After seeing the horrors of war in Sarajevo, Lt. Thomas F. Hobbes is ready to settle down with his fiance, Sophie. However the military has one last assignement for him, to test out Harsh Realm, a virtual reality construct created by the military for combat training. However once inside Harsh Realm, Hobbes soon finds himself fighting for his life, struggling to understand what is real and what is not. He forms an aliance with another soldier, Mike Pinochio, who is uninterested in helping this new recruite. But a mysterious woman named Florence believes Hobbes to be Harsh Realm's savior and will deliver the virtual characters from the oppresive reigns of Omar Santiago, the military dictator who rules over Harsh Realm. Hobbes realises that the only way to escape Harsh Realm is to beat the highest scoring player, Santiago, who is unwilling to give up his kingdom. Hobbes' mission now is only to escape Harsh Realm by any means necessary to return home to his fiance.

Whilst driving through the countryside in search of a soldier who may hold the key to defeating Santiago, Hobbes and Pinocchio unexpectadly travel through a tear in Harsh Realm and enter what seems to be an alternate dimention. They immediatly come under fire from World War II soldiers and eventually learn thay are trapped in an earlier, and thought deleted, version of the Harsh Realm simulation. One of the American soldiers asks for help from Hobbes and Pinocchio as he has been trapped in this version of the game and has been playing it over and over again for years. As Hobbes is captured by the Nazis and Pinocchio fights for the allies, they soon come to realize that if they do not find a way out of this game they could be doomed to repeated it over and over like the American soldier.

An insurgent American Indian Movement seeks to defeat and capture Santiago in Cincinnati. Santiago hunts their leader in retaliation, while Inga continues to manipulate Waters and Santiago. Hobbs, Pinocchio and Florence are also hunting Santiago and get caught in the middle of the two factions.

Sophie continues to look into Hobbes' death by following Inga Fossa into a run down millitary instalation where Inga Fossa uses a portal to move back to Harsh Realm. Inga Fossa enters however sophie is locked out. Fossa materialises in Santiago City wher she informs Santiago of her plans of conquest. In Harsh Realm, Hobbes, Pinochio and Florence attempt to gain forged ID chips so they can enter Santiago city and gain access to the portal. They find the man they need for the job, just as Walters and a team of commandoes raid the building and capture Florence. The rest manage to escape through a glitch that leads them directly Santiago's barricks. Hobbes manages to break into the chamber where the portal is and with reluctant help from Inga Fossa, they enter. Fossa tells Hobbes that unless he kills Santiago now in Harsh Realm there would not be a world for Hobbes to return to as Santiago plans to destroy it. Hobbes decides to stay in Harsh Realm as Fossa gives him the letter Sophie wrote

In Harsh Realm's version of a post-apocalyptic New York City, warring families hire Hobbs and Pinocchio as mercenaries. Their destinies appear to be controlled by a mad priest, a vault of gold, star-crossed lovers, acid rain and access to the Harsh Realm data stream.

On a mission to recover supplies from a lost squad of Santiago's soldiers - and with Waters and the Republican Guard hot on their heels - Hobbes encounters the three percenters, characters of Harsh Realm that were not meant to be created. The game designers of Harsh Realm had a three percent error rate which created disfunctional, angry characters. Hobbes, Pinocchio and Florence soon find themselves captives of the three percenters posing as a group of pasifists.

Captured and pressed into a work camp in Harsh Realm, Hobbs and Pinocchio meet a VC of Hobbs' dying mother and try to rescue her and escape without getting rendered by the sadistic warden and his zombie trackers. In the real world, Sophie comforts Hobbs' real mom in her last days.

As Hobbes comes to grips with the reality of his situation, Mike Pinnochio is lured into a trap by a mercenary bounty hunter. Aided by the mute Florence, Hobbes goes in search of Pinnochio however gets captured himself in the process. The bounty hunter, behind the back of his female partner, cuts a deal with Santiago. In exchage for money, the bounty hunter wants access to the mythical portal that allows individuals access to both Harsh Realm and the real world. The Female bounty hunter senses somthing is going on behind her back and therefore helps Hobbes and Pinnochio escape. Meanwhile, in the real world, Hobbes's fiance doubts the circumstances surrounding his death. A woman named Inga Fossa hints to the fact that he is still alive and knows where he is and tells her that men like Hobbes have been reported to of been killed on missions but are still alive.

Florence takes off to warn her people - The Sisters, a religious order of healers - that Santiago's Republican Guard is approaching. Hobbs and Pinocchio follow, fall victim to a mine field and meet The Sisters. Surviving their ordeal requires faith, even in Harsh Realm.