[06.14.16 2016] Xbox E3 Briefing - everything you need to know

Microsoft

With the 2016 Electronic Entertainment Expo well underway, it can be overwhelming to keep up with all the news pouring out of the conferences. In case you do not have the time or opportunity to watch it yourself, here is a recap of everything you need to know from the Xbox Media Briefing on June 13, 2016.

Phil Spencer started out with a nice, brief message and moment of silence for those affected by the tragedy in Orlando.

The show opens with a video officially announcing the new Xbox One S. It is 40% smaller, has a 2TB internal HDD, integrated power supply, HDR Gaming, 4K Ultra HD video, and Blu-Ray. It also comes with a new, redesigned Xbox One controller featuring increased range and new grips. The whole package comes in white for $299 starting this August.

Phil Spencer invites Rod Fergusson, The Coalition’s Studio Head and Gears Co-Creator, takes the stage to announce that “Gears of War 4” will be one of the first in the Xbox Play Anywhere program – where an Xbox game gets you a Windows 10 PC version that syncs progress and achievements. It will also support cross-play in every game mode! Laura Bailey, the voice of Kait, shows off some gameplay. The game looks great. There are some noticeable visual upgrades since the beta. New weapons and enemies are shown off. Gears is Gears- and that is not a bad thing. An October 11th, 2016 release date confirmed, followed by a video teasing a Gears version of the Elite controller that will be available for pre-order.

“Killer Instinct” community manager, Rukari Austin takes over. He thanks the community and totes some of the accomplishments of the games. After reviewing some of the awesome characters that have joined the roster, he reveals the next guest character. General Raam, from the “Gears of War” series, is coming to “Killer Instinct,” and he is available free to play this week.

Next is a video teasing a new Forza game, “Forza Horizon 3.” Ralph Fulton, from Playground Games creative director, makes the official announcement and shows off the gameplay. As is to be expected from any Forza title, the game looks phenomenal. It also boasts the largest open world they have ever created and the most extensive car roster (in the Horizon series). The game will feature a 4-player co-op campaign for the first time. It releases September 27, 2016.

A new video for the Microsoft exclusive “ReCore” shows off gameplay for the first time. It also introduced the cast of characters. The visuals seem to have taken a small hit from their cinematic reveal trailer – but then again, what cinematic reveal trailer has not made promises it could not keep? It is also, presumably, still a work in progress as the game does not launch September 13, 2016.

Hajime Tabata, Director of Square Enix, shows of “Final Fantasy XV” via a game demo. Much like Gears is Gears; Final Fantasy is Final Fantasy. Mathew Kishimoto, the Senior Product Marketing Manager, plays the demo after providing a small backstory. The game looks great, and the demo shows off a three-way battle with a massive Titan and an opposing army. Kishimoto boasts the “fast and fluid battle system which has never been achieved in any of our past titles.” After the demo wraps up, a September 30, 2016 release date is revealed.

Ubisoft shows off new content for “Tom Clancy’s The Division,” dubbed the “Underground Expansion.” It has randomly generated missions, more urban combat, and lots of neon lights. It is coming first to Xbox starting June 28.

Patrick Bach, General Manager of DICE, shows off “Battlefield 1.” He expressed the team's desire to bring a unique experience from World War I. The game will feature destructible environments, a wide variety of vehicles and weapons, and dynamic weather to ensure no battle is the same. Bach says the Battlefield series will be “more immersive than ever before.” He then announces an October 21, 2016 release date, with an early release on October 13, 2016 for Xbox One members with EA access. The trailer looks stunning and shows off a variety of gameplay and huge set pieces. Oh, also some explosions, explosions, and explosions.

