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The *New* Medal of Honor thread

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Baasha said:
Guys,

How come the pre-order for MoH for PC on Amazon doesn't have the $20 credit? And now it says the delivery will be on Oct. 23rd! 😡

Is the $20 credit only for the console (Xbox 360/PS3) version?
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Yeah - As far as I have seen, the deals are only for 360/PS3... No PC deals yet.
 
is there a ban on reviews for this game? it comes out in 16 hours and there is nothing out there.
 
Well I went ahead and preordered it on amazon for the $20 credit. Gonna be hard to play this with my current Reach addiction and especially once Black Ops comes out but oh well. I'll add some ppl from here who pick it up.
 
computerandvideogames.com review

Medal Of Honor Review - 8.5
Format Xbox 360
Developer Electronic Arts
Publisher Electronic Arts
Genre First Person Shooter
Games Master Magazine

11-Oct-2010 Review: Afghan we dig it?

On Xbox Live and PSN, two Superpowers are fighting it out for supremacy in the online warfare theatre. But which one is winning the battle for new recruits - Battlefield or Call of Duty?

Well, in truth, they're not even fighting the same war. Although superficially similar, both series are drastically different once you scratch beneath the surface, and so are the people who enjoy them.

Call Of Duty is bold and brash, the shooter of choice for the archetypical frat boy. The kleptomaniac structure of CoD's perk system rewards aggression, bravery and above all things, self-preservation.

On the other end of the spectrum, Battlefield is the thinking soldier's playground. Rounds can last for hours rather than minutes, teamwork is essential, and the destructible landscape makes fleetness of thought a more powerful weapon than anything you can carry in a backpack.

But is there any room for middle ground between these two extremes? Medal of Honor's multiplayer makes us think that maybe there is. This is the fast-paced skirmish gameplay of Call of Duty viewed through the lens of Battlefield devs DICE. But it's no shoddy cover version; instead, it's an accomplished, confident online shooter that draws from the best of both worlds.

Running off a modified version of Battlefield's Frostbyte engine, Medal of Honor's multiplayer component has an instantly familiar feel to it, bar a few concessions to accommodate the tighter level spaces (the ability to demolish entire buildings is the biggest absentee, although in certain instances it's still possible to chip away at cover to leave an opponent exposed).

One thing that DICE has carried over extremely well from the Battlefield series is the organic feel of the map layouts. While Call of Duty's arrangement of crates and rocks are laid out in meticulous detail, there's a natural spontaneity to MoH's battlegrounds, which results in a wonderful sense of subversion once you learn how to exploit your surroundings.

This is true of both the smaller maps (such as Kabul City Ruins, where with a bit of practise you can bound from rooftop to rooftop without ever needing to touch the floor) to more expansive stages such as the Shahi-Kot Mountain Range.

From the Call of Duty side of the gene pool, Medal of Honor has inherited the volume. Explosions are loud and proud and you can practically feel the splash damage gushing into your living room, meaning you're constantly surging around the course on a wave of adrenaline.

HEAVY MEDAL
If anything though, it isn't quite loud enough - DICE have eschewed Call of Duty's booming CONGRATS YOU HAVE UNLOCKED A SILENCER method of communication in favour of a more restrained HUD, but this can make it difficult to tell when you've racked up a high enough score to deploy the Support Actions.

It's a minor annoyance, but one that can be overlooked with experience. Is MoH's multiplayer innovative? No. Is it without flaws? Most definitely not - the most painful of which is its incredibly erratic respawning system. But what it does bring to the table is a well-crafted, balanced shooter that's kinder to newcomers at the point of entry than CoD or Battlefield.

In particular, its biggest triumphs are the storyline-driven Combat Missions, where teams of 12 duke it out in epic battles that sweep across the Afghan terrain. We're big fans of Battlefield's equivalent Rush mode, but we appreciate that the patience and teamwork required makes it difficult to get into unless you're playing with a squadron of friends.

But since Medal of Honor speaks a more accessible run-and-gun language, this a far easier game type to dip in and out of, opening to the masses a Deathmatch variant that has a sense of progression and drama that you don't always see in shooters of this ilk. Call of Duty stick-in-the- muds owe it to themselves to try it.

