“Homefront” is the controversial first-person shooter video game developed by Kaos Studios and published by THQ. The antagonists in “Homefront” were originally intended to be Chinese, but were later replaced by North Koreans for two reasons: a possible backlash by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and the reality of economic interdependence between America and China. Homefront is set in a near future America in 2027 when a nuclear-armed Korean People’s Army invades the USA. The game is written by John Milius, who co-wrote “Apocalypse Now” and wrote/directed “Red Dawn”. In the speculative fiction, post peak oil world that features a significantly diminished United States, and a united Korea that has built a massive alliance in East Asia. The game focuses on the collapse of the United States, subsequent occupation by the Greater Korean Republic – a united Korea under the rule of North Korea – and the American Resistance that fights said occupation. The player is invited to join the American Resistance, “using guerrilla tactics, commandeering military vehicles, and utilizing advanced drone technology”. For sales of Homefront to Japan, the game has been censored by removing all references to North Korea including pictures of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.The changes are replaced by using a “A Certain Country to the North” and the “Northern Leader”.The soundtrack consist in 11 covers of more or less classic war and anti-war songs released by bands of the new wave of Metal scene as As I Lay Dying, The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Acacia Strain, The Ghost Inside, Oceano, etc, and with songs like “War Ensemble”, “War Pigs”, “One”, “For What It’s Worth”, “Us And Them” or “Sunday Bloody Sunday” it’s almost impossible to fail.
01. As I Lay Dying – War Ensemble (Slayer cover)
02. The Dillinger Escape Plan – Fight The Power (feat. Chuck D.) (Public Enemy cover)
03. iwrestledabearonce – Uprising (Muse cover)
04. The Acacia Strain – War Pigs (Black Sabbath cover)
05. Periphery – One (Metallica cover)
06. The Ghost Inside – Fortunate Son (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)
07. Winds Of Plague – For What It’s Worth (Buffalo Springfield cover)
08. Misery Signals – Us And Them (Pink Floyd cover)
09. Arsonists Get All The Girls – Masters Of War (Bob Dylan cover)
10. Oceano – War (Edwin Starr cover)
11. Veil Of Maya – Sunday Bloody Sunday (U2 cover)
Anyway, some of this covers are very intense and some of them are interesting, others not so. As I Lay Dying made no changes on “War Ensemble”, just like Periphery treated with respect Metallica’s “One”. The Acacia Strain played perfectly the classic Black Sabbath “War Pigs”, only vocalist Vincent Bennett didn’t succeed to rise even close to the necessities of this song, and honestly, after Faith No More made a genius cover of “War Pigs” back in 1989, it’s really hard to bring out of this song something else significant. It’s interesting what The Dillinger Escape Plan bring out of Public Enemy’s “Fight The Power”, just like how iwrestledabearonce managed with the Muse song “Uprising” and Misery Signals with “Us And Them” by Pink Floyd. The Ghost Inside handle correctly the Creedence Clearwater Revival song, “Masters Of War” originally by Bob Dylan sounds nasty and crushing in the very intense interpretation of Arsonists Get All The Girls. “War” by Edwin Starr got a grindcore re-branding by Oceano and finally “Sunday Bloody Sunday” has been brutalized almost unrecognizably by Veil Of Maya.
Interesting, but not outstanding.
