Homefront - Red Dawn inspired FPS

[NiX]

Down to $40 on console 1 day after release... Not good.

Still same price every where I look.

[Rasix]

It's down $20 at on Amazon.

[Mrbloodworth]

There's a scene where a mother and father get executed in front of their 4-5 year old son.  That made me a little too uncomfortable. 

I do believe that was even the point of the read dawn movie, to tickle that place Americans have that "It can't happen here".

[stu]

multiplayer maps with bots

<heresay> I read on the SA thread that bots aren't a part of the game.

The Eurogamer review says there's too much waiting on scripted NPCs & hand-holding in the campaign. I prefer to run free and loose but may pick this up for the MP. Just lots of mediocrity in FPS-land lately. I haven't purchased an FPS since BC2. I'm jonesing for something new and might even pick up Medal of Honor (based on DICE's involvement) since the Killzone 3 demo didn't impress me too much. Bulletstorm looks pretty but didn't have the ::umpf:: to push me over the edge. What's next to release? Crysis 2?

edit: How do those pricing drops work? When THQ's stock dropped 20%, did they give permission to Amazon to drop & publish the new price?

double edit sheeeeeit: Hell, if you can pick this up for $42 today, play it for a few weeks and get a trade-in above $10, that's not a bad deal.

[ffc]

The price drop on Amazon is because Amazon is price matching Walmart's sale price.

Crysis 2 is up next and I tried the PS3 multiplayer demo.  I had no sound, low FPS, and my PS3 locked up after a minute. So I'll be passing on that.

If (when?) Homefront locks up on me I'm going stabby. I fled to consoles to avoid this sort of thing.

[Phire]

I bought both Homefront and Crysis 2 for 20% off at Direct2Drive, does that mean they are both bombs?

[Azazel]

It means that the rest of us want some first-person accounts of them from you!

[Phire]

Only managed to play one single player mission and one round of multiplayer last night.

The single player is your typical CoD, MoH fare but in a more unique setting. It is what it is which means it is neither terrible nor amazing.

The multi-player I definitely have to dig deeper into and maybe even read more about as there seems like there is a lot to it in terms of the battle point system and leveling. Gameplay is very fast with re-spawns being about 2-3 seconds and the weapons felt pretty weighty. I am coming off of playing alot of BC2 so it is a significant change of pace that will take some time getting used.

I will play some more tonight and post more impressions.

[Nightblade]

Most of the reviews I've seen berate the game for having a crappy campaign. While there's no excuse for it, these same reviewers give the CoD games high scores, yet it has the same exact shitty campaign archetype. 

[UnSub]

There's a scene where a mother and father get executed in front of their 4-5 year old son.  That made me a little too uncomfortable. 

I do believe that was even the point of the read dawn movie, to tickle that place Americans have that "It can't happen here".

John Milius was behind "Red Dawn" and also served as a story consultant on Homefront (and despite what the promos say, he didn't write the script, just consulted on it). Milius was also a writer on "Apocalypse Now" and was writer / director on "Conan the Barbarian".

Milius works well as a war nut and high concept guy, but dialogue-wise he's pretty ordinary.

And, for the record, "Red Dawn" was hilarious.

[Azazel]

Most of the reviews I've seen berate the game for having a crappy campaign. While there's no excuse for it, these same reviewers give the CoD games high scores, yet it has the same exact shitty campaign archetype. 

It might also depend on the actual "shooter" execution. I played through COD:WAW recently, and while it was unremarkable as a game, I then followed up with Haze. Playing Haze right after CoD:WAW made WAW's shooter mechanics stand out as simply fucktons better than the crappy mechanics on Haze. This is all aside from weak FPS plots and settings.

[ffc]

Played 4 hours of the campaign which is 3.5 more than I lasted in BC2's campaign. The colorful domestic suburban environments and pseudo-apocalyptic/invasion setting is more interesting than desert snow jungles. And no freezes so far on my PS3.