Mike Ybarra, head of platform engineering takes the stage. He discusses the growth of Xbox Live and promises ever-growing expansion, including more live servers closer to where gamers are, resulting in a faster, more reliable network. There are also new features coming this summer, such as Background Music, Cortana, and Language Region Independence, which allows you to choose a preferred language regardless of where you live. Xbox Live is going to be on all devices – Xbox, Windows PC, Android, or iOS. Ybarra then announces three highly demanded features are coming soon. The first is “Clubs on Xbox Live” – communities you can go back to (like groups on Facebook). With this comes “Looking for Group on Xbox Live” – it helps you find people for specific games and specific goals. Last, competitive gaming gets a nod with “Arena on Xbox Live” – a new tournament platform that allows you to discover, register, and compete all in one place. He also promises that EA is bringing their biggest games to Arena… “in the coming years.”

The “Minecraft” team takes the stage as Saxs Persson and Lydia Winters discuss cross-play across devices (including iOS) via “The Friendliest Update.” It will feature dedicated servers, known as “Realms,” so friends can play in your world even when you are not online. John Carmack from Oculus shows off the Oculus VR version of “Minecraft,” which is… exactly what you would expect it to be. Also, texture packs are immediately available on Pocket Edition and Windows 10 edition, with add-ons – essentially regulated mods for animals and mobs – coming this Fall. Reams can be tried for free with an Xbox account on a phone, tablet, or Windows 10 PC.

Next up, a video shows off customizable and personalized Xbox One controllers, promising “8 million ways to make it yours.” The Xbox Design Lab is online now at Xbox.com/XboxDesignLab and is taking pre-orders now.

An ominous trailer teases a new game from Playdead, the makers of Limbo. Much like its predecessor, it has a unique style, but it is difficult to say what the game is really about. “Inside” is launching June 29. Chris Charla, Director of ID@Xbox, takes the stage and announces that Limbo will be free to all today as a celebration of Playdead’s announcement. Then a video rolls showing a variety of ID@Xbox titles coming soon – including the highly anticipated “Cuphead,” “Slime Rancher,” “The Culling,” and many other titles. Charla notes the massive accomplishments of ID@Xbox program, specifically with “Ark: Survival Evolved.” Anyone who purchased it on Xbox One will get it free on PC this fall (as part of Xbox Play Anywhere). Charla finished by announcing “Slime Rancher,” “The Culling,” “Everspace,” and “Day-Z” specifically as titles coming to Game Preview soon.

A new game shown off by Guillaume Provost, the Creative Director & Founder of Compulsion Games. “We Happy Few” has a Bioshock vibe and looks equal parts creepy and awesome. It is set in a dystopian, alternate-universe 1960s where everyone in a small British town takes drugs to make them forget terrible things that happened during the war. The main character refuses to take his pills and suffers from horrible flashbacks, causing him to black out. You then find out that the townspeople apparently don’t like it when you do not take your drugs. After an all-too-short gameplay demo, it announces that “We Happy Few” is coming to Games Preview on July 26, 2016.

CD Projekt Red Lead Designer, Damien Monnier, announces “Gwent – The Witcher Card Game” as a stand-alone title with cross-platform multiplayer and a full single-player campaign mode. It will feature skill-based gameplay centered around the same core mechanics and a nice visual upgrade with a wide variety of cards to acquire. The better you play, the better your rewards. “Gwent” will have a closed beta coming September 2016 – exclusive to Xbox One and PC. You can register at PlayGwent.com.

Bandai Namco Entertainment teases a new fighting game that flows right into gameplay demo. “Tekken 7” includes an all-new story mode that, much like this demo, seamlessly transitions from cutscenes to gameplay. Look for it to ship in early 2017. To celebrate, “Tekken Tag Tournament 2” is available via backward compatibility and will be completely free for Xbox Live users this week only.

Christmas in July - er, June? Actually, it is a teaser – complete with snowfall in the auditorium – for “Deadrising 4,” which has Holiday 2016 release window. It looks pretty goofy, entertaining, and bloody. Basically, “Deadrising 4” is all the absurdity you could hope for from a Deadrising title backed by the power of the Xbox One.

