Homefront

When I was a youth, ze Germans were the bad guys. Nothing personal, that's just how it was. If you needed foreigners to cause trouble in your game, film, TV show or book, Hans, Klaus and their friends were the guys to call. It was a terribly unfair stereotype - let's be honest, our Kraut brothers have been exemplary citizens of the world since their 1939 World Tour ended in tears - so it's good to see that things have changed over the years. Since then we've had the Russians, the unspecified Middle Eastern terrorists and all manner of Eastern Bloc nasties in our crosshairs to fill the gap, and now Kaos Studios has brought something new to the table: the ultimate in odd couple partnerships - a united Korea - here to take on the US on its own soil. That is the unlikely scenario painted by Homefront, a first person shooter set in a speculative future penned by Red Dawn writer John Milius.

If you don't see a peacefully united Korea - the Greater Korean Republic, in this case - as unlikely, then you probably don't have your finger pressed too firmly on the pulse of world politics. The two are polar opposites, each with equally polarized allies, and as such are at the heart of much of the world's foreign affairs nightmares. Still, that's what speculative future narratives are all about, and in Homefront it is exactly this unlikelihood which adds gravitas to the drama that unfolds. The US, weakened under the weight of a failing economy and crippling oil crisis, is no longer the superpower it used to be, so when the Koreans join forces and decide it's time to expand their territory West there isn't much that can stand in their way. The Greater Korean Republic, already the successful aggressor in a number of Asian annexures, lets rip with a sneaky EMP blast from a satellite over the US, effectively bringing the land of the free to its knees. This opens her up for the Koreans to invade, decisively and aggressively, leaving the American people overpowered and helpless without the resources needed to power their war machine.

It's after this overwhelming surprise attack by the combined forces of two once fiercely opposed nations that you are handed the controls and told to sort it out. As the Korean People's Army sweep through towns and cities, our protagonist Robert Jacobs is arrested and taken off for, well, some form of violent 'debriefing', one can only assume. It's on route to an uncertain fate that Jacobs is rescued by the resistance - by means of a kamikaze truck smashing into the side of the KPA bus - and he is instantly pulled into their ranks. It's Jacob's expertise as a pilot that got him saved, and it's that expertise that the resistance need to put their plan to fight back into action.

The story itself is delivered in a succinct and meaningful way, a tale of survival in the face of adversity, and it's this strong focus on story that scores the single-player aspect of Homefront most of its points. There are stirring moments throughout - seeing KPA operatives executing a mother and father on the sidewalk as their toddler clings to their fallen bodies; prison camps set up inside a baseball stadium; digger-loaders dumping hundreds of civilians bodies into a pit - these things really do add weight to the emotionally charged narrative. These moments would have had even more impact had the graphics engine powering it been more capable, with environments, character models and so on, tending to be a case of nice from far, but far from nice. Still, as it stands, Homefront does a good enough job of portraying a USA in turmoil, doing just about enough to back up the intriguing storyline.

The path to freedom for this small resistance unit takes Jacobs and his allies on quite a diverse adventure, filled will all the gameplay mechanics we've come to expect from modern day shooters. It's got your obligatory vehicle sequences; your stealthy-sniper sequences; on-the-back-of-a-humvee-with-a-minigun sequences; sections where you have to hold off the enemy until reinforcements arrive; a UAV destroy-the-armour-from-a-distance set piece; and even a helicopter sequence à la Black Ops. All of this, along with the standard shooting gameplay which makes up the majority of the game, is handled in a basic but solid manner.

The squad and AI mechanics on the other hand are less than stellar, making for some frustrating firefights. Your squad mates - who's personalities barely extend past cliche'd and shallow - don't do much when it comes to actually killing the enemy, choosing to rather take cover in the best spots and leave you to do all of the dirty work. On top of that, they encounter path finding problems and there's an annoying system where you magically hover a few feet to the side if you are standing where the AI needs to stand. This sort of thing is also apparent when trying to climb a ladder or enter a building, as the game often has a planned sequence for the characters and you can only climb the ladder when it's your turn. It's frustrating, and damages the immersion that the game works so hard to create with its story. Oh, and don't get me started on the invisible boundaries - if the game doesn't want you jumping over that one-foot wall, then it's not going to happen.

