[Unknown Target]

Anyone else played this? I picked it up half of when I had nothing else to do...worth $25 so far. It's pretty compelling and quite fun. It's a bit glitchy, I have to quit out every ten minutes or so because the frame starts to dip and the audio lags, but it's still quite fun.

[General Battuta]

It is a terrible game that no one should play. Everything bad about CoD amped up a notch. The multiplayer actually does some interesting things but it is a ghost town.

Don't waste your money.

[Angelus]

It is a terrible game that no one should play. Everything bad about CoD amped up a notch. The multiplayer actually does some interesting things but it is a ghost town.

Don't waste your money.

You played it? What are those interestings things in multiplayer?

[General Battuta]

It is a terrible game that no one should play. Everything bad about CoD amped up a notch. The multiplayer actually does some interesting things but it is a ghost town.

Don't waste your money.

You played it? What are those interestings things in multiplayer?

Check out TotalBiscuit's singleplayer and multiplayer thingalings, they'll show you what's right and (mostly) wrong with the game.

[Unknown Target]

So...you haven't played it?


Well for those people out there who do have an open mind; I just got it and I convinced my friend to get it - we were having a great time in multiplayer. He honestly views it as the spiritual successor to CoD 1 in it's gameplay, and I love the frenetic nature of the combat - it's got me a bit nostalgic for Unreal Tournament. The gameplay in multi is a mix of BF2, Counter Strike, UT99, and CoD1. The singleplayer is pretty well produced and definitely has some interesting moments; it's especially "gritty" as well, which I'm not really one to go ga ga over but I have to hand it to the devs for throwing some interesting stuff in there; one level you actually hide in a mass grave and watch from underneath a dead person's arm, draped over your head, as North Korean choppers land to search the area.

All in all it was a game that I was pleasantly surprised with. It's not worth $40 or $50, but for the $25 that it's going for on Steam right now, definitely something to pick up.

[NGTM-1R]

Story was lol. Wanted to be able to sell in China. No further interest.

[Unknown Target]

The story was pretty lulzy; they REALLY ramped up the "evil invader" aspect. They basically turned North Korea into Nazi Germany and had them invade the US. That being said, there's a few interesting points to the story as well - like I said, there's some neat set pieces. In the end, it's a fun game, and I think that's the most important part; not how detailed the plot is or cinematic the cutscenes are, but how fun it is, and for $25 I'd say it's a lot of fun for your buck.

It's also great to see the imagination of the developers at work. In every aspect of the game, you could tell the devs really were into what they were doing; there are little details that make me feel like these people really cared about what it was they were creating. They didn't have the most experience, or a lot of time, and that does show here and there. But there does seem to be a bit of that intangible "we are really proud of what we made here" woven into the experience. Overall though it's a solid game with some great stylistic elements.

[General Battuta]

So...you haven't played it?

I played it.

It is definitely a better deal at a $25 price point, but the single player is an ill-designed atrocity with some truly terrible attention to agency. The studio deserved what it got; they made a bad product and the market reacted.

I think the Gamespy review really nailed why it was so crushingly awful in single player:

The problem with Homefront isn't just that it sucks, which it certainly does. The problem is that it reveals just how badly many first-person shooters are starting to suck. It's a game that magnifies the preexisting trend of developing to the lowest common denominator.

I'm honestly surprised they made such amateur mistakes on their sophomore product, but maybe it was an intentional decision to try to mimic cowaduty. The development cycle was allegedly hell on Kaos, with constant crunch and a lot of publisher pressure. The fact that the developers weren't really enjoying the game shines through - in fact at points it feels like the designers held it in active contempt.

You can have a lot more fun for your $25 with a better game, one that actually wants you to play it.

[Unknown Target]

Could you elaborate on some of the mistakes they made, or ways that you felt that they held it in contempt? I didn't get the latter impression at all, really.

If anything I blame EA, the publisher, for a lot; they were the ones that really pressured the devs with the hard release date. I got the impression that EA thought they had a money maker on their hands, so they wanted it out of the door asap.

The bit about the dev cycle being hell on Kaos brings up an interesting discussion though; workers rights for non-"traditional" jobs. I felt that EA pressured the studio and they didn't get a whole lot of attention for what was rather "cruel" working conditions (60-70+ hour weeks or something, I know some people have had their marriages put in jeapordy over this and other games like LA Noire). I think there's an idea out there that game developers don't really deserve the same protections that are afforded to, say, coal miners, because a game devs job is "easier".
I can't quite articulate my point fully right now but I hope the gist got across.

[General Battuta]

EA wasn't the publisher for Homefront. You're looking for THQ.

[Unknown Target]

Whoops, thanks for the correction.
Redirect all of my thoughts in THQ's direction.

[Grizzly]

You can also look this way, for another summed up version of what looks like... GBs mind. : http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/03/19/wot-i-think-homefront-single-player/

[Davros]

I was totally disappointed I loved frontlines and was expecting homefront to be frontlines on steroids
massive all out war on u.s soil instead we got small battles
ps: is it just me or does this game play very much like terminator salvation