“Scalebound” gameplay is shown off by Hideki Kamiya, Creative Director at PlatinumGames. It is the biggest boss-fight PlatinumGames has ever made. “Scalebound” is an impressive looking game – very colorful, very smooth. Great, natural-sounding banter from the character adds to the authenticity. The demo shows off the game’s co-op battle mechanics and looks like a blast. What’s not fun about fighting with Dragons? It will be part of Xbox Play Anywhere sometime in 2017.

Cue the trailer with a dreary sea chantey and smoke machines. It is Rare onstage with “Sea Of Thieves.” Studio Head Craig Duncan talks about Rare’s “most ambitious game yet” and it is a rich, open-world experience. A world premiere of gameplay is shown off, composited from the experiences of a few fans who got to play the game first. They were grouped up, then set off into the world with no tutorials or explanation. As expected, they had some issues, and one group failed their first battle, but they all had a blast exploring the world and just doing pirate things. “Sea Of Thieves” was confirmed to be a part of Xbox Play Anywhere, but no release date has been announced despite being expected to arrive sometime this year.

A trailer for another Xbox One/Windows 10 exclusive rolls, showing a few people mowing down zombies in an old T-bird before getting out to take on the horde. It is “State of Decay 2.” The game certainly looks good, but probably suffered from debuting so close to “Deadrising 4.” However, those looking for a more survival-oriented experience in this genre will certainly be happy.

Next comes a cinematic trailer with all-to-familiar game assets. It is “Halo Wars 2” with a breathtaking trailer, reminiscent of the highly acclaimed “Halo 3 Believe” ad campaign. No real gameplay is shown off, but the experience is magnificent. Dan Ayoub, studio head of Strategy Games at 343 Industries takes the stage to discuss the new title. The game launches February 21, 2017 as an Xbox Play Anywhere title. Better yet, the week-long beta launches NOW! Now a glimpse of the gameplay is shown off in a second smaller trailer.

Phil Spencer returns to the stage and recaps the conference. He discusses the launch of Xbox 15 years ago and teases “exciting, new opportunities on the horizon.” He states that the next step is to support true 4K gaming and high-fidelity VR. A video plays toting a new console that “the developers asked us to make.” The powerhouse features eight CPU cores, 320 GB/S Memory Bandwidth, and six teraflops of GPU power for true 4K gaming resolution. Project Scorpio is the next edition coming to the Xbox Family during Holiday 2017. All games and accessories will work across every Xbox One, Xbox S, and Project Scorpio console, so “no one will be left behind.” Phil Spencer then goes on to say that they believe it will be the most powerful console ever to be released.

The conference closes out with a montage trailer recapping all of the amazing games shown off during the event, and the 2016 E3 Xbox Media Briefing is over.

[06.15.15] Everything you need to know from the 2015 EA Press Conference [E3 2015]

Electronic Arts

It has been quite the week leading up to E3 2015 with a steady stream of incredible reveals, leaving you wondering, “What exactly will there be to announce at E3?” From the “Fallout 4” reveal, the return of rhythm gaming, and YouTube taking on Twitch; the gaming industry is charging full speed into its biggest week of the year. Fortunately, the fun hasn’t stopped. Bethesda kicked off E3 as the first developer conference, and it was spectacular. Microsoft followed up with an unbelievable conference of their own. Electronic Arts made a brief appearance on stage with Xbox and had an early reveal with “Mirror’s Edge Catalyst,” but they promised a lot more to come. What could it possibly be? Here is everything you needed to know about the 2015 Electronic Arts Press Conference, live from E3 2015 on Monday, June 15.

Unlike the other conferences, Electronic Arts forgoes the montage of games in favor of a teaser trailer. It looks like the exciting reveal they promised at the start of the conference is the next “Mass Effect,” based off of the teaser “Discover a new galaxy.” The trailer continues with a breathtaking, albeit completely CGI trailer, revealing “Mass Effect: Andromeda,” coming holiday 2016.

