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 Post subject: PS3 - Homefront
PostPosted: Sun Nov 27, 2011 4:25 pm 
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Joined: Fri Dec 04, 2009 6:34 pm
Posts: 1451
Location: Ely, Cambs. UK
XBL Gamertag: Nubnos
PSN ID: Nubnos
Steam ID: patch_cbl_staff
Title: Homefront
Genre: FPS
Developer: Kaos Studios, Digital Extremes
Publisher: THQ
Ratings: ESRB - M, BBFC - 15
Formats: Xbox360, PS3, PC.

Synopsis:
Home is where the war is.

Quite literally in this case. Years after the unification of North and South Korea, the Greater Korean Republic, under the direction of Kim Jong-un, the occupation of the western United States of America is almost complete. The Mississippi is irradiated, and the US military is scattered, routed from all strongholds.
Now that the war has landed, you step into the shoes of Robert Jacobs, a disaffected former USAF pilot, served drafting papers from the occupying forces. Without warning, the KPA thugs kick in your door, with the intentions of taking you to "re-education", for disobeying them.
On the way in, you are reminded of the atrocities of war. People in your neighbourhood are forced into the streets, many of them shot, the rest pressed into labour camps. A group of schoolchildren beaten by merciless thugs. A young child forced to watch as their parents are executed by firing squad, moments after the mother tells the child to "look away, don't watch them, it'll all be OK....". Left by the forces, the child runs, screaming to its lifeless parents, unable to comprehend why they're so silent, and why those men did that.

Around another corner, and more horrifying scenes. People violently put down after clambouring at a store to get some food. Another group of people shown by force what happens when resistance is found. And yet more bodies laying in the road. War is hell, and it's waiting outside your apartment with a jackboot and a blackjack to the back of the head.

But all is not completely lost. The bus is rammed, risking your life, by local Resistance fighters. They need a good pilot, with excellent combat experience for their plan to overthrow the occupiers and take back the West Coast for the USA.



Ok, so to put things out on the table at the start... Homefront is not, I repeat NOT a game for the feint-hearted. Just in the first few minutes of the game, you're reminded that war is hell. Just the above paragraph should show you that. Kaos went to great lengths to recreate 15 or so square blocks of downtown Montrose, just for the opening section. So faithfully, that a few of the people I know in the US can actually point on an A-to-Z the exact route that the bus takes. Just the graphic detail in that railed section is enough to rile even the most placid of bile from gamers, which is just the motivation that you need. This is your home, and these people recreating the motivational scene from Batman are the enemy.

Ok, so enough of the horror stories, apparently people want to know what the game's like...
Well, right from the off, it's very obvious that Homefront is based off of a very heavily modified Unreal engine. Close range liquid aliasing gives that away with a blood splatter on the bus window that drips down. Also front and center is the small X that appears in the crosshair when you hit something, a lá CoD. Also borrowing from more recent iterations of CoD are random modifiers to the weapons, different scopes, different attachments, etc. While adding a nice touch, these are supposed to be KPA grunts you're killing, and I doubt that an identical red-shirted KPA trooper would suddenly have an M16-Masterkey, when all of the rest of the immediate ensigns have just normal M16s.

Graphically, Homefront isn't let down by Unreal3s shortcomings too much. Lots of little touches add so much more immersion to the game, to the point where they add to the already worst-case-babystep-scenario's narrative, by reinforcing suburbia in the western States as being the place where most of this is going down. Enemies are suitably detailed for range picking, with the environments getting a whole lot of U3-powered love.

Sounds are generally provided by the weapons at hand, although there are punctuations of a soundtrack, but the gunfire generally drowns any music out.

Gameplay, now this is an area that is a little bit of a letdown. As with all FPSes with multiple weaponry, you get favourites, and things that you just plain avoid. Then you get the overpowered ones that have limited ammo. Well, in this case, you have the M249. And instead of it having limited ammo, you can't move for falling over boxes of the damn stuff. Add in a mk2 Holo scope, or an ACOG one, and you're basically set for the entire game. And that's on Hard as well...
What I did like about Homefront is that it manages to avoid the trappings of endless waves of enemies. You kill a number of them, and suddenly the area's clear. The only section that doesn't do this? The epic fight on the bridge at the end, and that's because you're going head-to-head with a battalion of KPA troops.

So while Homefront isn’t a game for a weak constitution, it is pretty solid, with the rather massive distinction of not being based in some hellhole (depending on how you see it...) but rather in an area that really hits home, and forces the player to be immersed in a way rarely seen before.

Scores!

Graphics: Pretty and gritty in equal measures. Well thought out scenarios and clearly solid direction for the art and environment teams. A little bit let down by some of the models looking a little awkward, but only a little niggle - A

Sound: Solid sounding weapons, plenty of bass with the thump of heavy weapons. A shame that any musical score is wholly drowned out by the weaponry, so there’s very little mood building outside of flying brass - B+

Gameplay: Immersive to say the least, with the invasion happening on the home turf. Well built up narrative, and believable situations build on top of almost perfected FPS staples. Difficultly takes a rather distant back seat once you get your chosen weapons, seriously affecting the end-game - A

Replay: Not a huge amount, other than self-imposed challenges to use the less useful weapons (Masterkey, anyone?). Achievements are a given, but then again, which game doesn’t have trophies nowadays? - B-

Overall: FPS staples on top of a believable setting, custom weapons, and heartstrings being pulled during the middle of the campaign? Oh yes please. - A

Final Word: Homefront isn’t a game that you need to get if you’re looking for a huge audio experience, with the constant gunfire of “Americanised” guerrilla warfare, but if you’re wanting a different experience than Call of Duty, or Battlefield will ever give, then this is about as good as you can get. While COD and BF are busy fighting on someone else’s turf, Homefront will see you blazing through the US heartland, and I’m pretty sure this is Korea’s first outing in a AAA-release that has them as the bad guys. Come for the controversy, and stay for the action.

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Reviews:
Supreme Commander 2 <-- A sequel with a lot to live up to. Does it command everything, or take orders?
Fight Night Champion (PS3) <-- Nubnos comes back from the canvas, and goes in swinging.
James Bond 007 - Blood Stone (PS3) <-- Do try to return this in one piece, 007...

Upcoming Reviews: <-- Add to the list!
Dragon Age 2 (PS3) <- OMG YU SO ADDICTIVE?! *In Progress!*
Ratchet and Clank 4 (PS3)


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