Homefront: The Revolution is another attempt at capturing a communist invasion in video game form. You’d think that a game influenced by Red Dawn should be spectacular. Unfortunately, the game falls short of that goal.
The Korean People’s Army (KPA) has taken control of the United States through a secret back-door technology that is being used by the majority to carry out illicit activities. The player takes the role of Ethan Brady, a silent protagonist who joins the resistance that is rebelling against the KPA. The plot of Homefront: The Revolution has all the tropes that one would expect from a military first-person shooter. The characters have nothing interesting to say, and the squad members are rather obnoxious when it comes to in-game firefights. It ends up being a game with uninteresting characters and a plot that lacks anything fresh.
The open world of Homefront: The Revolution lacks compelling reasons to explore it. Each area contains different buildings that can be reclaimed from the KPA. Once the resistance claims ownership of these buildings, the player can utilize them as a base where they can purchase upgrades and spawn in friendlies. Taking control of these buildings is one of the only incentives to explore the map, as they will reveal collectibles and side objectives once reclaimed.
Homefront: The Revolution has some serious bugs and glitches. During my playthrough, I was unable to complete the primary mission due to the game being fundamentally broken. The game also experienced frequent drops in frame rate and texture loading times were consistently lengthy. Similar to the majority of games that have been released this generation, the game feels rushed. There have been several reports of save-breaking bugs that have since been fixed with patches.
Stealth is something that the game forces on the player, but it ends up being useless. There are certain areas in which citizens populate, and the player is encouraged to blend with the crowd. Not only is the stealth clunky, but it also ends up not being necessary to progress through the game. Enemies may see you, but the AI is so poor and frail that it is never challenging. Most games reward the player by taking the stealthy route. However, Homefront: The Revolution punishes those who choose to be sneaky. The game is easier, and more enjoyable played as a typical first-person-shooter.
If The Revolution has anything going for it, the shooting has a modern feel that FPS fans will enjoy. The guns are also enjoyable to use and the player is given plenty of options on what guns to bring to firefights. Several different attachments are available for each gun that can be changed on the fly. The attachments provide different strategies from the slightly divergent combat scenarios.
While the shooting in The Revolution feels refined, the AI feels severely dated. The player can recruit four other resistance members to fight alongside. These characters end up being fodder for enemies and do little regarding making an impact in firefights. The enemy AI lack tactics, and this makes all firefights feel similar.
Homefront: The Revolution ends up being a completely mediocre first-person shooter. There aren’t any new ideas here, and the things that are inspired by different games end up being weaker than those initial ideas. With two Homefront games being critical flops, there is a good chance that this will be the final game in the series. There is a value in the artistic idea to create a shooter inspired by Red Dawn. Homefront: The Revolution isn’t this game, nor is it anywhere near the communist invasion game you’re looking for.
This review of Homefront: The Revolution is based the PC version of the game which was provided by the publisher.
