Homefront

The year is 2027. The US has been devestated by a tactical EMP and then a millitary invasion by the United Korea which controls the Eastern US up to the Mississippi river, which has been contaminated. New Orleans is a dead zone and the Korean People's Army rules with brutal force. The US Millitary is fractured and in chaos. In the East, members of resistance cells fight back against their oppressors. With hit and run tactics, they seek to end the oppression.

Homefront is the latest from Kaos studios and published by THQ.  It's an FPS set in heartland America after the millitary invasion of the United States by The United Korea. On the surface, it seems like almost a garden variety shooter. Run and gun, shoot em up kind of thing. But below that, Kaos has created something quite interesting.

Thanks to the help of the writer for both Red Dawn and Apocalypse Now, Homefront paints a bleak picture of a future America that is ravaged and eve the most basic of needs is scarce and the enemy controls every facet of life. One thing that really sets the game apart is the locations and battlefields. Where most shooters will be set in a massive battlefield, or a burned out city. Homefront takes place, for the most part, in backyards and cul-de-sacs. In neighborhoods that are not easily recognizable and familier, yet unknown. You'll fight KPA soliders though playgrounds and streets, fighting to regain your homeland. And beyond that you'll find yourself up against American Survivalists. The story is amazing. The locations of exquisit. The downside is that the story is quite short, only 7 missions. But they are long missions, for sure. Still, I finished it while I did feel sated, I felt myself yearning for more. I certainly hope Kaos builds on it and develops a sequel.

You take control of a former USMC pilot by the name of Robert Jacobs. And that is all that is told about the character. You never see your face. You never hear your voice. But you, as the player, will feel connected to the character quite quickly. You are teamed with three other characters, Conner Morgan, Rianna and Hopper.

Kaos does many things right with this game. Chief among them, is the AI. They are ruthless and well coordinated for the most part. But they do switch it up and become annoyingly redundant at other times (especially after you've been killed 20 times trying to get through the same 5 minutes). The switch up in tactics has the effect of keeping you on your toes through the game.


Overall, Kaos does an amazing job of making something truly spectacular. It may not be groundbreaking, but the story makes up for any lack of real originality in gameplay.

9 out of 10. Amazing, but lacking in story length.


Home. Home is where the war is.

A Quick Note...

...To everyone who is saying that the Japanese Tsunami disaster is payback for Pearl Harbour. First, fuck off. Second, Pearl got hit with the Tsunami as well. Third, you're a dreg of humanity and unwelcome in the world. Please go die.

My thoughts go out to the Japanese people and all those that have died. May you rest in peace. I wish the survivors a speedy recovery for them and their country.

Battle: Los Angeles review

As with all my reviews, this WILL contain spoilers. I will try my best to limit them, but I cannot filter them all out.

Battle: Los Angeles was released March 11/2011

Aaron Eckhart as Marine Staff Sergeant Michael Nantz
Michelle Rodriguez as USAF Technical Sergeant Elena Santos
Ramón Rodríguez as Marine 2nd Lieutenant William Martinez
Ne-Yo as Corporal Kevin Harris
Michael Peña as Joe Rincon












It chronicles the invasion of Earth by a hostile alien force and a squad of USMC soliders in LA who have been ordered into the fray to rescue civilians who have been trapped behind enemy lines.With time running out before a massive operation, they must fight their way through an unknown enemy and then back to base.



I like this movie, quite a bit. It may not have been the best written or the most well directed and probably won't win any Oscars, but all the same, it was a damn good movie. You don't have to be a hardcore video gamer to enjoy it, but it does help if you like millitary style video games.

Aaron Eckhart plays Staff Sgt. Nantz, a combat verteran from Afghanistan who lost his entire last unit and holds onto that throughout the entire movie, while some of the other Marines question why he is still on active duty. He still has demons about his last tour and that shows in his character. Eckhart does a good job of portraying a man that feels he has lost everything. He is convincing and captures the emotions very well.

