Homefront

When it comes to shooters, I'd consider myself to be pretty jaded. With the market as saturated as it is, a game really has to work to stand out in my eyes. Consider it a testament to the strength of Homefront's premise, then, that I was genuinely anticipating THQ and Kaos Studios' tale of Eastern domination. The marketing blitzkrieg supporting Homefront claimed that the game would thrust players headfirst into a desperate struggle for survival against impossible odds. The stakes? Only the further subsistence of American life as we know it. Promising a level of emotional resonance that most games don't even attempt, Homefront was poised to be one of the better games of early 2011. After carving my way through the brief single player campaign and participating in a few multiplayer matches, I can't help but wonder where it all went wrong. 
 

 Given that Homefront clearly has aspirations for Call of Duty's crown, I was shocked by how stiff the gameplay felt. Sure, the controls are identical to those of Activision's prize franchise, but as soon as I was up and moving, something just felt off. The silent protagonist moves with all of the speed and precision of a drunkard, and aiming lacks the buttery smoothness of other big names in the genre. It's possible to get used to the clunky feel of the game after a while, but it never feels like it's giving you enough precision or speed to really be an effective force on the battlefield.  
 
It doesn't help matters that the single player campaign is both incredibly short and almost completely devoid of memorable moments or characters. THQ's promises of relatable squad mates and emotionally trying scenarios have revealed themselves to be frustratingly empty. The first five minutes of the game, which have already been covered ad naseum by preview outlets and which don't feature any actual gameplay, remained the most compelling memory when the credits rolled a scant five hours later. Homefront's version of the United States certainly had the capacity for some haunting set pieces, but the game merely flirts with its true potential before casting the resistance into another lackluster firefight. It is disappointing, to say the least. 
 

Further marring the experience are dated graphics and awful animations. The grenade-tossing animation in particular is so bad, it makes aiming your throws needlessly difficult. In all of the shooters I've played, this has never been much of an issue, but somehow Homefront has managed to make this simple task into a chore. Melee attacks look similarly weird, but at least in that case the bad animation won't cost a you checkpoint. As if that laundry list of problems weren't enough, the questionable AI of your squad mates sees them blocking your path pretty frequently, and they never really seem to help out during battle. Between the game's failure to deliver on any emotional level, the poor graphics, the wretched animations, and the stiff gameplay, Homefront's campaign is appalling for all the wrong reasons. 
 
Fortunately, the multiplayer fares better. The game features all of the standard modes revolving around either capturing territories or killing enemy teams, but with the added benefit of support for up to 32 players. Although class customization options are vast, the choices for personalizing your avatar are all but nonexistent. That said, it's still fun to deck out your guns with all of the latest upgrades, ranging from sights and scopes to some sweet camouflages. A perk system makes an obligatory appearance, but they're all pretty standard fare. The best part of the multiplayer is the Battle Points system, which basically functions like Call of Duty's killstreaks, but unlike its competitor's skills, Battle Points can be saved up over the course of a game instead of just one life. It's an interesting twist to an otherwise standard online offering. Still, the arthritic feel of the gameplay holds the multiplayer back just as much as it does the campaign.   

Homefront's lack of smoothness and responsiveness is its biggest bugbear. Lousy graphics and a disappointing story could be overlooked if only the game played well, but in this case the gameplay only adds to the laundry list of problems. As a result, Homefront feels like a cheap flirtation with the upheaval of modern shooter conventions that I had expected. The frightfully low quality of the gameplay is all the more disappointing because of the enormous potential behind the concept. This Homefront has sadly been compromised.