Homefront: The Revolution Review

"I can hear the buzzing outside the doorway of the warehouse. It sounds like a very large  and angry Hornet is waiting for me. I got two choices, take it out or hide and hope it goes away, because you can guarantee that where there is a drone, there will be a patrol of foot soldiers nearby. And if I don't take it out, then there's a chance that an airship will come over and drop more soldiers and I'll be seriously out manned and out gunned.

Damn it I need to act and act fast. I could jump on the motorcycle that's been left for me in the back of a truck, and try running from it. Yeah maybe that's for the best. Some kind fellow revolutionaries have left the markers to tell me that there's a safe route to take. So I take the chance, I jump into the truck, gently wheel the bike out of it, and then gun the engine. I hear the drone try and track my motion, and I hear the shouts of the troops as they see me tearing across the road and up the ramp.

Bullets zing and fly over my head and as the bike hits the roof of the building, I head towards the point where I can take off and land on the roof of the building opposite. Job done, though I nearly lose control of the motorbike. I quickly dismount, draw my recently modified machine pistol and let the machine have it, right in it's beady little electronic eye. It collapses in a flash of flame, a shower of sparks and hits the roof.

I quickly liberate it of the propellant tank and some copper wires. I can use the propellant to make a molotov cocktail, but that can wait. Somewhere up ahead is a building that belongs to the Norks. I need to take it back, but first things first, find the data terminal and hack into it, but that will be after I find the safe house and recruit some back up. It's a big target and I am gonna need some extra firepower. Time to go. Philadelphia was known as the city of freedom, it shall be again..."

Time to take back what is ours!

Some time ago, way back in the days of the Playstation 3, came a gutsy, hard hitting game called Home Front Liberation. In the game the North Koreans had taken the country of America using underhanded tactics after the USA failed to pay a large debt to the country as a whole.

The North sneakily sold them some military software, and thinking it was being sold by South Korea, the USA installed it. The North Koreans waited....

First they pulled a coup, and took South Korea, and the just as the US mobilised to help their allies, the North threw a switch... and every piece of hardware that the software was installed in, falls out of the sky and sinks to the bottom of the ocean.

America is blind and helpless. The country is soon overwhelmed. That was the premise of the first game and it ends on a grim note. The battle was won but not the war...

Time rolls on and finally we get the sequel. 

The US is looking at a man as their leader (correct me if I'm wrong but I do believe he is the hero of the first game, if so it's a nice touch of continuity) but there's soon going to be a big problem.

You play a guy who is given the task of meeting with this hero only to be captured along with two allies. To cut a long intro short, you are interrogated right after the woman you are met, is shot dead, and her male companion bludgeoned with a hammer. You are going to be next when.. the door bursts open, the man who you are supposed to rendezvous with comes in. He struggles with one man and in the process gets shot in the leg. You hammer the living daylights out of your interrogator (poetic justice) and aid the leader out of the building.

All goes well until you get attacked and lo and behold he is taken prisoner. You have to find the underground movement and convince them you are not a spy, and then put together the clues to take you where you need to go to liberate the leader, and in the meantime take back the city of Philadelphia, improve your gear and weapons and basically stay alive. It's not going to be easy soldier, no not at all.

The setting

It's a grim setting, a besieged city under the control of the Northern Korean invaders. Drones scour the streets, like electronic bloodhounds, sniffing out the hiding places of the rebels and guiding the soldiers to where they are.

Like the rebels in Star Wars, they are well equipped but not as well equipped as their enemies. Sure you have a flack jacket, but the Koreans are wearing hi tech battle suits and their weapons are superior, still you can update your gear through crafting stations and/or rebel gun stores so it's not all bad. But the main advantage the invaders have is obvious, they can hit harder than you and are highly trained.

Unlike the storm troopers in Star Wars, these guys can shoot straight. They also do not take prisoners, so you'll soon learn not to go one on one with these guys. Take back up. This can be found by walking around a rebel base, where with a single press of the X button, you can hire at least 2 guys or women to give you back up. Just don't get too far ahead of them otherwise their firepower is lost as they try and catch up with you.

You can go all stealthy lone wolf style, but I suggest you get your gear and armour upgraded asap otherwise you'll be on a hiding to nothing. Ammo is in short supply so pick your fights carefully and make sure you can appropriate ammo from the dead soldiers. Also look out for the bodies of troops already killed. Sure flies may be swarming around them but search those bodies, ammo and other useful items can be found on them.