SO TIER AND YET SO FAR
So we've fallen big time for Medal of Honor's multiplayer, but as far as the single-player campaign goes? Well, we don't want to say it's a game of two halves... but in truth, it really is. The story mode, which divides its attentions between the adventures of a close-knit team of Tier 1 Operatives working behind enemy lines and the 'everyman' tales of the standard army forces on the frontline, never quite comes together as we hoped it might.

It's hard to pin down why exactly, because the only area of the game that is noticeably substandard is the AI, and even this can be turned around to your enjoyment (breaking cover to plunge a knife into an insurgent's throat from 20 yards away is a particularly irresistible head rush).

Perhaps it's the Afghan setting, which delivers more variety than you'd credit it for, but ultimately makes for a lacklustre theatre of war in FPS terms.

The wide-open landscapes mean that many fights take place at a disengagingly large distance, and this makes it difficult for Medal of Honor to get any sense of tension rolling.

TIERS FOR FEARS
But there are moments where Medal of Honor lets its hair down and delivers the kind of thrills and spills we've come to expect from the genre. The Tier 1 Operative stages see Danger Close at
their most creative, with death-defying raids on enemy settlements that bring to mind classic levels such as Call of Duty 4's Ghillies In The Mist.

But although it often sets up interesting scenarios, in our opinion the game doesn't take the Tier 1 set-up far enough. Pre-release, we were told of these elite soldiers' ability to improvise their gameplan in the face of adversity, but this doesn't translate into any kind of gameplay mechanic.

Levels remain linear and scripted, and it's disappointing that there aren't more opportunities to think outside the box. A spot of co-op would also have been welcome too - perhaps that's one for the sequel, though.

Like Battlefield before it, Medal of Honor is an engrossing online shooter with an above-average campaign mode bolted on. As a result, it's a purchase you should only seriously consider if your console is hooked up to the intarwebs. On a wider scale though, this reboot thrusts Medal of Honor back into the spotlight, and for the first time in ages we can't wait to see where EA take the series next.

It's not on Call of Duty's level yet, but it's a positive step forward, and small victories eventually win big wars.

Alex Dale
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planetxbox360 Review

Medal of Honor Review
by Peter Borsch

Ever since EA announced it was rebooting it's Medal of Honor franchise and setting it in modern day Afghanistan, I have been excited. It takes a serious effort to pull off the feat of depicting a very real war at a time when that war is still current; soldiers are still out there doing things being portrayed in this game. Turn-on CNN or Fox News for 10 minutes and see if they don't bring it up. EA tasked its LA studio, turned Danger Close with creating the single player portion of the game, and Swedish Battlefield developer DICE with crafting the multiplayer side. The result is essentially two games that do not feel connected to the other. Unlike other modern war shooters where the single player doesn’t stray far from the multiplayer, Medal of Honor feels like two different games in one package. The result: a jarring mixture of different ideas, designs and overall feel. The single-player campaign is set up by the September 11th terrorist attacks that ignited the war on terror and takes place over a six-month period. From there you strap on the boots of two different Tier 1 operators, Rabbit of AFO Neptune and Deuce from AFO Wolfpack. Through out the campaign you take part in various real world events, such as the capturing of Bagram Air Base from the Taliban in late 2001.

The real purpose of the campaign isn't to provide an action packed thrill-a-minute experience, though it is but rather to open the window into the lives of the men who are on the front lines of this war, the ones who have sacrificed their lives at home in order to protect the country they love. A brothers-in-arms story takes shape though the 6-7 hour experience, as you shift story perspectives between the different characters, which all link together in some way as their paths intersect. As they interact with each other, you move from one character to the other and it makes for great pacing as there is hardly a let up in the action or story telling. The story is also broken up with a variety of things to do and accomplish, as you don't just run and gun the whole time, but rather you are rewarded with a few gems through out the game. At the end of Medal of Honor's story, I was feeling the same thing I did when I first saw Black Hawk Down, empathy. After you finish a level in the game for the first time, a new mode is unlocked called Tier 1 mode. In Tier 1 mode the difficulty is ratcheted up and a series of stipulations are put into place as it acts as a score attack mode with leader boards for different categories like head shots, grenade kills, accuracy and so on. For those who want a serious challenge with leader board ranking on the line, Tier 1 mode isn't to be missed and a very welcome addition to the single player campaign.