As far as shooters go, Homefront doesn't really add anything new to the genre, but the depth of its storyline and the lengths the writers have gone to to add drama and sincerity to the narrative make for a better than average story that manages to hold your attention from start to finish. Granted, it's nowhere near as pretty as the genre's flag bearers, but it's got character, and that goes a long way. Now, just as I've built Homefront's single-player campaign up nicely, here's the kicker: There will come a time when you'll feel that the groundwork has been laid for a really enjoyable shooter, the KPA are on the backfoot and it's time for the resistance to get stuck in and reclaim what is rightfully theirs. And then? Well, that's it. The show is over.

The sad fact is that Homefront features probably one of the shortest campaigns I've ever experienced in a current generation shooter. Maybe four hours or so, and the credits roll. As gamers we have become accustomed to the shorter campaigns of the Call of Duty's and Bad Company's of the world, with the standard now close to around 7 or 8 hours, but those are hours of pure, distilled gaming adrenalin. A Modern Warfare campaign can afford to be shorter, because it's packed to the rafters with high impact gameplay. In that respect I just can't forgive Homefront for ending so abruptly - this game doesn't have enough going for it to be able to get away with a at-a-push 5 hour campaign.

The other side of the argument is that Kaos Studios are actually taking aim at the multiplayer market with Homefront, and the single-player campaign is just the (quite thin) icing on the cake. For that to be a valid argument, Homefront's online component would have to be more than a class-leading experience, since its single-player falls short of its competitors. Luckily for Kaos Studios - and by extension for publisher THQ too - there is a lot to like about the part of Homefront that involves shooting your friends and neighbours in the face.

The Ground Control mode is reminiscent of both Battlefield: Bad Company 2's Rush and Conquest modes, with up to 32 players fighting to dominate sections of the map, advancing once the area is conquered as the opposing team falls back to a different section. It's a tense give-and-take battle, and is easily the best of the modes on offer. Those looking for a more traditional deathmatch option won't be let down, with a straightforward team-based affair offering 24-player action across a number of varied maps.

There is added strategy added to the multiplayer thanks to the Battle Points system, an in-game currency which works in a similar way to the CoD Currency model. Battle Points are scored for your actions in the field, and can be spent on upgrades, perks, unlocking vehicles and more, allowing you to to customise your multiplayer experience to some extent. The addition of an AI Battle Commander that monitors the flow of the match and rewards kill streaks and so on with stars - translating into a big target on your back - adds another level of difficulty, building the pressure on elite players to survive in the face of increasingly uneven odds. Wide open maps add something that is sorely lacking from the very linear single-player campaign: a choice of how you want to approach each confrontation. Maps are cleverly laid out, and provide a good playground for exciting team-based warfare. On face value, though, it's quite obvious that Homefront's multiplayer isn't anywhere near as polished as the genre leaders, and a lot of Homefront's best multiplayer aspects feel like they have been lifted almost directly from other prominent shooters.

These days a good multiplayer component can mean the difference between a smash hit and a disastrous flop, but as enjoyable as Homefront's online modes are, its success is still dependent on the strength of the community that builds around it. Does it have enough to drag players away from their shooters of choice? That is the million dollar question (quite literally for the people who are relying on Homefront being a hit to put cash in the bank). Personally, although I had some fun with Homefront's multiplayer game, I can't promise that I will return to it while my favoured online shooters still draw breath (and players). At the same time, Kaos Studios has done a really good job with Homefront's single-player mode, even if the gameplay itself isn't particularly unique. It's a cleverly crafted narrative that will capture your imagination, even your emotions if you'll let it, but sadly it's all over far too quickly. As intriguing as the story was though, there are more entertaining shooters out there deserving of your attention.

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