Homefront

★★★
THQ
Genre: First Person Shooter
Price: Rs 2,499 (PS3/X360), Rs 699 (PC)

Every game wants to be like Call of Duty. We’ve seen it with last year’s superlative Bad Company 2. We’ve seen it with the so-so Medal of Honor. Now we’re seeing it with Homefront.  So how does it fare in the pantheon of testosterone fuelled real-world shooters? The results are a tad mixed.

For starters, the single-player is intriguing. According to the game’s timeline the US gets conquered by North Korea. It is 2027 and you’re Robert Jacobs, an ex-Marine pilot with the local resistance on the run from the Korean army. The premise is interesting, giving the gameplay a guerilla warfare feel where you never really do have the edge. You’d find yourself scampering around the battlefield seizing enemy vehicles and infiltrating their labour camps. It’s nicely done, chock-full of memorable moments and making the very real shock of war up close and personal.

But, of course, it has its problems. Clocking in at around six hours max this isn’t the longest game in the world, and with the customary vague ending it is but obvious you’ll get your money’s worth in the game’s multiplayer mode. There’s enough maps, modes and choices that make it a welcome distraction till well, the next Call of Duty.

In terms of graphics it looks competent. If you’re expecting stellar, eye-popping stuff, play Crysis 2 or Killzone 3 but if you’re not that shallow, you’ll do just fine. And as is the case with most multiplatform games it plays best on the PC with console variants not too far behind.

So there you have it, THQ have managed to drum up a solid if slightly dated looking shooter that does a decent job of delivering the thrills in both single and multiplayer. With the promise of downloadable content looming you can do a lot worse than giving Homefront a go. Recommended if you’re looking for a multiplayer game to tide you over till the next big shooter.