Multiplayer is a different story, and a larger part of Medal of Honor's package than the single player offering. DICE built the multiplayer on it's proprietary Frostbite engine, the same as it's Battlefield Bad Company games, but don’t expect huge levels with massive destruction and vehicles. It's a faster pace than Battlefield, more akin to the Modern Warfare series. The multiplayer is much like those before it, choose a class, rifleman, spec-ops or sniper, which dictates what kind of weapons load out you can choose from the beginning and go to work. As you progress in multiplayer you will unlock attachment options for your weapons load outs. Nothing that hasn’t been done before in other modern war shooters but is essential to the depth of the multiplayer. It also has a great set of modes available, including my favorite, combat mission, which is much like Rush Mode from Battlefield, but given its own set of rules for Medal of Honor. DICE does introduce a few interesting twists to the kill streak idea in that it's not given for a set number of kills, but at a set number of points, of which you get a minimum of 10 for a normal kill, but you can get an additional five points if you gamble and aim for for a head shot, and even five more for a savior kill resulting in 20 points per kill when you need 50 for your first kill streak.

The risk reward element is a welcome addition. The other addition is the option of an offensive or defensive choice. Offensive options benefit you, where as a defensive choice will benefit your whole team. The problem with multiplayer is that it feels unpolished. Level design is fine when you have upgraded weapons, but when you have to cover a large area on foot to get to your next cover and only have a weapon that can see 50 feet in front of you and there are snipers and sharp shooters everywhere outside of that 50 foot range, getting started can be frustrating. Controls in Medal of Honor are inline with most other first person shooters of the past 10 years, quick and simplistic with multiple setup options, but sadly no custom controls. Medal of Honor also has two different visual styles, the result of two different engines powering the game and two different developers. The single player is gritty, sharp and detailed. Character models are large and pack sharp textures and animate fantastically. The levels look fantastic are large and require no loading as you progress through your mission. Weapons models are really to be celebrated here as they are spot on accurate but also look like they've been well used and beat to hell by their operators and the rugged Afghan terrain.

One negative to discuss in the single-player is a few spots of textures loads that come-in late on a few weapons and backgrounds. In multiplayer texture resolution is reduced and colors are washed out, blacks become grays, and browns almost become yellow. Likely a necessity to be able to provide network stability, and doesn't ruin the experience visually. The one part of Medal of Honor that comes off without a hitch is their audio presentation. They literally turn it to 11. Every single part of it is artfully crafted and applied, from voice acting to the sound effects and the music, Medal of Honor nails it. The constant radio chatter during single and multiplayer add to the authenticity that you are partaking in a real operation and moving towards a real objective. Little touches also add to the incredible audio like a small echo when you’re within earshot of the person talking and you can hear him and also hear it reverberating through your coms. Weapons sound authentic, and pack a massive and satisfying punch when they hit their target. The voice acting is to be commended, not only for the authentic military chatter that is constantly coming through the radio, but also when things turn nasty. At one point you’re with a group of Army Rangers who are ambushed and over whelmed and running out of ammunition fighting for their lives begging for help over their coms. The quality of the voice acting really made it a moving moment in the game.

At the end of the day Medal of Honor is the result of two developers and two completely different games, each of which feel disconnected from the other and end up weakening the overall package. Not so much that you shouldn't play it, but enough for it to be pointed out and to dock the score. The top strength of Medal of Honor is in the single-player campaign, and Danger Close has done an incredible job of putting together a tribute to the Special Forces community, honoring their many sacrifices. The same can't be said for the effort DICE has put forth with multiplayer, as it feels unpolished and in some regards unbalanced and unfinished. We aren’t completely not-recommending Medal of Honor but came away a bit disappointed by the entire offering, here’s hoping that Call of Duty: Black Ops, coming in November, can fill that need for amazing multiplayer gaming.

PX360 Rating: 7.7
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Here is a list of the achievements for MoH. Excited for this one, day one buy for me.

Medal of Honor 2010 Multiplayer Achievements List

The list below contains all the achievements available in Medal of Honor 2010, in the Multiplayer Mode. In order to unlock them the player has to complete the tasks associated with these achievements. The list explains what the player has to do and how many Gamescore Points he will earn after he unlocks these trophies.


