POSTED 27/3/11


HOMEFRONT

THQ
PS3 (also on Xbox 360, PC)

Dateline: 2012. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il does the mortal coil shuffle and his son, Kim Jong-un, assumes power. Haunted by his father’s constant whining about being “so ronery”, he soon unifies North and South Korea.

But that’s not enough! Still unsatisfied with his friend count, ensuing years see a dedicated push. Japan? Taken. Other Asian bits? Gorn. Then one EMP whomp later (that’s not a prog rock band BTW, think big mofo magnetic pulse thingy that fizzles electronics) and the USA is, basically, fucked. The KPA moves in (that’s Korean People’s Army, not what you put into car tyres, or ‘tires’ if you’re a Yank), assumes command and essentially declares it’s their way or the die-way.

There’s resistance, however, and you’re roped in. This follows rather harrowing scenes of mock history through to 2027, penned by Red Dawn scribe John Milius, who also co-wrote Apocalypse Now. The guy’s got chops, and he really deals emotional mess around here. Not only overtly – say, a kid looking on as its parents are shot - but by using real world locations. Suffice to say Harold and Kumar are gonna be super-bummed the next time they crave White Castle.

The setup really is superb, in a possibly-too-close-for-comfort kinda way. Unfortunately, the anorexic single player cover-based first-person shooter that follows is less brawn, more yawn, clocking in at around five hours if you pootle.

Online multiplayer’s better. Two teams of up to 16 can duke it in deathmatches and such, with welcome tweaks like accruing battle points for perks, marking players who are – in NBA Jam parlance - ‘on fire’ and offering super-powerful vehicles to play with. Think Tonka with cojones.

Suffering somewhat from overhype, Homefront delivers for online campaigners, but solo resistance fighters won’t find heaps to “rerate” to...

CLICK THIS!



CLICK THIS!