Homefront: The Revolution is an open-world first person shooter with a story that's a little bit different to the usual, post apocalyptic disaster. Set in Philadelphia in 2029, the game looks at an alternate (possible?) future, where North Korea have managed to take over the United States. The main purpose of the game is to fight against the Korean People's Army (KPA) and take back what they've taken over - which is essentially EVERYTHING. The KPA are feared amongst civilians and use punishment and dominance to maintain control over areas. But wherever there's power and oppression, there's a rebellion waiting to happen... As a member of the resistance, it's your job to show the civilians that there is hope - and that if they want to overthrow the KPA, all they need to do is join the resistance. A mix of stealth and brutality is the key factor to success in Homefront: The Revolution - pick your battles carefully and take time to plan your next steps, as you never know what's lurking around the corner.
Upon starting the campaign, you're given a short clip that provides a bit of context to the game's backstory. Starting out way back in 1972, it explains how North Korea were always ahead of America in terms of their tech, before jumping to 2004 to show a very cheerful looking North Korean chap showcasing a new tablet. As the voice over explains, the US grew hooked on North Korean technology, from tablets to smartphones - and when North Korea starting selling weapons... well, they couldn't resist. Fast forward to 2016 and with wars getting worse, and more frequent, America invested more heavily in Apex weaponry - guns, tanks, boats, planes and helicopters made with North Korean technology, designed to give them an edge. But finding themselves caught up in countless wars, the dollar started to tank - and in 2025, with their debt to North Korea spiraling, the Koreans decided they'd had enough. Because of the increasing debt, North Korea turned off every piece of Apex Technology, shutting down Americas military overnight, and making them vulnerable. This is when the KPA decided to take control, and invade, turning a prosperous city into a fear filled wasteland. But as the gritty voice over explains - the city will rise again, because YOU are the revolution.
Nice weather for it too
From the get go, you begin to realise how much of a threat the KPA truly are, as you're forced to evacuate a building after seeing a fellow companion shot in the head, and gas grenades are thrown in to the room... Unfortunately for you, escaping doesn't do you much good, as you're quickly captured, along with two others, before being captured and held hostage - tortured, threatened and (for the others) killed for information. In a stroke of luck, you manage to escape - and, with first hand knowledge of how evil the KPA are fresh in your mind, you start to get acquainted to the controls, and are actually almost totally free to do as you please from the very beginning.
It actually feels a little alien to begin with, as the KPA are on patrol everywhere, and you're given so little to go on, you find yourself just slowly walking around, wondering if they'll start to attack. Soon you'll find yourself captured again (this sucks!), but this time, it's by the resistance (less suckish) and are introduced to Dana Moore, a resistance veteran and definitely a full time bad ass. Initial thoughts on Dana's character were great, it was fabulous to see a female character that's as intimidating as hell. She seems very dark, with jet black hair, heavy black makeup, tattoos, piercings and a dark sense of humour to match - certainly not afraid of anything and potentially a favourite character. Leader of the resistance Jack Parrish is also present, a bold, strong, well-built man with a can-do attitude, but with a more logical and strategic approach to situations to Dana.
On receiving the first mission, you're sent out with Dana and a handful of other members of the resistance. On missions, there are barely given any kind of instructions given - you're told to stay close to Dana, but unless you keep your eyes on her at all times, it's easy to lose her. I decided to have a quick look around the area and scavenge some items - but before I knew it I could hear gunshots and people shouting orders to kill the KPA. I had lost Dana, and only vaguely knew were my team were, thanks to working out that the blue dots on my mini map were friendly. Yet before I'd even managed to find an enemy to kill, Dana started shouting to fall back and split up because we'd lost this fight...
At least you've got a team alongside you
In actual fact, this added a nice touch to the game, as the first encounters in a game are usually easy and predictable. No such luck here - instead, being forced into a retreat added a sense of urgency - of things not going quite as planned - and I certainly didn't want to find out what happened to me if I didn't follow orders, whether from Dana or the KPA! Either way, it's probably a good idea not to follow our lead, and instead stay focused when on a mission, as Homefront: The Revolution isn't a game that waits for you - and it's too easy to get lost in the moment. There's plenty of time for exploring and looting later!
While the panic mode stayed set in for a while, things had a quick change of pace when we were introduced to our brand new bikes. As there's a whole city to explore, you need something a bit nippier to help you get around, and the bikes are one of the game's best bits - essential for some side missions or entering out of bounds areas in style… Nothing is more tense than jumping on that bike for the first time, heading off to the destination at full speed, while jumping over enemy armoured vehicles and going straight through hordes of KPA. Slightly less encouraging is Dana whinging in your ear about how you should try to avoid the KPA at all costs and keep hidden - even though this seems incredibly difficult, and nearly impossible, as no clear route is given!
As well as the main story, there are many timed events that occur and pop up on the map, usually with a panicked voice shouting for help. These events don't last very long, and are pretty challenging to say the least, but offer bigger rewards. If you rush to the point, you can try and save the person in distress - but get it wrong, and you'll cost them their life.
There is a multiplayer aspect to the game called 'Resistance Mode', which plays pretty similarly to the campaign, including weapons and added extras, with the only difference being that you'll be fighting alongside real life players, against the (computer controlled) KPA. You begin by creating a character, male or female, and choosing a background for said character that gives you certain skills and perks. Unlike most of today's games, you're put in a small lobby of only 4 players, and have to work as a team. With essentially the same feel as the main campaign, but a lot faster paced, this is a pretty nice co-op mode, and playing alongside friends is always cool (though we are disappointed at the lack of split-screen). The more games you play, the more in game credits you'll earn to buy clothes, perks, skills and weapons.