The other Marines I didn't feel had the same mentallity. They seemed to be more a gang of recruits than a honed infantry unit. They spoke and reacted as though they were on their first day. The one I really bought was Ramón Rodríguez as Lieutenant Martinez. His character was supposed to be a green officer. Fresh out of officer training and he did react as such. Constantly panicking and questioning what had to be done. He did that part very well. I don't want to call the characters cut and paste or cookie cutter, because that would be inacurrate. But at the same time, the characters do feel as if they are brought from a box of cliches. In the context of this movie, it's not actually a bad thing. Because of the absolute cliche that the movie is, it makes sense to have cliche characters. To make it different would have been a mistake, I believe.

Little is shown about the invaders, aside from a few interesting shots. No real reason beyond what people assume is given for their presence on Earth. A lot of educated guesses are made and a very obvious reason is made clear, but we can't know 100% for sure because we never see anything from the invader's point of view Almost no option of diplomacy is offered, except for one small part, but it is more done in jest. Still, I think that is for the best. When a hostile force comes in and starts shooting, they probably aren't going to be interested in talking. So by removing that element, the movie is streamlined and moves forward quickly.

The only real bit we get to see about the aliens is when the Marines manage to capture one about a third of the way through the film. Even then, we don't get to see much and what we do see is fast paced and blurry. It would have served the director well to slow down and pull the camera back a bit for that part.

All in all, a good movie. Just remember to turn your brain off before you go and see it. And if you happen to like first person shooter video games, all the better. 8/10


And speaking of video games, Saber Interactive developed a tie in video game to the film. I have played through some of it and it is your garden variety shooter. Using comic strips to narrate the cutscenes, it moves along quite quickly. Not bad for what looks like a very low budget game. It is available on STEAM for $9.99

A Note to Doomsayers

A little tip if you are going to go around and tell people that the end of world is coming. Pick a day where something is actually going to happen. Like March 19th, when the moon is going to be the closest it has been in 18 years. Rather than some random day in another part of the year where no supernatural events are scheduled. People are much more likely to believe you then.

I'm just sayin is all.

I'm sure the deity at the universal events planning desk will understand.

Ubisoft

I love how Ubisoft tries to justify their use of over the top DRM (Digital Rights Management) software. They say that it "protects their product from pirates". They say other things too, but it all goes back to that.

Amazing how simple a lie, eh?

Ubisoft has come under much fire from gamers and the gaming community for it's paranoid and OCD use of DRM software. Quite a few of their games are so controlled that the gamer must maintain a constant internet connection in order to be allowed to play the game, so that Ubisoft servers can validate the software that it is authentic and legally purchased.

it is a load of bull crap.

Aside from a few mentions, most of the people I know pirate Ubisoft games for this reason. The company then goes out and says that "It's their fault! Look they pirated it and we have to protect our money, I mean games" When they don't understand that by putting in such DRM software and making it so much of a headfuck to actually play the game, that they drive people away from wanting the games themselves and that people will gladly pirate a copy to avoid having to jump through the 353 or so hoops just to be able to play their legally purchased copy. Frankly, I do not blame them.

Now, on the one hand, I'm not really supportive of piracy. I believe that if a developer takes the time to make a great game, that they should not have to stand their product being stolen and used with no reward for such a good title.

On the other hand, I support piracy, especially with Ubisoft games, because if a company is going to go OUT OF THEIR WAY to make it hard for and basically say "fuck you" to it's loyal customers, just so they hope to discourage a few piraters and make a few extra bucks, then I say, Pirate away, maties.

As I've said time and time again, the best way to combat piracy is to lower the prices on the games and not make it so that the gamer has to jump through endlessly frustrating hoops to enjoy a game. By the time they get to the game, it's not fun from all the frustration.

STEAM does DRM very well. They don't fuck people over and they respect their customers. Ubisoft does not. I say boycott them. Maybe when none of their games sell, they will finally learn.