Homefront (aka a Red Dawn videogame experience)

[vinny-b]

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/06/11/homefront-preview/


had been waiting for coverage of this title. Attractive trailer.

if this is the vidgame version of the Amerika television mini-series (which was better then Red Dawn) it will definitely provide me motivation to play.

there have been multitudes of FPS's featuring both the war on terrorism, and WWII. Personally (if the game is solid) then expect fighting a marxist takeover via gourilla warfare, will be refreshing. And satisfying


_

[Teal]

What was that old Xbox game called...Freedom Fighters? Yeah, I think that was it. I LOOOOOOVED that game. If this is anything like that...sign me up...

[Brando70]

WOLVERINES!

[MizzouRah]

I'm interested, give us more!

[vinny-b]

knew i could count on you fellas : )





teal: if ever there were a 'cult' game, Freedom Fighters is one. I never played it, however if one checks any game boards, that title is hellla popular. Much beloved

[vinny-b]

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/06/16/thq-e ... homefront/

THAT WAS!!!!!!.................. kinda lame



also, don't actual North Korean soldiers goose-step?

_

[webdanzer]

teal: if ever there were a 'cult' game, Freedom Fighters is one. I never played it, however if one checks any game boards, that title is hellla popular. Much beloved

I loved Freedom Fighters, and was thus looking forward to Kane and Lynch. (Same developers)

I was disappointed.

[Macca00]

Homefront screenshots;

http://www.gamersyde.com/news_e3_homefr ... 50_en.html



Freedom Fighters was awesome.

[vinny-b]

[vinny-b]

a war FPS which may actually make me 'care'.

replace Korea with the Soviet Union, and this looks like the next-generation Freedom Fighters, which many fans have hoped for.

a setting in the western US (Colorado, California, etc), and an FPS POV instead of 3rd person, have me optimistic this may be a better overall title.



anyone have interest in this?

[Brando70]

a war FPS which may actually make me 'care'.

replace Korea with the Soviet Union, and this looks like the next-generation Freedom Fighters, which many fans have hoped for.

a setting in the western US (Colorado, California, etc), and an FPS POV instead of 3rd person, have me optimistic this may be a better overall title.



anyone have interest in this?

It looks interesting and definitely mature, but I'm having a hard time getting past the Korean occupation angle. It was ridiculous in Red Dawn when it was the Soviets and Cubans, and North Korea is even more implausible. The outlandishness of the scenario seems at odds with the gritty realism they are trying to convey.

However, I like the "care" aspect as well. So many FPS games are just assault assembly lines.

[Aristo]

I was a big fan of their previous game, Frontlines. I'm curious if they are going to use the same gameplay element in which you moved the frontlines by achieving objectives. while it was a cool mode in single player, it made from really interesting multiplayer battles as you forced your opponent to retreat and defend a new territory, you had to fall back as they moved forward.

Plus, it had some pretty cool gadget toys that probably won't be in this game, unless you are stealing them from the Koreans. I wish Frontlines had gotten more love, but they did make some critical mistakes by limiting the communication pretty severely.

While this story looks cool, I was really hoping for an some improvement on their previous attempt. This will get a look from me, at least.

[MizzouRah]

I can't wait..

[FifaInspected]

I'm interested and looking forward to a different scenario for a FPS.

[Diablo25]

I'm hoping for a demo. This one looks decent.

[vinny-b]

It looks interesting and definitely mature, but I'm having a hard time getting past the Korean occupation angle. It was ridiculous in Red Dawn when it was the Soviets and Cubans, and North Korea is even more implausible. The outlandishness of the scenario seems at odds with the gritty realism they are trying to convey.

