Homefront

The story was penned by John Milius, writer of Apocalypse Now and Red Dawn, and game-makers THQ sought the expertise of a former CIA Officer to devise a plausible course of events that would lead to the fall of the United States and the rise ofNorth Korea to become a global Superpower.

Bizarrely, several elements of the game's originally 'fictitious' storyline have actually come to pass in the last twelve months.

The succession of Kim Jong-il's favourite son, Kim Jong-un to supreme ruler of North Korea is now widely expected to happen, but Homefront's storyline predicted this take-over nearly twelve months ago before the rest of the world even knew who Kim Jong-un was.

In a more sinister twist, North Korea recently claimed to have developed the technology for an Electro Magnetic Pulse, or 'EMP' - a weapon capable of knocking out all electronic devices, including computers, phones and power lines, on a country-wide level. In Homefront's story, the Greater Korean Republic uses this weapon to cripple the United States in advance of a full-blown invasion.

At a rally held in San Francisco earlier this month, William R. Forstchen, Ph.D., author of "One Second After" and one of America's leading experts on EMP weapons, spoke about the grave threat to the United States of an EMP attack that could plunge the country back to the stone age.

Homefront has made headlines around the globe thanks to its controversial storyline. In Australia last week, an advert on YouTube featuring clips from the Homefront 'Future History' trailer caused frightened members of the public to phone in to news networks, believing an actual invasion was taking place. (Orson Welles terrified the nation back in the 1930's by reading extracts from 'War of the Worlds' live on radio.)

Homefront depicts an America as you've never seen it before - crushed by a the heel of a brutal military occupation. The game has already earned plaudits from critics who describe its uncompromising material as one of the most mature and emotional pieces of story-telling yet seen in a videogame.

Homefront is released today, Tuesday, March 15th, on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

SOURCE THQ