Medal of Honor presales hit franchise high

As they are wont to do, Electronic Arts and Activision will be going head-to-head during the holiday season, with this year's contenders being new installments in their respective Medal of Honor and Call of Duty franchises. Today, EA engaged in a bit of prelaunch saber-rattling, announcing that Medal of Honor has set a new presales record for the franchise since it began on the original PlayStation in 1999.

EA offered no indication of Medal of Honor's presale numbers, but the publisher did say that the figure puts the DICE-developed shooter in the same neighborhood as its other top action games. Further, EA still has a week and a half to bolster those numbers, as Medal of Honor is due for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on October 12.

Medal of Honor will initially be offered only in a Limited Edition format, one that carries a standard-edition price tag of $60 across all three platforms. Belying its price tag, the Medal of Honor Limited Edition includes many of the customary premium perks, including early access to DICE's Battlefield 3 multiplayer beta, early access to two in-game shotguns, and an exclusive weapon. PS3 gamers will also find a free copy of Medal of Honor Frontline packed into the Limited Edition.

The first installment in the series not to be set during World War II, Medal of Honor will follow a group of elite commandos called Tier 1 Operators during operations behind enemy lines in Afghanistan. It will be set during the early stages of the still-ongoing war, when the US-backed Northern Alliance was pushing toward victory over the now-resurgent Taliban and their Al-Qaeda allies.

Though the Xbox 360 and PS3 multiplayer betas have come and gone, PC gamers still have a chance to participate in an open testing period beginning October 4. The online multiplayer beta download client will be available through Medal of Honor's official Web site beginning October 1, and the testing phase will close on October 7 at 11:59 p.m. PST.

For more on EA's Medal of Honor reboot, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.