Medal of Honour Rising Sun

As the name suggest, Medal of Honor Rising Sun chronicles the events between the US and Japanese forces during WWII. If you thought the Normandy Beach intro level in Frontline was impressive, wait till you see the Pearl Harbor intro level in Rising Sun. The game throws you directly into the heat of the battle, on a ship that is being bombarded by enemy fighter planes to be exact, and you’ll have to struggle through the damaged ship and make it to the deck to defend Pearl Harbor with your fellow US soldiers. The video we saw of the first level absolutely shocked us, there was just so much going on at once. There were planes attacking in every direction, explosions lighting up the morning sky, and ships on their sides and their crew in the waters. It’s a spectacular depiction of the real events that took place on that fateful morning of December 7th, 1941.

Rising sun will take you on 5 multi-part missions (each mission spans many different levels) throughout the pacific, ranging from such locales as the infamous river Kwai to the notorious Pearl Harbour.

You have to see this in action to understand what this game is all about.

Unsurprisingly, EA is outdoing themselves in every possible aspect of the game. The visuals will be amazing in respect for their technical functionality and presentation, the sound will undoubtedly be identical to the high standard gamers expect from any MoH title, and the gameplay is - and always has been - distinct and unmatched. But on top of everything that makes a MoH stand out in a crowd of firs-person shooters, sits the brilliance of the sequenced events. Sequenced events are elements in a game that are supposed to happen that are set off by the player, whether its marking a bunker with flares so it gets bombed, or setting fire to a windmill so guards are alarmed and open a locked gate. It’s these events that truly immerse gamers into any Medal of Honour game. And Rising Sun is no different, EA is going the extra mile to include roughly 300 “events” throughout the game. Medal of Honor Frontline had about 30 events, Rising Sun is multiplying that number by 10.

The particle effects and explosion demonstrated in the level at Pearl Harbor we saw really demonstrate how much further EA is taking this title. The development team has increased by handfuls too since the last MoH, so there are a lot more people working on making this the best Medal of Honor there is.

EA has implanted a new save feature, allowing players to save and load games at will. Making it easier to reload a mission you just died on. Another new implementation into the MoH series, is the AI enemies possess. The Japanese enemies will run right up in your face and battle in cold-blood, as apposed to the German forces in previous installments who would run and take cover. MoH Rising Sun will also feature new environmental elements such as foliage, volumetric fog, moving water, and weather effects. But the most notable addition to the series is the inclusion of a Co-Op mode. Players will be able to run through the entire game with a buddy in split screen Co-Op. And EA isn’t just going to package this as a sloppy ad-on, they’re spending a lot of time and effort making sure this delivers a alternate competitive gaming experience. There will be a real emphasis on co-operative play, certain missions will require one player to go ahead and lower a ramp while the other one stays back for cover, forcing players to act as a team.

As the title suggest, you’ll be paying the land of the rising sun a friendly visit with your comrades.

Rising Sun will also feature quite a large collection of unlockable DVD content. EA has included over 3 hours of DVD content, including interviews with WWII vets and documentary videos during the development of the game. So expect some interesting “Making Of” videos.

The GameCube will be missing out on the online action the Ps2 version will be receiving, no surprise there, but there will still be a fully fleshed out multiplayer component in Rising Sun. The game will offer up to 4 player split screen action, with many maps to choose from and different game modes to choose from.

Medal of Honor Rising Sun still has some finishing up to do, but it also has a few months left in development. Medal of Honor Rising Sun hits shelves November 11th.