After bringing Metro 2033 and Red Faction: Guerrilla to Japanese retailers, Spike has been tasked with adapting THQ's Homefront as well. Unlike the previous titles, however, Homefront's main themes clash with acceptable game content standards in the country, according to Japan's CERO game rating guidelines. In order to bring the game up to code, Spike has detailed three main changes on the game's official Japanese website (via Andriasang):
In one live action sequence in the game's opening movie that depicts North Korean leader Kim Jong-il as having died, the image of Kim Jong-il has been removed.
In scenes that have been deemed malicious to an existing country, said country is now referred to as 'A Certain Country to the North.'
In scenes that have been deemed malicious to an existing person, said person is now referred to as 'Northern Leader.'
We've dropped edited and unedited versions of the game's opening after the break for comparison's sake. Glory in the Great Leader or not -- the choice is yours!
The year is 2027. The world as we know it is unraveling after fifteen years of economic meltdown and widespread global conflict over dwindling natural resources. A once proud America has fallen, her infrastructure shattered and military in disarray. Crippled by a devastating EMP strike, the USA is powerless to resist the ever expanding occupation of a savage, nuclear armed Greater Korean Republic. Abandoned by her former allies, the United States is a bleak landscape of walled towns and abandoned suburbs. This is a police state where high school stadiums have become detention centers, and shopping malls shelter armored attack vehicles. A once-free people are now prisoners, or collaborators,or revolutionaries. Join the Resistance, stand united and fight for freedom against an overwhelming military force in Homefront's gripping single player campaign penned by John Milius (Apocalypse Now, Red Dawn). Stand alongside a cast of memorable characters as an emotional plot unfolds in this terrifyingly plausible near-future world. Experience visceral, cinematic first-person shooter action as you fight your way across Occupied USA using guerrilla tactics, and commandeer military vehicles and advanced drone technology to defeat the enemy. Multiplayer brings epic warfare to the online arena as infantry, tanks, attack helicopters and combat drones battle across huge, open battlefields. A rich feature set offering layers of tactical depth combined with a game-changing innovation in the multiplayer space will set a new benchmark in online warfare.
