Homefront

Overview

Homefront is a first-person shooter developed by Kaos Studios and published by THQ. It centres on a near-future American resistance fighting a Korean occupation of the western United States, after a fictional reunification of Korea led by the Workers' Party of Korea. It was released for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in March 2011: March 15 in North America, March 17 in Australia, March 18 in Europe and April 14 in Japan.

The single-player campaign takes about 4 to 10 hours. The multiplayer is built around large vehicle-based battles, like the studio's earlier game Frontlines: Fuel of War. Its main idea is a battle points system, an in-game currency earned by objectives and kills and spent on weapons, drones, missiles and vehicles such as helicopters and tanks. Every copy came with an online pass. Players without one could not get past level 5 of the 75 levels.

The story is set in 2027. Robert Jacobs, a former Marine helicopter pilot, is taken from his home in Colorado to be sent to a re-education camp. Resistance fighters free him, and he joins them in missions to take fuel for the scattered US forces, ending at the Golden Gate Bridge during an assault to retake San Francisco.

The gameplay was reworked from its origins in Frontlines for a more cinematic, character-driven experience built around guerrilla tactics. The enemy was first going to be China and was changed to a unified Korea. The story was billed as written by John Milius, though former staff credit writer C.J. Kershner with most of the script. A tie-in novel, Homefront: The Voice of Freedom, came out in January 2011. Matthew Harwood composed the music.

Reviews were mixed on all platforms. The short campaign was criticised, the atmosphere and story divided critics, and the multiplayer was generally well received. THQ said first day sales in North America reached 375,000 copies, and 2.6 million copies had shipped to retail by 3 May 2011.

The advertising, which simulated a declaration of war, caused some confusion. The Japanese release was censored to remove references to North Korea, and the game was banned in South Korea. After THQ's bankruptcy the online servers on the consoles were shut down, and the rights went to Crytek and later Koch Media. A reboot, Homefront: The Revolution, was released in 2016.

