Medal of Honor Ships Out to Afghanistan

[DoctorFinger]

Confirming a rumor which first surfaced in October (http://www.colonyofgamers.com/cogforums/showthread.php?t=12640), Electronic Arts has announced that the next entry in the Medal of Honor will leave the WWII theater and move to the more modern conflict in Afghanistan.

The new game, which apparently will just be named Medal of Honor with no subtitle, is set to release sometime in 2010. EALA is creating the single player campaign while Battlefield makers DICE work on the multiplayer. The campaign puts you in the shoes of a Tier 1 Operator, a member of the elite Special Forces who takes on missions no one else can manage.

More on the game, including screens and a trailer, will be shown at the Spike TV VGAs next week.

[diablopath]

Y'know, I'll keep an eye on this. Medal of Honor: Frontline is, by far, my favorite WW2 shooter of all time. I'm kind of weary about where this is heading, though. The one thing I always hated about Medal of Honor was that I was fighting the motherfucking war all by myself. It appears they said "Fuck it, they're doing it anyway, so let's make it central to the plot."

[Telefrog]

Press release:


Guildford, UK – December 2, 2009 – Medal of Honor™ returns to the front lines, this time in today’s war. For the first time in the franchise’s 10-year history, Medal of Honor is leaving the WWII theatre and putting players in war-torn Afghanistan. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today revealed that in 2010, Medal of Honor, an all-new first-person shooter game, will introduce the Tier 1 Operator: a relatively unknown entity directly under the National Command Authority who takes on missions no one else can handle. The development team has been working closely with Tier 1 Operators from the US Special Operations Community since the earliest stages of development to create the most authentic modern war experience. Inspired by real events, Medal of Honor reveals the mission of today’s most elite soldier – his will, his mindset and his uncompromising professionalism.

Medal of Honor is being built with a best-in-class single-player campaign. The Medal of Honor development team at EALA has been hand-selected by the studio leadership of General Manager Sean Decker, Executive Producer Greg Goodrich and Senior Creative Director Rich Farrelly. To compliment the single-player experience, EALA has enlisted the multiplayer expertise at EA DICE. This team will develop the multiplayer experience of Medal of Honor. These two studios are coming together to deliver a world-class Medal of Honor that is poised to re-set and re-boot the franchise for a new generation.

“When we first set out to reinvent Medal of Honor, we wanted to stay true to its roots of authenticity and respect for the soldier but bring it into today’s war. The Tier 1 Operator is the most disciplined, deliberate and prepared warrior on the battlefield. He is a living, breathing, precision instrument of war.” said Greg Goodrich, Executive Producer, Medal of Honor. “We are honored to have the rare opportunity to work closely with these men to create a game that shares their experience.”

“EA has always been an advocate for telling the soldiers’ story. The new Medal of Honor follows that tradition. We felt it was important to tell the story of today’s war and today’s elite soldiers via today’s most relevant medium – videogames,” said Sean Decker, VP and General Manager of EALA. “We are so proud to bring together two powerhouse development teams to make this game a reality; EA Los Angeles and EA DICE. Medal of Honor promises to be an unforgettable entry in the modern shooter genre.”

Tune in to Spike TV’s 2009 Video Game Awards on Saturday, December 12 at 8pm PST for a world-premier first-look at Medal of Honor.

[The Continental]

Medal of Honor: Coattail Riders, brought to you by the fine folks at EA and their desire to get in on some of that MW2 money.

I can only imagine the folks at Infinity Ward are grinning smugly as EA tries to prop up their dead franshise by aping the very guys who made it and subsequently killed it by jumping ship to do their own thing.

[Adam Blue]

Medal of Honor: Coattail Riders, brought to you by the fine folks at EA and their desire to get in on some of that MW2 money.

I can only imagine the folks at Infinity Ward are grinning smugly as EA tries to prop up their dead franshise by aping the very guys who made it and subsequently killed it by jumping ship to do their own thing.

