Homefront

Let's start with the positives:-
- The MP is much better than the SP.
- The dystopian setting shares a few similarities with that of Half-Life 2 and at times is atmospheric and evocative of films such as Red Dawn.
- The 3rd level set in a parking lot/supermarket shows promise of what could have been if THQ had spent more time developing their own game rather than copying loads of others.

The negatives:-
- Think about all the very worst aspects of FPS games. Ensure that you lump them all into your own game. Homefront in a nutshell. Enemies that need 4 headshots before they die (even on normal) - Check. Protection missions - Check. Kestrel Super-quoshing levels of AI - Check. Having to wait for the AI to go forward before you can - Check. A few turret gun missions thrown in - Check. Some poorly designed vehicular sections - Check. A shocking script which I can only presume John Milius farmed out to his 13 year old 'Guns n Ammo' reading hick of a grandson - Check. A final level that is so far away from being what a final level should be, that it leads you to believe that once the credits roll there will be a further final mission (see Kane and Lynch 2 for a further example) - Check.
- The SP is ridiculously short. Watching Avatar would take more time, although I can't say that would be any more enjoyable. Although your eyes will feel far better from straining at the 3D effects of Avatar than from the shoddy graphics of Homefront.
- It wholeheartedly steals from so many other decent FPSes, but its scattergun approach means it just takes the worst from COD, BFBC2 etc. It almost nicks complete levels from other games. As for the helicopter pilot playing some music whilst they fly off on a mission it shows the games desire to be a simpering Smithers to COD's evil Mr Burns.
- The invisible barriers that obstruct me from walking into areas where there is absolutely nothing blocking me from doing so. It's almost as if your character has some virtual ASBO which restricts his freedom.
-The inability of my character to jump over something which exceeds the height of a worm.
- Whilst the MP is considerably better than the SP that's like comparing the musical heritage of Steps with that of the Cheeky Girls. Both are rubbish but one's a bit better than the other.
- The characters have personalities of crisp packets. Not Kettle Chips either. Value crisps. Out of date. Plus the fat guy on the bus next to you sat on them, so they're unhelpfully mashed up. I spent the entire game waiting for one of the main characters to die. More out of hope than anything else. Although they had names, they had very little personality. Much like WAGs in that respect.
- £40 or so for this game is an affront to humanity. Luckily I got mine for much cheaper and hope to recoup much of my money back by flogging this to some unfortunate soul who has yet to read this relentless diatribe. I'd say an ideal pricepoint for this would be about £18.
- Enemies are capable of walking through fences, walls and other solid matter. On one memorable occasion, I cleared out one room of Koreans (won't use the terms the game describes them). There was only one door in and out of the room. It was a small room. If it was a real room it would measure about 12 foot square, or be 'a good size' if you believe estate agents. As I made my way back out of it 3 Koreans teleported behind me and wiped me out.
- Some games reward you with unlocks or decent achievements or trophies when you complete the game on normal. The only thing you get out of this is 10g.

Finally, spoiler alert.

This game is terrible. If you want a challenging game buy Ninja Gaiden 2. If you want a sublime FPS that deals with a dystopian city-state then buy Half-Life 2. If you want a decent online FPS MP then buy COD or BFBC2. Whatever you do, don't buy this twaddle, you'll only encourage THQ to make another one. I'm presuming that THQ developed this game in the US. Well if that's the case, lets hope that they have Nostradamus levels of prediction and that the Koreans do eventually invade the US. It would be a small price to pay to ensure Homefront remains a wholly singular experience.

Homefront is one of the worst games I have ever played, if not ever made. It's just a mournful game-by-numbers FPS that doesn't make you engage with any of the characters or care about anything other than completing the game so you can go trade it in for something else.
The enemy AI is sad, just sad, and begs to be put out of it's misery and not even multiple headshots can make it fall but oddly one bullet in the thigh seems to be enough to kill it. The NPC's aren't much better, if you try to walk in front of them the game won't let you. In the level at the refugee camp early on you can't walk down stairs if you get to them first unless the NPC's got down it first. IF they get stuck coming through a door the game is stuck until they can move.
Oh and did I mention the enemy AI is magic. Yeah, the soldiers can walk through walls and appear at will, it's more frustrating than the headshot not killing them.
Also what game still has infinite enemies? on the level to retrieve the helicopter you're perched in your sniper spot. You take out the rednecks with some carefull discreet sniping and make your way down the hill. And then you're taking fire form the two dozen enemy that have spawned suddenly out of nowhere. If you keep taking them out from the sniper perch you can fire until your mag runs dry of rounds and they keep coming. Who does that anymore?
FInally, the length of the SP campaign was ridiculous, If you've only made half a game, don't release half a game! If they make a homefront 2, i hope not, but if they do I would only play it if it came free in the sunday paper. And even then I'd need to be bored almost to the point of death.

If you want to play Homefront buy COD;Black Ops and just put on Red Dawn in the background. You'll have a much better time than playing this terrible, terrible game.

I bought this when it came out in the hope that the single player would be like the most fun 'death of America' missions of the excellent but incomprehensible MW2. There is a lot of potential in the storyline and timeline set out in the intro, but this game really needed a longer production cycle. The single player is too short - don't buy this if you are not going to play it online, just play MW2 instead.

After the disappointment of the single player though, I got hooked on the multiplayer, removing me from Black Ops entirely since this game came out. This game is much more fun online than Black Ops. End of.

The key word really is fun. I get angry at people in Black Ops and MW2 online, mainly due to the plague of campers. In Homefront if someone is camping, you have a multitude of very enjoyable ways to get revenge! What to chose from? A cluster bomb to the skull? Burn them with a cheeky phosphorous grenade? Flush them out and chase them across the map with a remote controlled missile-firing helicopter? Etc etc... All of this is great! The battle commander mode is innovative, highlighting high scoring opponents to your team, but making them more powerful in the process.

There is also very limited lag and no server drop-outs compared to Black Ops or MW2 thanks to dedicated servers, even in 32 player lobbies. These huge games can get chaotic and fraught at times and they actually feel more like a war than any COD game I've played.

There are several serious problems with his game though that you have to get over. The jumping mechanics are a joke and you get stuck on scenery all the time. Trying to get through a window is a recipe for getting killed embarrassingly and can make attacking certain locations very hard. Also some vehicles can seem almost impossible to kill.

In all though, if you can get used to the shooting and movement mechanics then this game is really very good online. If you see it cheap, buy it as a break from COD induced rage - it's better than throwing your controller through your TV......