Screenshots

Game details

Genres

First-person shooter

Developer

Kaos Studios

Publisher

THQ

Series

Homefront

Engine

Unreal Engine 3

Composers

Matthew Harwood

Designers

Chris Cross

Writers

John Milius, C.J. Kershner

Producers

Dustin Smither

Directors

David Broadhurst, David Votypka

Modes

Single player

Yes

Local multiplayer

No

Online multiplayer

32

Release dates

Editions

Buy this game

Trophies

Trophies48

Platinum possibleYes

Platinum

1

Gold

3

Silver

8

Bronze

36

Total

48

Points

1350

• Platinum Trophy Complete all other trophies for Homefront Platinum 0.28% of players
• Why We Fight Complete chapter 1 in the Single Player Campaign Bronze 79.78% of players
• Freedom Complete chapter 2 in the Single Player Campaign Bronze 68.21% of players
• Fire Sale Complete chapter 3 in the Single Player Campaign Bronze 61.81% of players
• The Wall Complete chapter 4 in the Single Player Campaign Bronze 56.96% of players
• Heartland Complete chapter 5 in the Single Player Campaign Bronze 53.18% of players
• Overwatch Complete chapter 6 in the Single Player Campaign Bronze 51.09% of players
• Golden Gate Complete chapter 7 in the Single Player Campaign Silver 47.56% of players
• Why We Fight - Guerrilla Complete chapter 1 on the Hardest Difficulty in the Single Player Campaign Bronze 8.01% of players
• Freedom - Guerrilla Complete chapter 2 on the Hardest Difficulty in the Single Player Campaign Bronze 6.76% of players
• Fire Sale - Guerrilla Complete chapter 3 on the Hardest Difficulty in the Single Player Campaign Bronze 5.84% of players
• The Wall - Guerrilla Complete chapter 4 on the Hardest Difficulty in the Single Player Campaign Bronze 5.28% of players
• Heartland - Guerrilla Complete chapter 5 on the Hardest Difficulty in the Single Player Campaign Bronze 4.67% of players
• Overwatch - Guerrilla Complete chapter 6 on the Hardest Difficulty in the Single Player Campaign Silver 5.14% of players
• Golden Gate - Guerrilla Complete chapter 7 on the Hardest Difficulty in the Single Player Campaign Silver 4.6% of players
• Iron Man - Why We Fight Complete chapter 1 in the Single Player Campaign without dying or restarting a checkpoint Bronze 11.51% of players
• Iron Man - Freedom Complete chapter 2 in the Single Player Campaign without dying or restarting a checkpoint Bronze 5.49% of players
• Iron Man - Fire Sale Complete chapter 3 in the Single Player Campaign without dying or restarting a checkpoint Bronze 3.86% of players
• Iron Man - The Wall Complete chapter 4 in the Single Player Campaign without dying or restarting a checkpoint Bronze 3.95% of players
• Iron Man - Heartland Complete chapter 5 in the Single Player Campaign without dying or restarting a checkpoint Bronze 3.07% of players
• Iron Man - Overwatch Complete chapter 6 in the Single Player Campaign without dying or restarting a checkpoint Silver 8.22% of players
• Iron Man - Golden Gate Complete chapter 7 in the Single Player Campaign without dying or restarting a checkpoint Silver 2.75% of players
• Archivist Find 30 of 61 News Pickups in the Single Player Campaign Bronze 9.31% of players
• Historian Find all 61 News Pickups in the Single Player Campaign Gold 3.1% of players
• Pistol Whipped Kill 25 enemies with a pistol in Chapter 1: Why We Fight Bronze 16.18% of players
• Give Him the Stick Kill 25 enemies with melee attacks in Chapter 1: Why We Fight Bronze 7.06% of players
• Welcome to Freedom Talk at least once to each inhabitant of Oasis in Chapter 2: Freedom Bronze 22.33% of players
• Good Use of Cover Destroy the first sentry without taking any damage in Chapter 2: Freedom Bronze 25.93% of players
• Mercy Kill 5 enemies while they are on fire in Chapter 3: Fire Sale Bronze 8.75% of players
• Let 'em Burn Don't kill any of the enemies that are on fire in Chapter 3: Fire Sale Bronze 45.82% of players
• David Rejected Complete the street section without Goliath taking any damage in Chapter 4: The Wall Bronze 5.61% of players
• Fatal and Tragic Jump off the Golden Gate Bridge in Chapter 7: Golden Gate Bronze 15.77% of players
• Chronicler Find the first of 61 news pickups Bronze 81.21% of players
• Stairway to Heaven From the front door of the church, make it to the crow's nest in 240 seconds in Chapter 5: Heartland Bronze 48.59% of players
• Speed Demon Hijack the tankers in less than 8 minutes in one life in Chapter 6: Overwatch Bronze 15.98% of players
• Safer Skies Destroy all the SAM trucks in the level in Chapter 6: Overwatch Bronze 44.39% of players
• Wilhelm's Nightmare Knock 10 enemies off of the scaffolding during the helicopter fly-in in Chapter 7: Golden Gate Bronze 10.43% of players
• Soft Targets Destroy all vehicles using the UAV in Chapter 7: Golden Gate Bronze 42.79% of players
• Weapon Expert Complete an expert challenge for any weapon in Multiplayer Bronze Needs online 8.8% of players
• Drone Expert Complete an expert challenge for any drone in Multiplayer Bronze Needs online 4.59% of players
• Vehicle Expert Complete an expert challenge for any vehicle in Multiplayer Bronze Needs online 1.85% of players
• Expert Of War Complete all challenges for weapons, drones, vehicles, and modes in Multiplayer Gold Needs online 0.31% of players
• Over the Hill Reach experience level 50 in Multiplayer Silver Needs online 4.42% of players
• Squad Commander Enter a public match as the Party Leader of a 4-Player Minimum Party in Multiplayer Bronze Needs online 1.53% of players
• Medal of Honor Win a public match as the Party Leader of a Party in Multiplayer Bronze Needs online 7.38% of players
• Full Boat Enter a public match in a Party with 16 players in Multiplayer Silver Needs online 1.05% of players
• 3-Star Threat Become a 3-Star threat in a Battle Commander public match Silver Needs online 12.2% of players
• 5-Star Threat Become a 5-Star threat in a Battle Commander public match Gold Needs online 5.11% of players

Space and patches

Space neededAbout 5.3 GB

Update patch01.04

These are the patches Sony still hosts for this disc ID. The game's real history can be longer.

DLC

No paid downloadable content is known. Every copy included an online pass for multiplayer.

Playable today

Online

Online servers runningNo

The console multiplayer servers were shut down after THQ closed in late 2013, so multiplayer cannot be played on PS3 now.

Services

Service	Status
Multiplayer servers (PS3)	closed

Reception

Aggregates

Outlet	Platform	Score	Scale
Metacritic	all platforms	70	100
GameRankings	PS3	69.33	100

Critics

Outlet	Score	Scale
IGN	7	10
GameSpot	7	10
Game Informer	7	10
1UP	B-	letter
Official Xbox Magazine	8	10
Computer and Video Games	8.6	10
GameSpy	40	100

Staff and cast

Staff

Role	Name
Developers	Kaos Studios, Digital Extremes
Publisher	THQ
Directors	David Broadhurst, David Votypka
Producer	Dustin Smither
Designer	Chris Cross
Programmer	Wes Cumberland
Artist	Jason Barajas
Writers	John Milius, C.J. Kershner
Composer	Matthew Harwood

Cast

Character	Actor
Connor Morgan	Tom Pelphrey
Rianna	Hannah Cabell
Boone Karlson	Jim T. Coleman
Hopper	Joel de la Fuente
Arnie	Scott Sowers

Notes for collectors

• Without the online pass, multiplayer stops at level 5 of 75.
• The console multiplayer servers were shut down after THQ closed in late 2013. Several trophies, including level 50 and the party and Battle Commander ones, need multiplayer, so the Platinum can no longer be earned on PS3.
• The Japanese release removed all references to North Korea, replacing them with wording like 'a certain country to the north'.
• The game is banned in South Korea.
• The first plan was for China to be the enemy. It was changed to a unified Korea.
• A promotional album, Homefront: Songs for the Resistance, was released digitally.
• THQ released 10,000 balloons near San Francisco during the Game Developers Conference as a publicity stunt.

Credits

Region

US

Time to beat

about 4 hours