I think their doing pretty good with the Battlefield franchise. Why not try another if you got the IP? Little risk involved with a military FPS.

[Mike Kelehan]

The new game, which apparently will just be named Medal of Honor with no subtitle...

I hate it when they do that. I didn't like it when they did it with Castlevania on the N64, and I figured they were just being stupid. Then, it became trendy. Sonic the Hedgehog, Prince of Persia, Punch-Out!!, even Star Trek.

[The Continental]

I think their doing pretty good with the Battlefield franchise. Why not try another if you got the IP? Little risk involved with a military FPS.Therein lies my gripe, the Battlefield franchise fills that niche just fine. Bad Company in particular took a page right out of the CoD playbook by placing emphasis on a smaller squad dynamic and diffrentiating it from BF2.

I just don't see this as being anything other than an attempted cash grab after the success of MW2. Add to this the fact that EA LA hasn't really put out many titles worth writing home about and it's kind of hard to get excited about this "reinvention" of the MoH franchise.

[Wilkz07]

its about time MoH moved into Modern Warfar.... current times.

Airborne was the MoH game I enjoyed playing since the first 2 on ps1. looking forward to the updated-out of ww2 game.

[Adam Blue]

Therein lies my gripe, the Battlefield franchise fills that niche just fine. Bad Company in particular took a page right out of the CoD playbook by placing emphasis on a smaller squad dynamic and diffrentiating it from BF2.

I just don't see this as being anything other than an attempted cash grab after the success of MW2. Add to this the fact that EA LA hasn't really put out many titles worth writing home about and it's kind of hard to get excited about this "reinvention" of the MoH franchise.

EA needs this. You all need to understand that after their reformation to please gamers went down in 2007 thanks to Riccitiello, they haven't been making the money they used to. Now they have to cut down on developers and cancel titles.

I know this was a discussion before, but maybe a few of you missed it.

Now EA has to do what they can to compete in this industry but keep some integrity. It was only up until the last MoH title or two that they got disappointing. The market now wants less WWII. BF still has stronger squad emphasis and conquest style multiplayer. This new title will play out differently. Objective and deathmatch multiplayer (assuming they will have a new style of multiplayer) and a lone-wolf campaign. Possibly a 2nd for co-op and be similar to Conflict Denied-Ops (excellent co-op game).

[Gerbs]

DICE should just stick to the Battlefield series, surely that's a worthy enough competitor to Call of Duty? Battlefield is different than Call of Duty and I feel both can survive in the same space, but if DICE tries to make a CoD clone out of Medal of Honour multiplayer it has to be damn good to stand a chance.

[LongStepMantis]

I, for one, welcome any shooters that don't take place in either WWII or against aliens.

Doesn't mean it will be great, but I'm still waiting on that Civil War powder rifle FPS.

[Grifter]

I enjoyed Airborne, it was a good fill in during the slow season that year. If this is the same or better I won't complain.

I would love to see one of these companies tackle a modern day civil war, make the game a solid mix of Modern Warfare and Ghost Recon. Make the US the theater of battle, render the cities exact and get your self a top notch writer and you could easily get four good games out of the series.

[Spectre-7]

Doesn't mean it will be great, but I'm still waiting on that Civil War powder rifle FPS.

I haven't run across any Civil War FPSs, but will the Revolutionary War do the trick? (http://www.bgmod.com/)

[Drayven]

I, for one, welcome any shooters that don't take place in either WWII or against aliens.

Doesn't mean it will be great, but I'm still waiting on that Civil War powder rifle FPS.

You mean like this (http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/strategy/historychannelcivilwar/index.html)?

[LongStepMantis]

I haven't run across any Civil War FPSs, but will the Revolutionary War do the trick? (http://www.bgmod.com/)

Surely! I just want to see some FPS games from pre-WWI & II. Something where you don't have uber guns, so you have to strategize and really get "in the shit". This is new to me. I'll check into it, thanks!