  • First Rotation – Play online for at least 15 minutes – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Tour of Duty – Play online for at least 2 hours – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Heavy Fire Support – Fire at least 1000 bullets in a round – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Boot Camp – Play once with every class – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Mission Training – Play Combat Mission – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Assault Training – Play Team Assault – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Secure Training – Play Sector Control – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Raid Training – Play Objective Raid – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Enlisted – Reach at least level 2 with any class – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Multiplayer Veteran – Reach at least level 4 with any class – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Triple Canopy – Reach at least level 8 in one class – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Mission Specialist – Play at least two hours of Combat Mission – 20 Gamescore Points
  • Assault Specialist – Play at least two hours of Team Assault – 20 Gamescore Points
  • Secure Specialist – Play at least two hours of Sector Control – 20 Gamescore Points
  • Raid Specialist – Play at least two hours of Objective Raid – 20 Gamescore Points
  • Forward Spotter – Deploy a missile strike support – 20 Gamescore Points
  • Fire Controller – Use each offensive support action at least once – 30 Gamescore Points
  • Quartermaster – Get at least 1000 support points – 30 Gamescore Points
  • Tier 1 – Reach top level in any class – 35 Gamescore Points
  • High Achiever – Be in top 3 on the scoreboard at least ten times – 40 Gamescore Points
Medal of Honor 2010 Single-Player Achievements List

Medal of Honor 2010 also features various achievements that can be unlocked in the Single-Player Mode. These trophies are displayed below. Some of them will require different characters and weapons. They will also award Gamescore Points.


  • First Incision – Finish First In – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Welcome to the TOC – Finish Breaking Bagram – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Develop the Situation - Finish Running with Wolves… – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Unexpected Guests – Finish Dorothy’s a Bitch – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Full Battle Rattle - Finish Belly of the Beast – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Bad Guy Jamboree - Finish Gunfighters – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Friends From Afar - Finish Friends From Afar – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Cliffhanger – Finish Compromised – 15 Gamescore Points
  • S.E.R.E. - Finish Neptune’s Net – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Eight Heroes Aboard – Finish Rescue the Rescuers – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Smooth Operator – In the mission First In, kill the hostage taker with a headshot – 10 Gamescore Points
  • The Sledgehammer - In the mission Breaking Bagram, destroy at least 2 vehicles with a single Laser Guided Bomb – 10 Gamescore Points
  • Dropping Deuce – Jump 7.5 high on the ATV – 10 Gamescore Points
  • Fear the Reaper - In the mission Dorothy’s a Bitch, destroy the entire AQ Camp with the AC-130 – 10 Gamescore Points
  • Manic Suppression – In the mission Belly of the Beast, defeat the DShK in under two minutes – 20 Gamescore Points
  • It Takes a Village…Out - Destroy at least 30 buildings in Gunfighter’s Village – 10 Gamescore Points
  • Like a Surgeon – While long range sniping, hit one of every body part – 10 Gamescore Points
  • Feeding the Pig - In the mission Compromised, get at least 15 kills with the M60 – 15 Gamescore Points
  • The Quiet Professional – In the mission Neptune’s Net, eliminate at least 13 enemies without alerting anyone – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Timber! – In the mission Rescue the Rescuers, chop down at least 5 trees with the Minigun – 10 Gamescore Points
  • The Battle is Won… - Beat the game on Easy, Normal, or Hard – 50 Gamescore Points
  • …But the War Rages On - Beat the game on Hard – 75 Gamescore Points
  • Conspicuous Gallantry – Beat every level in the game on Tier 1 Mode under par time – 100 Gamescore Points
  • The Scalpel - Achieve at least 20 total knife kills – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Pistol Pete Showdown - Get a total of at least 30 pistol kills – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Right in the Grape… - Get at least 7 headshots in a row with any weapon except the long range sniper rifle – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Crowd Control - Kill at least 5 enemies at once with a single hand grenade – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Rangers Lead the Way - Beat all of Dante’s missions – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Never Quit - Beat all of Rabbit’s missions – 15 Gamescore Points
  • Have a Good One – Beat all of Deuce’s missions – 15 Gamescore Points
 
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I just read the Planet Xbox 360 review and lauched that they knocked the multiplayer for being unbalanced. I guess they are trying to make it like COD then huh?
 
