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Homefront: The Revolution review thread

I'm confused, I've seen some indicate the PC version is trash and then another review say get it on PC because it hardly runs on PS4. What's supposed to be technically wrong with this game? Am I missing something?
 
This game might have had better luck with Crytek, but even then it was still Homefront. IIRC the original similarly tanked back in the day.
 

Matt

Member
It's as bad as when some US soldiers would call Middle East terrorist "towelheads". It wasn't cool back then and it's not cool now.
...It is? One if making fun of their cultural headwear, the other is just a shortening of their country's name.
 
Why are they even calling them "Norks" when in the game's fiction North and South joined to become one Korea? The only answer I have is that the devs didn't want to make a slur to all Koreans but in the game North doesn't exist anymore.
Wait Deep silver are bringing APB back?
I think it's getting a F2P console release.
 
Yes, that's the analogy I used already.

Are the pejorative shortenings of Japanese, Chinese and Pakistan's country names also so unproblematic? There are no easy rules about what makes a nickname offensive or not.
Especially as Nork would seem to be a call back to certain real racial terms used in the Vietnam war.
 

Gurish

Member
It's as bad as when some US soldiers would call Middle East terrorist "towelheads". It wasn't cool back then and it's not cool now.

You seriously expect soldiers in a war situation to treat the other side respectfully?

What is this a Disney universe?
 

Matt

Member
Are the pejorative shortenings of Japanese, Chinese and Pakistan's country names also so unproblematic?
Of course they are, because they were used historically as racial epithets.

If the term was created in the game universe to refer to the NK occupiers, it's not a racial epithet, it's a political designation.
 

Agent_4Seven

Tears of Nintendo
And they asking 2000 RUB for this pile of garbage when absolutely incredible DOOM was released last week and available now for the same price? Okaaaaay. Good luck to them... I guess.
 
Sweet Jesus God how did-.


Just why, WHY, did anyone think this was a good idea. Why do you take an existing shitty IP and make it just as mediocre? The only reason anyone would attempt to revive it is if they thought a sequal would be significantly better?
 

sflufan

Banned
The Eurogamer writer needs to do a bit of reading of what happens to collaborators with the occupying force in every war.

Kudos -- not criticism -- should be given to Dambuster for actually addressing this reality.
 

Remmy2112

Member
I too am confused by the accusations of racism or the idea that targeting collaborators is in some way far too reprehensible. The definition can vary but in most cases a collaborator is someone who has chosen to actively aid an occupying force, not just live under their rule. Offering them information, supplies, aid, and even comfort by choice rather than because they were forced to. These sorts of people have always been targeted by freedom fighters and insurrectionists, even those who don't take a hardline "If you're not with us you're against us" line. When the Allies liberated countries the Nazis had conquered most male collaborators were shot, and women had their heads shaved and branded. It is certainly dark as hell, and in an ideal world it would never happen, but the same is wished of war.

And soldiers have always, always come up with slang terms to refer to their enemy. It is all a part of the process of dehumanizing them, to make it easier to shoot at and kill another Human being. Jerry and Kraut were used for Germans, Eyeties for Italian soldiers, and much, much worse in World War 2. Again, it is dark but it is a part of warfare.
 
I totally forgot this game existed.

Not surprised it turned out to be garbage.

That said while I'm sure the game handles it in a way that's trashy and tasteless, ganking turncoats and making up a slur for the people that militarily invaded and are occupying your country seems normal enough for the conditions.
 
The Eurogamer writer needs to do a bit of reading of what happens to collaborators with the occupying force in every war.

Kudos -- not criticism -- should be given to Dambuster for actually addressing this reality.

I think there is a lot of romanticism when it comes to what we view as resistance fighters vs an occupying force, that as been fuelled by popular american culture.

It seems that the writing in Homefront is piss poor. The word 'norks' is seemingly used way too much (cited from several reviews) in at attempt to drive home the point of us vs them and doing so makes the whole game look cartoonish and cheap in it's representation of resistance fighters vs an occupying force. It not really about the opposition force being one dimensional but rather the problem is that the guys you are supposed to be rooting for are one dimensional as well, there is no flexibility in it's approach to telling the story and reducing the concept to pretty basic ideas.

