Homefront is gearing up for launch in South Africa tomorrow (18 March 2011) and MyGaming was afforded the opportunity to get some hands-on preview time with game courtesy of Ster Kinekor.
Homefront was developed by Kaos Studios with their PC development partner being Digital Extremes. The game was published by THQ, and they promise a fresh new story-driven IP with an immersive FPS single player campaign rounded out with a vigourous multiplayer component.
The script for Homefront was written by John Milus of Apocalypse Now and Red Dawn fame. The game tells the story of a near-future, post-peak oil, speculative fiction in which between the years of 2011 and 2027, the American empire is in decline, compounded by political wrangling in the middle east and a resultant fuel shortage. Meanwhile North Korea has radicalised and unified with South Korea to form the Greater Korean Republic (GKR).
The GKR annexes through force a vast area of South-east Asia. They finally turn their sights to America, detonating a nuclear device above Kansas, the EMP shock of which wipes out American power and communications infrastructure. During the confusion the GKR invades Hawaii, San Francisco and the mid-west United States. Economic chaos in Europe prevents retaliation from those nations. By irradiating the Mississippi river, America is effectively split in two, with the GKR in control of the western side of the country.
In the midst of the Korean occupation, the player finds themselves cast into the role of Robert Jacobs, a helicopter pilot, who wakes up in his house in Colorado only to be roughly escorted by the GKR to a bus waiting outside. The bus is to take prisoners to a re-education centre in Alaska. As the bus departs, the player is afforded a view of the brutal oppression civilians are suffering at the hands of the occupation forces.
Kaos Studios doesn’t pull any punches here and there are a number of impactful attempts to develop the human element of the story and give the player motivation for fighting back. With the setting established it isn’t long before the player is busted free by the American resistance fighters.
The single player campaign follows a cinematic and character driven story experience of the fighters’ struggles against the occupation forces. Obviously it would be a disservice to reveal any more of the plot, which is certainly an attractive part of the game.
Despite the gritty nature of the story, the visuals remain colourful, with good attention paid to the various details that make for a convincing depiction of a war ravaged suburban America. Players will find themselves taking on an interesting array of enemies and vehicles, and being in control of a few themselves. The gunplay was convincing enough during our time with the game, though it didn’t break the mould on FPS mechanics.
Our taste of Homefront was tantalising, and MyGaming is looking forward to settling in with some serious single-player time, and the appealing multiplayer when the game launches.
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