Homefront: The Revolution

Homefront: The Revolution
Developer(s)	Dambuster Studios
Publisher(s)	Deep Silver
Director(s)	Hasit Zala
Engine	CryEngine
Platforms	Microsoft Windows PlayStation 4 Xbox One Linux OS X
Release date(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One NA 17 May 2016 EU 20 May 2016 OS X, Linux TBA 2016
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Homefront: The Revolution is an open world first-person shooter video game developed by Dambuster Studios and published by Deep Silver for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, with Linux and OS X releases to follow. It is the sequel to Homefront.

Homefront: The Revolution takes place in 2029 in an alternate timeline, following the protagonist Ethan Brady as he stages a resistance movement against the army of a North Korean occupation in the city of Philadelphia.

Gameplay

As opposed to the original game, Homefront: The Revolution is an open-world type game with many districts to explore. The player can scavenge for supplies to modify weapons and equipment. The KPA's weapons are all fingerprint-locked and as such they have a sizeable advantage over the resistance. There are side missions where the player will be called off to carry out tasks like assassinating a high-ranking KPA general or steal a KPA drone. Another new feature introduced is the enhanced ability to modify weapons such as adding a fore-grip or a sight in the middle of a firefight or to convert a rifle to a Light Machine Gun and vice-versa. Philadelphia is split into three districts. The Green Zone is the affluent area where at the center of the city the KPA is at its strongest, they are also where the invaders are at their most comfortable: they have running water, a stable power supply, and their fortifications make green zones one of the safest places in the city.

The second district is the Yellow Zone, which is the ghetto area where most of the population live. Patrols happen frequently and it is very difficult for the rebels to navigate. The cluttered city streets are awash with patrols, scanner drones, and ever-watching cameras. Power and water are intermittent and overpopulation has forced people into slum-like tent cities. The Red Zone is the bombed-out suburban area of Philadelphia that is full of ruins and rubble; it is also where the resistance is at its strongest. While the KPA presence is still heavy, players will run into resistance troops, weapon caches, and traps set up to take out enemy patrols. The landscape is barren, though. Heavy shelling and frequent street battles have left most the buildings in rubble and there is a constant haze of brick dust. It is the Forbidden Zone, so if the KPA catch anyone out there, they will shoot on sight — and call in back-up.

Unlike the first Homefront, which features a competitive multiplayer mode, The Revolution features a four-player cooperative multiplayer mode. This mode, known as the "Resistance" mode, is separated from the main campaign and has its own characters, progression, classes and perks. Dambuster Studios promised that this mode would have a difficulty level that is similar to the Dark Souls games.

Plot

Setting and Backstory

Homefront: The Revolution is not a continuation of the original Homefront, but rather a re-imaging of the premise. The story takes place in an alternate history setting in which the digital revolution of the 1970s took place in North Korea's "Silicon River" (Ryesong River in our timeline) rather than the "Silicon Valley" of Northern California. As a result, the capitalist, nation of North Korea has become the most powerful and influential nation on Earth, controlled by the APEX Corporation and led by a Steve Jobs-like figure named Joe Tae-Se. The United States, meanwhile, after years of multiple conflicts in the Middle East, resulting in a massive war debt from purchasing weapons technology from APEX and severe economic recessions. In 2025, the United States' economy collapses resulting from the wars forces the United States to default on their debt to North Korea, Joe Tae-Se's son, John Tae-Se, (with the approval of the international community) uses this as a pretext to invade and occupy the country, using a backdoor installed in all APEX technology to shut down the United States military. Although initially presented as an international humanitarian effort to restore stability to the United States after the economic collapse, the Koreans proceed to strip mine the country for its natural resources to repay the debt, and proceed to brutalize the populace in response to a national resistance movement against the occupation. The game takes place in Philadelphia in 2029, four years into the occupation. The new Philadelphia is a heavily policed and oppressed environment, with civilians living in fear as the Korean People's Army patrol multiple districts in the city, aided by American collaborators led by Mayor Simpson.