Andrew Wilson, CEO of EA, takes the stage and welcomes everyone to E3. He promises an “action-packed show, full of games you can play either this year or the next.” A nice promise, although technically not out of the realm of everything announced so far. Wilson promises over a dozen new experiences, three new IPs, including one which Wilson promises will be “completely unexpected.” He also teases more “Mirrors Edge Catalyst” and, the grand finale, “Star Wars: Battlefront.”

As Wilson exits the stage, the return of “Need for Speed” is shown through a new trailer. It shows off stunning visuals, which have been shown off in screen shots over the past week. The atmosphere of the game is an obvious return to the “Need for Speed: Underground” series. Marcus Nilsson, of Ghost Games, promises it to be the “definitive ‘Need for Speed’ experience.” It will feature the richest customization seen in any “Need for Speed” game. It will also include an open world environment and all the wonderful running-from-the-law, drifting, NOS-filled, adrenaline rush that fans have been asking for.

Another trailer for the game, showcasing the live-action cut scenes plays, hinting briefly at the generic story. It then seamlessly transitions to the photo-realistic visuals we’ve come to expect from “Forza,” but never “Need for Speed,” until now. The trailer shows off the customization suite, showing that virtually any cosmetic change you want can happen. The game then moves to the streets, in a night filled with neon and street-racing glory. The gameplay should be familiar to anyone who has been keeping up with the series, but focuses on the best parts from games dating back to “Need for Speed: Underground” and “Need for Speed: Carbon.” The new “Need for Speed” is coming Nov 3.

“Star Wars: The Old Republic” takes the stage, but it’s not a new game. It’s “Knights of the Fallen Empire,” the next expansion for the MMO, and it will be free to all subscribers. The trailer is impressive, but completely CGI. It shows young Jedis in training and progressing into battle. It’s packed with action and a variety of characters, and looks all-around exciting.

EA Executive Vice President, Patrick Soderlund, heads to the stage to talk about what’s next. He discusses EA’s “player-first” mantra and stresses the importance of community feedback. He promises more betas for EA games this year, in an effort to make their games even better.

He moves on to discuss one of the new IPs. “It’s an experience that is emotional and deeply creative,” and it goes by the name, “Unravel.” The teaser doesn’t show much, but makes it clear that it will incorporate yarn as a primary element. Martin Sahlin, one only 14 developers working on the game as Coldwood Studios, takes the stage to talk more about the game. It’s a puzzle game, featuring a character made of yarn who gradually unravels as he progresses. The game looks absolutely adorable and incredibly creative. It’s all physics-based, having to overcome obstacles utilizing your yarn trail, such as swinging across a cavern with yarn. A longer trailer begins, showing off the physics puzzles. The graphics are bold and cartoonish, like something out of a Dreamworks picture. The trailer ends on logo, but no release date.

Next, a zombie super hero walks on stage – yes, you read that right – which could only mean one thing, “Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2.” Jeremy Vahoozer of PopCap Games, kicks him off stage to talk about the success of “Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare,” which was played by over 6 million people. For the first time ever, the plants are on the attack, fighting through “Zomburbia.” There are six new “crazy” character classes. One of the new maps are shown off, which is a giant factory where robot zombies are built.

It transitions to a live gameplay demo, featuring the new four-player zombie co-op mode, “Graveyard Ops.” One of the new characters, Liam, is shown off. He’s fast, and likes to blow stuff up. Super Brainz is shown next, the zombie super hero which was previously kicked off stage. He’s the first melee class. Captain Deadbeard is revealed, the first sniper class for the Zombies. They then have to face off against a boss battle. Everything definitely represents the over-the-top theme EA promised. In addition to the multiplayer, a new “single play” mode will allow you to play any game mode with AI controlled characters or a friend on the couch via split screen. All players of “Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare” will be able to transfer the characters at launch. EA also promises continued support via free content updates. A brief montage trailer closes out the reveal, and “Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare 2” will be available Spring 2016.