So, from what we've mentioned so far, it's fair to say that Homefront: The Revolution has the potential to be an incredible game. However, its major downfall are the amount of glitches, and some pretty poor performance issues that happen far to frequently. Truthfully, the slowdown and judderyness can make it difficult to want to continue playing, not to mention the loading screens, on which the game can take between 2-3 minutes to fully load.
What's more of a problem is the way the glitches get in the way of some of the game's best bits. For example, at one point, we found ourselves due to storm out of a safe house, with a bunch of team mates in tow, to fight off the KPA. However, a door that was meant to open, didn't. There were enemies on the other side, and our entire crew simply piled into the (closed) door, trying to shoot them, but the door simply would not open… Instead, we had to find an alternative way around via the streets packed with enemies, which made for a very frustrating time.
I'm pretty sure this wasn't meant to happen…
It's clear to see that the game tries to draw you in to the world and connect you with the characters, but, unfortunately, again, the judderiness stops this from happening. There is a major death scene which I can only assume is meant to be emotional, but the amount of slowdown experienced throughout doesn't allow you to really connect with the story.
It's worth noting that there are no manual save games, either, with only auto checkpoints recording your progress. The only issue is, there's no real notification of when the game's saved, and I often found myself reloading the game to find myself in a completely different location to where I left off, and very confused about what missions I had and hadn't completed. It's frustrating to have travelled to one place, only to be spawned in an entirely new location on the other side of the map when you reload. Speaking of spawning, there were times we reloaded the game to be glitched into a corner and stuck, too, with no way to get out.
Pretty sure I wasn't meant to respawn here…
And these glitches are a real shame, as the actual gameplay in Homefront is pretty good. The way the city's divided up into districts keeps you on your toes - there are Red Zones, which are areas that guns are permitted and you will be shot on sight, and Yellow Zones that are civilian populated, where you'll need to blend in with the crowd and not be seen. Stealth is your friend in these areas, being sure to keep a civilian between you and KPA officers, as well as using dumpers and portaloos as hiding spots, or even releasing explosive barrels off the tops of buildings.
This plot focuses heavily on building the resistance from the ground up, and showing the civilians that not all hope is lost. In both areas there are sections that you can begin to take control of, whether it be clearing out a building of enemies or simply switching on a generator. Starting out in an area can be terrifying at first, as you're alone until you begin to take control. Once you begin to capture parts of the map, they'll slowly begin to turn blue to signify that it's a friendly area. In the Yellow zones specifically, the civilians will also start to fight back against the KPA, with frequent protests and setting things on fire. The more areas you capture means the more resistance members there are around, and they'll be on hand to help when needed. Sometimes, they'll even start to fight back on their own, and you'll see members of the resistance willingly go hunting for KPA - it's a nice touch to see they have their own free will and don't just rely on your orders. Blue is the colour to look out for on this game, with walls and buildings being painted if they are useful in any way, either with an ammo stash or just a hint on where to climb up on to buildings. Instead of red KPA propaganda being posted everywhere, the resistance will slowly begin to take over and replace it.
Resistance propaganda will slowly begin to replace the KPAs.
As well as encouraging propaganda, the resistance will begin to put up handy posters on how to beat the KPA. For example, some posters point out weak spots on armoured vehicles, with useful arrows and words of 'shoot this instead!'. It makes you want to look out for smaller details and useful hints - giving you a handy tutorial without being too in your face. Don't be fooled into thinking that you have to fend for yourself in this game, either, as it's all about working as part of a team, and you have the option to recruit up to 4 members of the resistance to join you on your travels. While that gives you extra backup when it comes to facing off against enemies, it does, however, have a downside, as they can get in your way a lot! You sometimes find yourself trapped in a building or pushed in to the line of sight of enemies due to the fact that your team follows you everywhere and stay so close.
One aspect that sets Homefront apart from others is its weapons. In most games, there are always guns that people don't like and avoid using - this is certainly not the case in Homefront. If you don't like a weapon, you can simply customise it in to something else! The starting weapon is a pistol, which are a bit naff, so we bought an SMG converter and put it on the gun instead. BAM! Pistol becomes an SMG in seconds - or turn it in to a crossbow if you prefer! It's refreshing to see this level of customisation in a game.
Of course, a shooter wouldn't be complete without explosives, and so you have the option to use Molotov cocktails, high powered grenades or even remote control cars (yes, really) to scope out your path. You choose what suits you best. If you find yourself stuck in a sticky situation, why not use a hack tool? Throwing these near KPA vehicles or other technology will turn them friendly and they'll begin to shoot their own. A personal favourite moment was when we were surrounded by enemies, and decided to hack an armoured vehicle, so it could kill the surrounding enemies, and we could make our escape without being noticed… Ahh, the memories.
Be sure to scavenge and loot as many corpses and drawers as you can along the way too, as you can build grenades and such along the way - which is handy, as it means you don't have to find a shop every time you want more! You do have a valuables section though, which stores "important" items, such as cups or books that you find. These can be sold, netting you currency to spend on important items to help boost your stats, from a range of armour that offers protection, boots for improved sneaking, or a jacket which makes you take less damage.
Overall, Homefront: The Revolution is a great game that's let down by some bad bugs. There's a lot to like here, and plenty that helps it stand out from other shooters on the market. The ability to construct grenades and distractions along the way, along with having to switch play styles when moving from a resistance to a KPA controlled area offers plenty of variety - however, there are still many glitches, and slowdown is a major issue, which ruins the atmosphere and can make the game drag on. Having to only rely on auto saves is also a bit of a bummer, as picking up where you left off can be a little confusing as you try and get your bearings, and figure out exactly what it is you're meant to be doing. While it may have a great concept, it's been let down by some poor execution - and while we're hopeful future patches will iron bugs out, as it stands, we can't hugely recommend this.
Format Reviewed: Playstation 4
