Homefront Single-Player Hands-On Impressions

It's a simple enough premise. You wake up in a room. The surroundings are familiar, but an alien undertone hangs thickly in the air. Sparsely decorated walls are adorned with dirty washing and a torn American flag, while dim shafts of light bore into the space. As the dust particles dance in the sun, our character moves towards the window. Stained, cracked plaster covers the ceiling and meets the long forgotten floorboards. A tattered blue tarpaulin covers once gaping wounds in the building's side, a Band-Aid for a fiercely fought but unseen conflict. Welcome to the new America.

We're not given long to take in the sights of the neighbourhood because we're interrupted mid-thought by an authoritative bang on the front door. The clearly agitated men on the other side don't pounce until we approach the door, but when they do, they bust through ferociously. The move brings us face-to-face with two armed men flanking a commanding officer complete with beret, flak jacket, and scowling disposition. The foremost image is one of the guards, eyes dark and focused and the history of battle etched in the furrow of the skin visible through gaps in his balaclava. We're interrogated briefly, but these boys aren't here to play. We're struck with the butt of a rifle and thrown down a nearby stairwell.

Coming to, our vision blurs and tears, disorienting the visuals as we're hauled along the street towards a waiting yellow school bus resurrected as prisoner transport. The few civilians around us brave or stupid enough to fight or give their captors lip are quickly returned to submission, forcefully knocked to the ground and ordered not to speak.

Secured into a window seat on the bus (score, we got a view!) our ride begins. We're physically restrained, unable to jostle around, but able to crane our neck to watch the atrocities happening around us. Men and women are lined up against walls on their knees awaiting execution, arms folded behind their heads. One soldier aims his weapon at a victim, while another holds him down to fit his head with a cloth bag.

A couple struggles to hold onto each other as their hands are ripped from each other by their armed attackers. Kicking and screaming, the woman is corralled in with the rest of the human cattle. Further ahead, no context is given as a man is bludgeoned to death. A young child is forced to watch as his parents are shot against a wall like trapped animals. We roll past a mass grave as limp corpses are tossed in. One prisoner attempts to escape, but makes it mere steps before being gunned down, brain, blood, and bits of skull splattering unceremoniously against the bus window and slowly streaking as the crimson meanders down the glass as we continue on our fateful trip.

It's a horrific and brutal introduction, and even before you've taken control of your character, Homefront puts you on the backfoot as you're led to what you might assume is your own certain death. Of course, this can't be the end of the ride, and like other on-rails introductions, such as the ones in the original Half-Life and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, this is designed to set the trapped and powerless tone. The game's developer, Kaos Studios, maintains that its aim is not to make nasty, tasteless content, but rather to realistically depict the real cost of war.

As the world sails by, a voice from the seat in front of us fills in some of the blanks. He asks if we're a pilot too, speaking in hushed tones and reassuring us that everything is under control. Moments later as we round a bend in the road, a truck rams our bus at speed, T-boning us and plunging our vision back into darkness. As our vehicle lies flipped upside down, a stranger in military fatigues enters, stepping over broken glass and stabbing a downed Korean People's Army (KPA) soldier who survived the impact.

Introductions aren't high on the priority list as we're hurried out of the trashed vehicle, given a handgun, and directed through a nearby back alley. As we kick down doors, it's not long before we're upgrading to something a little more powerful and get our hands on a PWS Diablo assault rifle. Gunplay feels tight and precise, and it needs to be. Our guide explains that this isn't a "spray and pray" first-person shooter, with limited available ammunition fostering the need to conserve by firing in short, controlled bursts to survive. Supplies can be salvaged from the fallen, but we also found ourselves swapping our loadout based on availability to continue the fight.

It's explained that the resistance group we've fallen in with is primarily civilian rather than field-hardened dogs of war, and while we only briefly saw glimmers of it during our play, we're hopeful that this element, combined with the distinct personalities of our squadmates, will be played up to significant effect, pitting (virtual) real people against unfamiliar and uncomfortable situations with human outcomes.

Our fight rolls on, spilling into a petrol station, and we use the surrounding buildings as cover while we're swamped by waves of KPA. We're given an introduction to the hand grenade, a vital tool in the battle against groups of targets. Cooking it in our hand, we toss it out into the huddled groups who are returning fire and using giant sacks filled with what could have been either sand or grain for cover. The plumes of volumetric smoke that erupt during detonation are beautiful to watch, accentuated by a brief flash, though perhaps a little more bark than bite as they appear to have only a small range of effectiveness. Of course, tossing around munitions near gas pumps is a bad idea, and it's not long before the zone is engulfed in flame, licking at the bodies of the adversary stragglers who remain to hold their positions.

We take refuge in a nearby deserted house. Because our loyalty and reliability are questioned by our new friends as if we're not present, there's an edgy mood of uncertainty--not that they may turn on us, but that troops could be silently perched nearby and waiting to spring a trap. Back outdoors we make the short climb into a tree house and find more of the victims of war: the spoiled innocence of an abandoned children's toy, dirty and forgotten, and scattered family photos. The field of view widens greatly, presenting the spanning vista of a downed commercial airliner and amassing troops.

Our elevated position makes us a visible target, and it's not long before we're spotted and sent a welcoming gift of an RPG. Jumping to safety, we engage in another shoot-out, squatting behind cement road barriers, burnt-out cars, and airplane meal trolleys. Gunshots even at close range can take several bullets to drop a target, but a melee strike with our blade proved to be fast and efficient.

Zigzagging through a destroyed yard we come face-to-face with our first real challenge, a tank. Our submachine guns are about as useful as hurtful words against its thick armoured plating, and we scramble to find safety. Flanking its fire, we drag ourselves onto a roof and locate a conveniently placed weapons cache complete with C4 satchels and detonators. Tossing a few out a window overlooking its cabin, we press the button and watch the world go boom.

Our path continues along, snaking through alleys and backyards until we reach a survivor commune. Conversation is curt and heated, suggesting we may have led the KPA directly to the safe haven. Their fears are confirmed as trucks and armed forces descend on the location, pinning us down inside a home and leaving us to return fire through holes in the garage door and out windows. Gas canisters tossed into our hideout billow their toxic smoke, and we're forced to evacuate through one of the building's side doors. Like the nomadic existence of the survivors caught in this future-day war, combat seldom sits still in one place for long, moving the battlefield rather than bogging down in ranged gun combat.

Our final encounter leads us to a nearby resistance stronghold that is also under attack. On arrival, we're presented with a wounded comrade sprawled in a pool of his own blood. Rather than lend a hand and roll out the welcome wagon to the enemy, we're ordered to pick up and take control of Goliath, an unmanned armoured vehicle laden with guns. Tapping the D pad brings up a scope view that automatically detects attackable targets. The engines roar as Goliath bursts through a wall, screeching its six tyres and peppering infantry with bullets and launching volleys of rockets at rival tanks and personnel carriers. Goliath won't be available throughout the game, but its sheer firepower and the fact that you don't have to make sure each round counts are refreshing and can quickly turn the tide of battle.

Keeping a bit of distance in combat isn't exclusive to the resistance, and as we scorch the earth and kill the invaders, an enemy drone jet circles overhead. The craft eventually makes a bombing run on our position, knocking us over in the wake of a devastating explosion and fading to black--which we were starting to get used to.

Whether Homefront will be embraced or shunned for bringing the war out of a fictitious setting and into the suburban neighbourhood in such a graphic way remains to be seen. Regardless, from our first hands-on with the single-player campaign, we're eager to pick up the gun again and fight for freedom. The game hasn't received a firm shipping date, but expect to see it shooting up the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC sometime in 2011.