A hype trailer for “NHL 16” begins, showcasing the awesome visuals, specifically the enhanced crowd. There’s a bunch of slap shots and ice particles flying everywhere. Matt Bilbey of EA Sports, takes the stage to discuss “NHL 16” and its new team-oriented design. “Play Together, Win Together” is the new mantra, and this carries through all of EA’s titles. “Rory McIlroy PGA Tour” releases this July as the first game built in the Frostbite engine, allowing the ball to be played anywhere and cut out load times between holes. EA Team is revamped, with double the content compared to previous years. Ultimate Team will be available across many games and promises to be secure and fair for everyone. EA games also want to help bring in new players, providing real-time feedback

Sean O’Brien, Executive Producer on “NBA Live 16,” takes the stage to talk about the new game. He also emphasizes EA’s willingness to listen to feedback. He announces the new Gameface HD Scanning app, which will put your face right into “NBA Live 16.” It will be available prior to launch.

The team has spent two years bringing in thousands of new player animations, so “you won’t feel like you’re stuck in an animation.” Hand offs, passes, and the pick-and-roll have all been revamped with better controls. There’s also a brand new shot system, giving you complete control of the release of your shot. The longer you hold the button, the later you release. Simple, straight-forward, and beautiful. O’Brien also teases the announcement of a new game mode, coming later this year. It caps off with a trailer in-game footage. The trailer is essentially just a NBA highlight reel.

Samantha Ryan, EA’s mobile executive, takes the stage to discuss the success of mobile gaming. She highlights recent EA games on mobile. She then announces “Star Wars Galaxy Heroes,” a new collectible card game in the “Star Wars” universe. Mike Rasmussen then takes the stage to discuss a new Minion game, “Minions Paradise.” It’s full of the light-hearted humor and charm that makes the Minions such as success. It transitions into a gameplay demo, showing off the main hub of the game – the Tiki Lounge. It acts as the location to get quests for the games. You send off Minions to collect resources and perform various tasks, all in the hilariously imperfect Minion way. The island can be upgraded and customized and there are multiple activities all over the island.

An inspirational trailer for “FIFA 16” stars Pelé, suggesting he’s going to be deeply involved in this game (Think NBA 2K11 and Michael Jordan). Pelé himself takes the stage with David Rutter, who is working on “FIFA 16,” and they conduct a brief interview, discussing how Pelé coined the term “the beautiful game,” for soccer. Pelé says it was because soccer is a more intelligent, skill-based sport. Pelé discusses the different experiences of watching the game and being in the game. A bicycle kick is more flashy, but he finds penalty kicks to be more exciting. After more reminiscing, Pelé finally exits the stage to standing ovation.

Rutter discusses innovations in this year’s game. This includes new defensive agility to help you track players on the defense. The midfield has enhanced control, including interception intelligence and more purposeful and direct passing. More motion tracking was done to help create those “moments of magic” in the final third of the pitch. “FIFA Trainer” is a new system that helps you improve your game, regardless of skill level. For the first time ever, women’s teams have made their way to “FIFA.” The team spent years to ensure the most authentic experience, with the inclusion of the new women’s teams, and across the game as a whole. All “FIFA 15 Ultimate Team” players are receiving a “special reward,” likely Pelé, as Rutter mentions it’s to “commemorate his moment.” More on “FIFA 16” information will be coming this summer. A final trailer plays, showing off a highlight reel of incredible shots and team celebrations. It closes with the tagline “Play Beautiful.”

Sara Jansson, from Dice, takes the stage to talk about “Mirrors Edge: Catalyst.” It’s a “revolutionary action adventure game” that delves into the origins story of Faith. It’s built on the latest Frostbite Engine, like the new “Need for Speed” and “Battlefield.” There are many story missions and time trials. There aren’t, however, any levels or loading screens. It’s completely open-world. “Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst” is playable at E3. A fully CGI trailer teases the game’s story and atmosphere. It shows her putting a serious beat-down on bad guys, all without the need for any guns. The world is bright and colorful, accented by a few bold reds, yellows, and blues – something that should be very familiar to fans. “Mirrors Edge: Catalyst” is coming Feb 23, 2016.

