MEDAL OF HONOR

March 11, 2010 - Medal of Honor is not a new name for shooter fans, but with the upcoming version the franchise is entering new territory. It's being moved into a modern setting as US forces tangle with hostiles in the hills of Afghanistan. The single-player portion is being handled by EA Los Angeles, which has been in very close contact with the US armed forces to help craft a product that looks, sounds and feels authentic. The multiplayer portion, which we don't really know anything about yet, is being worked on over at DICE, the studio responsible for the Battlefield franchise. Looking at that studio's track record of creating some of the most thrilling online shooter experiences around, then that has to mean good things, or so we all hope. The focus of this preview is the campaign mode, a small portion of which was shown off during a recent demo session.

In the game you'll be playing the role of a Tier 1 operator, an elite soldier that's assigned only the most difficult and demanding missions. This means you're not wearing a uniform or anything like that. Your job is to blend in. You won't be alone, either, but part of a small squad of other Tier 1 operators running things on the ground in Afghanistan.

One of the themes of the game will be how the various levels of military command interact as missions play out. EA LA wasn't really talking about specifics, but it seems like you'll be hearing from direct superiors and commanding officers back in the United States. Whether this means there'll be cut-scenes featuring a cast of characters or if it means you'll be hearing their messages as they're passed along through radio chatter is unclear at this point, but it'll be interesting to see how it's all pulled off. Throughout the course of the game you'll also switch between playable characters from level to level, presumably giving you more insight into the character of the operators on the ground.