Medal of Honor, a much loved FPS video game series, will be returning on December 11, 2020. It has been eight years since the last Medal of Honor game released, Medal of Honor: Warfighter. Now, Respawn Entertainment is bringing back the war franchise with a VR experience.
A Brief History: Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor game series released its first game on PlayStation in 1999, which was developed by DreamWorks Interactive and published by Electronic Arts. This franchise did not start from humble beginnings as it was created by Steven Spielberg, who also wrote the story for the first three games.
Between 1999 and the 2020 game, Medal of Honor includes 17 games. In the first 12 games, the story would take place during World War II and players could typically control an elite member of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS). However, later games would take on a more modern setting, which players appeared to be mostly against. Zack Millsap of CBR specifically said that “Medal of Honor had become a shell of its former self, with later titles failing to capture an audience. More and more developers shifted towards making modern and futuristic FPSs, trying to capitalize on Modern Warfare 2‘s success.” Eddie Makuch of Gamespot covered the game’s official decline, specifically citing the poor launch of Medal of Honor: Warfighter (2012).
The first game was Medal of Honor in 1999. In 2000, there was Medal of Honor: Underground. Three games, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, Medal of Honor: Frontline, and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Spearhead. release in 2002. This was followed by three more games in 2003, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Breakthrough, Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, and Medal of Honor: Infiltrator. After that, they released one game every year from 2004-2006, including Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault (2004), Medal of Honor: European Assault (2005), and Medal of Honor: Heroes (2006). Then there were three more games in 2007, Medal of Honor: Vanguard, Medal of Honor: Airborne, Medal of Honor: Heroes 2. For the first time since 2001, they did not release any games from 2008-2009. But in 2010, they release Medal of Honor, skipped a year, released Medal of Honor: Warfighter in 2012, and then… nothing. Until now.
Now a VR Exclusive
Last year during the Oculus Connect 6 developer conference, it was announced that Respawn Entertainment would be reviving the game series with Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. This VR exclusive appears to be harkening back to the older games of the series, taking place in World War II and putting the players into the shoes of an OSS agent. The game will take place in Europe and the player will get to experience helping the French Resistance and gunning their way through wartorn historical events that take place on land, air, and sea. Fan-favorite characters from the series will also be returning, including French resistance leader Manon Batiste and rocket scientist Dr. Gronek.
In addition to the single-player campaign, there will be a “Mad Bomber” mode in which gamers make use of echolocation to find bombs hidden by other players, as well as classic game modes such as Death Match and Blast Radius (aka King of the Hill). Also, to pay tribute to the war depicted in the game, the creators have made a Gallery. This Gallery will feature documentary short films, interactive set pieces, and interviews with real-life veterans.
There are plenty of requirements and recommended specs to be aware of regarding Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, which Mark Tyson breaks down on Hexus. The game will release on both Steam and Oculus Rift this December 11, 2020.
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