Homefront 360/PS3

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

Well, mine turned up 2 days before the release date, which has now given me plenty of time to tell you what I like & dont like about it.

I'll break it down:

The good:

SP mode story is a interesting idea. Based 15 or so yrs in the future, the USA loses its grip on 'world domination' (he he) & power resources, while North Korea has united with the South & 'obtained' Japan, & thus begin their sly takeover of the USA.
Korea are now occupying the USA, treating those who do not comply as criminals. You are part of a band of underground USA renegades who are trying to help the American Army (which is still fighting, but is divided & scattered thoughout USA) win back their country.

Storywise & visualswise it did kinda ring a bell with another game I'd played, which was Frontlines: Fuels Of War, & after reading further into this game I found out its made by the same studio - Kaos Studios.

The opening sequence, along with some other in game sequences are pretty shocking to watch

->Open Spoiler<-

Jackobs being cattle trained by bus with a few other american prisoners while all sorts of atrocities carry on along the streets (a child stands & watches as his parents are gunned down up against a wall, then runs up to them crying his eyes out. Another sequence shows USA residents' bodies being poured by digger into mass graves, in which you have to hide at 1 point

. That guy who thought the Dead Island trailer was bad would be fuming playing this .

There are some sections where you take control of vehicles & guns & they work well. Explosions look great too!

The art shown on the loading screens is really nice looking, & has a kind of GTA 4 loading screens style to it.

MP-wise there are some nice diverse looking enviroments to kill each other in. Visuals may not be up to the COD standard, but the maps are bigger & seem to allow for more movement within them. It has a kinda of Battle BadCompany style of visuals where they are crisper, as opposed to the COD soft look imo.
Guns are your usual affair, but not as varied as COD, & are again more like the smaller choices offered in the BF/MOH games.
The drones are a great idea, as are the vehicles. Both are easy to control, & again add to the complexity that this game offers over COD.

Theres a nice array of 'perks', which range from your usuals such as 'slight of hand', 'quick aim' 'longer melee distance' etc, & new stuff that allow drones to move faster or are able to withstand more damage.

While in MP you gain XP to level up, & BP (battle points) for kills, assists etc. BT can be used to 'buy' extras, such as a bulletproof vest, air/land drones, strikes. All cost different amounts but can be 'bought' there & then providing you have enough points. I guess its the equivalent of Killstreaks, but your BP carries over if you die so it allows you to get those extras without having to start again.

The bad:

Controls. I have no gripes with there being no Southpaw, as it has been included here. Kaos have used the L trigger for sight aiming this time around, instead of the terrible L3/R3 set-up that was used in Frontlines. The 1 problem I do have is with the way the 'look' analog reacts when directed. Its almost as tho there is a dead zone from zero up until a certain point, & then it kicks in, leaving your aim completely knackered. There is no slight move & hold of the analog to get it to move slow here, & it really started to annoy me when playing online when I kept getting capped all the bloody time. Maybe I could've got used to it given time. Actually it might just have been some kind of delay between when I pressed the analog & when it repsonded.

Running. You can constantly run, however, its still not much of a higher pace than walking is.

Grenades. Throwing them is kinda weird, & they dont really get thrown in an arc. More like a straight line, which means having to lob them a lot higher than in 'other' games.

SP story. Way too short. I think I read somewhere its between 4-5 hrs, but I defo completed it in less than 4. Kinda ended a bit fast storywise too. I thought it was the end of a chapter, then the end credits started rolling.


So overall not a bad start (if you dont count Frontlines Fuel Of War as a beginning). If they intend on making a sequel they really should get gamers input in order to improve the problems tho.

[teddymeow]

Played the first 2 levels and I think it's pretty "meh". The controls are a bit twitchy. The graphics look about a year old and the enemy AI seems practically non-existent.

Another genero-FPS as far as I'm concerned.

[rmoxon]

As a fan of single player FPS's I'm enjoying it but it certainly won't convert anyone who isn't big on the genre. The opening was great, there are some good set peices and the fact that weapons don't hold that much ammo means fire fights are very intense for most part. I also have to mention the story as considering the genre it's really well done.

The graphics are very dated though, it looks about 5 years old at least, the score fits with the game but it's nothing special. It's certainly a game that you have to look past a few technical issues to enjoy as it doesn't really feel like a big budget game at all.

It's good fun overall though, it's just not that special in any single department.

[Neon Ignition]

Had a decent go now and I agree it won't be everyones taste. The events of the story are handled really well, I especially liked the opening of Chapter 3. It's incredibly short, despite what some reviews say its definitely shorter than a COD campaign as this has just 6 levels but the potential for future games is here.

Visually its not great, it runs on an older ver of Unreal engine by the looks though the frames are smooth with nicely carries over to multiplayer on its dedicated servers. Maps seem COD sized but open forcing use of effective cover as it takes little to die and headshots kill in one. The bp system works well too.

Feels like it was promoted to a key title during THQs reshuffle which would explain the rough edges but given a visual makeover and some refinement like Metro 2034 is supposed to be recieving and this could develop into a decent alternative series. I don't have time for 2 fps games so I'll likely trade for Crysis 2 but its a nice little game and I look forward to seeing the remainder

[dvdx2]

the single player is a bit gash - as stated, it looks like a 5 year old game....

now multiplayer, thats were it excels, cracking stuff

[rmoxon]

I wouldnt really say the single player is gash, it does have some really great and immersive moments and its quite possibley one of the best realised worlds you will see this year.

I actualy think the biggest thing wrong with the single player is its pacing, its very stop and start. The same can be said of killzone 3 though and I actualy think this is actualy the better game. Killzone 3 has great mechanics, astounding graphics and it really does nothing with them. This game looks quite rubbish, it does not have perfect gameplay, and yet it probabaly still creates more excitment over the course of one level than Killzone 3 does for the entire game.

[rmoxon]

Completed it now on hard.

It was decent for its entire length but there are some pretty big flaws that rear their head the more you play it.

For instance that are very very far away from you seem to know where you are the instant you pop out of cover, they are alot quicker to act than your average gamer will be and they seem to be increadable shots on top of that. It made playing the second half of the game very frustrating at times. This made the fact that its so short ( As others have said it is around 4 hours long) somewhat of a blessing.

I have no intrest in the online side of things (which to be fair from what i have seen looks really good if you actualy like that type of stuff) so will probabaly mop up a few more acheviments and finish the game on the hardest diffculty then sell it, its enjoyable enough but Ive played other FPS's in the last few weeks that are alot better than it, and that says it all really....

....its still better than killzone 3 though.

[FelixofMars]

This is pretty tragic, I played Frontlines when it came out about 3 years ago. It was okay for the time. I really thought they had learned their lessons but its only slightly better than a re-skin. The controls are very limited with no real options to swap the buttons around in fact I think there is only Normal and Southpaw for those. I really need crouch to be on the thumbstick and not a button.

I did see a US review saying the detection was good even with lag I think this was BS now. Unless it made him host?

It suffers from the same issue I get with COD once US players enter the game. The fact is you drill someone on your screen and they survive you get popped by what appears to be one bullet and you drop dead within a second.

Can I assume this is Peer to Peer and not hosted servers?

Visually its all very dated and doesn't look anywhere near as good or play as well as BF:BC 2 I thought it may tie me over until BF 3. I guess I will just have to play BC2 and try to find good servers with player on in that. Looks like lots of people have stopped playing now for whatever reason (Maybe Crysis or this, poor them if they are ENJOYING this.)

Edit: Just read that it says dedicated for PC, but not the consoles so I assume that its Peer to Peer. That of the servers are all US side.