The game has had a troubling development starting with the collapse of THQ followed by Crytek’s financial problems. The end result is a title that is better then what anyone could have hoped for. While the gameplay is an improvement, the story lacks the emotional substance.
The plot is set in an alternative history in which the global technology boom emerged from Silicon River in North Korea and the APEX corporation becomes the largest tech company in the world. America becomes APEX’s biggest customer but after a series of failed wars and a collapsing economy, it becomes indebted to the company. In response, APEX shuts down America’s military hardware while the Korean People’s Army (KPA) launch a “peace keeping” operation.
Four years later, the KPA have turned Philadelphia (the birth town of democracy) into a police state divided into three zones. Players take on the role of Ethan Brady as he must fight the occupation while winning the hearts and mind of the people.
While the story is an excellent allegory for America’s current economic dependency on Communist China, it lacks the emotional depth of its predecessor. John Milius‘ original story may have been a knock-off of his own work but at least it had an emotional substance so the player cares about their actions.
Milius’ story featured a diverse band of heroes who come together to liberate their country from the invaders along with battling those who have abandoned it. Unlike Red Dawn, the survivalist has been demonized as a selfish coward while those who accept patriotism and unity are seen as true guardians of American freedom.
All of that well-crafted story is unfortunately absent in Homefront: The Revolution as they have been replaced by one-dimensional characters that aren’t memorable. What it lacks in story and character, it makes up for with its gameplay setup.
Taking what made titles like Freedom Fighters and Far Cry 4 a memorable experience, Deep Silver has created one of the best guerrilla warfare experiences. Each sector offers a different experiences while the players goal is to cripple the the KPA’s control of the area. To liberate a sector; players must boost the moral of the population, capture key points, assassinate officers along with American collaborators, and do as much damage as possible.
However the game has a few minor issues, most notably is that other resistance fighters will get in the way of an entrance and its a hassle trying to push them aside. Another issue is that for an open-world game that requires a player to wage a guerrilla war, the arsenal is very light. While titles like Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and Fallout 4 have given gamers options to customize a verity of weapons, here one is limited to the basics. Finally there are a few issues with the visual details ranging from poor frame rate to explosions being simply an orange dust cloud.
The multiplayer gameplay is enjoyable as it features most of the basic features seen with other shooters. It’s fun to play but more could have been done to make it unique. This should not be a surprise as Homefront: The Revolution is more of a single player title than a multiplayer experience.
Overall this is a sequel that shares some of the same problems as its predecessor but it also has a lot of promise to grow into something better. Homefront has always been a unique franchise that always does one aspect of the experience right but fumbles on the other.
Homefront: The Revolution has perfected the experience of fighting a guerrilla war but lacks the emotional driven feeling that comes with wanting fight for your homeland. Even though it lacks any real story substance, the gameplay makes this title an unforgettable battle.
Final Score: 4/5
