'Home is where the war is'..... As long as it's not where this game is! Homefront released in 2011 and I remember how massive the hype was for this game, a hype I never got myself sucked into. I rented this game when it came out because I didn't think it'd be worth a purchase. The game is set in the near future, where North and South Korea unite and a war begins with the US. A war with the US you say? I'm shocked too!
You play as Jacobs who... who's... I'm not even sure. I'm some guy anyway, who has got some sort of military background. While on a bus being driven by Koreans, some geniuses come up with the escape plan to drive into the bus you're on to free you. You're the only survivor on the bus, gee, that was lucky! The Resistance, as they referred themselves, tell you that they read your file, you're really great and want you on their side... How did they get the file? How did they know Jacobs was on that bus and that route? Does Jacobs even want to be part of the Resistance? Surely he would've already signed up by then. The game is ridiculously short and has only seven forgettable missions, baring some sections. It has to be said, the Call of Duty esque intro is very memorable and brutal, you should probably witness it for yourself. The story is ok, but there are so many close calls and you survive every one of them, this includes falling off a bridge, falling out of a tower and even a white phosphorus mortar aimed on top of you, now that in itself is just laughable.
The shooting is probably the best part in the game, the M4 is outstanding. The Goliath is a really cool idea, getting to commandeer a vehicle that can target enemies and wipe out groups at a time is really handy, sadly there isn't much with the Goliath. The AI actually do kill, but they get in your way more than they help. If you're scavenging for ammo or looking for collectables, orders are barked at you to go somewhere and the dialogue is constantly repeated until you carry on the story. The Guerilla difficultly wasn't too hard but there were some challenging sections, definitely not for casual gamers. Did you notice how small the good section was and that it probably had more flaws mentioned than good?
This game has lots and lots of problems, incredibly slow loading textures and plenty pop in and out as you move. There was a vehicle that blocked the way and as I got close to it, it just completely disappeared and you could see the next area that the vehicle was meant to block. The game is really slow and clunky and the melee is crap, there is no reason to ever use it. It never even gave me an option to pick a difficulty when I started, I wanted to play on the hardest difficulty, but to do it, you have to change it in the options before you start the game. One of the most buggy games I've played, there's a part where you run across the street to hide from a tank, I ran right across an enemy, a foot away from me and he never saw me somehow! I was also hit in a section where there wasn't any enemies, but I lost health and was hit by a bullet. I couldn't shoot through a space because there was debris too close to it, yet I was shot while talking cover behind a plane for Christ sake! The game looks so bad at times I wasn't sure if it was a PS1 game, it's hard to believe it was released in 2011. Enemies would just walk past the AI to get to me and they would let them! One more thing that frustrated the Hell out of me, I got to the objective to end the mission but the new objective hadn't set and I was almost killed waiting for it and the worst part was that it's the hardest part of the game. You have to kill a bunch of enemies and GET TO DA CHOPPA (couldn't resist) but the enemies are infinite and on the hardest difficulty, it really was... well, difficult.
This part gets its own paragraph because it was so bad.... the characters. Oh my God, the characters. Are we supposed to like them? We're actually meant to care about them and they try and make you feel sad about a certain individual near the end, I couldn't give a shit about them! Connor is one of the worst characters I've ever seen in a game, he shouts everything and is always bossing you around, he's so unlikeable and even tells a hungry kid to go away. Fucking dick. Can't forget Jacobs, the guy you play as, no face or voice, he's just a silent protagonist who's meant to be great, but he doesn't do anything and has no story. Don't get me wrong, not all the characters are bad, Boone and Hopper are likeable.
I think most of the effort went into the multiplayer, I wasn't interested in it back when I rented it and by the time I played it again, the servers were gone due to THQ's closure. This game somehow managed to get a sequel, well, more of a reboot so I hear. I am willing to give it a chance, despite my hatred for this game I think it has potential with more focus on the characters and a longer story. However this was a disaster. Just before I go.... FUCK YOU CONNOR, I HATE YOU.
5.2/10
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