Medal of HonorOctober 3, 2010 by

I don't know how many people read this, but hey, I'm still gonna post.

In response to Michael Thomsen's article, "Editorial: Renaming the Taliban in Medal of Honor," I thought I'd leave a few comments of my own. In fact, I'm picking up on what he said. Within his article, he essentially said that EA's wish to "respect servicemembers" was essentially nullified by the fact that they included multiplayer. Personally, I agree.

Don't get me wrong, I love listening to people scream at me through their mic when I pop a headshot off of them, but if what you're going for is telling the soldier's story, then multiplayer voids it in favor of entertaining the player.

So, where am I going with this? It's quite simple, really. I want for a MoH game dedicated solely to single-player (eek, I know, just shut up before you start flaming me). No, I don't want some 5-10 campaign that everybody will blow through in a single outing. Those campaigns are for those adrenaline junkies who don't really care about the Marine or Soldier. No, what I want is a soldier's (or Marine's) true story.

Say, start with a recruit fresh off to bootcamp, because that's the way a Marine's story really begins. They don't have to spend too much time on it, simply show a bit of what it's like, particularly Marine Boot Camp, which is generally considered to be the toughest boot camp.

Afterwards, show a Marine's career, beginning when he gets out of boot camp. But don't just keep it to the battles, that's only half of the story. Show the issues and effects that being a Marine has on their personal life. A great deal of civilians fail to realize that the battle doesn't just stop on the battlefield, but that it continues afterward in the form of PTSD and physical impairments.

Am I saying to bore us to death with a sit-com FPS? No. But show how many of the slower moments can be just as stressful for a military man. Show how the death of a comrade can really affect somebody, or how sacred earning the Medal of Honor really is. Demonstrate how attempting to settle back into a civilian life-style is a slow a painful process.

All of the above are elements that I find are missing from today's FPS. Instead, we get these adrenaline-fueled 10 hour rides that only have us blood-lusting and thinking that all Marines do is fight.

Finally, last thing I'm going to say is that Medal of Honor and Call of Duty are doing something that, quite frankly, is innacurate: They're giving you hope.

No, I don't mean that being in the military is a hopeless affair. What I mean is that sometimes, you can't peek your head out to take a shot or two and then duck back in when your eyes get red. Sometimes, you can see the bullets wizzing past you, and you can't do anything but sit there and hope nobody tosses a grenade. If anybody's ever read With The Old Breed by E.B. Sledge, then they know that sometimes, when you're in the foxhole, you have nothing to do but stay down until the firing, which could last for hours, dies down.

Of course, nowadays, with our guerilla warfare, fox holes are few and far between, but there is still that sense of dread that can accompany battle. So, while there should still be those adrenaline filled action sequences, there should also be that dread to counter it, to show that battle isn't just a long thrill-ride.

I am almost definitely sure that if EA does the above mentioned, not only will it make a great game, it will make a great game that truly tells the Militaryman's story, and that alone will set it apart from Call of Duty.

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