Homefront: The Revolution
Overview -
'Homefront' was released in 2011 by Kaos Studios and THQ. Kaos as a company did not survive the dissolution of THQ, and the intellectual property was purchased at auction by Crytek. Crytek charged their UK office, formerly known as Free Radical Design, with the creation of a 'Homefront' sequel. Sadly, Crytek UK was also axed and the studio was purchased lock, stock, and barrel by Deep Silver. Now known as Dambuster Studios, the Crytek UK people have finally finished 'Homefront: Revolution'.
Video Review
'Homefront: Revolution' makes use of the capable CryEngine, but any advances in the visuals are offset by the choppy performance and long load times. Stutters are frequent and tedious, most notably when autosaving but also for just about any other occasion. Bugs of all stripes rear their ugly heads during gameplay, like oddly animated characters, weapon models not loading in, late pop-in, and so forth. The gun customization system is a bright spot. It streamlines the bulky arsenals of other shooters into a modular setup where barrels, scopes, and other attachments can be swapped around on the fly.
Audio Review
For the most part the sound in 'Homefront: Revolution' is serviceable, and not much more than that. The voice acting is sometimes overdone and there are syncing issues with the character models. The propaganda broadcasts from both sides are great, however.
Final Thoughts
I could see myself enjoying 'Homefront: Revolution' briefly in a few years when I’ve managed to get through everything else in my backlog, itself a tall order. It has an adequate but not quite good campaign, easily skippable co-op, and some serious engine problems. It’s your thoroughly average shooter, in a nutshell.