It’s unfortunate that Medal of Honor, the reboot of the 11-year-old military shooter franchise set in present-day Afghanistan, was banned from being sold on U.S. military bases because the video game’s single-player campaign is more an interactive tribute to troops fighting in the Middle East than any other shoot-’em-up.
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Military officials decided not to stock Medal of Honor (Electronic Arts, for Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360, Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3, $59.99) after protests over the multiplayer mode, which allowed gamers to play as combatants representing the Taliban. Last week, Electronic Arts Inc. announced those characters would instead be dubbed as the more ambiguous Opposing Force.
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However, the turbans and improvised explosive devices remain in the multiplayer mode by Battlefield: Bad Company developer DICE, making the name change a needless concession, especially considering how integral Afghanistan and the Taliban are to developer Danger Close’s solo campaign, told from the perspective of four U.S. soldiers.
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For most of the story-driven portion, players flip-flop between playing as Rabbit and Deuce, a pair of never-seen-or-heard operatives who take orders directly from the top and operate stealthily behind enemy lines. Other missions find players portraying Spc. Dante Adams, a U.S Army Ranger, and Capt. Brad Hawk Hawkins, an Apache helicopter gunner.
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The solo gameplay is at its best with sustained firefight scenarios that are realistic enough for a Ken Burns war documentary yet exhilarating enough for a Michael Bay blockbuster.
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One of the most tense moments involves fending off approaching Taliban forces while Adams and his fellow Rangers are trapped inside a building that’s being pummeled with rocket-propelled grenades. Right when you think the battle is over, a truck loaded with a bomb slams into the rickety structure.
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There are similarities to developer Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare series, which contemporized publisher Activision’s Call of Duty franchise. For example, instead of driving as…