I was quite intrigued by Homefront when it first came a decade a go. The idea of North Korea taking over and occupying the United States is completely ridiculous but its a "fun" concept that is set up to potentially tell an original story. I remember when the game released I wasn't impressed by it mediocre review scores but I was intrigued after hearing it discussed on G4's Feedback. There was no way I was paying $60 way back then but at today's more reasonable price of a mere $4 I figured I finally had a good excuse try out the campaign. I'm not quite sure what I expected but if I can say one thing Homefront definitely delivered a very unique experience.
Homefront starts with the Koreans barging into your home and tossing you around like a discarded piece of trash. It seems your fate is to be shipped off to a workers camp when you're suddenly saved by a local band of resistance fighters. This resistance group has a plan to steal supplies from the Koreans and give them to the remains of the US military. The resistance has actually built up their own nice little hidden community but all your inference with Korean efforts puts said place and your neighbors in jeopardy. When all hope is lost, and your former leader is missing in action, it is up to you to try to see the mission through to the end.
The Koreans depicted in Homefront are brutal, even going as far as shooting two parents in front of their kid. The real twist is how cruel even some of your fellow Americans are. In the game you visit this small white-washed community that is torturing the Koreans. Strangely enough, at from a visual stand point, the Koreans depicted here have quite a dark skin tone setting up an image of racism and slavery. Another scene sees your own resistance fighters using chemical weapons which leads to you watching burning soldiers running and screaming to their graves. If all this isn't twisted enough know you may end up cozied up in piles of corpses at some point.
Combat in this game feels quite good for the most part. Their isn't any way to lock into cover so you'll have to peak around corners while bobbing in and out of cover as to not take too much damage. The gunplay is quite enjoyable and each of the different weapons feels fairly unique. The level design is fairly well done especially in the sense of progression each chapter flows one into another. I want to say that the visuals were quite impressive. Not necessarily from a fidelity perspective but the density of little details really helped bring the locations to life and add a sense of realism. I especially liked in the beginning of the game when you're running through the suburbs which I honestly think still looks good by today's standards.
For better for for worst Homefront isn't a particularly long game, yet I'm still not entirely sure it is worth taking the journey. All the questionable decisions and lack of morals featured in this Homefront definitely brings back memories of playing games like Spec Ops The Line. However Spec Ops was way more polished and I think asked some deeper questions. Homefront is so over the top in all elements of it's plot it is hard to take any of it seriously. The storyline is just so dramatic you really just want to sit back, take yourself out of the experience, and break out a bag of popcorn. All said, it's alright campaign as far as shooters go. Yet in such a crowded genre there are probably better ways to fill the time.