Brando:

expect you already know, initially China was the invading force in this title/project. Until the Chinese foreign ministry protested.

the following isn't aimed at you directly. But in this day of 'next-generation'/cutting edge titles, gamers in general are forgetting 1 element. Imagination. While playing Homefront, how difficult would it be to imagine your foe is China? And not North Korea. Remember play as a child? And or even the early days of gaming, when imagination was a requirement? Shouldn't part of this be retained?


far as the possibility of a future attack on America. The United States hasn't existed long enough to be considered infallible. 1781-2010. In history terms/perspective America is a very young country. Besides, history proves no nation is infallible.

the future: international event/war, in which a very large number of American troops and military hardware/equipment are already out of the country. A domestic 'crisis' then develops. Be it terrorism, a severe oil crisis etc. Gun confiscation ensues via UN peacekeepers. A formidable military superpower (China?) seizes the moment and initiates a first-strike EMP. USA's nuclear deterrent and communications are compromised. An 'Amerika' and/or 'Homefront' invasion and occupation.

?

[vinny-b]

Hillary Clinton opens this video.

[vinny-b]

"Route 66 is full of potholes and Wal-Mart is out of asthma medication. A high school football field is being used for mass graves. These are facts from a video game world, facts designed to make a gamer angry.

I've played the first three levels of Homefront and continue to be struck, as I was when I first saw the game last spring, how deeply immersed the game is in the mood of modern America trying to fight back against a current of despair. Its version of the United States sucks. Fear dominates. Talking points of both political parties have been realized to their squalid extremes: debt-ridden economy in shambles, military budgets drastically slashed, American exceptionalism superseded by the aspirations of an Asian rival. Homefront's U.S. is worse than ours, but the gravitational feel of a downward slide and the dream to reverse that force is present in real America and in the video game one. The parallel is unavoidable.

Where there's fear and frustration in this game, there's a virtual gun to shoot and targets who feel legitimate. Chapter one is the breakout, our hero allied with a few other 21st-century rebels against the kind of occupier that shoots parents in front of children and tries to gas a house that contains a wailing baby. Chapter two is a fight in the suburban dark, lowlighted by the sight of mass graves and a chilling conclusion. The third chapter takes the battle to cleared-out superstores. In the midst of this there's an appeal to American ingenuity, many mid-battle heated exchanges of ideas — of battle philosophies involving restraint or ruthlessness — and a refreshing feeling that, no matter why America is on its knees, by playing Homefront, the video game version can be stood back up. At last, we the gaming people can have a way to help a struggling U.S. This is the simple relief of entertainment soaked in the mood of frustration.

We will save America in Homefront by shooting its foreign, occupying enemies. If it was devoid of themes, Homefront would feel like nothing more than a Call of Duty, an achievement its creators would happily enjoy if the game sold, say, nothing more than a Call of Duty. For players, it will feel familiar, borrowing from Activision's mighty shooter series as well as from the careful pacing and attention to scenic detail of Valve's Half-Life 2. Its gameplay is not as ingenious as its latter inspiration. Its combat is straightforward with limited variation or demonstration of ideas not seen in shooters before. There are certain enemy structures that must be flanked, careful attention to be paid to spreading fire and the occasional empowering use of a remote-controlled, helicopter-killing urban tank. Your health recharges, if you take cover.

Homefront commits the occasional Call of Duty crime, releasing a stream of enemies toward the player in the name of trigger-reaction fun but at the expense of believable scenario or down-to-earth mood. But it drove me forward, turning a planned two-day play session into a one-night barrel through. It achieved this not through gameplay but through its presentation of America. I cared. I wanted to see the fate of the schools, read the discarded newspapers, mill about in a prison camp. I really wanted to talk to the Muslim American who I found praying — one of the first Muslims I've seen in a game who wasn't trying to kill me — but he just kept praying (the limits of canned animations in video games, I guess). I wanted to save the neighbors.

I want to help America, and in Homefront, I'm the only person who can do it.

(Note: These impressions are based on a preview build of the game's first three levels. While they appear to be complete, there's no telling if they're locked in. I've neither seen nor played the rest of the game and haven't tried its multiplayer.)"

[Danimal]

You should probably quote the source if you're going to copy and article from elsewhere.

[vinny-b]

You should probably quote the source if you're going to copy and article from elsewhere.