A teaser for “Madden NFL 16” starts up, followed by Sean Graddy, the Senior Producer for “Madden NFL 16” and Robert Flores, host of ESPN 2’s Fantasy Football Now, taking the screen to talk about the game. They introduce “Draft Champions,” a new game mode coming to “Madden NFL 16” that promises to bring the draft experience home, every single day. You pick three players each day to compete against your friends. You can then play with your teams to take on other players, either solo or online, and then head back afterwards to do it all over again.

“Madden NFL 16” puts the focus on Quarterbacks, Receivers, and Defenders in Coverage. There’s better options to refine your throwing as the play-caller. With the receiver, you can choose between three new catch types – possession, run-after-catch, and aggressive catch. As defenders, you can play the receiver instead of just the ball. This will let you enact devastating hits to knock a player down after possession or try to knock the ball loose. The official “Madden NFL 16” trailer plays, essentially as a highlight reel like all the others.

Peter Moore, the CFO of EA, finally takes the stage to introduce “Star Wars: Battlefront.” He describes it as a dedicated passion product for DICE, and it will run on the Frostbite engine. Moore also hints that it will be at the core of multiple future games, and possibly even VR. He also suggests that, while impressive, what we’ve seen so far is only the beginning of what Frostbite can do.

Sigurlína Ingvarsdottir, Senior Producer on “Star Wars: Batlefront,” takes over to discuss her memories with “Star Wars.” She promises an “incredibly authentic, visually stunning universe.” In partnership with “Lucas Arts,” they were able to look over many of the props from the original trilogy to make sure they are represented in game as realistically as possible. It offers 8-40 player multiplayer game modes as well as split-screen Missions. The game will “Fulfill the Battlefront fantasies you’ve always dreamed of.” Finally, gameplay is revealed. Both the Empire’s and the Rebel’s perspectives are shown. The footage is pre-alpha, but it still looks incredible. It is, most definitely, “Star Wars” meets “Battlefield,” and it is beautiful. You can switch freely between first and third person, both in vehicles and on the ground. Lots of vehicular gameplay is highlighted, showcasing many different vehicles from the “Star Wars” universe. After taking down an Imperial Walker, a TIE fighter battle takes places. Darth Vader makes a brief appearance, using the Force, followed by Luke Skywalker. They’ll be available as special unlockable characters. The game is coming Nov 17.

Wilson returns to wrap the show and thanks everyone for coming. There will be more information in the coming weeks.

[06.13.12] Review: ‘Medal of Honor (2010)’

Electronic Arts

Medal of Honor (2010) for Xbox 360

Rating:

4 Stars

With rebooting and re-releasing proving to be all the rage these days, Electronic Arts decided they would try the same with the insanely popular “Medal of Honor” series. Despite technically being the 13th game in the series, 2010’s release of “Medal of Honor” uses the exact same name as the original game released back in 1999. That’s where the similarities stop, as everything from the logo and developer to the characters and story has received a complete overhaul.

In 1999, the single player campaign for “Medal of Honor” was set during World War II and was developed by a studio known as “DreamWorks Interactive”. Now under the new name “Danger Close Games”, the studio has decided to modernize the game with a campaign set in Afghanistan during the year 2002. The developers wanted their game to stand out from the rest of the pack by bringing the most authentic experience possible. To facilitate this, “EA” brought in several consultants from the United States military and also based the game partially on real-life operations.

To allow “Danger Close Games” to focus on the authentic storyline, “EA” called upon another one of their studios to develop the multiplayer portion of the game. “DICE”, famous for their work on the “Battlefield” series, was in charge of everything multiplayer for better or worse. It also appears as if they had some creative influence on the single-player campaign, because many key features that are synonymous with the “Battlefield” series shine through heavily in the single-player mode.

