Homefront: The Revolution Reviews

Not the disaster many had anticipated, but also fundamentally flawed.

Despite the laudable patchwork by Dambuster Studios, it still can’t save Homefront: The Revolution from being a disappointing affair

Not quite a sequel to the first; Homefront: The Revolution serves as more of a reboot. The problem is… was anybody asking for one? Now,  I know I sound sour, but when I heard that this game was being made I actually was quite excited.

Homefront: The Revolution has bigger problems than its myriad of technical issues. Sure, the constant freezing of the game to save is jarring, and the game as a whole is largely unpolished, but even when everything works it just isn't captivating in any way. Pass this up.

The more challenging objectives, such as assaulting an enemy stronghold filled with well trained and well equipped soldiers, appear to offer more of a challenge on the surface but more often than not, they don't. You can run straight into the stronghold avoiding all the enemies, turn a wheel and claim it for the Resistance, resulting in all of the enemies disappearing without a trace.

With a story penned by Hollywood director and screenwriter John Milius, the original Homefront was an ambitious military shooter rendered mediocre by technical limitations, dated graphics, and a lack of distinguishing features. A few regime changes later – which include both the series' developer and publisher – and Homefront: The Revolution returns with some novel additions including a unique take on the open-world format and on-the-fly weapon customization. Unfortunately, developer Dambuster Studios failed to slay Homefront's true enemy; an unending litany of glitches, A.I. failings, and performance issues that do indeed differentiate Homefront from other shooters, but for all the wrong reasons.

I experienced a whole bunch of feelings while playing Dambuster Studio’s open world FPS, Homefront: The Revolution.

Homefront: The Revolution has a handful of good ideas, and some of them are actually executed well. But none of that matters when the game constantly runs at 25 FPS (PS4) and the gun controls are truly abysmal. The Revolution is a quasi-reboot to 2011’s Homefront, with developer Deep Silver Dambusters finally shipping out a title that has been handled by several studios. And it shows. Glitches and other performance problems are littered throughout an atmospheric but ugly Philadelphia as you take control of a Resistance fighter pushing back North Korean occupation. The narrative starts with a bit of a logical leap, as the coastal Asian state becomes a tech powerhouse and subsequently ‘turns on’ weapons sold to the US military, thus beginning the start of the revolution.

Homefront: The Revolution could have been something better with its weapon customization and unique environments, but it fails on the technical front.

While full of potential with a robust weapons system, Homefront: The Revolution falters in its execution with widespread technical glitches and repetitive missions that make this one hard to recommend.

It's always buggy in Philadelphia.

I had high expectations from Homefront The Revolution but in the end Deep Silver and Dambuster Studios pushed out a half baked open world shooter that no one will care about in a week or two.

Amber waves of pain.

Despite the shoddy graphics and performance, and a story that could use polish in its execution, Homefront: The Revolution has a solid foundation. It’s challenging and the mission variety in a pseudo open-world game is the best I’ve played in a while. It kept me engaged for its 22 hours. At the end, I felt satisfied. I hope to see another one with a bigger budget behind it.

In an alternate history, Homefront: The Revolution makes up for the shortcomings of its predecessor, building on its Red Dawn inspirations to engaging effect. However, what Homefront: The Revolution actually is and what it aspires to be are never one in the same. The story has some interesting ideas, but the gameplay is reptitive and hardly worth the 15-hour investment. Homefront: The Revolution may be more substantial than its predecessor but it’s no better in terms of quality, which is a shame considering the franchise's potential.

The co-op action can be fun, but the rest of the game is just as dull and miserable as life in occupied America is portrayed.

Though its world has some great aesthetic devices and a cool concept, ultimately all of Homefront: The Revolution’s elements feel repetitive, unpolished, or downright unnecessary. Over the length of its campaign it fails to deliver a satisfying - or even fully functional - shooter experience.