Lt. Thomas Hobbes (Scott Bairstow) is set to leave the military and marry Sophie Green (Samantha Mathis) to start a new life. Out of the blue, he has one last mission to complete. He has to enter a virtual reality game developed by the military called Harsh Realm. His mission is to take out retired legend, General Omar Santiago (Terry O'Quinn), in order to get the high score. Once inside, he can't get out. He is saved by the mysterious Florence (Rachel Hayward) who has special healing powers. He is joined by fellow soldier Mike Pinnochio (D. B. Sweeney) sent on the same mission and Dexter the Dog. Harsh Realm is a recreation of Earth with all the population copied from the real world but it is running on its own dystopian course. Meanwhile in the real world, Sophie is told that Thomas had been killed while on a secret mission but the mysterious Inga Fossa (Sarah-Jane Redmond) sets her on a course to uncover the truth.
This is a great general premise adapted from a comic book but creator Chris Carter needs to work out some of the details much better. First, the military would never select soldiers with any close families. The soldiers need to disappear without anyone noticing or coming to search for them. This makes the real world a rather annoying distraction. The show doesn't need Sophie or much of the real world after going into Harsh Realm. The dog is another weird addition. It seems to be somebody's silly idea but nobody thought too much about it. The show eventually pushes them aside in the later episodes. Some more brain-storming sessions would have cut them out right from the start.
There is also the difficulty of doing this with limited CG and probably a lower budget. This is a virtual reality world where strange things can happen. It doesn't deliver on what it promises. My favorite episode is the WWII one. I like the theme song which is a good pump up for the show. In the end, it failed to retain a good audience. It got canceled after three episodes and only nine were ever made.
This is a great general premise adapted from a comic book but creator Chris Carter needs to work out some of the details much better. First, the military would never select soldiers with any close families. The soldiers need to disappear without anyone noticing or coming to search for them. This makes the real world a rather annoying distraction. The show doesn't need Sophie or much of the real world after going into Harsh Realm. The dog is another weird addition. It seems to be somebody's silly idea but nobody thought too much about it. The show eventually pushes them aside in the later episodes. Some more brain-storming sessions would have cut them out right from the start.
There is also the difficulty of doing this with limited CG and probably a lower budget. This is a virtual reality world where strange things can happen. It doesn't deliver on what it promises. My favorite episode is the WWII one. I like the theme song which is a good pump up for the show. In the end, it failed to retain a good audience. It got canceled after three episodes and only nine were ever made.