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At the Electronic Entertainment Expo, I got the chance to sit in for a first-look, hands-off presentation for Deep Silver’s reboot of the Homefront series, Homefront: The Revolution. The great news is that the game title was picked up by Deep Silver during the dissolution of THQ’s and the sale of the now-defunct game developer’s assets. The first game had a promising concept, but the first-person shooter did not live up to its potential. Now the game is getting another chance at becoming a franchise under the guidance of Crytek.
I always thought the original Homefront game had a great concept and storyline premise for a first-person shooter. With Crytek at the helm, it looks like the developers are putting a lot of work in delivering a much more overall satisfying experience for The Revolution. While the Crytek developers were generally mum on story details and connections with the first game, they did establish that this is a “reboot” of the first game. The new game takes places in 2028. The story is now three years into the occupation of the Korean People’s Army in the United States after the country invaded America in 2025.
The new game is completely set in war torn Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the birth place of American independence. The new setting looks great, as the birthplace of American independence is where the new American Revolution begins. We did not see much of this in the demo, but the developers did establish that they will take full advantage of the setting of Philadelphia. My hope is that the setting will include the depiction of famous landmarks such as the Liberty Bell. What’s more is that the new game will be free-roam and completely open-world.
The video demonstration first ran through the new reveal trailer before showing some actual gameplay footage. The faceless, and seemingly nameless, protagonist wanders around Philadelphia, observing oppression from soldiers of the Korean army against American civilians. The Korean Army is armed to the teeth with futuristic technology and militarized drones. The protagonist returns to his base, where his comrades are preparing bombs for a major strike against the KPA. After leaving, the protagonist prepares his weapons and loadout for combat. The surveillance drones of the KPA appear to be flying all over the city, so players will have to be careful not to be caught by them. There appears to be a lot more stealth combat in the game, as the protagonist sneaks up on and kills two officers who oversee the labor of American prisoners. The next segment is a major battle sequence. After preparing specially placed bombs, the main player sends a remote controlled car with a bomb attached into enemy territory.
Homefront: The Revolution has an online co-op component which involves recruiting friends into cells against the KPA, but the E3 presentation did not show off this feature. Homefront: The Revolution looks to be a more comprehensive, massive experience than the original. The new-gen CRYENGINE visuals look great. I really enjoy the juxtaposition of the design of the ragtag American Revolutionaries and the sleeker, high-tech KPA. The Revolution is due out in 2015 for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Windows PC.
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