There is a lot of history and prestige backing “Medal of Honor”, but does this all add up to a great game?

The Fun Stuff:

The first thing you’ll notice after jumping into the campaign for “Medal of Honor” is how amazing the guns are. It’s not that they’re fantasy weapons or are way over-powered, it’s that they feel so much more real than other games. In most shooters, the guns look real enough, but firing them just isn’t that satisfactory. When you start unloading bullets in “Medal of Honor”, you’ll feel the most satisfying ‘punch’ behind your weapons, which no other game to date has matched. Everything about the way they fire feels perfect: The recoil displayed on the screen, the rumble feedback from the controller in your hands, and, best of all, the incredible sound effects that rip through your speakers and make you nervously glance over your shoulder for attackers.

Perfect sound effects aren’t good enough though, because without proper balance, they’d be left undiscovered and unnoticed. Luckily, the sound-mixing in “Medal of Honor” is unmatched as well. Explosions, dialog, music, and other ambient sounds all blend together perfectly to make you feel like you’re standing right in the middle of the chaos. When a grenade explodes next to your character, the screen becomes hazy and disorienting while sounds are muted almost entirely by a high-pitched ring.

If characters walk away, sound fades out naturally. If they walk into corridors, sounds echo and bounce around. Perhaps the most peculiar attention to detail in the sound comes from characters communicating via their com units. If you listen carefully, you’ll notice you can hear both the sound of their voice crackling over their headset as well as their normal voice being projected from the character model directly in front of you. It’s this absurd – yet welcomed – authenticity that helps bring these battle scenarios to life right in front of your eyes.

Fortunately, sound wasn’t the only thing “EA” was referencing in their promise to deliver the most authentic war experience to date. In-game cut scenes feel like they’re pulled straight from a documentary. The only downside is the ones in first person mode don’t ever show any signs of a weapon in your hand, so you feel more like a camera man filming the documentary than the soldier you transition into at the end of the cut scene. None-the-less, the cinematics are exhilarating and aid the realism.

Then there’s the artificial intelligence in “Medal of Honor”. Like everything else, the AI also has a significant element of realism, both with squad mates and enemies. Having allies in shooters can be frustrating thanks to poor AI’s. Cover will be blown, shots will be blocked, and missions are constantly failed thanks to the idiotic tendencies of these computer controlled teammates.

This, however, is not the case in “Medal of Honor”. Not only do your squad mates move and post up intelligently, they’ll lob a grenade with great accuracy. The most satisfying role they play throughout your trials and tribulations is in killing enemies. That’s right; they will actually kill bad guys for you! These extra characters are treated like real soldiers with real abilities instead of being used solely as pawns in a story who couldn’t shoot water if they were on the bottom of the deep end in a pool.

Not only do they fire on the bad guys, but they actually draw fire from them too. One of the most frustrating aspects of playing through the rival series “Call of Duty” is the way enemies treat you. They shoot you and only you, and also have a god-like ability to locate you before you even enter their territories. Enemy AI in “Medal of Honor” has been stripped of that ability to help amplify the realism. You won't be fired on immediately after walking around a corner, and you can actually flank enemies and sneak up on them while your computer-controlled squad mates are drawing their fire like previously mentioned.

Another exciting characteristic of the enemy AI is the way they react to bullets. Even those with Kevlar armor don’t just absorb shots like a magic bullet sponge. Instead, if you hit them in the chest with a rifle, they’ll get knocked over backwards like they took a punch from Muhammad Ali. Likewise, those who take shots to the arm or leg will cry out in pain and reach for the damaged body part. They may even stumble over or just drop the grenade they were about to toss. If you land a headshot, it will always be an instant kill, and you’ll know it thanks to a little icon that pops up at the bottom of your screen.

