Medal of Honor (video game series)

This article is about the Medal of Honor video game and series, for information on the American Medal of Honor see, Medal of Honor.

Medal of Honor (MOH) is the name of a series of first-person shooter games set in World War II. The first game was developed by DreamWorks Interactive (currently known as EA Los Angeles) and published by Electronic Arts in 1999 for the PlayStation game console. Medal of Honor spawned a series of follow-up games including multiple expansions spanning various console platforms and the PC and Apple Macintosh.

Plot

The Medal of Honor series puts the player in the shoes of an Allied combatant during World War II, with weaponry appropriate to the time period. The games are characterized by linear gameplay through recognizable WWII-era areas of conflict, which is sometimes presented in a cinematic tone (e.g., inspiration from modern films like Saving Private Ryan and Enemy at the Gates and the television miniseries Band of Brothers is obvious, since the game was 'created' by Steven Spielberg).

In the later games in the series, the artificial intelligence (AI) of the enemies and fellow soldiers have been notorious for being under current FPS expectations. The violence is bloodless (if you don't use a blood-mod) and simple, usually consisting of elaborate animations.

Controversy

In Germany, the MOH series is a controversial video game because of its delicate subject matter (WWII). The game is uncensored in terms of flags, and the swastika can often be found. This conflicts with German laws which state that the swastika may only be used in historical references. The game was put on the index of youth endangering media by the German BPjM in 2000, making it only available for people over 18; advertising for it had to be discontinued.

Gameplay

The gameplay originally focused on behind-enemy-lines intelligence gathering, or some other type of special missions, placing emphasis on using false papers and silenced pistols, but as the series (and the technology) has progressed, it has shifted emphasis towards front-line combat, and has now almost completely abandoned it. The bare existence of false papers ended with Frontline, and many players are abandoning the series due to the change of emphasis as others pick it up.

Upcoming titles

Medal of Honor: Airborne is the next title in the series, scheduled for the early months of 2007. It will be released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Wii, and PC. Electronic Arts is also planning to release Medal of Honor Heroes for the PlayStation Portable on October 23, 2006.

External links

• Medal of Honor at IMDb
• Medal of Honor at MobyGames
• GameSpot on MOH Airborne
• The Medal of Honor Union on GameSpot.
• Planet Medal of Honor
• OS X compatability