It's as linear as any other recent shooter, no annoying characters, good voices and standout moments including seeing how Batman is made in the opening sequence and later controlling the Tumbler.   There are no subtle themes here.

There are quirks like bits of story in newspapers strewn about which could have taken a cue from Dead Space on how to present text without breaking immersion, walking super slowly through non-combat areas, seemingly open areas to explore blocked off by a sleeping bag which cannot be jumped, etc.

I'll finish the campaign which I thought would be a throwaway so that's a plus. If you don't expect Homefront to shatter the linear FPS corridor then you'll enjoy the campaign. Hopefully another game will set us free from that particular invasion.

[tgr]

It might also depend on the actual "shooter" execution. I played through COD:WAW recently, and while it was unremarkable as a game, I then followed up with Haze. Playing Haze right after CoD:WAW made WAW's shooter mechanics stand out as simply fucktons better than the crappy mechanics on Haze. This is all aside from weak FPS plots and settings.

Does the level design factor into your impressions of shooter mechanics? Because WaW left me with a strong distaste over its level design and rampant "oh hai thar invisible wall". The AI was pretty in-your-face, though, but the level design pissed me off.

And now for something completely different, sales figures:

Video game maker THQ Inc said it sold 375,000 copies of its new military-themed video "Homefront" on the first day of sales in North America.

"We are delighted with first day sales for 'Homefront' and are already fulfilling re-orders for the game from multiple retailers," Brian Farrell, THQ's chief executive said in a statement.

"It cost significantly less money than 'Call of Duty' and management said it would break even by selling 2 million copies," Mitchell said.

Mitchell estimates the game will sell 1.3 million units this quarter.

I've tried to see how many people they've got employed and working on this game, but either my internet detective skills suck (they do), or they've got 100+ working on it. I don't know how many years the game took to produce, but I assume 2-3 years.

As to the SP length:

Homefront developer Kaos Studios says that it if enough fans complain about the length of the game's single player campaign, it will make sure that it was longer in the sequel. Kaos' general manager David Votypka said there had to be a balance between single and multiplayer, but that it was a balance that could be tweaked.

Personally I would've assumed that if they've got the MP part down as solid, then they could just do a few tweaks there, add a few levels, and just focus more on the SP part.

At the very least they seem to want to improve their product, unlike IW with MW2 where they basically just gave us the finger and laughed all the way to the bank

[LK]

That's more than Bulletstorm.

Bulletstorm, for fuck's sake.

 

[Setanta]

What the HELL do you people have against Patrick swayze?


 

He sold out after The Outsiders. 

Roadhouse, Next of Kin?

[stu]

I'd like to see more top tier FPS's ditch single player campaigns altogether. One of my favorite things about arcade style 1 v 1 games was the feeling that there's was some larger storyline going on in the background and you were just dropping in for the action scenes. If you wanted to pursue it further, you could buy a comic or anime or whatever.

With MP FPS, you can do the same thing. Just look at vanilla TF2. Pure MP and it's great.

[Tebonas]

Agreed, if other FPS's ditch the multiplayer part and concentrate on larger single player campaigns. So us antisocial assholes are happy as well. 

[Jobu]

I've played about an hour. A little bit into the second chapter. The setting and narrative of the game is what piqued my interest awhile back and made me decide to get it when it came out. Now, I haven't played a "modern" shooter in awhile. The last single player one I really got into was HL: Ep 2 so maybe my impressions are a little off.

All I've done is follow groups of guys who tell me exactly what to do, while they do a shitty job of covering me and joining in the firefight. The areas are very restrictive corridors, I found a few places where I couldn't even wander freely around a room so that I was forced to stand nearby while some dudes had a conversation. The controls feel thick and heavy, but I play TF2 almost daily, so...  I guess this is just what Gears of War, Call of Duty, and Medal of Honor have done to the FPS genre these days? I still enjoy it because the setting is pretty interesting. The loading screen scenes are really nice additions to the mood, showing scenes of people getting rounded up from their suburban homes, etc.

