But his words are striking in that they're surely tongue in cheek, because Homefront will be one of those shooters that's firmly in the Call of Duty mould. That is, you'll be lead around like you're on a leash, because there's very little room for manoeuvre.
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| The US military began to use miniaturised choppers and soldiers in the latter stages of the war |
At least, that's what the first few levels we've seen have been like. There's always the chance later levels will see greater freedom for the player to explore the environment, the first few being scene setting and introducing us to the world in which Homefront is set.
The plot, in case you were unaware, sees the North Koreans beginning to dominate the world. Regardless of how far fetched you might think this is, it does tap into the whole invasion narrative that's so popular in the US.
Evoking such televisual classics as Chuck Norris's Invasion USA and the hyper-nationalist Red Dawn. Self-described fascist John Milius, and the creator of Red Dawn, consulted on the story and you'll be able to see his influence right from the start when the ludicrously vicious Korean forces butcher a mother and father in front of their crying child.
However, an interesting potential twist is the way Homefront is reversing the traditional Vietnam roles of the US and their oriental foes. This time, you'll be making your way through US tunnels in the dark. Perhaps it's unintentional, and it would be interesting to see whether such a nationalist as Milius is willing to acknowledge the tactics used by the Vietnamese in the war, praising them by proxy by having the US renegades here adopt very similar ideas.
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| "Hello? Is that the RAC? I think the engine's gone...." |
Moving past the potentially (and perhaps deliberately) inflammatory portrayal of the fiendish Red menace, we'll most likely be seeing a fairly standard trek through thankfully less familiar environs. It's these more interesting settings, like a typical US suburb and the parking lot of a DIY store, that'll be the most appealing thing to shooter veterans, tired of the sandy deserts of the Middle East.
It evokes Half-Life 2 in some ways, with automated sentry turrets that instantly brink back memories of City 17. Indeed, developers Kaos have stated on the record that Valve's seminal game has been an inspiration. It's mostly because of the whole revolutionary forces versus shiny armour-wearing near-future soldiers thing, but also there are similarities in the way the game flows, with less of an emphasis on huge set-piece moments and more on attempting to add a more seamless flow between smaller objectives.
Kaos could still do with addressing a few things, realistically. For instance, it's not going to go down well if the current glitching issues, where if you were to collide with certain characters or bits of scenery, you'd magically be shot a couple of feet into the air. Kind of like there was an auto-vault system in place, where you'd automatically hurdle objects, but one that decides to launch you above your cover into a hail of bullets. It's something that there's still time for Kaos to address.
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| Modern helicopters don't even need pilots to perform effectively, it seems |
There's probably no opportunity to add the ability to lean, which is very noticeable by its absence, although thankfully there's an option you don't see very often lurking in the main menu – a slide to adjust the FOV (field of view).
There's not much else to say in hands-on terms. It feels just like you'd expect a modern shooter, with all sorts of gun fetishism and a solid combat engine. Of most interest is the setting as has been mentioned, and for all the qualms we have about fixable glitches and strict linearity, it's this that we'll carry away from the preview code. Whether they fix the issues we've raised, we can but hope.
