Medal of Honor Updated Impressions

In a crowded marketplace of modern military shooters, Medal of Honor needs to bring it--something that's not lost on executive producer Greg Goodrich. "In this genre, you have to show up with quality--if you don't, there's just no point showing up," he says. Goodrich was in London to show off the latest build of the game and give us a taste of that quality, demonstrating a section of gameplay where US Army Rangers took on the Taliban in the mountains.

The demo began with the Rangers--whom Goodrich referred to as a "sledgehammer" team of operatives--arriving in the mountain range. The section is a nod to the Normandy landings in the original Medal of Honor according to the developer, except this time the US is taking on a modern threat in the form of the Taliban. The location in the game, the real-life Shahi-Kot Valley, is a place historically used by Afghan guerrillas hiding from foreign invaders.

As part of the four-man fire team, you control Specialist Dante Adams, who enters the battlefield wielding both a machine gun and a shotgun. You arrive at a small settlement during daytime and proceed to search the houses while taking out any stray enemies. You can slide along the ground and into cover, but stone walls break apart with gunfire, so you need to keep moving. In fact, destructibility seems to be one of the key strengths of MOH's tech, as Goodrich demonstrated how gunfire could also rip holes through tarpaulin.

One of the key components of the gameplay is teamplay, and the AI allies work together and communicate with each other in a highly convincing manner. "For us, this isn't a game about war--it's about characters," explains Goodrich. "The story is told through the lens of characters going through historical events." This means that the team members stop and talk to each other--they kick down doors, comment on ammo stashes, and order each other around. One of the group, Corporal Favreau, even chewed gum and kicked a dead body into a hole in the ground. Comrades also serve a practical purpose--you can press a button to request ammo from them at any time.

The biggest, most bombastic moment of the demo came when the Rangers called in air support to take out a Taliban settlement. Once a smoke grenade had been deployed, the team had to suppress the remaining guerrillas while waiting for the airstrike. Once the bombs arrived, the whole area rained down rock and sand, while one of the team exclaimed, "That was sick!" As the team came back down the mountain, still coughing and spluttering, they went to investigate a ringing phone, which turned out to be a terrorist bomb, which ended the demo.

Goodrich hinted at the ability to play as a helicopter pilot later in the game but didn't expand further. He also promised that the development team would soon start talking about multiplayer, which is being developed by DICE. "We've just got our heads down. We're turning the crank, and hopefully by the time October rolls around we'll have a product that fans love and, quite frankly, the Medal of Honor fans deserve," he said. The game is scheduled for release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on October 12, 2010, in the US and on October 15 in Europe.