The original Homefront, a story driven and somewhat overlooked Xbox 360/PS3/PC first person shooter, may not have won the kind of universal fan base it was hoping for, but for a moment, it looked to be eerily clairvoyant. With a story that predicted the death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, the rise of his even crazier successor, Kim Jong-un, and an eventual super Korean state that gained the cojones to invade America, detonating an EMP above the country that knocked out all electrical equipment, before strolling in and claiming the spoils, it was a game that painted American in a totally different light. Putting the country on the low-tech back foot, it certainly made a refreshing change from the usual "America - f yeah!" stories near future games like to tell - and the newly announced Homefront: The Revolution picks up where the first game left off.
"Four years [after the first Homefront], we're into a mature occupation. With the help of their superior technology, the KPA (Korean People's Army) are in control" explained David Stenton, game producer "but in the badlands of the red zone, a resistance is forming." Outgunned, outnumbered, and out-technologied, you join up with the poorly armed resistance in a game that's moved from being a fairly standard, level based first person shooter to an open world game, as you lead the fight for liberation in Philadelphia - a town that knows a thing or two about revolution. And cheeses.
Not the first place you'd pick to raise a family.
Putting the idea of food aside for a moment, Homefront: The Revolution sets you up in a very much one sided battle. The KPA have taken over everywhere, establishing huge checkpoints manned by armed soldiers, keeping the populace in a constant state of submission. Giant video screens broadcast propaganda 24/7, rubble from broken buildings litter the streets, while cameras keep a permanent eye on the downtrodden populace. Anyone seen doing anything that might be classed as subversive is dealt with swiftly, from a man handing out leaflets criticizing the KPA, to a drunken homeless man in the slums that dares to stand up. Dystopian oppression probably describes it best.
The big difference here, of course, is that rather than playing as a super-soldier, or some sort of robotic killing machine, you're an everyday bloke (we assume only bloke, as we haven't heard there's going to be a character creator). A teacher, lawyer, graphic designer or, heaven forbid, a games journalist, leading the uprising against a heavily armed oppressor. And with those sort of odds, there's only one way you'll be able to cobble together a movement that may stand any chance of toppling the regime - by scavenging, scouring, and collecting everything and anything in sight. Turns out all those years of 100%ing the LEGO games weren't for nothing after all.
At a recent top secret event in London (although it's arguably not top secret any more), we were treated to a behind closed doors presentation of the game running, in a section where the resistance were attempting to break some prisoners out of a KPA police station. Making our way through the burnt out, crumbling buildings of Philadelphia, it seemed like most buildings were explorable, with several containing items you could pick up and put to good use - a bar may have a few bottles you can use for making Molotov cocktails, an electrical shop could supply some batteries, but the biggest source of goodies are the resistance's equipment stashes that can be found in abandoned buildings across the city. As David emphasises, "Equipment's scarce, and scavenging tools is essential." - and with that in mind, our demoer promptly went and picked up everything in sight, including one of the cooler items in the game - a remote controlled car.
Scavenge, and put your loot to good use to avoid firefights altogether.
At this point, the demo changed pace a little bit to "simulate" three co-op players joining in. With full support for four player online co-op, it seems there'll sadly be no support for offline split-screen, because as with most "next-gen" games, the extra grunt from the new consoles has gone into making everything look shinier rather than adding local multiplayer back in. Either way, assaulting a base is a much easier task with four people in tow - all we needed was to create a distraction.
Strolling up in front of the heavily armed base (being sure to stay in the shadows) our demoer pulled out a mobile phone, which could scan the area for notable objects. Highlighting enemies, security cameras, and anything else that may be of use in orange, you could tag everything you saw, which would flag it up for the other players. Kind of like a cross between cyber thriller Watch_Dogs and military shooter Ghost Recon, Homefront: The Revolution seems like a mix of the most popular shooters of recent months.
With the base now fully scouted and tagged, it was time to figure out a way to get in - and with the KPA having about a million and one guns pointing at you, tanks parading the area, and even a giant gun toting Zeppelin floating overhead, it was clear we couldn't use force. Instead, it was time to nip into our inventory and make use of all the tat we'd collecting to make something amazing. Choosing the remote controlled car, we strapped a makeshift explosive to it (which seemingly also magically added a camera to our newly pimped ride), creating a mega explosive on wheels, or as we're now dubbing it, MEOW.
But still, even the most drippy of KPA soldiers would notice a swish looking MEOW like this strolling into their base, so we needed yet another plan. Thankfully, help came in the form of our co-op friends, who created a diversion near the gates. Seeing our chance, we took control of the MEOW and sped forward, before nestling safely underneath a lorry that was entering the base. Seeking shelter, and staying out of the way of prying eyes while trying to avoid getting mashed by its giant wheels as it trundled along, we eventually reached our destination, and pulled up against the wall. Click, click booooooom. Base bombed, wall destroyed, and on to free our friends.
Although we only saw what appeared to be a fairly linear demo, Homefront: The Revolution is a game that promises a lot. Twisting the regular power struggles of games and tipping them on their head, while adding more collectibles than you can shake a collectible stick at, it's a game that has potential - but it remains to be seen whether being the utterly outnumbered and outgunned underdog is as much fun as playing as the super soldier. Hopefully we won't spend too long having to cower in the shadows.
