COGConnected: Explain your experience for the beta, did it live up to the hype or is it a bust? Lucas Raycevick:
“Unless the campaign’s structure and story makes up for the combat, this beta leaves a lot to be desired. It’s possible to salvage this poor game into a mediocre one if they refine the shooting, game engine, AI, and balance. Weapons like the full-auto shotgun or light machine gun are laughably over-powered, turning the KPA into bullet eating bitches if you so much as shoot in their general direction. This game is meant to simulate the feeling of being a Resistance fighter against a truly oppressive and powerful force, but the game’s subpar, formulaic, and unoriginal shooting don’t sell this in the slightest. This game is built to be a power trip, and no matter how refined those mechanics are, they won’t reflect the games goal, and it’s too late to fix that now.”
Cale Boudreau:
“The game for the most part simply didn’t work for me, the frame-rate dropped to levels where it was too choppy to aim. I had to jack up the sensitivity just to stand a chance at shooting anything. After we made it to a less buggy area, I found the gameplay to borrow from Payday but the lack of mission variety made everything feel like a chore after a few tries. It’s also been confirmed this is an old build so it leaves me wondering why it was released in the first place? Surely this is going to effect the initial launch sales.”
Ahmed Mohamed:
“What I got in the beta did not meet my expectations in the slightest in terms of production value, controls, and overall quality. Regardless of whether the game had development troubles or not, there is a level of polish and production value expected in a full-priced retail release. The beta looked dated from a visual standpoint and the actual gunplay felt horribly wrong on an Xbox controller. I also was not satisfied with the simplistic and uninspiring mission design. The world was also very dull with braindead and bullet sponge AI littering the streets.”
COGConnected: Okay we get it, the beta was a flop but what can they do to salvage it? Lucas Raycevick:
“It’s too late to sell the game’s Resistance fighter persona in the co-op mode, but at the very least they can improve the raw mechanics. Really tighten up the imprecise controls, repair the AI so it doesn’t walk into walls, and attach thematic production values and tension to objectives. Too many people have played games where you escort hummers to waypoints, mow-down dozens of weak enemies, dump points into meaningless skill-tress, and generally don’t excel or spearhead the action genre in any capacity. The best thing that Homefront: The Revolution can do is put all of its effort into being none of these things, and become something new.”
Cale Boudreau:
“Jeez, where do I begin? First fix the frame-rate issue along with the other graphical issues preventing me from performing basic tasks. The ramps need to be fixed as well because there’s an invisible barrier at the top which prevents you from making a hasty escape. There were sound issues where I heard the noise of someone rummaging through inventory being looped during my game, also balance the enemies because many soaked up a ton of bullets for a game with such scarcity of ammo.”
Ahmed Mohamed:
“First and foremost the game needs to work on its shooting mechanics. While I may not enjoy a game like Destiny, its shooting mechanics and controls make me want to play it despite hating its dull missions. Homefront: The Revolution has poor gunplay and poor mission design leaving a lot left to be desired. The general production value also needs to be improved along with a world that actually feels occupied. It can again be compared to inFAMOUS: Second Son that actually had environments and a setting that felt alive. Homefront: The Revolution feels lonely and dull even with co-op partners. The mission design also needs to be improved to give players unique and fun things to do with the gameplay tools and sandbox. I would also like to see more stealth opportunities present instead of being spotted immediately and punished when trying to sneak by enemies or set up a trap against an armored vehicle.”
So it looks like they are all in agreement, Homefront: The Revolution failed to live up to expectations during the closed beta. It’s not all lost though, the beta only showcased the multiplayer mode Resistance but we have yet to play the single player. If anything that can be the saving grace for this rocky start. We hope the developers can fix this game and turn it into a title worthy of the AAA title.