Homefront: The Revolution (Xbox One) Review

Homefront: The Revolution is late for the party, and arrived underdressed. It is bad in a systemic way, with hard freezes that lock the game for two seconds each time that it auto-saves, and when it's not frustrating with technical shortcomings, it's asking players to retread ground that has been covered hundreds of times. It's hard to piece together what the grand vision for the game might have been, but the developmental disarray reflects into the product, resulting in a game with all the luxury of a jailhouse blanket.

Aside from the awkwardly stilted CGs and bizarre mannerisms of NPCs (seemingly due to a manager suggesting, "Make them look realistic," while someone heard it as, "Make them move constantly"), atmosphere is the one thing that is really strong here. The setting will cause more than a few eye-rolling groans, mostly because "North Korea" is obviously supposed to be China, but Deep Silver didn't want to ruffle anyone's feathers. The plot deals with the conquest of the United States by the relatively small nation on that Asian peninsula, and no amount of wilfully suspending disbelief can overcome that laughable concept. Substitute "China" instead of "North Korea," and it becomes a lot easier to enjoy.

One criticism levelled against Final Fantasy is that it translates into a series of mostly-meaningless quests that pretend to be a string of breadcrumbs leading to a larger plot, but this criticism is far more appropriate for the travesty on offer here. It's Batman: Arkham City with guns and a first-person view, except its story is stretched far past the point of incredulity (yes, compared to a billionaire wearing tights to fight evil), and it isn't fun.

This isn't to say that the entire experience is bad, though. The action is competent, as far as shooters go, and there are moments when Homefront: The Revolution is rather playable. There are even a few where it becomes enjoyable, but it never stops being obvious that this product was only finished and released so that the previous work didn't go to waste. Repetitive gameplay is interrupted by occasionally good dialogue segments that aim at the lofty goal of pondering the difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter, but it's not worth digging through the droll quests and uninspired combat systems to get to.