You mean like this (http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/strategy/historychannelcivilwar/index.html)?

I've never heard of this either. Low score, but the player reviews are moderately higher. I might see if I can find a copy if it's cheap enough, at least to satisfy my curiosity.

[Spectre-7]

Surely! I just want to see some FPS games from pre-WWI & II. Something where you don't have uber guns, so you have to strategize and really get "in the shit". This is new to me. I'll check into it, thanks!

No problemo. I've gone through a couple quick spells of playing Battlegrounds, and it's fun for some laughs but wears thin pretty quickly. You may also want to check out Fistful of Frags (http://www.moddb.com/mods/fistful-of-frags) which can be pretty darned fun, but is sadly no longer in active development from what I hear.

The player bases for both were tiny even at their peak, so don't be too surprised if it's hard to find a game.

[Deadend]

EA has given in. They tried to be creative and give us great games and original ideas. They did, we didn't buy any of them. Now we get Modern Warfare, but this dude has a beard instead of a douche-hawk.

[Wackman3000]

I enjoyed Airborne, it was a good fill in during the slow season that year. If this is the same or better I won't complain.


Glad I'm not the only one who enjoyed that game. I played on PC, and found their shooting behind cover mechanics to still be one of the most fluid and realistic ways to work it, and hopefully they continue on that method.

(For those who don't remember, you went behind cover and you could lean out as much or as little as you wanted, then duck right back down... It made taking sniper pot shots with the rifle a blast and felt very natural to me.)

Hmmm, might have to install it tonight to give it another go.

[The Iron Weasel]

They did, we didn't buy any of them. Now we get Modern Warfare, but this dude has a beard instead of a douche-hawk.

Don't you talk about MacTavish that way!

[Crowe]

Then end of WWII for Medal of Honor was inevitable, it was either going to move forward in time to present day or it was going to die off as too many gamers are sick of WW2. Hell, I'm surprised it took so long to get a decent game in modern warfare (COD 4).

[Sl1pstream]

I've never heard of this either. Low score, but the player reviews are moderately higher. I might see if I can find a copy if it's cheap enough, at least to satisfy my curiosity.

Have you watched the videos on there? It looks like a trainwreck. Not the good kind of trainwreck either.

[Doogie2K]

I hate it when they do that. I didn't like it when they did it with Castlevania on the N64, and I figured they were just being stupid. Then, it became trendy. Sonic the Hedgehog, Prince of Persia, Punch-Out!!, even Star Trek.

For that matter, The Final Destination and Fast and Furious say hi.

[LongStepMantis]

Have you watched the videos on there? It looks like a trainwreck. Not the good kind of trainwreck either.

I figured even if it blows ass, I would pay up to $10. If nothing else than to see how they handle the lack of machine guns and explosive devices. I certainly don't expect any kind of greatness. I'm talking about digging one out of a bargain bin, best case scenario.

[ElektroDragon]

Great, I want some future war games now.... like Iran, and North Korea. Just for hypothetical fun of course.... I'm not a warmonger in real life.

[H.Bogard]

I'd like a war game in Switzerland.

[Shjinta]

I, for one, welcome any shooters that don't take place in either WWII or against aliens.

Doesn't mean it will be great, but I'm still waiting on that Civil War powder rifle FPS.

Battle Grounds Half Life 2 mod is the closest you'll get. Has that authentic powder pumping feel with the worst melee system you'll ever experience!

[DoctorFinger]

I'd like a war game in Switzerland.I think the Swiss the most well armed populace in the world, so that would make an interesting game.

[J Arcane]

Medal of Honor: Coattail Riders, brought to you by the fine folks at EA and their desire to get in on some of that MW2 money.

I can only imagine the folks at Infinity Ward are grinning smugly as EA tries to prop up their dead franshise by aping the very guys who made it and subsequently killed it by jumping ship to do their own thing.
Infinity Ward invented the modern era.