I am quite aware that this is a beta. Medal of Honor launches October 12, 2010 which means they have lots of time to work out the kinks. But, I believe the issues I have with this game are a bit deeper than the occasional freeze or jagged edge.
Medal of Honor’s multiplayer is DICE’s approach to the Modern Warfare formula. On paper: this sounds awesome. It’s Bad Company 2 meets Modern Warfare 2. The best of both worlds in one awesome reboot of a beloved franchise. However, as soon as I got into my first game, something didn’t seem right at all.
The first issue I noticed was the HUD; this game has a very poor HUD. Nothing is particularly easy to read quickly and seemed to be of a flash over substance design. This is, but a small example of the much bigger problem of communication in this game — between other players (the option for VOIP was defaulted to off) and between the game and myself. The game simply doesn’t convey the necessary info in a clear or concise fashion. The clear text “+10″ from Bad Company 2 was replaced with blurry text accompanied by some silly explosion-flash-thing which just gets in the way of the action — it’s just unnecessary for something so trivial as a kill via headshot.
The Call of Duty series used to be like the game depicted in this trailer. It didn’t go for shock value or crazy over-the-top scenarios — it used to be about recreating the feel of war. And although this trailer is so limited in gameplay, it does give us a glimpse into the tone and approach Electronic Arts are going for.
Medal of Honor is slated for October 12, 2010 on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.
I guess the Spike VGAs aired last night while I was watching Star Trek (excellent movie). Oh well. Not a big loss if the show was anything like the previous efforts. The only thing I really care about are the new teasers, trailers and footage which are all now available online. No need to sit through awkwardness to watch these.
I’ve posted the noteworthy ones for your viewing pleasure.
I don’t know why Electronic Arts is so insistent that they need a “Modern Warfare” game with the Medal of Honor title. They already have one with the Battlefield series.
This new Medal of Honor (sans subtitle) will be “the most authentic modern war experience” yet according to EA. The single player campaign will be handled by EA Los Angeles and DICE working their magic with multiplayer component. They’re planning to release this for Fall 2010 with more info to be unveiled at the 2009 Spike VGAs.
In the meantime, they’ve released this teaser of a guy with an epic beard. Santa?
Again, let me reiterate that EA/DICE will have at least two modern warfare themed shooters in 2010: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and now Medal of Honor. And if Battlefield 3 launches in 2010 as well; that’s a whole lot of modern warfare from one publisher.
