I’ve been keeping a beady eye on Homefront: The Revolution. As I’ve stated seemingly innumerable time before, the premise – of a United States falling to foreign invasion – is an interesting one. The team at Dambuster, who’ve said that their goal was to create a sort of open-world Half-Life, and that it takes its cues from Valve’s shooter, more than it does the first Homefront.
“We never really particularly focused on Homefront 1 [for The Revolution], we very much focused on our vision of an open world Half-Life game.”
Let’s see if they’ve succeeded. Reviews of the game have dropped and critics have started weighing in on what Dambuster has accomplished.
Apparently, not very much.
Polygon – 6/10
Perhaps the saddest thing about Homefront: The Revolution is that it’s capably developed. It’s not buggy (at least not in the PC version I played) and runs smoothly. The guns feel fine, the lone vehicle (a motorcycle) is easy to control. But there’s never a moment that feels like it’s reaching for something more than a check-the-box open world shooter. A successful insurgency swings the people in its favor with fancy ideals and arguments for why things can be better. The real City of Philadelphia knows this all too well. But Homefront’s Philadelphia likely would have laid down for the British rather than suffer through another collection mission.
PlayStation Universe – 5.5/10
A valiant effort has been made to salvage this long troubled game from the doldrums, but despite some good ideas, solid combat, and neat concepts, Homefront: The Revolution suffers for its long gestation more than it benefits from it.
Videogamer – 6/10
Despite its problems, Homefront: The Revolution isn’t the disaster many would have anticipated, and it gets a lot right. If you’re after a Far Cry game this year but don’t want to throw sticks at mammoths, then it’s worth checking out.
Gamewatcher – 6.5/10
Despite the shoddy graphics and performance, and a story that could use polish in its execution, Homefront: The Revolution has a solid foundation. It’s challenging and the mission variety in a pseudo open-world game is the best I’ve played in a while. It kept me engaged for its 22 hours. At the end, I felt satisfied. I hope to see another one with a bigger budget behind it.
The Jimquisition – 1/10
If you want great FPS combat, you have Doom. If you want an oppressive world with unnerving “what if?” scenarios, play Wolfenstein: The New Order. If you want item crafting, stealth, and action in one package, Far Cry will sort you out. If you want a solid open-world game… there are dozens upon dozens of the bastards now.
Simply put, Homefront: The Revolution is outclassed in its bracket by every other big-budget game released this generation. And that’s without getting into how shockingly shit the PC version is.
This game made me feel unwell, it bored me to tears, and it irritated the piss out of me.
Oh boy. I had high hopes for this one; that it would end up being a sleeper hit. I guess not.
Last Updated: May 17, 2016
Pariah
May 17, 2016 at 09:38
Jimquisition is particularly brutal. Holy cow.
Strawman Jim
May 17, 2016 at 12:49
Yeah, but Jim Sterling’s also an obese lolcow and I wouldn’t have sex with him.
Ottokie
May 17, 2016 at 09:40
Those are some very average scores aaaand it hits rock bottom at the end.
Richard Mackenzie
May 17, 2016 at 09:44
Was so keen for this 🙁
Allykhat
May 17, 2016 at 11:03
Even meeeee :'(
Strawman Jim
May 17, 2016 at 12:51
lol, the day I let critics influence my gaming purchases is the day I voluntarily commit myself to an insane asylum for the criminally insane.
I’ll still get this game!
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 17, 2016 at 09:45
I’ll give it a while then see what the Steam user reviews say. I get mixed signals when 1 review says it runs just fine while another says it doesn’t. Maybe pick it up on a sale later down the line.
Pariah
May 17, 2016 at 09:47
Isn’t Homefront a PS4 exclusive?
Ottokie
May 17, 2016 at 09:48
Nope, it’s on steam
Pariah
May 17, 2016 at 09:49
Alright then. 🙂
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 17, 2016 at 09:49
That would explain why Jim said it ran like crap on PC & why he gave it a 1. 😉
Pariah
May 17, 2016 at 09:50
I uh. Forgot.
And no I’m not kidding. I read that. And forgot. 10 minutes later.
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 17, 2016 at 09:51
Blame the dog, that’s what I always do.