Because it used overused it appears that there is only one way to describe the invading force. Also people don't speak like that, you don't get people over using words to that degree. You don't hear people down the pub saying Muzzie after every sentence, in the same way you probably didn't hear your grandad saying krauts after every sentence whilst in service.
 
I too am confused by the accusations of racism or the idea that targeting collaborators is in some way far too reprehensible. The definition can vary but in most cases a collaborator is someone who has chosen to actively aid an occupying force, not just live under their rule. Offering them information, supplies, aid, and even comfort by choice rather than because they were forced to. These sorts of people have always been targeted by freedom fighters and insurrectionists, even those who don't take a hardline "If you're not with us you're against us" line. When the Allies liberated countries the Nazis had conquered most male collaborators were shot, and women had their heads shaved and branded. It is certainly dark as hell, and in an ideal world it would never happen, but the same is wished of war.

And soldiers have always, always come up with slang terms to refer to their enemy. It is all a part of the process of dehumanizing them, to make it easier to shoot at and kill another Human being. Jerry and Kraut were used for Germans, Eyeties for Italian soldiers, and much, much worse in World War 2. Again, it is dark but it is a part of warfare.

So you're saying they're like Trade Unions?
 
The Eurogamer writer needs to do a bit of reading of what happens to collaborators with the occupying force in every war.

Kudos -- not criticism -- should be given to Dambuster for actually addressing this reality.

I doubt the reviewer is ignorant of that. It's a valid thing to criticise its inclusion though as it is a deeply unpleasant thing to interact with and thus not great fodder for a mission in a popcorn FPS videogame. They just didn't like the tone of the game.
It's not going for "This War of Mine" terrority, it's a fairly brainless shooter.

Ironically, EG went quite easy on it gameplay wise, compared to most of the other reviews.
 
I too am confused by the accusations of racism or the idea that targeting collaborators is in some way far too reprehensible. The definition can vary but in most cases a collaborator is someone who has chosen to actively aid an occupying force, not just live under their rule. Offering them information, supplies, aid, and even comfort by choice rather than because they were forced to. These sorts of people have always been targeted by freedom fighters and insurrectionists, even those who don't take a hardline "If you're not with us you're against us" line. When the Allies liberated countries the Nazis had conquered most male collaborators were shot, and women had their heads shaved and branded. It is certainly dark as hell, and in an ideal world it would never happen, but the same is wished of war.

And soldiers have always, always come up with slang terms to refer to their enemy. It is all a part of the process of dehumanizing them, to make it easier to shoot at and kill another Human being. Jerry and Kraut were used for Germans, Eyeties for Italian soldiers, and much, much worse in World War 2. Again, it is dark but it is a part of warfare.

From the reviews i have read it seems as though you go out of your way to find collaborators rather than acting on information you receive, so it becomes a bit of a witch hunt.

Also it seems there is no sympathy for the collaborators, not all of them in history have done it because they're 'nasty people' - how they are seemingly represented, they've done it because it is a form of bribery - threats of abuse to them and family members, execution, and simply because maybe the human condition cannot cope with what is going on anymore.
 

Jintor

Member
i mean really the point as I read it is less "these things happen in the game" and more "these things happen in the game and I'm uncomfortable with it" which speaks to me that the tone of the game is unsuitable for what they're trying to pull, or that they failed to merge the gameplay and actions in such a way as to make the reviewers/players engaged with its message. Something Spec Ops: The Line quality, for instance, could probably treat it in an interesting and nuanced (well, to an extent) way in such a manner that it doesn't negatively impact on the experience. Apparently this isn't it.
 

Hektor

Member
Who did see that coming totally expected this game to be my new goty I mean the Homefront ip has so much potential afterall the really competent groundwork was already laid with the first one and it's amazing writing and I can't even
 
i mean really the point as I read it is less "these things happen in the game" and more "these things happen in the game and I'm uncomfortable with it" which speaks to me that the tone of the game is unsuitable for what they're trying to pull, or that they failed to merge the gameplay and actions in such a way as to make the reviewers/players engaged with its message. Something Spec Ops: The Line quality, for instance, could probably treat it in an interesting and nuanced (well, to an extent) way in such a manner that it doesn't negatively impact on the experience. Apparently this isn't it.

Yep. If handled in a way that maybe explored the reasons behind collaboration or maybe if they made them cartoon level villainous. But from what it sounds like it's literally just "these people need to die, go nuts".
 

