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buzzmong
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Homefront

Post by buzzmong »

Homefront

Been having a little go on this and I've some thoughts after an hour or two's gameplay.

Plot:
Korea unifies then pretty much invades the world. Somehow crushes the entire US military and occupies America. You apparently are a pilot and you join the resistance because they save you from being taken to a confinement camp. Cliche's now start such as gruff ex Military type chap seeming to be a leader of sorts, a lead female character who's a bit wishy washy even when killing everything etc... Characterisation is a bit poor.

I can see what they're trying to get at to convey the horrors of occupation by a hostile horse towards civilians with concentration camps, mass graves (and jumping in to hide from the enemy), executions etc..., but it's nothing new nor is it that hard hitting due to the way it's presented. I will admit the bus ride that's essentially the intro into the game is rather good though. The scene involving White Phosphorus is quite interesting as well, and is a bit Vietnam-y.

Gameplay:
Visually it's quite dull, they've spent ages making rather detailed characters for nearly everyone at the expense of everything in the environement, doesn't help that most of the game is set in the evening. I'm not overly interested in graphics so I can easily look past that part. Sound is fairly alright though.

What really lets the game down is the entire feel and play of the game.
Levels are extremely linear. We're talking almost on rails here due to sheer extreme use of invisible walls everywhere. At one point I couldn't explore a fenced in garden because there is an invisible wall down the middle of it and the garden itself is an area you are taken to, not one you've found by randomly exploring. It really is very bad. I don't mind games that go a bit OTT with obstacles to block your way, but invisible walls really break any immersion the game builds up. There's also some issue with the scripting. Certain times you have to wait for the NPC's to go ahead through a gap before the game will let you pass. This can be anything upto and including open trap doors or gaps in fences. It's a bit frustrating.

Next is the weapons and the systems involved. It just doesn't gel that well. Things like being low on ammo when carrying an M4 yet not picking up anything when walking through a bunch of M16's and similar. Also there's a deluge of weapons. A deluge. There's at least 3 types if not 4 of each rifle (eg, plain M4, M4 with holo scope, M4 with red dot etc.), and I can't see the reason for it apart from the devs simply wanting to chuck loads of guns in. The problem is that they're all pretty much identical, so you don't care what you pick up and use.

Then there's the bullets. Oh dear. Somewhat quick moving yellow orbs with a trail. Yours, your teammates and the enemies. It just looks comicbook-esqe and utterly silly in a "serious" game.

Then we get on to other things like the damage models. Enemy soldiers will drop from a single bullet to the head, yet they'll take a number of bullets pretty much without flinching if hit anywhere else no matter what you're shooting them with. You've also got MW style red screen and regenerating health, essentially meaning you're in god-mode.

It's also got the terrible system of unlimited enemy spawning until you push forward enough to trigger certain events, and it's only got autosaves.

The main thing though is that the entire player experience isn't refined or even smooth in some respects. The game just doesn't play well.

TL;DR:

Plot is so-so and has some interesting bits, graphics are acceptable. Gameplay is terrible. It feels like a poor mid 2000's game. I can't actually recommend anyone spends time on it.

:starfull: :starfull: :starfull: :starempty: :starempty: :starempty: :starempty: :starempty: :starempty: :starempty: 3/10.
FatherJack
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Post by FatherJack »

Nicking a story from Modern Warfare 2 was never a good place to start, although to be fair I do remember it, but had to look it up owning to the rest of the game being so forgettable.
buzzmong
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Re: Homefront

Post by buzzmong »

Finished it. On review, 3.5 maybe pushing 4/10. Last level is quite fun even if the game ends rather abruptly.
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Re:

Post by deject »

FatherJack wrote:Nicking a story from Modern Warfare 2 was never a good place to start, although to be fair I do remember it, but had to look it up owning to the rest of the game being so forgettable.
Saying the story in MW2 and Homefront are the same is a bit disingenuous. The only real similarity is that there are invaders in the US. The story had a lot of potential to be pretty awesome, but instead of writing characters that matter and presenting a well executed storyline, they just toss you generic stock characters that are wholly disposable and expect you to give a shit about what happens to them. I don't see why I should care if some guy I've seen two or three times is killed or not. There is no connection there frankly.
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