15 - Homefront [AT][CH][DE] (PlayStation 3)https://vgcollect.com/item/288665Hardware: PlayStation 3 fat
Playtime: about 30 hoursI initially played
Homefront shortly after it's release in 2011, but quickly abandonned it in favour of
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which got me sucked in for quite a few years … now in 2025 - a good 14 years have passed - and after finally re-achieveing a functioning PS3, I attempt to "dig at the roots" of my PSN trophy-tree, starting with this title.
NOTE: since the online-server has long been shut down, I'll focus this review solely on the single player campaign.Homefront is a first-person-shooter that was developed by KAOS Studios. This division of THQ was founded in february 2006 by former Trauma Studios Inc. employees. The only other game I found information of, that KAOS Studios was responsible for developing was
Frontlines: Fuel of War (xbox & PC, 2008). This division appears to have been closed by THQ in june 2011, which actually was about 3 months after
Homefront was released in march 15th 2011 by THQ Entertainment in Switzerland, Austria and Germany, where I purchased and played it.
This game praises itself with an intruiging background-story written by US author John Frederick Milius, who was also involved in the scripts of cinema blockbusters such as "Red Dawn" or "Apocalypse Now". The story is mostly settled in Montrose, Colorado in the year 2027: after North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il's death in 2011, his son Kim Jong-un went on reunifying the two Korean countries into one - The Greater Korean Republic, which soon began to strenghten it's influence in asia and the whole globe, resulting in an attack on the USA. In 2027 almost half of the north american continent is occupied by the Korean People's Army (KPA), with the highly radiated Mississipi acting as a radioactive border between the communist occupier's forces and the remains of an almost defeated and scattered US Military, supported by local resistance groups. You as the player assume the role of helicopter pilot Robert Jacobs who ends up joining such a resistance group, urging to fight of the Korean oppressors. In all those years between me playing
Homefront the first time, and now that I've finally played through the whole campaign, I kept this unique plot in good memory, and even 14 years after it's release, this weird distopy captivates me and kept me hooked to this game the past few days. The US being occupied by a villain state type of enemy like (North-)Korea, with everything cruel that comes with it, is illustrated in a highly cineastic and therefor spine-chilling manner, truely bearing the handwriting of John Milius, who already shocked audiences with terrifying anti-war scenes. The story in
Homefront really is something very special and imo kind of a gem in it's genre.
Besides that,
Homefront is technicaly a very basic first-person-shooter of it's era, but with a very sophisticated ballistic engine for it's time. Or at least it felt like that back in the day. Maybe that's the reason why it play's itself a bit like
Battlefield Bad Company 2 or
Battlefield 3 - nevertheless it's still enjoyable today. Missions themselves are all linear but already with a ton of cinematic sequences spread througout them, enough but not too many vehicle-missions to not get you annoyed and an acceptable armory of different guns and gun-configurations to satisfy your local NRA-guy (like Author John Milius, by the way).
It's really difficult to assess 2011's graphics with 2025's eyes, but honestly? Graphics look amazing to me when I try to put myself back in that time, especially the lighting appears very modern, setting a very realistic atmosphere. I guess I'll have to play more FPS from that year to really be able to compare it to anything…
NOTE: I noticed specifically this game crashing/freezing my console (first Edition 80GB fat lady PS3) repeatedly, which didn't occur playing other games … maybe it's just my copy being faulty, but it tended to freeze entirely, especially after longer sessions or repeated loading/reloading during a session, and mostly in situations, when the game attempted to load another section of the mission or when getting in/out a vehicle. Maybe someone reading this remembers having any similar problems with this game? 
Interestingly, the musical score to
Homefront was composed by the same guy that composed the soundtrack to KAOS Studios' other development
Frontlines: Fuel of War - Matthew Harwood from Sumthing Else Music Works. Most of the time, the music kinda whobbles in the background of your fighting action with only a few elements of significance, like in any semi-good action-movie. Only the piece in the last mission felt a bit more present and pompous. I don't expect much of a FPS's music, so that's all just fine with me on that part. Normally, music is the part of a game I love to adress most, especially when reviewing 8- to 64-bit era games … somehow in a war-like scenario, most music seems out-of-place and unrealistic, and there are only a few great examples of how the soundtrack can elevate the experience in such games, like for example in Halo: Combat Evolved.
Homefront's soundtrack succeeds in setting the atmosphere fitting to the scenery and action, but it certainly isn't any type of gaming soundtrack you'll find yourself searching for on YouTube.
Although I'm sad that it's impossible to get the platinum trophy with the servers down, I really enjoyed revisiting this game after 14 years and it aged well, I must say. It's great for a quick playthrough with an interesting story and challenging difficulty. So give this game a chance and try it out.
Another game finished … on to the next one
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so I'm still looking for a good source for labels to print out by myself. Idealy with the same simple layout as the original ones (and that's where it get's kinda hard online: most labels I found are just pictures... I need lines to write/type on).
and the controllers look like they really suck ergonomicaly. I like such curiosities in my gaming room...