Atmosphere Is King In Kaos Studios’ New Shooter

Kaos Studios’ Homefront is taking the familiar framework of a traditional shooter and setting it uncomfortably close to home. In case you’ve missed the setup, all you really need to know is that it takes place in a horrific version of the United States in 2027. North Korea has occupied the U.S. after rising fuel prices destabilized and ultimately crippled the nation. Under the regime, life is brutal. For people who dare fight back, it’s also short.

If you’re expecting a prolonged riff on the “Russians invade the suburbs” section of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, you’re in for a surprise. You’re not a part of an elite fighting force. Our hero, a former pilot named Connor, faces enemies who are better armed and equipped than his loosely organized band of resistance fighters, and the vibe is more Half-Life 2 than military shooter. Your friends are outgunned and outnumbered, and they know it.

While watching armed Greater Korean Republic soldiers patrol the streets of Montrose, Colorado, might be jarring, the streets themselves are eerily familiar. The locations in the opening few levels of Homefront resemble what you might find in any small town, with some unsettling twists. In this dystopian future, artifacts of our ordinary lives have been repurposed and modified for combat. Sometimes the resistance is the responsible party, like when I climbed atop a tree house and used it as an improvised sniper perch. Other times, the opposing military is manipulating the environments to suit its needs.

I saw an example of this early on in a nighttime raid. I was in a small group working its way through the suburbs toward an elementary school, led by a hothead named Boone Carlson. Some of our comrades were using the building as a drop point for equipment, and we needed to rearm before breaking into a nearby detention camp. Keeping a low profile here was critical, considering our tactical disadvantage.

Things were working out all right until we came upon a baseball diamond. Center field was swarming with soldiers, so the plan was to stick to the perimeter, working our way around by hiding behind the bleachers. Then we realized what was happening. A bulldozer was working near home plate, dropping bodies into an open grave. At that point, Carlson lost it, screaming at the soldiers and firing indiscriminately. We still worked through the back route, but with the added complication of having everyone within range on high alert.

After that, I faced an extended sequence featuring a raid on a big-box electronics retailer turned fuel depot. Outside the building, we ambushed soldiers with help from our six-wheeled, semi-automated vehicle called Goliath. The vehicle rolled around and targeted soldiers automatically with its .50 caliber machine gun, but it needed our help when it came to firing rockets. To do that, I held a reticle over Greater Korean Republic vehicles or soldiers until the target was locked, and fired away. Goliath’s gun was surprisingly ineffective on its own, so it took a fair amount of intervention to survive the opening battle. It didn’t help matters that soldiers took occasional shots with EMP rockets, temporarily disabling the vehicle and leaving it vulnerable.

Once we were inside the store, my team had to scout out more information about the enemies’ fuel infrastructure. As with the rest of the game, it was hard to shake the strange feeling of fighting in such a familiar place. Even though taking cover behind a boulder or a checkout lane might be functionally similar, I found the game’s setting to be effectively unnerving time and time again. Homefront doesn’t seem to offer much new in terms of gameplay, but it makes up for some of its slightly musty mechanics with some incredible atmosphere.

I’m definitely sold on Homefront’s premise and setting, and I can say with confidence that Homefront is one of the most atmospheric games I’ve played in some time. I haven’t gotten my hands on the multiplayer yet, but if it’s as interesting as what I played of the campaign, shooter fans have something to look forward to this March.