Back to your allies for a bit, the A.I. is actually pretty good here. No reckless Resident Evil 5 style manic shooting until they run out of ammo or get in the situation where they are outnumbered and then beaten to death. They provide cover, will aid you if you are injured etc etc, all in all nice work indeed. They will cover you whilst you hack terminals providing that they are close enough to do so, so keep pace with them and you will be, for the most part fine.

Philadelphia gives you a sand box to play in. It's big, very big and you will be capturing buildings and sites back from the enemy, raising the feelings of resentment towards the invaders as you do so. This reminds me of games like InFamous and one of my favourites back in the day, The Saboteur, and it's a key part of the story.

Follow the main quest or ignore it and just go exploring, and stirring up trouble or complete side quests. These can range from taking out emplacements or covert spying missions where equipped with a phone camera, you capture intel concerning enemy movements and evidence that will guide you to the missing leader you are looking for.

There is a lot to do for sure. This is not a game you are going to finish quickly that's for sure. It warns you that even on Easy mode, this game will not be a walk in the park.

Mission mode.

Like most games these days, it encourages on line play. Now they missed a trick here I feel. How nice would it have been if you could like say, in Dragon's Dogma or Dark Souls, have a player help you in solo mode. Sadly this does not happen.

What you get instead are Red Dead Redemption style posse missions, where a squad goes on a cooperative strike. This does not affect the single player mode, but you can keep any loot and ammo gained from this mode so it is worth doing.

It must be how the Division multiplayer works, at least it reminds me of that though I have yet to play that game but it sounds very 'Division' like. And I have to say although the single player campaign is  challenging, tough and enjoyable in it's own way, this is where the game really comes to life.

Maybe they should have flipped it, and had the mission based multiplayer the key part of the game with the solo campaign being the alternative option? I can see why they didn't do this though as no doubt some folks would just compare it to say Destiny. Maybe it's a case of they felt we'd be damned if we do, damned if we don't. Shame.

Presentation

Graphics are sharp and the physics are nicely rendered. Smoke and flames look very authentic indeed and the ambient sounds help enhance the setting very well. The lack of background music in a mission may bother some, but to me it would be an unwelcome distraction. This game encourages you to use your eyes  AND your ears as you play. Listen out for those drones, because sometimes you cannot see them that easily and before you know it, you are captured in it's sniper scope like red light and the ground troops will be on their way. Alternatively listen for the soldiers as they call out to each other. It pays to listen, it really does.

It lacks some of the atmosphere of the original title I must admit during daylight sections of the game, but at night it's a different story. Nice lighting effects from neon lights, street lamps etc etc are well rendered, and on the gameplay side, patrols are increased in regularity, so tread carefully soldier.

The weather doesn't seem to change much sadly. A mission in the rain say, would really add to the atmosphere so maybe a trick was missed here. It happens from time to time but the world does seem a bit 'static'.

Music/sound/ voice acting

Pretty good on the whole. The main theme is stirring with menacing undertones and may inspire you to be the hero they are looking for!

However one gun sounds very much like another, with the exception of the unsuppressed sniper rifle or shotgun. Pistols and machine guns sound a little weak, which is a shame, and maybe it's the enemy body armour but some of the weapons seem to lack real punch even when modified.

The shotgun is my favourite, sure it's noisy but it soon settles arguments swiftly, if only you could fit a silencer to the thing....

War is hell...

The game has a mature storyline, though it lacks some of the gut punch moments of the first. The original game has morale choices to be made, this one sidesteps that which is a shame. It means the story does not engage you as well as the first game did, though it certainly does not lack challenge.

It's learning curve is fairly sharp, like I said, it warns you that even easy mode is not a walk in the park, sometimes seeming to be impossible. It's not. If one route does not work try another. I appreciate you have the freedom to explore how to do missions and the story does not drag you by the nose.

You'll get what you want from this...

If you want a by the rails shooter look elsewhere, if you want an easy ride look elsewhere. This game is tricky but the rewards for success make it worthwhile. Persevere and you'll find yourself being able to take on the enemy, hack data and liberate the city piece by bloody piece.

I hear that there is or may be DLC coming to add to the experience so we can only wait and see if that is true. 

I will say hear and now, it does not quite rate a must buy but I disagree with some reviews I have seen elsewhere that seem unnecessarily harsh on this game. Definitely worth a look, and if you can find a demo, try that first before spending cash on this game.

Thanks to Xbox for the code for this game. Now excuse me, I have a city to liberate.....

PLUSSES

Challenging game play

Intense action

Sandbox exploration

Missions and side missions.

MINUSES

No jump in and help modes, teamwork online only and does not affect the main story

Slow loading times between levels (should have mentioned that earlier)

Steepish learning curve.