Not A Review – Homefront: The Revolution’s Co-Op Resistance Mode Isn’t Worth Joining

I was fairly excited to play more Homefront: Revolution since I first got my first hands-on time with the title at Gamescom last year. That demo was running on PC, and it featured a slice of the single-player campaign. To say that my recent experience on console was different would be an understatement. After spending several hours playing the co-op mode on PlayStation 4, I think I’m done with Homefront for now.

Resistance Mode is the game’s co-op component, which is a series of missions completely separate from the single-player campaign. The setting is the same – North Korea has taken over the United States thanks to some shady weapons technology that essentially disarmed our military – but these are bite-sized scenarios that can be played in any order. For example, you might have to breach an outpost, clear out the guards, hack a computer, and then protect it while enemies flood in. Up to four people can join these missions together, in case you want to spread the misery.

Homefront: The Revolution simply doesn’t feel completely done. I haven’t touched the campaign, but the co-op mode is loaded with technical issues that I have a hard time looking past. My character’s model never showed up in the customization menu, so I had to stare at a blank space and use my imagination while I changed my boots and outfit. That’s certainly not a deal-breaker, but it set the tone for what else was in store. Several times, my partner’s camera spawned somewhere outside of his body, so only slowly rotating boot was visible as it clipped through the environment. He had to watch helplessly until we reached an objective, whereupon he was dropped back into the world. Enemies ragdoll in hilarious statue-like poses. There is barely an animation for the rocket launcher; if your partner fires one all you see is a slight hitch in their stance and the rocket remains visible in the weapon.

Even after installing the latest update, Homefront: The Revolution runs poorly on the PlayStation 4. The framerate sputters around, occasionally hitting around 30 FPS, but dipping regularly. It makes the shooting, which already feels mushy and unfulfilling, virtually unplayable at times. When you’re a shooter, this is a problem. Your character is vulnerable to enemy weapons, which makes sense. They are bullets, after all. But the North Koreans seem to be superhuman in response. When you do manage to dial in a headshot during the slideshow-like action, it often takes several shots for the enemy to react.

Not pictured: My character

The starting arsenal is basic and underpowered, but you can eventually upgrade and acquire new weapons. The problem is, the new weapons are obtained by buying blind crates with in-game credits. It’s a little weird to be at the mercy of a random number generator, especially considering how much flexibility you have when modeling your character (once you get past the limited number of possible heads). You can choose your character’s pre-resistance occupation, all of which have their own associated perk. It’s a cool idea. Mechanics can scavenge more materials from wrecked drones and vehicles. Postal workers are more prone to anger, so unlocks in the fighter skill tree cost less XP to obtain. I went with a receptionist job, which made me less likely to be targeted by the enemy. 

I love being able to tailor my character to the way I play, which makes the randomly acquired weapons seem even stranger. I opened one and got a rocket launcher, while my squadmate found a crossbow in his. Since you can only carry one primary item at first, that rocket launcher was essentially worthless for someone like me, who wanted to play a stealthy character. As it stands, you have to grind out missions to earn currency, and hope for the best.

The missions are difficult in bizarre ways, such as when enemies spawn before your eyes moments before delivering a lethal shotgun blast. Coupled with the poor framerate and lack of aiming precision, it makes for a frustrating time. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by enemies, which makes sense for the setting, but I rarely felt like I had the right tools to fight back in a satisfactory way.

I know that this game had a troubled development history, but that’s not our fault as players. I don’t know if the mode can be salvaged via updates, but it seems like something that would require a full redesign. There are so many good shooters coming out this year, and I can’t encourage anyone to waste their time on this co-op mode.

Bear in mind, this is not our official review. Keep an eye out for that next week. These are only my thoughts on a small portion of the game, and I’m not reviewing Homefront: The Revolution in its entirety. Speaking with editor Jeff Marchiafava, who is reviewing the game for us, it’s clear that many of these issues are prevalent in the single-player component of the game as well. If you’re still considering the game, I would strongly suggest waiting for his final verdict.