Bad Rince!
Pariah
May 17, 2016 at 09:53
Oi!!!
I like dogs, don’t ruin them for me.
Ottokie
May 17, 2016 at 09:50
https://d.gr-assets.com/hostedimages/1442271046ra/16207204.gif
Admiral Chief Protector
May 17, 2016 at 10:00
I’m more worried about WHY Raj is just stationary there….
Ottokie
May 17, 2016 at 10:04
HAHA that is creepy xD
Strawman Jim
May 17, 2016 at 12:56
Oh No, they BROKE RAj… the bastards!!!
Admiral Chief Protector
May 17, 2016 at 09:54
I knew this was going to be kak.
Normally, they take the BEST bits, and purrrdy it up SO much and slap that in a trailer.
The trailers for this game look like they came out of 2013, so no surprise there
oVg whippersnapper
May 17, 2016 at 09:56
Talking about critics, what is LGs view of Metacritic? Considering you tried so hard to get on there. Now its credibility has been run through the mud thanks to the Washington Post review of U4 at 4/10. Not only did they give major spoilers but it had no score and looks like a 4 year old penned it for his dad to make him look cool at the WP? Metacritic just made the score up. Even after days of Troy Baker trying to get a petition to remove it, its still there. 91 positive reviews but only 1 negative lunatic.
So its OK to bash old muppets movie reviewers who gave Batman 2/10 but when it comes to games we all get called out for being fanboys.
Metacritic SUCKS balls.
Admiral Chief Protector
May 17, 2016 at 10:03
I actually slept in the Lagz/Metacritic t-shirt last night, kept me nice and warm, so I have a use for Metacritic…
oVg whippersnapper
May 17, 2016 at 10:06
Out of 10 how warm was it? According to Metacritic you do not need to be a Qualified journalist to give out warmth reviews.
Be careful tho, The Metacritic BOT will pick up your review and automatically post it. Just make sure you do not have a 2 star rating or it just rounds the 100 score off to zero ;P
Admiral Chief Protector
May 17, 2016 at 10:17
I give it 4/5 stars.
I’ve worn it many times, it has been washed many times, yet still looks decent, is warm and fuzzy, and makes me look awesome
oVg whippersnapper
May 17, 2016 at 10:34
Did you finish it?
Admiral Chief Protector
May 17, 2016 at 10:48
Sleeping? Yes, yes I did
Strawman Jim
May 17, 2016 at 12:53
PS: Admiral General…. When are you getting your Geoff Tim body pillow?
Gavin Mannion
May 17, 2016 at 10:04
Metacritic just aggregate reviews, they don’t choose numbers that would be done by the author.
The fact that Uncharted has one bad review means nothing to me.. at all. Everyone has their opinion and he has his
oVg whippersnapper
May 17, 2016 at 10:08
Im not fussed about U4 getting a negative review, Im showing how this 1 review has exposed how broken the system is. Some staff at naughty dog apparently lost money because it dropped below 95.
Why they have a bonus incentive based on Metacritic is beyond me.
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 17, 2016 at 10:11
That would only happen if more reviewers gave the game less than 95, or else every other reviewer gave it 95 on the dot.
oVg whippersnapper
May 17, 2016 at 10:15
Good point, why are they mad at this one review. You are good at math, what will the average be if it was removed?
http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/uncharted-4-a-thiefs-end/critic-reviews
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 17, 2016 at 10:23
It’s 93.83 with, 94.42 without.
oVg whippersnapper
May 17, 2016 at 10:31
Eish, So the XBone has the highest rated next gen game that is not a remaster beating the PC and the PS4 with MGSV at 95. RUNS
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 17, 2016 at 10:36
U4 has a user score of 7.9. Not even 8, never mind 9. RUNS
oVg whippersnapper
May 17, 2016 at 10:43
😛
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 17, 2016 at 10:47
tee hee
Geoffrey Tim
May 17, 2016 at 10:18
” Some staff at naughty dog apparently lost money because it dropped below 95.”