[Sky]

I'm also on board with splitting most fps into pure SP or MP. Most I've played it was for one or the other and I never ventured into the half-ass implementations of its opposite.

[WindupAtheist]

Ugh, seriously? Makes little sense? It's fiction.

Yeah, but this is on the level of an evil cigar-chomping Castro looking over the ruins of St. Paul while his Cuban Army legions run rampant across Minnesota. You can't just throw a dart at a map of the world, hit some country where dirt is considered a staple food, and be like "Okay America gets occupied by... Angola!" I mean you can, but it's laughable.

[Azazel]

Does the level design factor into your impressions of shooter mechanics? Because WaW left me with a strong distaste over its level design and rampant "oh hai thar invisible wall". The AI was pretty in-your-face, though, but the level design pissed me off.

I'm talking literally of player control - movement, shooting, button mapping, responsiveness.

Homefront developer Kaos Studios says that it if enough fans complain about the length of the game's single player campaign, it will make sure that it was longer in the sequel. Kaos' general manager David Votypka said there had to be a balance between single and multiplayer, but that it was a balance that could be tweaked.

That's an odd thing to do.

[NiX]

Yeah, but this is on the level of an evil cigar-chomping Castro looking over the ruins of St. Paul while his Cuban Army legions run rampant across Minnesota. You can't just throw a dart at a map of the world, hit some country where dirt is considered a staple food, and be like "Okay America gets occupied by... Angola!" I mean you can, but it's laughable.

Then I'm going to take a wild guess and say you haven't bothered to read the backstory.

[Teleku]

Yeah, but this is on the level of an evil cigar-chomping Castro looking over the ruins of St. Paul while his Cuban Army legions run rampant across Minnesota. You can't just throw a dart at a map of the world, hit some country where dirt is considered a staple food, and be like "Okay America gets occupied by... Angola!" I mean you can, but it's laughable.

Then I'm going to take a wild guess and say you haven't bothered to read the backstory.

Yeah....I read the back story, and its laughably bad as well.  I mean, I understand the angle they are trying to come from.  I read how they justified coming to use this scenario, but that was based on one random poll about popularity of leaders back in 2000.  In 2011, in lieu of incidents over the last decade, thoughts of anything other than NK surrendering to the south to save themselves from the economic collapse is just crazy.  North Korea is the worst possible country in the entire region to portray as starting a New Order in East Asia. 

Japan turning fascist and going ape shit imperialist during a world economic downturn, recreating the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.  Indonesia becoming a fundamentalist Islamic nation, using its large population and army to invade and annex Australia, then using their vast mineral resources, expand north to take most of East Asia.  Communist revolutions sweep the Philippines, they unit with Vietnam/Laos, who then expand and annex much of east Asia.  SOUTH Korea annexing the north, then going crazy fascist and annexing East Asia.  All of these crazy crazy scenarios are still waaaaaay more believable than the "North Korea units east Asia into a single block during world economic downturn" scenario they laid out.  Hell, Singapore would be more believable.  And again, this is ignoring the more obviously believable scenario of China annexing everybody.

I'm all for crazy alternate history scenarios where once friendly countries invade each other to found some sort of new empire.  I love that stuff.  I just can't suspend my belief THAT far.  You have to give me something to work with.

[tgr]

I wouldn't have minded if they'd redone it so it was china, not korea. But oh well.

[ffc]

I enjoyed the campaign corridors because it's a different FPS setting defending a modern domestic suburban environment from an invader, North Korean or otherwise. With that said, I gave up near the end despite thinking I would finish. There's no story arc , just "go kill", which was fine at first but the enemies with x-ray vision and homing bullets wore me out; novel environments can only go so far to make up for tedium.

I also spent time with Homefront's multiplayer. It's not for me since I'm in the BC2 = camp and Homefront falls short on every level.

