slugwortshingi
Theres a butter
When it comes to our national self-image, humility gave way to hubris long ago.
Politicians not only proclaim the United States the greatest society the world has known, but say that it will remain so forever.
Thankfully, that's what we have artists for. And that's why we have video games like "Homefront."
Written by John Milius, a screenwriter of "Apocalypse Now'' and "Red Dawn,'' "Homefront" conveys a chilling, gripping, not entirely ludicrous version of America's fall. Strictly as a game -- mechanically, technically -- "Homefront" is pedestrian. But as a provocative, emotionally involving and politically relevant creative experience, it is vital. Were it a film, "Homefront" might already be a topic of national discussion.
What follows is a description of the future as imagined in the game, developed in New York by Kaos Studios and released recently by THQ for Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
2012: The United States begins a military withdrawal from the Middle East. North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, dies and is succeeded by his son Kim Jong-un.
2013: Saudi Arabia ramps up its militarization and begins to square off against Iran for control in the Middle East. Oil markets roil. Kim Jong-un begins reunification talks with South Korea and ignites a wave of anti-Americanism across Asia. The American military withdraws from South Korea.
2014: General Motors declares bankruptcy again. American department stores and consumers experience scarcity for the first time in decades.
2015: Korea is unified, and Kim Jong-un is elected president.
2018: Korea declares war against Japan. Korean special forces sabotage a Japanese nuclear power plant, causing a meltdown and a huge radiation leak. Japan capitulates to Korean occupation.
Which is where you come in. As "Homefront" begins, in 2027, you are inducted into the Resistance in Colorado. Western America has become an occupied wasteland of the Korean military, devastated suburban tracts and pockets of crazed survivalists.
The basic shooting and combat mechanisms in "Homefront" are standard fare. And the main single-player story campaign is brief, perhaps five hours at most, though the multiplayer modes are surprisingly engaging.
What makes "Homefront" stand out from all the other shooting games is its setting and its ambition to grapple with a vision of what could happen in the real world if absolutely everything were to go wrong. When you see images of bulldozers pushing around mounds of American corpses, citizens in an internment camp in what used to be a high school football stadium and the twisted wreckage of a suburban White Castle or Hooters restaurant, you feel an emotional connection to the action that simply doesn't accompany a science-fiction game set on a faraway planet.
As unpalatable as it may be, the inkling that America might not necessarily be the most important place in the world forever is finally sinking into our national consciousness. No matter what politicians say.
Theres a butter
When it comes to our national self-image, humility gave way to hubris long ago.
Politicians not only proclaim the United States the greatest society the world has known, but say that it will remain so forever.
Thankfully, that's what we have artists for. And that's why we have video games like "Homefront."
Written by John Milius, a screenwriter of "Apocalypse Now'' and "Red Dawn,'' "Homefront" conveys a chilling, gripping, not entirely ludicrous version of America's fall. Strictly as a game -- mechanically, technically -- "Homefront" is pedestrian. But as a provocative, emotionally involving and politically relevant creative experience, it is vital. Were it a film, "Homefront" might already be a topic of national discussion.
What follows is a description of the future as imagined in the game, developed in New York by Kaos Studios and released recently by THQ for Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
2012: The United States begins a military withdrawal from the Middle East. North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-il, dies and is succeeded by his son Kim Jong-un.
2013: Saudi Arabia ramps up its militarization and begins to square off against Iran for control in the Middle East. Oil markets roil. Kim Jong-un begins reunification talks with South Korea and ignites a wave of anti-Americanism across Asia. The American military withdraws from South Korea.
2014: General Motors declares bankruptcy again. American department stores and consumers experience scarcity for the first time in decades.
2015: Korea is unified, and Kim Jong-un is elected president.
2018: Korea declares war against Japan. Korean special forces sabotage a Japanese nuclear power plant, causing a meltdown and a huge radiation leak. Japan capitulates to Korean occupation.
Which is where you come in. As "Homefront" begins, in 2027, you are inducted into the Resistance in Colorado. Western America has become an occupied wasteland of the Korean military, devastated suburban tracts and pockets of crazed survivalists.
The basic shooting and combat mechanisms in "Homefront" are standard fare. And the main single-player story campaign is brief, perhaps five hours at most, though the multiplayer modes are surprisingly engaging.
What makes "Homefront" stand out from all the other shooting games is its setting and its ambition to grapple with a vision of what could happen in the real world if absolutely everything were to go wrong. When you see images of bulldozers pushing around mounds of American corpses, citizens in an internment camp in what used to be a high school football stadium and the twisted wreckage of a suburban White Castle or Hooters restaurant, you feel an emotional connection to the action that simply doesn't accompany a science-fiction game set on a faraway planet.
As unpalatable as it may be, the inkling that America might not necessarily be the most important place in the world forever is finally sinking into our national consciousness. No matter what politicians say.