Corpekata

Banned
Do you think that members of a country using a brand new made up word to refer to the people from the country that has invaded, subjugated, and oppressed them make them a bunch of racists?



So, what are you saying?

That if you look at some gameplay elements being somewhat tonally different from a bunch of storyline elements making those themes null? Does making an oppressive atmosphere nullify fun gameplay the same way fun gameplay nullifies an oppressive atmosphere?

And fuck pre-order bonuses; just because some suit in a boardroom scrambles to create promotional items to push point of sale marketing doesn't break the conceit of the people actually making the game.


No?

If you couldn't tell by the surveillance comment (which is featured in the Eurogamer quote that got this whole chain started in the first place), I was suggesting there wasn't any deep thematic meaning behind killing collaborators and photographing them as you level up and check off an achievement, it does not make for interesting exploration of the themes people are suggesting this game has.

Because Jason Brody has his "What am I doing I'm so violent!" moment in Far Cry 3, does that make the game a decent exploration of the themes the writers wanted to represent? Or is the game simply a silly and fun romp through a tropical island with its head up its ass? I vote for the latter.

And okay, fuck preorder bonuses. Do you think that's the only skin for the bike in the game? I mean, the fact that you have your own personal dirtbike is pretty silly in itself in an urban enviornment if they are going for a This War of Mine vibe.

What oppressive atmosphere is there? Nearly everything about the game is basically the typical shooter. CAN silly and fun things like your own personal dirtbike work with deep and dark themes? Sure. Has it, in gaming, yet? I don't think so, and I don't think this will be the title to do it. It sure as shit isn't going to be a game about "being the bad guy" like some posters suggested earlier in the thread.

Maybe I'm wrong and the story is really a masterclass in the horrors of war, like I said, it might just because I'm a cynic, but I'm betting on it being another hyperviolent power fantasy that's completely tone deaf. I suppose we can both see in a few days if we dare to trudge through the 25 FPS gameplay full of NPCs running into walls.
 

Warxard

Banned
What does that have to do with being a shit game?

http://www.engadget.com/2014/11/06/the-game-that-killed-free-radical/


Haze was a shit game partly due to the weird relationship Ubisoft and FR had during the game's dev, demanding more features instead of letting FR have the time to developing the tools to make the engine perform well on the PS3's architecture. Everything they used for the game was sill in-dev tech.

FR knew the game has bugs and other design issues. Ubisoft took creative control later on and refused to see those issues fixed.

Yeah, it's shit. The development history on why it's shit explains a lot.
 
From the XB1 beta, it was easy to see how bad this game was. That's no agenda or anything, it's a sad truth. Unplayable framerates, rivaling Lichdom Battlemage at times, really bad visuals (seems they have upped them a bit since then, but made the fps worse), the worst gunplay in an fps I've seen in a long time, it's like something from a mediocre shooter from 2004. I'd advise people not to buy this at all unless it gets a serious overhaul through patches.
 
The problem with the slurs and the collaborators is one of tone.

Yes, a realistic portrayal of the horrors of war might include stuff like this, but this is a game where North Korea invades the USA through Trojan horse electronics. Realism has NOTHING to do with it.
 

Matt

Member
From the reviews i have read it seems as though you go out of your way to find collaborators rather than acting on information you receive, so it becomes a bit of a witch hunt.

Also it seems there is no sympathy for the collaborators, not all of them in history have done it because they're 'nasty people' - how they are seemingly represented, they've done it because it is a form of bribery - threats of abuse to them and family members, execution, and simply because maybe the human condition cannot cope with what is going on anymore.
Which is how its has always been in occupations with active resistance movements. Collaborators are hunted down and killed, to both hurt the occupiers, and keep the occupied population from further collaboration.
 
It's so frustrating to see the self-castration that these studios all self inflict; Making samey games because only the tried and true seem to get a fair chance, whereas the tried and true isa fucking oversaturated red ocean of 'been there done that'.

Dark Souls proved without reasonable doubt that creativity and AAA gaming can exsist, but it will take nurturing and a keen eye for your community; Demon souls found a niche group of players that created a strong community. By creating FOR this community ( and not your average focus group persona's ) the games could play off its strengths, while the community kept growing on sheer word-of-mouth. Fast forward 6 years and we have FROM having its most successful AAA franchise in its history, carefully groomed to the size we see in this month's NPD.