Things I enjoy in BC2:

• Small squads with an emphasis on teamwork (squad spawning, squad chatting, bonuses for helping squad, etc.)
• Destructible environments
• Rush mode
• Integral vehicles which are fun and unique to drive
• Ways to contribute besides shooting things (spotting, medic, repairs, vehicles, etc.)
• Bullet distance drop

Homefront's bleak void:

• No squads
• No destruction
• Only frequent game mode on PS3 involves team deathmatch
• Vehicles aren't integrated well, and driving them feels like regular infantry movement
• Few ways to contribute besides shooting things (no medic, no repairs, spotting only available on a drone, etc.)
• No bullet distance drop

A touted Homefront feature is the "battle commander" which flags good players with stars like in GTA and reveal the good player's general map location. Other players receive bonus points for killing the good player while the good player gets bonuses for staying alive. I would have liked this in Homefront's rush/conquest combo equivalent, but I never found that mode available, just team deathmatch and "skirmish" which alternates between the two game modes. Team deathmatch = hide on a rooftop, and skirmish is 16 players with peer networking resulting in atrocious lag instead of the (nonexistent PS3) 32 player dedicated server rush/conquest combo games.

All in all, SP was temporarily interesting and Homefront's MP is not as close to BC2 as I would like.

[Azazel]

I wouldn't have minded if they'd redone it so it was china, not korea. But oh well.

You kids are over-analysing it.

We're making Red Dawn: The Game. However, we want to sell it all around the world and not piss off anyone who might be a customer.
Who does nobody particularly like?
Who is used as a bogeyman?
Who won't be yet another Muslim bad guy?

[jakonovski]

I'm pretty sure the original bad guy was China, but then for some reason they felt compelled to find&replace it with North Korea. Which makes for a laughable premiss.

edit: also, RPS really hates the game. http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/03/19/wot-i-think-homefront-single-player/

[tgr]

I kind of wish someone would step up and actually make a game where you actually played as a muslim. It'll never happen, of course, and I wonder if someone wouldn't actually try to arrest the developer of said game for "training terrorists" or some such, but it would be funny just to watch people gnash their teeth.

[UnSub]

I kind of wish someone would step up and actually make a game where you actually played as a muslim.

Who'd play a game where you worked all day in a mobile phone repair shop and then came home to your wife, three sons and sole daughter?

[tgr]

I'm sure they could think of something a bit more exciting than that.

[Sheepherder]

We're making Red Dawn: The Game. However, we want to sell it all around the world and not piss off anyone who might be a customer.

I'm sure the alternate history where China is conquered by North Korea will sell well in China.

[Azazel]

Probably more akin to wanting to avoid "fuck you, THQ". I assume the same reason is pretty much why Russia is the bad guy again in Bad Company 1/2.

[HaemishM]

Ugh, seriously? Makes little sense? It's fiction.

Yeah, but this is on the level of an evil cigar-chomping Castro looking over the ruins of St. Paul while his Cuban Army legions run rampant across Minnesota. You can't just throw a dart at a map of the world, hit some country where dirt is considered a staple food, and be like "Okay America gets occupied by... Angola!" I mean you can, but it's laughable.

Apparently the new Red Dawn remake that finished filming two years ago is being digitally re-edited to have North Korea as the villain state instead of China. 

[Deadguy2322]

Most of the reviews I've seen berate the game for having a crappy campaign. While there's no excuse for it, these same reviewers give the CoD games high scores, yet it has the same exact shitty campaign archetype. 

THq has a lower budget for hookers and blow, and "review events" under constant PR supervision.

[Deadguy2322]

We're making Red Dawn: The Game. However, we want to sell it all around the world and not piss off anyone who might be a customer.

I'm sure the alternate history where China is conquered by North Korea will sell well in China.

The Chinese release has China taking over Korea, then invading the US, as the good guys.