of corpses and massacres left to engrave distressing images to your brain lobes. From the dense newspaper articles littering the streets documenting years of events, to tense shoot-outs in the back of a Hooters bar (seriously), Homefront delves into a surprisingly deep narrative which strikes a chord very close to home. Even the most stone cold gamer who isn’t turned by fictitious events can’t help but feel hatred around the antagonists that are being fleshed out by such actions, forcing you to fire at tyrants rather that typical A.I driven pixel puppets.
Despite having a handful of comrades fighting the good fight, the constant waves of enemies makes it truly feel like you’re up against all odds and an entire army. Combat is very fluid, yet there’s little margin of error. Bullets practically evaporate away and if you don’t take advantage of the smooth gunplay, you’re constantly forced to scavenge for ammo. Though some ambushes are played out in slow motion when you have the upper hand to blast enemies away, it feels that everything from your weapon to your HUD is stripped down to make you feel even less like a super soldier, and bundled with the stark imagery of a losing war, it only serves to create an even more tense experience.
A surprisingly provocative plot with some truly memorable set pieces
The horrors of this war leaks through to the graphics as well. There are as many misplaced pixels littered about the place as corpses, and everything hasn’t been entirely well rendered, giving objects this constant jagged effect. Everything from knives to plushy pillows look rather rough around the edges, and although the atmosphere of civil suburbia’s and tranquil towns torn apart by conflict is ever present, I’m pretty sure rendering issues can’t be blamed upon mass warfare. The rag-tag bunch or resistance soldiers are at least a bearable bunch of allies, not spouting off rubbish one-liners, spraying as much testosterone as they do bullets. Unfortunately very little is done to really make you sympathise with the lot, seeing as innocent civilians have it so much tougher, and it’s weird to feel so bad about people you’ve never met.
On normal difficulty, the campaign lasts just over a disappointing 5 hours for the most moderately experienced gamer. I’ve always fought for narratively strong games on the short side, as their stories are in danger of poor pacing and droning on before the big climax. Homefront, however, feels like it’s playing it too safe, and without sounding like too much of a psychopath, there feels as though there’s more torture and disturbing revelations you want to uncover, even if there is the ever present fear that curiosity killed the cat. There are segments in the middle of the game that expands the terror from the Korean Army and blurs the line between good and evil, which only lasts one level and practically begs for more spotlight. Homefront manages to perfectly juggle combat and story well with both narrative rich and combat heavy set pieces, but ends so abruptly you’re barely given a chance to reflect.
Whereas the campaign offers up a fresh if not under worked experience, the multi-player relies much more on tried and tested formulas of online warfare. Homefront isn’t endowed with loads of modes to play with. An evolved ‘Capture The Flag’ mode and staple ‘Deathmatch’ mode are on offer and provide plenty of maps for typical tactical battles. It’s a shame the great context of the campaign isn’t used to its advantage as much in these modes, however, apart from split the factions into Americans and Koreans, and the now standard unlockables, EXP and trait add-ons make an appearance to construct a more personalised soldier.
Even though it lacks the polish we take for granted in many military shooters these days,Homefront is a damn respectable FPS from what it delivers. Those who were unlucky enough to put up with the dismal Turning Point:Fall Of Liberty will find this a beacon of hope, screaming out that this is how alternative shooters should be made. Those heavily engrossed in COD however, may find little to tear themselves away and onto this. The campaign is highly engrossing, but very short and the multi-player isn’t truly diverse enough to intrigue the dedicated veterans of other FPS’s. Nevertheless, Homefront is a rich and interesting title that would definitely give the big boys a run for their money if it weren’t for a few shortcomings, and will provide those who shell out on it a surprisingly provocative plot with some truly memorable set pieces that aren’t polluted with explosions, shrapnel or Rambo style shenanigans.
The Bad: Very short campaign, Not the prettiest looking conflict in this generation of consoles