Story

The game follows Ethan Brady, a new Resistance member whose Resistance cell is expecting a visit from Benjamin Walker, "The Voice of Freedom" and leader of the national Resistance against the KPA occupation. Brady's cell is attacked in a KPA raid, and every member of the cell except for Brady are tortured to death by the KPA. Walker arrives, saving Brady and killing the KPA, but ends up wounded in the fight. Brady leaves to make contact with another Resistance cell, but while he's gone the KPA raid Walker's safehouse and capture him. Brady attempts to rendezvous with the new cell, but is mistaken for a Korean spy, beaten unconscious, and nearly tortured by the Resistance, being saved at the last moment when his identity is established. Brady joins the new Resistance cell led by the big-hearted, blue-collar Jack Parrish, whose field commander is volatile, ruthless former criminal Dana Moore. Two other key figures in the cell are Dr. Sam Burnett, a pacifist medical doctor who believes in nonviolent resistance but works with the Resistance anyway in order to treat the victims of the KPA's brutality, and Robert Crawford, a Resistance spy within the KPA ranks operating as one of the KPA's American collaborators. The Resistance's primary focus is finding Ben Walker and rescuing him.

Brady is sent to work for Ned Sharpe, the Resistance's armorer. However, the armory is raided by KPA forces, during which Ned is killed and the Resistance's weapons stockpile destroyed by a Goliath robot. Brady succeeds in destroying the Goliath and stealing its robot brain, and Parrish comes up with a plan to reprogram the brain and use it to take control of a Goliath, with which the Resistance can break into Independence Hall where Walker is being put on trial by the KPA. Resistance technician Heather Cortez successfully reprograms the robot brain, while Parrish and Brady steal a Goliath from the KPA. However, the Goliath is sabotaged by a mole within the Resistance, ruining the plan to break into Independence Hall.

Crawford comes up with an alternate plan, in which he will pretend to capture Brady so he will be taken inside Independence Hall for the trial, at which point Brady can break free with Crawford's help and disable the Hall's defenses from inside. The plan seems to work, and the Resistance storms into Independence Hall, only to discover there is no trial occurring and the courtroom is actually a sealed trap. Mayor Simpson appears on a video projector to show that Crawford has betrayed the Resistance, and also that the KPA have mentally broken Ben Walker, who gives a national speech calling for the Resistance to surrender. The Resistance manages to escape the trap thanks to Heather storming the Hall with the repaired Goliath, but in the resulting fight Heather is killed and the Goliath destroyed. The KPA proceeds to launch retaliatory strikes against all Resistance outposts in Philadelphia, resulting in the Resistance's near collapse.

Although initially heavily demoralized, Parrish and Moore come up with a final last-ditch plan to storm City Hall and capture Mayor Simpson so he can be forced to read a message denouncing the KPA occupation on national TV, just like Walker was forced to denounce the Resistance. Moore sends Brady to release the criminals and killers from the KPA's prison zone to help provide the firepower needed to storm City Hall. The attack on City Hall succeeds, however Mayor Simpson refuses to read the message given to him, stating that the KPA will kill everyone in Philadelphia with nerve gas if they feel they are losing control of the city, claiming that they have secretly already done so with Boston and Pittsburgh. Moore loses control and executes Simpson on live TV in retaliation for Simpson's sexual abuse of her while she was his prisoner. In desperation, Parrish gives a speech urging the American people to rise up against the KPA. Despite lacking Ben Walker's eloquence, Parrish's heartfelt speech succeeds in spurring the people of Philadelphia to rebel.

Parrish, Moore, and Brady celebrate their success, but are interrupted by a disgusted Dr. Burnett, who informs them that the KPA are gassing the city, just as Mayor Simpson warned would happen. Feeling that violence has only provoked mass murder, Burnett abandons the Resistance and goes to try to help evacuate the city. Parrish, Moore, and Brady attempt to use the Resistance's captured Surface-to-Air missile launchers to shoot down the airships deploying the nerve gas, only to find that the airships are protected by a swarm of automated drones. Parrish and Brady go to confront Crawford, hoping he knows how to shut down the drone defenses. A frightened Crawford claims the KPA discovered his status as a double agent and forced him to betray the Resistance, and tells Parrish how to shut down the drones in exchange for protection. A disgusted Parrish instead abandons Crawford, leaving it up to Brady to decide whether to spare the traitor or execute him.

