Somewhat Nerdy Gaming: Homefront Review

Overall Score: 7.75/10

Genre: First Person Shooter

Systems: I played it on Xbox 360, it's also on PS3 and PC
Release Date: March 15, 2011
Publishers/Developers: THQ/Kaos Studios

THQ is known for: Company of Heroes, Darksiders, Red Faction: Guerrilla, Saints Row

Kaos Studios is known for: FRONTLINES: Fuel of War

Gameplay: 8/10

Typical first person shooter controls
Ability to go prone
Can hold two guns, four frag grenades, four C4 bombs, and a knife all at once
Weapons include: assault rifles, grenades, pistols, C4, a knife, shotguns, sniper rifles, light machine guns, sub machine guns, and rocket launchers
Controls feel a little stiff at first
Aiming feels like a chore sometimes
Enemies go down pretty easily and group together a lot, therefore frag grenades are your best friend
Grenades are fun to use and are very effective
Destroying sentry towers is a lot of fun
You seem to fall off stuff in slow motion a lot, but it's fun to watch
Fighting through war torn residential areas is really fun
AI can be really stupid at times, running into walls and into wide open areas only to get mowed down by gun fire
You end up fighting a lot of enemies at a time
Can't shoot through objects, not even picket fences
Has some really intense moments
Huge battle segments are super fun
Sniping and helicopter segments are awesome
They do a great job of mixing up the gameplay

Story: 8/10

North Korea attacks America
Kim Jong il dies and his son Kim Jong un takes over
North and South Korea unite and become The Greater Korean Republic
The Greater Korean Republic takes over the western United States
Korean army, known as the KPA, are taking Americans hostage and killing many
You play as a pilot names Jacobs
The KPA find you and put you on a bus. The bus is smashed into by the resistance. Turns out they were rescuing you specifically. You then become a vital member of the resistance.
Located in Montrose, Colorado for most of the game
A little predictable but still good
Some parts gave me chills
Can interact with some characters in the game, they don't have a lot to say but it's still pretty cool
Cut scenes are very cool and do a good job of getting you pumped
Some of the story is told between missions on a resistance radio station called "the voice of freedom"
I won't spoil anything, but lets just say that you'll want to kick some KPA arse after seeing what kind of things they're doing
Great ending, and is left open for a sequel
Characters you encounter: Connor - a crazy, foul mouthed, kill em all type of guy. Hopper - a laid back go with the flow guy. He gets crap for being Korean American. Rianna - all around good soldier, does things by the book. Boon - natural born leader, he calls the shots.

Graphics: 6/10

This is where the game suffers
Felt like I was playing an original Xbox game
Very pixelated at parts
Some characters, especially children, look really creepy
Can be stunning at times
Assault rifles leave huge holes in walls while shotguns leave tiny holes, it's this sort of lack in graphical detail that hold this game back
Water and water effects look really good
Frequent pop in
Lots of invisible walls during in game cut scenes
Character movements look decent
Shadows look okay

Sound: 9/10

Menu and in game music is good
Voice acting is superb, but can be annoying and redundant
Explosions and gunfire sound pretty realistic
As always, I recommend playing with surround sound or a good set of headphones
When you're close to an explosion it leaves a nice ringing after effect in your ears
Screams of civilians in the distance is bone chilling
Sound is all around very good

Replay Value: High

Four difficulty levels
61 collectibles to find throughout campaign

Multiplayer:

First of all, it's very important to know that if you rent or buy the game used you have to spend about 10 dollars to access all the multiplayer content. Those of you that buy the game new don't need to worry about that.
I rented it, so I couldn't level past level five. I understand that they're trying to get people to buy the game new so the profits go to the actual developers and publishers, but what about renters?!
Main game modes: Ground Control = 32 player - capture and hold objectives to move the frontline and progress the battle. Team Deathmatch = 24 player - two teams battle it out in a match to secure the most kills. Skirmish = 16 player - cycles both team deathmatch and ground control modes on varoius maps. Since I couldn't level past level five, I wasn't able to play the other modes. The other modes are Battle Commander (Ground Control), Battle Commander (Team Deathmatch), and Battle Commander (Skirmish). From what I understand they're basically a ground control or team deathmatch game but with a special set of rules.
Infantry loadouts: Assault, SMG, Heavy, Sniper, Tactical, and Explosive
Vehicle loadouts: Humvee, Light Armor Vehicle, Heavy Tank, Scout Heli, and Attack Heli
Assault, SMG, Heavy, and Sniper are all available from the start. All others are unlocked as you progress in level
Each loadout is completely customizable to fit your play style
Equipement, attachments, new weapons, etc. are unlocked through leveling, kills, and killstreaks
Earn Battle Points (BP) for getting kills and objectives
Use BP to purchase your pre chosen awards such as a rocket launcher or a personal UAV
BP is lost at the end of the match so spend it quickly, unless you're saving up for something big
Infantry abilities are like perks. They cost either one, two, or three points each. You have a total of four points to spend. Example: you can have two - one point abilities and one - two point ability. They include things like: quick reload and faster aiming.
Can have: primary, secondary is always the same pistol, one attachment for primary, special explosive (flash bang, etc.), you always have frag grenades, two battle point rewards, and infantry abilities
Lots of challenges you can complete
Maps are huge and a lot of fun
Can pick up dropped weapons
Vehicles are awesome, especially the tanks. Blowing them up is even funner.

All in all this is a very fun game but is missing attention to detail such as shooting through picket fences, shooting out lights, etc. The graphics are really bad at parts. I felt like I was playing an original Xbox title. The stealth sections are very unrealistic but that's usually the case in all games. On the bright side it's pretty much non stop action throughout the whole game. I think I heard a Duke Nukem reference in there, "hail to the king baby".

I'm from Utah, so I got excited when they mentioned passing through Utah. The multiplayer is very in depth and a lot of fun. I definitely recommend this game to those looking for intense action and a great multiplayer experience.

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