Yes Virgina, this game actually had a novelazation based off of it. You be suprised sometimes on books that simply get publised based on the game it is based off of, or the amount of titles that it spawns. For example Homefront was supposed to be a powerhouse that THQ was supposed to use to pave the way against your Call of Duties and Battlefields. Although it did pull a profit it simply was not that AAA winner THQ was going for.
Now as someone who only played the game breifly I thought it was average at best, sure there were flaws but the concept at its core, having a war taken place on American soil rather then a foriegn country added a depth that some series simply did not have. Now what does this book have to do with game?
Practically nothing.
Yes even if you have never played the game prior to picking up this book you can still very easily get into the narrative in itself. Honestly I thought this was a great move on the book's part, being penned by the author of Red Dawn you have some interesting things they go through.
Now the book is more or less a prequal to the game following Ben/DJ Ben/The Voice of Freedom on where he was before the events of the Train bombings and the EMP that took out most of the United States, we follow him as he meets up with various characters both in the game and outside of it as he vowes to get the information out there after an attack on Vegas.
Now to its credit it introduces the Korean not as a super evil bad guy being evil for the sake of it, but rather as a fanatical follower of the leader Kim John Un and his mission to go and expand the Korean empire. The primary reason they bombed the harmless city of Las Vegas is when they intercepted a radio transmission where DJ Ben was insulting the Koreans on the anniversity of the attack and wanted to surpress any idea of a revolt from its citizens.
Do the Koreans do evil things? Absolutely they are clearly made to be the bad guys in this novel, but slight looks into them show a meathod behind the madness that as a stregy justifibly make sense within their culture. One that stands out was killing a blogger who was antigovernment and then dropping leaflets with his picture on it saying to fight back against the Koreans. The Koreans thought it would bring a message that Americans to not do this in order to save their lives. However if you know Americans...well it did the opposite.
Since it was a prequal it actually explain how in the world America got to where it was and why the Korean did what needed to be done. In all honesty the games opening explains this as well but did so in a clunky meathod that simply made you question the valinity of this.
Now there is some of that in the chain of events and knowing some world politics you would call bullshit on the fact that North Korea would be the nation proposing peace to South Korea in 2013 or the fact that America turned back into an isolationist society after being ask to leave the Asian allies and the Middle East. If you can turn off your brain and not scream at the various and obivious moments where you can say that will never happen you can get into the narrartive enough to enjoy the characters as they first survive and then try to attack the Koreans at each opportunity.
All in all, this is a solid book. Sure it might be as good as Red Dawn or Freedom Fighters in some people's eyes but it has enough to go and engague you and sets up the event that lead into the story presented into the video game. Pick it up if this concept appeals to you. Next time on the club I am thinking of a historical book, stay tuned.
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