Mechanically speaking thereвЂ™s no real difference between toggling between modes and just holstering one weapon and drawing another, but Homefront does it with some flair and is more believable than the bottomless-pockets inventory we see in games like GTA 5. With some very cool animations, you get to watch your character strip apart an assault rifle and attach new parts to its frame until it transforms into a mine launcher, or convert a pistol into an SMG. вЂњIt goes further than that, becoming in effect a lore-friendly solution to a common inventory problem, in that youвЂ™re effectively able to carry more than the standard two (or three) guns. Once you obtain better gear, the slow-witted AI combined with the lethargic way both enemies and I moved around the battlefield makes gunplay feel sluggish, especially when compared to HomefrontвЂ™s finger-twitching contemporaries. As with the stealth sections, it's fun at first - but this is largely due to your limited starting arsenal. Getting caught and forced into a firefight never feels particularly dangerous, either, especially once you realize you can just round a corner and wait for enemies to come at you one at a time until youвЂ™re waist-high in corpses. Beyond the ability to hide in dumpsters and create distractions with various crafted bombs, incendiary devices or hacking tools, itвЂ™s very basic stealth вЂ“ you canвЂ™t even stash a body. Sneaking through alleys and checkpoints is fun for a bit вЂ“ the first few times I narrowly avoided detection were legitimately exciting вЂ“ but doesnвЂ™t hold up for long thanks to a lack of any unique stealth mechanics. Neither style of play is worth writing home about. вЂњThe repetitive sabotage missions are a familiar combination of first-person stealth and shooting. Yes, I was provided with a вЂњpoint of no returnвЂќ warning, but I havenвЂ™t been locked out of revisiting an open world after the credits since Fallout 3 - it was especially odd considering that there are no custom save slots. Bizarrely, you canвЂ™t go back to finish anything you may have missed, even if you wanted to. And again, and again, until The Revolution just sort ofвЂ¦ ends, in an underwhelming finale. Once the district has revolted, thereвЂ™s some rioting and a lengthy (but forgettable) story mission or two, then itвЂ™s off to the next district to do it all over again. The Revolution couldвЂ™ve used a lot more diversions like these to keep monotony from setting in. There were also unexpected bits of platforming that would unlock a new outpost for the resistance, which were a welcome breather from the routine. These can range from blowing up trucks and fuel tanks with bombs strapped to RC cars to hacking security terminals with the same idiot-proof minigame every time. You arrive in a district and complete enough вЂњLiberation ActivitiesвЂќ to inspire the population to rise up and take back their neighborhood. The good news is that blowing up military police stations isnвЂ™t inherently awful it's just extremely repetitive.

There are no meaningful decisions to make, which makes me wonder why they didnвЂ™t give the main character his own voice if his path is set in stone. While there are plenty of discussions meant to make us ponder the fine line between freedom fighter and terrorist, any weight these moments might have had is lost when our boring, mute protagonist silently nods and blindly agrees to blow up the next power station, drone factory or whatever else the Resistance points you at.

Classic eye-rolling moments like вЂњTertiary Character Gets Bonus Emotional Investment Upon DeathвЂќ or вЂњCurse Your Sudden-But-Inevitable Betrayal!вЂќ are presented by a cast of characters who spend all their time yelling over one another with groan-worthy one-liners. There were several times that I hoped I might be surprised by an interesting reveal, but alas I was merely treated to yet another facepalm-inducing 'twist'. The story of Homefront: The Revolution is nothing more than a string of forgettable mission objectives sewn together with cliches pulled from the Big Book of Military Shooter Tropes. ItвЂ™s a shame that such a well-crafted world is squandered on such a ponderous and uninspired plot. While on a technical level the graphics may be underwhelming, the streets of Philadelphia feel world-weary and lived-in. Ashcroft, on the other hand, is where the American KPA collaborators reside, and the alleyways between brownstones are always alive with resentful chatter from the rest of the downtrodden population. ItвЂ™s dirty, the people seem miserable, and it must smell awful. Earlston, which you visit early on, feels like little more than a glorified refugee camp. вЂњThe populated Yellow Zones, however, are much more diverse and each tells its own story.

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