Medal of Honor: Rising Sun

Medal of Honor: Rising Sun
Medal of Honor: Rising Sun
	North American cover art
Developer(s)	EA Los Angeles
Publisher(s)	EA Games
Designer(s)	EA Games
Series	Medal of Honor
Platform(s)	GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Medal of Honor: Rising Sun is the 5th installment of the Medal of Honor series, released by Electronic Arts in November 2003. Rising Sun is another first-person shooter, set in World War II during the Pacific War. This game features single-player and multiplayer capabilities (terminated as of November 2006). In the single-player game, the player assumes the role of Cpl./Sgt. Joseph Griffin of the United States Marine Corps.

A sequel was originally planned in which players would have assumed the role of Joseph's brother Donnie. However, the sequel was canceled after Rising Sun received poor reviews.

Plot

The game starts at Pearl Harbor where corporal Joseph 'Joe' Griffin wakes up in his bunk on the USS California during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Joe then makes his way to the topside and aids in shooting down Japanese planes. A few minutes later, he is blown from the ship and lands in the water, where a PT boat carrying Jack 'Gunny' Lawton, Frank Spinneli, and Silas Whitfield. Joe then shoots down more planes and also aids the USS Nevada to escape the harbor. Joe is then sent to the Philippines to destroy a bridge, he also met his brother Donnie, but he was unable to escape because his tank was overwhelmed by Japanese troops, forcing Joe to leave without him. Joe then goes to Guadalcanal at night to take over an airbase. Weeks later, the airfield is still taking heavy artillery fire, so Gunny assigns Joe and two other marines to destroy the artillery nicknamed 'Pistol Pete'. On the way Joe meets Edmund Harrison, a demolitions expert, and the real life Scottish guerilla fighter Martin Clemens. After this mission, Joe is promoted to Seargeant and recruited into the Office of Strategic Services (OSS).

In his first OSS mission, Joe is tasked to infiltrate a top secret Axis summit in Singapore. Under the guise of a German Colonel, and with help from Major Bromley, a British intelligence agent, and Ichiro 'Harry' Tanaka, a Japanese-American soldier, Joe is able to complete the mission and steal a film reel containing intel and learns that an Admiral Shima is behind it all. Afterwards, Joe, Bromley, and a group of Australian Chindits accompany Flying Tiger pilot Raj to Burma, but Raj is shot down when surveying a temple. The group head to Raj's crash site, only to find he has been taken by the Japanese. Tanaka and Joe then go to rescue Raj while Bromley and the Chindits destroy the AA guns so that they may call an airstrike on the temple. After a tough battle, Joe rescues Raj and escapes just as the airstrike begins.

Joe is then sent to destroy a bridge before a train loaded with stolen gold can make it across, but Joe accidentally falls out of the plane and lands in the jungle. With the help of some Chindits and an elephant, he makes it back to Bromley and blows the bridge.

After blowing the bridge, they fly directly to a Japanese supercarrier, where Tanaka thinks the rest of the stolen gold is stored. Joe is tasked with opening vents, destroying the fuel monitors, and breaking the fuel valves. After that is done, Bromley sets a bomb and they find the gold, only to find it was a trap and get knocked out by nerve gas.

When Joe wakes up, he finds that he and Bromley are being interrogated by Admiral Shima. Shima reveals that he is holding Donnie prisoner in the supercarrier. Tanaka saves Joe, but has his throat sliced by Shima. Joe then frees Bromley. Shima escapes with Donnie in a plane. Joe fights his way to the runway, where Bromley has stolen a plane. After many failed take-offs from Bromley, they finally take off. After a slow- motion view of the carrier blowing up, the credits roll.

Music

The award winning soundtrack in Rising Sun was orchestrated by Christopher Lennertz. Michael Giacchino, composer of the soundtrack for Frontline, left to work on the soundtracks of the rivalry series Call of Duty, after which Lennertz took over. Lennertz's score received overall positive reviews.^{[citation needed]}

A promotional CD soundtrack was released for the game. Digital versions of the soundtrack were also made available and are currently for sale off of music services like iTunes.

Multiplayer

Medal of Honor: Rising Sun has two multiplayer modes, Deathmatch: a free for all match, and team deathmatch, in which the player can choose teams.

Offline multiplayer is also available, where up to four people can play with the use of a multitap. There are 9 fields available: Battleship Raiders, Shima Field, Calumpit Chaos, Marauders at Midnight, Solomon Showdown, Death in the Orient, Idol Assault, Boxcar Brawl, and Hangar Havoc.

Main characters

Corporal (later Sergeant) Joseph "Joe" Griffin

Introduced in-Day of Infamy A well-liked Marine from Mather, Pennsylvania, Joe is the protagonist of the game and is the older brother of Donnie Griffin. He is later recruited into the OSS during the game. He never speaks in the game.

Private First Class Donald "Donnie" Griffin

Introduced/Captured in-Fall of the Philippines

Revealed to have been rescued in-Medal of Honor: Heroes The athletic and popular younger brother of Joe Griffin, Donnie started proving his heroism at the age of 13 when he saved two children from a house fire. Donnie is attached to a demolition outfit based in the Philippines. He is captured in the second mission as the player flees the island he is stationed on. He isn't seen again until the last mission of the game where it is revealed that he is Colonel Shima's prisoner. Why Shima had a single American prisoner aboard his ship is never explained. The ending to Medal of Honor: Heroes revealed that Joseph was planning POW rescue raids which means that Donnie Griffin was eventually rescued by Joseph later in the war.

