Homefront – Multiplayer Review

Mar 17, 2011

The first person shooter genre is easily one of the most prevalent in contemporary gaming. Titles like Halo, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, and Battlefield have cemented their places amongst gaming elite. They have done this by advancing their creations in different ways; making them stand out and scream, “PLAY ME IM FUN!” Frontlines: Fuel of War creators Kaos studios has added an entry to this genre that shows up firing in full auto.

Maps: 8 of 10

The Multiplayer portion of this game can feel overwhelming at first.  Anyone who has spent the last four months smothered in Call of Duty: Black Ops may perceive the notion of 32 player matches as chaos, but this is not 32 people trapped in a box. The team that crafted these maps kept the larger player count in mind and crafted some very interesting rural and suburban warzones. Every map has a great feel. There are very few “flat” maps, with many level variants like overpasses, hills, and even multiple playable areas on building exterior sections and roofs. Players have to look more than just right and left on the vertical maps, which adds the excitement. Buildings and other environments are well detailed, and most have multiple entry and exit points (more than the front & back door), which makes defending objectives much more difficult. The one thing I wish was included was destructible environments, but it’s not even close to a deal breaker for me.

Visuals: 7.5 of 1

The graphics are (now watch at least 10 people’s head explode when this sentence ends) comparable or even better then Black Ops. The use of the Phys X Physics engine combined with whatever mutated form of Unreal tech they got their hands on has made a game that looks very good, and feels very good.

Weapons: 8.5 of 10

Ah, weapons. We all know how important they are, I mean, you gotta kill the other guy, right? Well, the weapons in this game are fantastic. Anyone picking this title up who has played any recent military FPS will already have a level of familiarity with most of the rifles, but additions like a SCAR-H with the drum magazine make for some nice changes. There are only two LMG’s, two SMGS, two Sniper rifles, and six assault rifles. The limited amount of weapons would drive me nuts normally, but rifles are only one part of the player’s armory. The purchase slots are an equal part of this equation. Weapons like the RPG launcher, Hellfire missile, and machine gun drone dubbed The Wolverine are among some of the coolest weapons I’ve seen in a video game. These weapons can be a game changer when Timmy gets too close. The choices allow you to play your way, but if you want to win you need to coordinate these tools with communication and team work to be truly effective.

Battle points: 9 of 10

Homefornt uses an experience points system for buying upgrades.  Homefront calls them Battle Points and they make it fun. I know this because without these points, all the cool tools they give you to take out people, and tanks, and bears (not really bears, that would suck) could not be purchased.  They can even be spent mid-battle. Battle Points provide balance in the game. It gives everyone a chance to excel; even the guy on the death streak (free points). But when you combine your points and tactics (like buying upgrades mid-battle) with teammates, it allows for all sorts of interesting scenarios, such as a mad vehicle rush, or multiple hellfire attacks on an objective. There is an ebb and flow to this game which is most prevalent when the BP system is used to full effect.

Playability: 10 of 10

The most important part of any game is how it plays. If it looks good and plays bad, you will probably slap come sweet yellow paint on it and hope no one notices yellow. While there are some recent games that I felt this way about Homefront is NOT one of them. The game play is super tight. All the controls are very intuitive, and the learning curve for me was almost zero as it uses the same button configuration as the COD series. The D-pad up & down allow you to access your chosen purchase slots and the rest is a simple as it gets. When shooting, the recoil is noticeable, but feels more authentic than other shooters, allowing for burst fire that results in extreme accuracy. It is not uncommon to get long range kills with an assault rifle, as the hit detection is the best I’ve seen in any shooter, and the accuracy is rock solid.

Dedicated Servers: Winning!

Gotta love ‘em. Eliminate the ability to lag switch, send Timmy and his mom’s fiber optic connection packing. This title puts everyone on a level playing field. A must have for any FPS going forward.  In my opinion it should be the standard for competitive gaming. There is no rating on this as it is just too awesome to rate. If I had to rate the use of dedicated servers, it would be BACON.

Overall: 8.5 of 10

Ifeel this game is one of the better first person shooters available. The amount of and quality of the unlocks are excellent, and the game play is some of the best I’ve ever had in my hands. Anyone looking for a shooter that REQUIRES teamwork, creativity, and a cut throat mentality should give Homefront a go. Anyone looking for the next Call of Duty should not apply; this is not COD, the only comparisons being the control scheme and the genre.

Homefront excels in many areas: BP, vehicles, and Maps are all in the top of their class.  I take away points for the graphics not being photo realistic, but understand why, due to the size of the maps. I also took points for the limited amount of weapons available at launch, but there is a DLC section in the load outs menu, so more “could” be on the way.

Note: At the time of writing, the servers were down for this game, not allowing for me to check into the Battle Commander mode.