This is neither metacritic, nor reviewers’ problem.
oVg whippersnapper
May 17, 2016 at 10:20
Something they should have understood ages ago
https://twitter.com/GameAnim/status/555168504618299392
Geoffrey Tim
May 17, 2016 at 10:25
I okay scores; i think they make for interesting talking points. what I don’t like is they tend to overshadow the text of a review in public consciousness.
oVg whippersnapper
May 17, 2016 at 10:27
You mentioned they flagged one of your posts the other day, what was that about?
Darren Peach
May 17, 2016 at 10:50
But, There will always be one idiot that swims against the tide and thinks the game is not worthy for some abstract baffling reason. Those kind of reviewers are idiots.
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 17, 2016 at 10:51
How do you know if someone is disagreeing to be “different” or if they genuinely don’t agree?
Darren Peach
May 17, 2016 at 10:56
I am referring to the times when I have read reviews for popular games and films where reviewers generally all have the same view, But then some knob writes a poor review and when I read it, I am honestly astonished at the reasoning as to why said reviewer is not happy. Go check out Rotten Tomatoes and see the bizarre reasons people don’t like films. Besides, Reviews are more of a guide and there is normally a general reasonable consensus as to what is good and what is bad.
Raptor Rants
May 17, 2016 at 10:26
It’s not broken. It’s aggregating. So if a game is generally considered good that will show. If a game is generally bad, that will show.
Naughty dog staff losing money? That’s their fault for allowing their performance to be rated by Metacritic. They should have based performance on sales, not an averaging system that will always be lower than the highest review scores on there due to some people who don’t like it.
That’s a bad business choice.
Metacritics works exactly as it is meant to. Law of averages.You will have fanbois and you will have buthurts. Averages state they will cancel eachother out and the middle ground average is where the most scores will be so it will reflect fairly accurately .
lon3wolf
May 17, 2016 at 10:27
“Some staff at naughty dog apparently lost money because it dropped below 95.”
I’m sorry but that’s not MC’s problem that is ND’s doing.
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 17, 2016 at 10:06
So what if there’s a negative review? A review is one person’s opinion of their experience, not a fact. You’re not forced to agree with it. The other 91 positive reviews do more than enough to show that review is a definite minority opinion.
Metacritic is working exactly as intended – aggregating all the reviews in one easy to see place.
oVg whippersnapper
May 17, 2016 at 10:10
Good point, I think Warframe is SHIT ;P Considering I am not a qualified critic Ill post my review to MetaCrap, even tho I have never played it, Ill just lie… RUNS AWAY.
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 17, 2016 at 10:18
HOW DARE YOU!
The internet is open. Anyone with a blob can be a reviewer now. What I look for in a review is whether or not the reviewer can explain their points logically, if they can them I’m more inclined to listen.
oVg whippersnapper
May 17, 2016 at 10:18
and if not?
Alien Emperor Trevor
May 17, 2016 at 10:24
Then I ignore it.
oVg whippersnapper
May 17, 2016 at 10:26
lol
Pieter Kruger
May 17, 2016 at 10:17
Reviewers giving games 100 is insane, that’s usually just to make sure they’re featured right at the top and get noticed(Although U4 looks truly amazing and incredible I don’t believe any game could/should ever be scored “perfect”, there’s ALWAYS room for improvement!) The opposite with reviewers low scoring games with general/average good scores is sadly also just an attempt to get noticed by wannabe hipsters!
Strawman Jim
May 17, 2016 at 12:53
I don’t really care about metacritic, it’s like twitter, tumblr, sewende laan and soccer; banal fodder for the untermensch.
Raptor Rants
May 17, 2016 at 10:21
Ouch
Darren Peach
May 17, 2016 at 10:43
Another one. Even though it seems to be mediocre, I still would love to play it.
Francois Knoetze
May 17, 2016 at 10:44
Saw this coming a mile away o.O
Darren Peach
May 17, 2016 at 10:46
Did you duck ?
Francois Knoetze
May 17, 2016 at 15:03
that I did…
Dane
May 17, 2016 at 11:16
Dumbasses ruined the “Homefront” franchise name.
Strawman Jim
May 17, 2016 at 12:48
After that Doom video, I honestly don’t think polylolygon should be taken seriously at all, they’re like the Onion of video game journalism.