Homefront: The Revolution – The Voice of Freedom is the first DLC pack to be released that has us take on the role of Benjamin Walker, the iconic spokesman for the Resistance. We start off with a small group of Resistance members tasked with getting Walker into Philadelphia and things go sour quick as they are attacked by a new enemy, the street gang Nine O. It is a very heavy attack and Walker only has a pistol for most of the DLC so aiming your shots carefully is a must. Mix in the North Koreans and you can quickly tell that making are way into Philadelphia will not be an easy task.
Ammo is in extremely limited supply, to the point where you’ll be happy to find just two bullets. Unlike the base game, this is a completely linear experience more akin to the original Homefront so you can’t simply go searching for more ammo. The scarcity of ammo and the night time setting of a run-down desolate cityscape/subway station lend this game a near survival horror feel to it. It lets the tension build up as you enter the darkness of the metro only to find mangled bodies hung from the walls and no enemies to be found for a decent amount of time.
Playing as a voiced character with his own personality is leagues better than playing as Brady from the base game even if they handle exactly the same. Walker is a likable character and since this is set before the events that occur in The Revolution, I couldn’t help but think this really should have been included as a tutorial mission. As it is in the base game where the story is centered around rescuing Walker, it would have been real handy to care even the slightest bit about him. If you buy The Revolution with this DLC I would suggest playing this before the base game even if it is significantly harder.
The Voice of Freedom does not feature new weapons, items or anything besides the new environments it is set in and the journey of Walker right before the base game started. Interestingly enough it does feature a boss fight and Walker can only build remotely detonated explosives so it takes on a more tactical feel than usual. This DLC really nails the feel of being the underdog with barely any resources to fight with. With as much trouble as we were having with a street gang it really helped show how difficult it would be to take on the North Koreans.
Oddly enough, Walker does not have a flashlight and some sections did have me squinting trying to make out what is going on. I really enjoyed this DLC but it does have two major flaws to it aside from not adding anything new. The first is its extremely short length. It is done after half an hour and lacks any kind of replay value. The second flaw is how much they charge for so little content, making it a tough sell for anyone but the most devoted Homefront fans. It is in no way required to enjoy the base game or is it worth a buy though if you already own it through the season pass then it is definitely worth playing.
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