In the new trailer for Homefront: The Revolution, they take us down a quick trip of memory lane to explain how the KPA came in and took over America with sweeping force. At first it seems pretty far fetched, but the way Dambuster built up the lore within the fictional world, it’s not that hard to see at all.
Despite China dumping some of its U.S. Treasury debt this year, as noted by CNN, they still own close to 7% of all U.S., debt and they have an military that’s the largest in the world and constantly growing, if the reports from Business Insider are to be believed. All that is to say, a future where China decides to flex some military muscle, cash in on the debt and maybe utilize America’s dependence on their exports could create a likely scenario that they depict in the trailer below.
The big difference is that they utilize an alternate history in Homefront to give gamers the impression that North Korea is as technologically as empowered as Japan, but has the military might and finances of China, making them a serious force to be reckoned with.
The trailer is actually the opening sequence to Homefront: The Revolution. I think it’s a perfect lead-in for giving gamers a reason to want to fight in the game and win back their country.
The game was originally based on John Milius’ 1984 film, Red Dawn, where the Soviets take over the United States, given that back in the 1980s tensions were high with the whole Cold War. Homefront and the Red Dawn remake were supposed to utilize the Chinese but then they chickened out because they were afraid that the Red Dawn movie couldn’t be shown in China and that both the movie and the game might hurt relations with the country, as noted by Screenrant.
So now instead of China being the big baddie they essentially have China in all but name being the big baddie in Homefront, only they refer to them as the Koreans.
Most impressive is the setup for the game… I love the concept of the KPA “turning off” our military. I’d imagine we would have better contingencies to deal with a Metal Gear Solid IV: Guns of the Patriots style “gotcha!” moment, but it works well enough for Homefront: The Revolution because of America’s stacked debt, weakened economy and destroyed will. It was a country ripe and fertile for the taking.
I suppose this is the first time we’ve seen Homefront being strongly displayed where the story and the setup is being conveyed to compel gamers to take interest; leveraging the lore as a selling point.
Hasit Zala, the game director at Dambuster Studios commented about the opening cinematic and how effective it is in what it gets across, saying in the press release…
“The core premise of Homefront – an occupation on American soil – remains unchanged,” […] “But we have created a brand new fiction that offers a very different interpretation of how we got there.”
Well color me intrigued, I can’t say I don’t like it, because I do. In fact, that story trailer was done well enough to make me interested in seeing how players will manage to free the whole country under those circumstances?
Anyway, you can look for Homefront: The Revolution to launch on May 17th for the Xbox One, PS4 and PC in North America and May 20th in the rest of the world. For more info feel free to visit the official website.