There are many other small details that make “Medal of Honor” feel realistic as well. À la “Battlefield”, the environments in the game are destructible to a certain degree. Another nice touch is the ability to grab ammunition from your squad mates if you run low. Make sure you listen to their callouts in battle though, because if they say they’ve run out of ammo, they mean it, and you won’t be able to resupply from them so you’ll need to conserve your ammunition the best you can. With patience, this can be done thanks to an overly-generous aim-assist in single player when you scope in. To balance this out though, it has to be after a complete scope-out followed by a minor delay; so you can’t just pump the trigger and abuse it like in many other shooters.

The Frustrating Stuff:

“Medal of Honor” attempts to keep things exciting by frequently changing up what you’re doing. Throughout the campaign, you’ll jump between four characters:

- Rabbit: A U.S. Navy SEAL
- Specialist Dante Adams: A U.S. Army Ranger Specialist
- Deuce: A Delta Force sniper specialist
- Captain Brad “Hawk” Hawkins: An Apache Gunship gunner

This frequent change is detrimental to the story in “Medal of Honor”. Although it creates lots of variety, this variety makes it difficult to have emotional ties to any of the characters in the game, hindered further by the extremely short lifespan of the campaign, which clocks in at roughly 6 hours even on the hardest difficulty. Despite the near constant action in the game, it can sometimes be a challenge for “Medal of Honor” to keep your attention.

In an attempt to make up for the short campaign, “Danger Close Games” offered an additional game mode known as “Tier 1 Mode”. Sadly, this will likely only be utilized by those who want lots of replayability from the single player portion and those who have a love for “Hardcore” game modes. “Tier 1 Mode” is essentially a level by level time-trial for the single player campaign with an all-or-nothing attitude. The problem is there's no way to hurry through any pre-canned animations that characters have nor is there an option for allowing yourself to continue on from a checkpoint when dying while accepting the time spent retracing your tracks as a penalty for dying. Instead, if you die, you have to start the mission all the way over with a new timer.

While this may be welcomed by those who want the more difficult experience, it’s also a deterrent to those who aren’t seasoned veterans of shooters and may have struggled with campaign. There’s also no additional reward gained outside of one achievement for completing all levels under par and the chance to top the leaderboards.

Multiplayer is a solid experience, assuming you like the “Battlefield” multiplayer, although there are a few minor details that left a little to be desired. The most notable from a gameplay perspective is the inability to go prone online. It exists in the single-player campaign but somehow is absent once you head online. Another concern rises for ‘completionists’ who are seeking to 100% this game. There are quite a few achievements tied to multiplayer, and although they’re nothing necessarily too difficult to complete, many are nearly unattainable at this point simply because the multiplayer servers are almost entirely deserted.

Bottom Line:

“Medal of Honor” is definitely short and sweet, but the realism is unrivaled by any military shooter to date. The replayability is short-lived due to the nearly non-existent online community, but don’t let this overshadow the exciting single-player experience the game offers. If multiplayer is all you’re looking for, you’re best off purchasing “Battlefield 3” as you’ll find a nearly identical game but with a much more active and dedicated community. Those who like a well put-together single-player first person shooter experience shouldn’t deprive themselves just because of the length. Thanks to a “Platinum Hits” re-release, “Medal of Honor” is now available at a much more appropriate and affordable price given the current status of the game. More so, if you have no interest in the multiplayer, feel free to pick up a used copy for even cheaper as there’s no need to pay the premium to get an online pass.

Medal of Honor (2010) was developed by Danger Close Games and DICE, and was published by Electronic Arts. It was released in North America on Oct. 10, 2010 with an “M” rating from the ESRBand an MSRP of $59.99. This review was based on a copy of the game purchased after the release date.

Anthony Ortale writes news and reviews on behalf of Examiner.com. He does so much gaming in his spare time, it’s practically a full time job! If you like what you read here, please subscribe to his articles! You can also follow Tony on Twitter, or become a fan on Facebook! If you ever have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to email Tony any time at ortale.anthony@gmail.com, he’d love to hear from you