With only a few minutes left until the airships gas the city, Parrish, Moore, and Brady storm Independence Hall where the drone control station is located, only to be stopped by a Goliath. Parrish is shot several times, while Moore grabs an explosive pack and sacrifices herself in order to suicide bomb the Goliath and destroy it. An injured Brady makes a final push to the drone control station, but is overpowered and nearly choked unconscious by a KPA officer before he can deactivate the drones. However, Parrish overcomes his injures long enough to arrive to kill the KPA officer and save Brady, who sends the signal to shut down the drones. This allows the Resistance to shoot down the KPA airships before they can gas most of the city. Brady helps support the wounded Parrish, the two of them walk outside to watch the airships being shot down, with Parrish declaring that the revolution has begun.

Development

Despite the mixed reviews received by Homefront, THQ confirmed that a sequel to Homefront was in development. The developer of the previous installment, Kaos Studios, was closed by THQ in June 2011 as part of a corporate re-organization; while THQ originally stated that future work on the franchise would be assumed by THQ's Montreal studio, it was later announced that the game would be developed by Crytek UK instead. The fate of the game was left unclear, however, after THQ filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2012. THQ would, in January 2013, begin the process of selling its assets and intellectual properties at auction. Crytek would acquire the rights to the franchise for US$544,218. Along with its official title, Homefront: The Revolution, and a projected release in 2015, it was also announced in June 2014 at E3 that Deep Silver (who had also acquired properties from THQ in the bankruptcy auction) would co-publish the game with Crytek.

Crytek designer Fasahat Salim commented that "when Crytek acquired the IP, all of a sudden we had the freedom to take this game wherever we wanted"; under the auspices of THQ, the game was designed with a linear format. Under Crytek's involvement, the game was changed to use an open world structure. The Revolution is set in Philadelphia; Salim noted the city is a more recognizable and relatable location than the small, Western city of Montrose, Colorado used as the setting of Homefront, but that players will still be able to tell that something is not right, giving it an "alien" feeling. Actions taken by the player between missions (such as disrupting the acts of the KPA and/or killing its members) will increase the prominence of resistance activities in the city, which can be used to distract enemies. Events will occur across the city throughout the game, concurrently with story missions; Salim explained that "if you're in the middle of a mission and all of a sudden you find yourself in a heated skirmish between the resistance and the KPA, that's just ... happening. You can join that if you want to, or you can use that to your advantage."

Development of the game was affected by financial issues at Crytek; in June 2014, reports surfaced that the company had missed wage payments and withheld bonuses for Crytek UK staff members, and that as a result, a number of employees had filed grievances and refused to report to work, and a number of employees—including Homefront director Hasit Zala, had left the company entirely. After denying that there were issues, Crytek later admitted on 25 July 2014 that it was in a "transitional phase" as it secured capital for future projects, with a particular focus on online gaming.

On 30 July 2014, Crytek announced that due to an internal restructuring, it would sell the Homefront intellectual property to Koch Media, parent company of Deep Silver. Development duties for Homefront: The Revolution were assumed by the newly formed Dambuster Studios in Nottingham; to comply with British business transfer law, all Crytek UK employees were transferred to this new subsidiary. On the acquisition, Koch Media's CEO Klemens Kundratitz stated that the company "strongly [believes] in the potential of Homefront: The Revolution and trust in the new team to continue the path they have been walking in the last years." Hasit Zala was also brought on to lead the studio.

On 12 March 2015, Deep Silver announced that Homefront: The Revolution had been delayed into 2016, to ensure that the development staff would have "every opportunity to turn [it] into a best-selling title." At Gamescom 2015, the game's multiplayer beta was announced. It would be released for the Xbox One in late 2015. A closed beta for the game is set to be released for the Xbox One in February 2016.

The game will be supported by downloadable content upon launch. Dambuster Studios would release mission packs for the cooperative multiplayer, with the first set of missions to be released a month after the game's launch. The development team would also release two single-player DLC, titled The Voice of Freedom and Aftermath, in 2016, and an expansion, titled Beyond The Walls, in 2017.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score Metacritic Review scores Publication Score GameSpot 5/10 Giant Bomb IGN 5/10 PC Gamer (US) 59/100 Polygon 6/10 VideoGamer.com 6/10

Homefront: The Revolution received "mixed to average" reviews, according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. The game was praised for its world design and gunplay but heavily criticized for performance issues and being generic.

External links

• Official website