Publisher: EA Games
Developer: EA LA
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Release Date:12 USA, 15 EU October 2010
Platforms: PC PlayStation 3 Xbox 360
Major game publishers still seem unwilling to fully tackle the events, interpretations, and consequences of America's most recent set of military conflicts, but while EA bowed to mounting pressure and removed the word "Taliban" from Medal of Honor's multiplayer suite, the terminology remains an integral part of the campaign, which bears a more realistic tone than most other modern shooters. Unlike the ill-defined locations and allegiances in some other genre entries, Medal of Honor's intense firefights take place in Afghani cities you've likely heard of, and indeed, your battle is waged against the clearly-indicated Taliban.
With that in mind, I hoped the game would cash in that bold opportunity to bring some gravitas to the situation, and make players examine the controversial post-9/11 war from conflicting perspectives -- or hell, even feel uncomfortable shooting Taliban soldiers. But aside from some heartfelt (but ultimately peripheral) notes about the game's dedication to our country's fallen soldiers, Medal of Honor rarely rises above the "ooh-rah, kill the 'bad guys'" approach seen in most other modern military campaigns.
It's a missed opportunity, no doubt, but not one that will kill or even derail the experience for many shooter fans. Like EA's Dante's Inferno, Medal of Honor is built in the mold of another, immensely popular game -- in this case, Call of Duty -- but it largely succeeds in its imitation, putting equal emphasis on the Danger Close-created campaign and the multiplayer modes, which come from Battlefield developer DICE.
Medal of Honor's campaign spans nine missions split between three playable characters, and when the adventure is really on its game, it's a crackling affair. One standout mission starts with your squad dropped into a desert battlefield and immediately ambushed, forcing you to run through dusty paths as allies drop and the screen shakes from constant explosions. By the end of that lengthy excursion, your depleted squad is holed up near a dilapidated building, with Taliban soldiers descending from nearby mountains. As your squad's ammo depletes and the enemy continues advancing, the game produces an incredible sense of creeping, seemingly inevitable death, with lightly swelling music accentuating the increasing sense of paranoia.
It's one of the most exciting and terrifying moments I can recall from any recent shooter, but it's a rare exception in a campaign that feels largely familiar. While other moments provide momentary thrills -- primarily vehicle-based ones like the intro car sequence, speeding on ATVs through the nighttime desert, or commanding the weapons of a guided helicopter -- many are low-key, stop-and-pop retreads through cities and caves that don't distinguish themselves from those seen in other shooters, and the very linear approach frequently produces awkward invisible walls. But while sleepy in the campaign, these missions do pick up an extra flair of intensity in the timed Tier 1 bonus mode, which ratchets up the challenge and briefly stops the clock for headshots and other actions.
The shooting frenzy grows a bit tiresome without a worthwhile story attached, and Medal of Honor's mostly ambiguous heroes are never truly explored or examined; the most humanizing moment may be when "Rabbit" strokes a lucky rabbit's foot before jumping off a plane. This appears due to the rather brief length of the campaign, which can be wrapped up in five hours or less. I'm not one to harp on games solely for length, assuming what's held within maximizes the approach, but Medal of Honor seemingly lacks the time to properly tell an interesting story, and simply glosses over details and themes that could have been expanded into compelling narrative fodder. Paired with hit-or-miss levels, the campaign as a whole is merely solid, not memorable -- but the realistic tenor is a welcome change of pace from the absurdity of Modern Warfare 2's tale.
On the other side of the aisle is DICE's online multiplayer mode, and again, it's hard not to play it without immediately thinking of Call of Duty, despite the studio's own background. It's fast and frenetic, with battlegrounds crumbling beneath mortar strikes and assault rifle rounds, and the 24-man shootouts offer an enticing break from the action for those still wrapped up in Halo: Reach and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Players choose from three preset classes (rifleman, special ops, and sniper) and can customize their weapons through a separate rank progression for each, and earn commendations for skilled play, alongside Achievements and Trophies on the consoles.
Medal of Honor currently offers just four online game types, and three of those -- Team Assault (team deathmatch), Sector Control (dominate map points), and Objective Raid (defend/destroy two stations) -- will feel like second nature to genre fans. The fourth, Combat Mission, offers an interesting new approach in which two teams battle to protect or take five spots on a large map, one at a time. What results is a protracted battle for territory that requires teamwork and patience, but the experience currently seems weighted towards defenders on some maps, and can feel like a frustrating battle of attrition for the attacking squad. And regardless of mode, the lack of a killcam is a heartbreaking revelation when you're repeatedly downed by snipers and unseen gunmen.
Pictures Here - SlideshowVideo Review Here - Provided by GameTrailers
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