Homefront vs. Frontlines: Lessons Not Learned

Part 3 in the ongoing series: "Cloud Atlas keeps piling on Homefront for some reason."

Three years ago, THQ partnered with designers Kaos Studios to create Frontlines: Fuel of War. The game had a gripping backstory: in 2024, with oil supplies severely reduced, the US has gone to war for oil in central Asia.

Cool! I anticipated future weapons and complications caused by the scarcity of fuel (it's right there in the title). And America was not a righteous warrior for international justice, but a brute struggling for survival. Perhaps the game would challenge the standard war game tropes?

What I got was a mediocre Call of Duty knock-off that could have been set anywhere. Lots of setup with no payoff.

With Homefront, THQ and Kaos have repeated that mistake in almost every detail.