Yet here we are, watching all these publishers / developers tripping over one another to make the exact same shit we've been playing all year. This game will be a financial disaster and possibly the end of this studio and honestly, and i don't give a flying fuck. Cull the meek, i say. The talented people will land on their feet, and the assholes who conceptualise and green-light games like this will have another flop on their resume. To these people i say:

Stop making fucking games for the masses. Make games for the hardcore. We appreciate creativity, we recognise brilliance, and we will give you the best marketing you can possibly hope for!
Amen
 

SerTapTap

Member
Literally why does this game exist. Please waste money on an unprofitable cult classic instead of something that was neither good, nor interesting, nor a good seller. If you're going to be hilariously irresponsible with money at least make a good game before you kill your own studio.
 

nortonff

Hi, I'm nortonff. I spend my life going into threads to say that I don't care about the topic of the thread. It's a really good use of my time.
I was expecting scores like 7, but 5? Yeah thats really bad. Maybe after some patches and a price drop I might pick it up.
 
It's so frustrating to see the self-castration that these studios all self inflict; Making samey games because only the tried and true seem to get a fair chance, whereas the tried and true isa fucking oversaturated red ocean of 'been there done that'.

Dark Souls proved without reasonable doubt that creativity and AAA gaming can exsist, but it will take nurturing and a keen eye for your community; Demon souls found a niche group of players that created a strong community. By creating FOR this community ( and not your average focus group persona's ) the games could play off its strengths, while the community kept growing on sheer word-of-mouth. Fast forward 6 years and we have FROM having its most successful AAA franchise in its history, carefully groomed to the size we see in this month's NPD.

Yet here we are, watching all these publishers / developers tripping over one another to make the exact same shit we've been playing all year. This game will be a financial disaster and possibly the end of this studio and honestly, and i don't give a flying fuck. Cull the meek, i say. The talented people will land on their feet, and the assholes who conceptualise and green-light games like this will have another flop on their resume. To these people i say:

Stop making fucking games for the masses. Make games for the hardcore. We appreciate creativity, we recognise brilliance, and we will give you the best marketing you can possibly hope for!

I see what your trying to say. The wording is a bit all over the place, maybe a bit over exaggerated. "Make games for the hardcore" comes off as a little entitled, not to mention vague. But I kinda see what your trying to say.
 
If you couldn't tell by the surveillance comment (which is featured in the Eurogamer quote that got this whole chain started in the first place), I was suggesting there wasn't any deep thematic meaning behind killing collaborators and photographing them as you level up and check off an achievement does not make for interesting exploration of the themes.

Because Jason Brody has his "What am I doing I'm so violent!" moment in Far Cry 3, does that make the game a decent exploration of the themes the writers wanted to represent? Or is the game simply a silly and fun romp through a tropical island with its head up its ass? I vote for the latter.

And okay, fuck preorder bonuses. Do you think that's the only skin for the bike in the game? I mean, the fact that you have your own personal dirtbike is pretty silly in itself in an urban enviornment if they are going for a This War of Mine vibe.

What oppressive atmosphere is there? Nearly everything about the game is basically the typical shooter. CAN silly and fun things like your own personal dirtbike work with deep and dark themes? Sure. Has it, in gaming, yet? I don't think so, and I don't think this will be the title to do it. It sure as shit isn't going to be a game about "being the bad guy" like some posters suggested earlier in the thread.

Maybe I'm wrong and the story is really a masterclass in the horrors of war, but like I said, it might just because I'm a cynic, but I'm betting on it being another hyperviolent power fantasy that's completely tone deaf. I suppose we can both see in a few days if we dare to trudge through the 25 FPS gameplay full of NPCs running into walls.
Finally someone that understands the Eurogamer criticism.
 

psychotron

Member
I'm sad because I'd love for a game like this to succeed, but my wallet is relieved. Between Dark Souls, Ratchet, Uncharted and Doom....my wallet has been hurting.
 

SJRB

Gold Member
Man, watched Jim Sterling's video but it was hardly as shocking as I expected. I expected a montage of 20 different goatfucks, an absolute catastrophe considering his 1/10 score. But it's just a pathfinding error in the same location. O and a stretched neck. That's not too bad.

That the best you can do, Sterling?! Show me what you got!
 
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