I am tired of COD, I had a fun time on the beta, and I have several friends that are getting it. Mostly, I am tired of spending $60 a year on the same game with very few changes, especially considering that the developers get a two year cycle to make the games.
 
My point is proven in the above reviews. One reviewer loved the multiplayer and not the story, and the other loved the story and not the multiplayer. People care about what some random dude feels about a game, and for what reasons I can never figure out. They are paid to give an opinion of a game. I will just stick with my opinion, since I do enough research on the games I want.
 
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bucwylde23 said:
Well I went ahead and preordered it on amazon for the $20 credit. Gonna be hard to play this with my current Reach addiction and especially once Black Ops comes out but oh well. I'll add some ppl from here who pick it up.
Click to expand...

im not going to let u leave reach
 
fallenangel99 said:
7/10 review on IGN. Metacritic around the 70 mark. I'm waiting for some user reviews!
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IGN gave it a 6, not a 7. You know a game is in trouble when the title of IGN's review is Not-so Special Operations.

Seems like most reviews say the SP is alot better than the MP. Guess that makes sense, the beta was only the MP portion and I personally thought it was awful.

C'mon EA, give us an "Allied Assault-esque" experience!
 
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I just ordered the 360 version from Newegg after reading reviews. Seems decent enough to give it a shot and I really want something new and different from COD at the moment.

For those interested, the game's available for $49.99 on newegg with the following coupon codes (must sign up form email insider or whatever to use them):

360: EMCZYZN78
PS3: EMCZYZN79
PC: EMCZYZN77
 
I'll have the game when I get home tonight so I'll post my thoughts as well. I don't care if it's groundbreaking or anything, as long as it's fun and i can get quite a few hours of gameplay out of it, it will be worth it. It was only $40 anyways.
 
I just rented the game and I'll give a brief review, although EA servers appear to be down and I could only play the campaign.

I really enjoy the hit/targeting mechanics. It seems to be a little more realistic than MW2. Not every bullet is a hit precisely where the reticule is, and that's a welcome change. Unfortunately that's about all at the moment that stands out to me. The rest is mediocre.

The campaign throws you in immediately, but it's that over-dramatic-all-hell-breaking-loose cinematic crap that I'm growing tired of. Are our attention spans really that short that we need instant (and I mean INSTANT) gratification? There was very little story build up, not even informing me what branch of the military I'm in or when this takes place! Good thing I already knew. Common sense? Maybe, but at least set the scene for the player. Instead it's the quite disappointing "Oh noes bullets everywheres!!!"

As far as level layout, it's quite awful really. Linear to a huge fault. I see the door, but I cannot go through the door until my slow teammates get up there. So frustrating! There are also some clear areas that you simply can't pass. Nothing in my way, it's just the invisible wall. In 2010? Really? At least throw a barbed wire fence, destroyed helicopter or dead dog in my way.

Finally, the graphics just plain suck. Walking up close to a wall in the first level showed rigid, jagged edges that were supposed to be paint. Cut scenes were alright. It's nowhere near refined as the hype led me to believe. It reminds me of games from 3 years ago.

Overall, it's not close to MW2 refinement. Again, I HAVE NOT played multiplayer. I'll throw in a few more hours, only spent about one with it so far. I know if sounds like I despise the game but I don't. It's simply "alright." I'm SO glad I rented it before I bought it! I have to give it no more than a 4/10 for me. I hope YMMV!
 
Kabob said:
IGN gave it a 6, not a 7. You know a game is in trouble when the title of IGN's review is Not-so Special Operations.

Seems like most reviews say the SP is alot better than the MP. Guess that makes sense, the beta was only the MP portion and I personally thought it was awful.

C'mon EA, give us an "Allied Assault-esque" experience!
Click to expand...

Oops, sorry.

The cover of the game is so cool - the guy with the beard. this cover should have been used for the Black Ops game! (and fits the title too)
 
fallenangel99 said:
The cover of the game is so cool - the guy with the beard. this cover should have been used for the Black Ops game! (and fits the title too)
Click to expand...

Yeah, the cover of Black Ops is pretty silly, some sort of wannabe Rambo type. That is one place MoH definitely beats CoD! :biggrin:
 
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