~HOMEFRONT~ Reviewed by Andrew "PyGuy" Pyle
As gamers of today, we know that a generous amount of war shooters are entering the videogame industry, most notably this year's massively anticipated Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. On the contrary, there are other shooters that take a stab at the war setting, either to craft a healthily long-lasting franchise, or to continue to be overshadowed by the hype of the next Call of Duty or Battlefield entry. Enter Homefront, a shockingly brutal, violent, and emotionally charged war epic, written by John Milius, who is better known for his work on war flicks such as Red Dawn and Apocalypse Now.
In Homefront, America is facing a Korean occupation after several years of economic failure and extreme social unrest. You are Robert Jacobs, a former Marine that is rescued from a transport to a re-education camp by a couple resistance members who are ambitiously bent on fending off the Korean occupation in any way they can. Together, you must fight for what remains of your country. The story is depicted in brutally violent detail, showing executions on the side of the road and husbands and wives being forced apart by Korean soldiers, or even killed right in front of their children. Without spoiling anything more, the story is not for the faint of heart. My favorite scenes include when the characters become emotionally motivated (like from sadness or bitter rage) to fight the enemies from the sight of losing something or someone they love. It's the kind of story that sometimes even got me more engrossed, like I was part of their struggle and feeling their pain. The battle will drag you into the countryside, once-peaceful towns, and even the Golden Gate Bridge. None of the areas ever got repetitive, and they each carried a dark atmosphere that never ceased to pull me into the experience. The visuals and animation never disappointed, either. However, as well crafted the story is, it is a disappointingly short ride, clocking in at around 5-6 hours.
The length may disappoint some, but gameplay-wise, it's what you'd expect from a military shooter, thus it's hard to complain. You'll run through explosions like Rambo, hop into tanks and helicopters, and even remotely control a powerful drone called the Goliath, which is used to fend off enemy vehicles and destroy large obstacles. It's satisfying alongside the previously-mentioned story, and the controls are nice and tight as they should be.
Still turned-off by the length? Fear not, because Homefront has a strong multiplayer component, in which players can rank up, earn weapons, and use items like an air strike or being able to drive a tank or a remote-control drone to devastate the enemy team. These items are earned with a unique currency called Battle Points (BP) which you earn for kills, and even more, killing a high-priority enemy that is on a high killing streak. Watch out, because enough kills will make you a priority threat, too, and will alert other enemies of your presence. The game modes are what you'd expect from a multiplayer shooter. You'll either join a standard Team Deathmatch or capture points with your teammates. There's no Capture the Flag mode, which is a shame, but overall, the multiplayer component is addictive and will keep players coming for more.
Homefront is definitely worth checking out if you want an engrossing campaign and want some multiplayer action to sink your teeth into.
Story: 8.7 | Presentation: 9.3 | Gameplay: 8.8 OVERALL: 8.9
Oh, and one more thing, I played through Homefront on a service called OnLive. OnLive, in short, is gaming with cloud computing, meaning you can play the hottest new video games on virtually any connected PC or Mac. It’s also coming soon to other devices like iPad and Android tablets and phones (yes, you’ll be able to play these awesome games on a tablet). Aside from that, give OnLive a shot! Click the button I made below and you will be linked to an absolutely-free trial to play the full game for 30 minutes once you create a free account if you don’t already have one. Have fun! ~HOMEFRONT~ Reviewed by Andrew "PyGuy" Pyle
As gamers of today, we know that a generous amount of war shooters are entering the videogame industry, most notably this year's massively anticipated Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. On the contrary, there are other shooters that take a stab at the war setting, either to craft a healthily long-lasting franchise, or to continue to be overshadowed by the hype of the next Call of Duty or Battlefield entry. Enter Homefront, a shockingly brutal, violent, and emotionally charged war epic, written by John Milius, who is better known for his work on war flicks such as Red Dawn and Apocalypse Now.
In Homefront, America is facing a Korean occupation after several years of economic failure and extreme social unrest. You are Robert Jacobs, a former Marine that is rescued from a transport to a re-education camp by a couple resistance members who are ambitiously bent on fending off the Korean occupation in any way they can. Together, you must fight for what remains of your country. The story is depicted in brutally violent detail, showing executions on the side of the road and husbands and wives being forced apart by Korean soldiers, or even killed right in front of their children. Without spoiling anything more, the story is not for the faint of heart. My favorite scenes include when the characters become emotionally motivated (like from sadness or bitter rage) to fight the enemies from the sight of losing something or someone they love. It's the kind of story that sometimes even got me more engrossed, like I was part of their struggle and feeling their pain. The battle will drag you into the countryside, once-peaceful towns, and even the Golden Gate Bridge. None of the areas ever got repetitive, and they each carried a dark atmosphere that never ceased to pull me into the experience. The visuals and animation never disappointed, either. However, as well crafted the story is, it is a disappointingly short ride, clocking in at around 5-6 hours.
The length may disappoint some, but gameplay-wise, it's what you'd expect from a military shooter, thus it's hard to complain. You'll run through explosions like Rambo, hop into tanks and helicopters, and even remotely control a powerful drone called the Goliath, which is used to fend off enemy vehicles and destroy large obstacles. It's satisfying alongside the previously-mentioned story, and the controls are nice and tight as they should be.
Still turned-off by the length? Fear not, because Homefront has a strong multiplayer component, in which players can rank up, earn weapons, and use items like an air strike or being able to drive a tank or a remote-control drone to devastate the enemy team. These items are earned with a unique currency called Battle Points (BP) which you earn for kills, and even more, killing a high-priority enemy that is on a high killing streak. Watch out, because enough kills will make you a priority threat, too, and will alert other enemies of your presence. The game modes are what you'd expect from a multiplayer shooter. You'll either join a standard Team Deathmatch or capture points with your teammates. There's no Capture the Flag mode, which is a shame, but overall, the multiplayer component is addictive and will keep players coming for more.
Homefront is definitely worth checking out if you want an engrossing campaign and want some multiplayer action to sink your teeth into.
Story: 8.7 | Presentation: 9.3 | Gameplay: 8.8 OVERALL: 8.9
Oh, and one more thing, I played through Homefront on a service called OnLive. OnLive, in short, is gaming with cloud computing, meaning you can play the hottest new video games on virtually any connected PC or Mac. It’s also coming soon to other devices like iPad and Android tablets and phones (yes, you’ll be able to play these awesome games on a tablet). Aside from that, give OnLive a shot! Click the button I made below and you will be linked to an absolutely-free trial to play the full game for 30 minutes once you create a free account if you don’t already have one. Have fun!
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