As you don’t have the might of the military behind you, access is limited to special weaponry and ammunition runs thin, I found myself scrambling around for weapons on the floor all the way through the game, this added yet another unique feel to the experience; shooting became about accuracy and conservation rather than all out bullet spraying. Some of the standout moments in the game include the Goliath, the huge remote controlled car with rocket launchers. The Goliath is kind of like Half Life 2’s Dog; for some reason (even though it’s just a mechanical car) you feel affection towards the lethal metal mass. You control it by pointing it towards enemies and watching them explode, it clumsily bounds around the street knocking over anything its way; a fantastic and chaotic experience.
I was never blown away by the choices of the enemy AI; they would duck down in the appropriate places and I would wait and shoot at the appropriate times. Your AI partners however are a different story; they were almost too intelligent and could often clear a room before you were even alerted to an enemy’s presence. The controlled character often feels heavy, and there is often a sense that the camera is in fact moving around the character model like the old days of the NES. Though this won’t be the case, the feeling still remains, playing as a floating gun and hand didn’t feel special when you put too much thought into it. In the shooters of recent years, the locales often jumped from place to place, and though this made sure the setting was never boring, it would regularly confuse the plot. Homefront benefits hugely from not including this jumping about, helping the simple story to flow neatly. Although the game can appear to be quite linear, it’s actually refreshing to go from point A to B to C, rather than A to D to K then back to D again.
The Homefront campaign is a hugely satisfying experience, and despite its mechanical flaws in the shooting sections the and short running time, I can’t help but feel very fondly towards it. It isn’t the half Life style experience we were initially promised, but an incredible setting and unique plotline really pull you through the experience. The ending welcomes what could be a fantastic new gaming franchise; ‘Homefront: London’ anyone?
Verdict: 7/10
Female First Edward Lewis