Stephen Totilo @Kotaku. Thanks

[Danimal]

Sorry not trying to be an ass. Just that site owners can get in trouble for stuff like that.

[vinny-b]

Sorry not trying to be an ass. Just that site owners can get in trouble for stuff like that.

np.

[EZSnappin]

Rock Paper Shotgun had a rather different impression than Kotaku after the same three levels:

"Homefront, against my optimistic expectations, appears to be another Modern Warfare clone. In the same way the disappointing Medal Of Honor was another Modern Warfare clone. Which is to say, the first three missions are about running around just behind the action, wondering if you really need to be there."

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/02 ... more-52035

[vinny-b]

here's another new hands-on (via Andrew Yoon @ Joystiq). Looks like a winner to me...


"I was not impressed by Homefront's single-player campaign when I first previewed it three months ago. Apparently, Kaos Studios took notice. With the game's release only a month away, an updated preview build -- covering the first three levels of the story mode -- has been sent out to press, and I was shocked to find that nearly every complaint I had with the older build has been addressed. Add in its compelling multiplayer component, and Homefront just might have what it takes to survive in the ultra-competitive FPS market.

Homefront's core narrative as it's imagined in the gameworld is still every bit as arresting in the updated build. Witnessing the game's North Korean occupation of Anytown, USA for the second time was no less brutal to bear. Civilians are rounded up and executed, with the cries of newly orphaned children coldly ignored. It's hard to imagine that the gravitas of the game's opening moments could carry on throughout the story, but Homefront manages to keep this momentum going. In the next two levels, you'll go through a detainment camp, the ruins of a school and a garbage dump ... filled with dead bodies.

Most noticeably, Kaos has implemented design changes to make firefights more dynamic. In the previous build, it was easy to just camp in a corner and wait for enemies to dumbly walk into your line of fire. Simply put, the AI was inadequate. In the new build, however, I found that confrontations no longer devolved into these mindless traps. Enemy spawn points were no longer apparent in the three levels I played, and enemies themselves were much more adept at using the environment for cover, in turn making me a more engaged player. Instead of camping, I was now moving about, looking for opportunities to flank.

Partner AI has been considerably improved as well. Before, I was tempted to shoot at my squad mates, if only to get them to shut up. Now, Kaos has tweaked them into characters I actually care about. Their banter is less frequent, more varied and actually integral to the experience at hand. Gone are the sort of absurd, disconnected back-patting lines like "Nice kill!" and in their place is dialog more appropriate to the situation: "We've got to get the f*** out of here!" Your squad mates' newfound ability to assist you in combat by actually killing some enemies makes them seem that much more human in this new build.

I'm impressed by how much Kaos has improved the Homefront campaign in just a few months' time. (In fact, Uncharted is the only other game I've seen improved so drastically in the course of its development.) And while most of my initial qualms have been addressed (including the once awful Korean voice acting!), there are still some rough edges that Kaos needs to work out. Some mission objectives are not well communicated, for example, and it's only after trial and error that it becomes clear what you need to do. The explosives in the third level seemed to kill me ... a lot. Am I supposed to shoot them as my squad mates walk by them? Because that's how I beat the level.

From a visual perspective, the Xbox 360 build I played was serviceable. It's definitely not one of the better looking games on the console: The framerate wasn't quite smooth and the texture work leaves a lot to be desired. Not much can be done about this, and Homefront simply isn't going to match the technical achievements of current benchmarks, -- like Killzone 3 and Crysis 2 -- though the art direction helps to sell the dystopian, but familiar, look that Homefront is trying to achieve.

A few months ago, I was ready to dismiss Homefront's single-player campaign entirely. But after playing this updated build, I'm suddenly eager to continue playing. The drastic changes implemented by Kaos have renewed my curiosity about the final product."

[ScoopBrady]

Vinny, I appreciate the info but could you link to the articles rather than copy and paste? Thanks, man. Game is looking pretty good hope there's a demo.