Homefront, Bulletstorm and Dead Space 2

You play John Jacobs (his first name probably isn't John,) a mute helicopter pilot living in a future USA that has, through a contrived series of events, been occupied by none other than good ol' North Korea. You're conscripted into the resistance by heroic moron Connor Morgon, who is introduced when he crashes into the bus you're on, killing everyone inside except, by virtue of your protagonist armour, you.

Chances are you'll quickly notice that this game bears a striking resemblance to Call of Duty. In fact, squint a little and you could probably convince yourself that you were playing Modern Warfare 2 after Russia invades the US. Homefront features the same mechanics, the same controls, the same terrible habit of having your AI squad-mates drag you around by the nose, etc. If they did it in Call of Duty, chances are it's been done here (albeit worse.)

As for the plot, there's not much of interest to discuss. The game never actually does much with it's unique, if stupid, setting, and the only character who stands out is Connor Morgan, and in his case it's not a good thing. He's a complete jerkass, everything he does is reckless and unnecessary and he's a danger to others and himself, yet no one ever stops him. On occasion a character will put up a completely token resistance, he'll tell them to shut up and do as he says, they will, end of story. Thankfully you won't have to put up with him for long because, in a case of merciful brevity, the story is quite short.

Tack on a phenomenally bland multi-player component that barely anyone plays and you've more or less got Homefront, the game that wishes it was CoD. Don't let the pretty graphics and "North Korea invades the USA" hook fool you, this game is a waste of money and a waste of time. Don't play it.

You play Dick Grayson (his first name probably isn't Dick,) an obnoxious, drunken space pirate who, in the pursuit of revenge against his former boss, General Serrano, manages to strand himself, his crew and the good general on a post-apocalyptic resort planet that's been overtaken by gangs of mutated thugs. While there, Grayson picks up a device called a leash, which can grab enemies and fling them around, and rewards you with points based on how gruesomely you murder your foes. These are then spent on ammo and upgrades for the assortment of ridiculous weaponry you acquire throughout the campaign.

I was initially quite sceptical of Bulletstorm's "Kill with Skill" gimmick, because it's been tried before and generally just feels like more of a chore than anything, but here it's actually pulled off pretty well. You're certainly given ample tools to get the job done; guns all feature an alt-firing mode (like the revolver's flare, which explodes and sets anyone in the general vicinity on fire,) the environments are full of broken rebar, giant cactuses, exposed electrical wiring and hundred foot drops to boot people into, and it's got enough varied set-pieces to keep things from getting stale (including a section where you remote control a giant robot dinosaur that shoots lasers.)

Yet what surprised me the most was that the narrative is actually half-decent. Perhaps it speaks to how comparatively low the bar is set, but it's definitely a lot more memorable and engaging than most recent games that come to mind. It doesn't take itself too seriously and, while the characters never get any less obnoxious, I did find myself feeling quite invested by the end (which just makes the sequel tease ending feel like even more of a cock-slap.)

It's not terribly long, and by all accounts the multi-player doesn't stand up too well (never tried it myself) but it's gorgeous, action packed and fun. Plus, there's a quadruple-barrelled shotgun. Definitely a worth rental at least.

You play as Isaac Clarke (his first name is definitely Isaac,) the protagonist of Dead Space 1 who has, rather understandably, wound up in the loony bin on Titan Station (not that he ever acts particularly strange or crazy, he just has visions of his dead girlfriend from time to time.) In what should come as no surprsie, there's a sudden break out of necromorphs, the mutant space zombies of the Dead Space franchise, on the station and Isaac must mutilate his way to the bottom of it.

Let me just say that I did enjoy Dead Space 2 more than I thought I would. I wasn't a big fan of the first game because, for a survival horror, it just wasn't scary. The developers seem to have realized this, and have abandoned the pretense of trying to scare the player altogether and instead made an action game with really gross looking enemies. At times it becomes downright amusing, like when you get swarmed by the monster children who are apparently held together with masking tape. Mechanically, it's almost exactly the same as the first game, just with more ammo and more enemies to shoot it at.

Also, Isaac now has a voice and a personality, as well as a new face. He had one before, but now it looks entirely different.


Unfortunately, these do little to actually humanize him, because they're all completely generic, as is just about everyone else you meet. You'd think only having to write 4-5 characters would make it easier, but no, everyone's either cliched or just totally uninteresting. I won't complain too much about the plot, suffice to say that the villain is boring (seeing as how he's a) someone we've never met and b) you don't even see him for almost the entire game.) I just don't really get what's going on, probably since I didn't play the first game all the way through.

So in summary, it's alright. You'll probably enjoy it more if you don't go in expecting a horror game. It's a decent length, and the ability to play it on higher difficulties with all your gear from previous play-throughs and the Hardcore mode (which restricts you to three saves and gives you no checkpoints) give it a fair amount of re-playability. That said, I'd probably stick with a rental.