Major Phillip Bromley

Introduced in-Singapore Sling

Bromley is a British intelligence agent. He's an embittered hero, angry at the British government that did not prevent the fall of Singapore to the Japanese in spite of the intelligence he provided them. He works from hiding to sabotage the invaders.

Colonel Michael Floyd

"Pistol Pete Showdown"

An OSS agent from Montana, Floyd is known for his contingency-planning and his ability to focus on detail.

First Lieutenant Edmond Harrison

Introduced in-Pistol Pete Showdown

Killed/saved in-Pistol Pete Showdown

Harrison is an expert at demolition. He is saved by the player from a Japanese POW camp in 'Pistol Pete Showdown' and helps the player destroy the artillery. He is wounded by Japanese gunfire while trying to destroy a bridge. It is possible for a player to save him before the charges explode. Otherwise, he dies in the explosion.

Private First Class Ichiro "Harry" Tanaka

Introduced in-Singapore Sling

Killed in-Supercarrier Sabotage

Like many Japanese-Americans, Ichiro came under suspicion as the Empire of the Rising Sun began to rattle its sabers. Born to Japanese immigrants in Honolulu, Hawaii, Harry has never seen himself as anything but American. To avoid the looks and insults, he joined the OSS. Because of his fluency in Japanese, he had been hurried through training and inserted into Singapore as a Japanese trader. Using his cover, he has been able to eavesdrop on sidewalk conversations among the occupying Japanese soldiers. Tanaka is also a trained pilot. He ends up having his throat slit by Shima in "Supercarrier Sabotage", after undoing Joseph's knots.

Jack "Gunny" Lawton

Introduced in-Day of Infamy

A "tough-as-nails" gunnery sergeant in the Marine Corps. "Gunny" is first seen on the deck of the battleship California, with a Browning Automatic Rifle (B.A.R.) in one hand, and a shotgun in the other. Quickly handing the B.A.R. off to Joseph, so that Joe has something to shoot down the enemy planes with. He later goes on to fight in the Philippines with Joe, riding atop a light tank while Joe fends off enemy suicide runners with pole mines. He also leads Joe on his scouting mission in Guadalcanal along with a handful of other Marines. Later on, in the level "Pistol Pete Showdown," he is seen briefing Joe and two other Marines while riding in a jeep across Henderson Airfield. After the completion of "Pistol Pete Showdown" he tells colonel Michael Floyd that Joe's just the man Floyd's looking for to recruit for the OSS.

Masataka Shima

Introduced in-Singapore Sling, there is also a picture of him in the Baseball Stadium in Fall of the Philippines

A high ranking Commander of the Japanese Imperial Navy. He is foreshadowed in the early missions, one of the player's objectives in "The Fall of the Philippines" mission is to recover a photo of this sinister villain. He is first seen in the flesh in the "Singapore Sling" mission. He speeds by in his staff car, almost killing the rickshaw escorting Joe and Tanaka to the hotel. He is later seen at the hotel addressing several German officers about the wealth that the Japanese Empire has discovered in eastern Asia. He rushes out of the room when Bromley drops in. He is next seen in the "Supercarrier Sabotage" interrogating the player. When Tanaka tries to free Joe, Shima holds him at sword point, and slits his throat. Shima is seen for the final time raising up on a platform to the upper deck with Joe's captured brother Donnie, "Say goodbye American fool. This is as close to your brother as you will ever be!" he shouts. He then escapes with Donnie in a plane and flies to a Japanese POW camp. Since Medal of Honor: Heroes revealed that Joseph rescued Donnie, it's assumed that Joseph killed Shima.

Secondary characters

Colonel Kandler

Introduced in-Singapore Sling

A German officer headed to the meeting at the hotel in the "Singapore Sling" mission. Joe and Bromley sabotage his staff car when he drives by. Joe steals his uniform and infiltrates the Axis summit. While at the meeting, He barges in shouting that the player is an impostor, and that Joe has stolen his uniform. He manages to escape alive, despite Bromley shooting dead all the other German officers. He is neither seen or mentioned again in the game.

General Borov

Introduced in-Singapore Sling

A Soviet traitor to the Allies. He plans to replace Stalin and declare peace with Germany. He too manages to escape the hotel alive during the shootout in the "Singapore Sling" mission. He is neither seen or mentioned again in the game.

Private First Class Silas Whitfield

Introduced in-Pearl Harbor

An excellent sniper and engineer in the Marine Corps. He manages to keep Joe's PT boat afloat in the "Pearl Harbor" level.

Private First Class Spinelli

Introduced in-Pearl Harbor

Another fellow Marine. He operates the radio on the PT boat in the "Pearl Harbor" level.

Martin Clemens

Introduced in-Pistol Pete Showdown

A real life Scottish guerrilla fighter, working with the Guad natives to rid the island of Guadalcanal of its Axis invaders, in the level "Pistol Pete Showdown."

Raj

Introduced in-In Search of Yamashita's gold

This pilot of the Flying Tigers is shot down while flying over the temple in the "Yamashita's Gold" mission. Joe and his Australian Chindits try to save him at the crash site, but he has been captured by the Japanese by the time the player reaches the crash site. Tanaka meets the player at the crash site and follows him to the temple. Once in the lower levels of the temple, the player saves Raj, locates Bromley, and escape by helicopter.

Reception

IGN gave the game a rating of 8/10, the same rating as it's predecessor. The game also garnered an average rating of 68/100 from Metacritic, indicating mixed or average reviews. Gamespot rated the game a 6.4/10. The game was noted for several gameplay flaws and some of its unnecessary plot elements. The PS2 version suffered from several ingame glitches and was one of the many reasons for lower ratings by gaming magazines such as EGM.

External links