Game Reviews

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.