Medal of Honor (series)

Medal of Honor
Logo used from 2004 to 2007.
Genres	First-person shooter
Developers	DreamWorks Interactive (1999-2002) 2015, Inc. (2002) EA LA (2002-2005, 2007) Rebellion Developments (2002) TKO Software (2003) Netherock Ltd. (2003) Team Fusion (2006) Budcat Creations (2007) EA Canada (2007) Danger Close Games (2010-present) EA Digital Illusions CE (2010)
Publishers	Electronic Arts
Creators	Steven Spielberg[1]
Composers	Michael Giacchino Christopher Lennertz Ramin Djawadi
Platforms	PlayStation Game Boy Advance Windows Mac OS X PlayStation 2 Nintendo GameCube Xbox PlayStation Portable Wii Xbox 360 PlayStation 3
First release	Medal of Honor October 31, 1999
Latest release	Medal of Honor: Warfighter October 23, 2012
Official website	http://www.medalofhonor.com/

Medal of Honor (MoH) is a series of first-person shooter video games. The first game was developed by DreamWorks Interactive (now known as Danger Close Games) and published by EA Games for the PlayStation game console in 1999. Medal of Honor spawned a series of follow-up games including multiple expansions spanning various console platforms and the PC and Mac. The first twelve installments take place during World War II, while the more recent games focus on modern warfare.

History

The series first began in 1999 with Medal of Honor. The game was developed by Dreamworks Interactive, with a story by filmmaker Steven Spielberg. The game was released for the PlayStation on October 31, 1999.^[2]

In 2000, Medal of Honor: Underground, the second game in the series, was released for the PlayStation and Game Boy Advance.

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, the third game in the series, was developed and released for the PC in January 2002. Also has Extension Packs titled Spearhead (released in 2002) and Breakthrough (released in 2003).

Medal of Honor: Frontline, the fourth game in the series, was developed and released for the PlayStation 2 in May 2002 and the Nintendo GameCube and Xbox in November 2002. It was later remastered in High-Def and released in 2010 with the PlayStation 3 version of Medal of Honor (2010).

Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, the fifth game in the series, was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube in 2003 (a planned sequel was cancelled due to the game's mixed reviews).

Medal of Honor: Infiltrator, the sixth game in the series, was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2003.

Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault, the seventh game in the series, was released for the PC in 2004.

Medal of Honor: European Assault, the eighth game in the series, was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube in 2005.

Medal of Honor: Heroes, the ninth game in the series, was developed and released for the PlayStation Portable in 2006.

Medal of Honor: Vanguard, the tenth game in the series, was released for the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo Wii in 2007.

Medal of Honor: Airborne, the eleventh game in the series, was developed and released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC September 4, 2007. It was the first game in the series to be nonlinear.

The twelfth game in the series; Medal of Honor: Heroes 2, was released for the Nintendo Wii and PlayStation Portable on November 13, 2007.

Medal of Honor (2010), the thirteenth game in the series, was announced in 2008 as Medal of Honor: Operation Anaconda. The game was developed by Danger Close Games, a video game development team formerly known as EA Los Angeles merged in 2008. Medal of Honor (2010) was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC on October 12, 2010.^[3][4] Its multiplayer component was developed by the creators of the Battlefield franchise. It is the first Medal of Honor game to be set in the modern day rather than during World War II. Medal of Honor received generally positive reviews from critics, praising the game's engaging multiplayer, audio and voice acting but criticized the level designs, minor technical issue, and resemblance to other similar games like the Battlefield series. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PlayStation 3 version 74.97% and 75/100,^[5][6] the Xbox 360 version 73.11% and 74/100,^[7][8] and the PC version 70.82% and 72/100.^[9][10] The game was also a big commercial success with video game sales of over 5 million.^[11]

The fourteenth installment in the series and the direct sequel to the 2010 game; Medal of Honor: Warfighter was released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC on October 23, 2012.^[12] The game's storyline was written by real U.S. Tier 1 Operators, inspired by actual events. It is the first game in the series to run on EA Digital Illusions CE's Frostbite 2 game engine. Warfighter was both a critical and commercial failure, sold just over 300,000 copies in its first week in US.^[13] Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Xbox 360 version 55.79% and 53/100,^[7][8] the PlayStation 3 version 55.40% and 55/100^[5][6] and the PC version 51.43% and 55/100.^[9][10]

In January 2013, COO Peter Moore of Electronic Arts announced that the Medal of Honor series was taken out of rotation due to the poor reception and sales of Medal of Honor: Warfighter.^[14]

Gameplay

The gameplay originally focuses on the OSS (Office of Strategic Services), an American espionage organization during World War II, 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 the original focus. Since the release of Medal of Honor: Rising Sun the series has focused on providing a more open-ended element to the games, allowing the player to have more options in each level and getting away from one linear path. In the later games in the series, the artificial intelligence (AI) of the enemies and fellow soldiers has been notorious for being below or above current FPS expectations. The violence, up to Medal of Honor: Rising Sun is bloodless and simple, usually consisting of elaborate animations, while the violence in Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault and onward contains the occasional sprays of blood. The newest Medal of Honor contains realistic figures, surroundings, and effects giving it a modern FPSS look.

Games

Compilations

Medal of Honor Collection

Medal of Honor Collection, released on March 6, 2007, is a set of three games.

For PlayStation 2, the following games are included:

1. Medal of Honor: Frontline
2. Medal of Honor: Rising Sun
3. Medal of Honor: European Assault

Medal of Honor 10th Anniversary Bundle

Medal of Honor 10th Anniversary Bundle, released on September 22, 2008, is a bundle of three games for the PC:

1. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, with its respective expansion packs
   1. Medal of Honor: Spearhead and
   2. Medal of Honor: Breakthrough,
2. Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault Director's Edition, and
3. Medal of Honor: Airborne.

The pack includes the 10th Anniversary Medal of Honor Soundtrack, by Michael Giacchino.

Awards

Guinness World Records awarded the Medal of Honor series with a world record for "Best-selling FPS franchise" in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Medal of Honor Original Soundtrack Recording

References

External links

• Medal of Honor homepage
• Medal of Honor at the Internet Movie Database
• Medal of Honor series at MobyGames
• Total Medal of Honor
• Planet Medal of Honor