Medal Of Honor Faces Criticism In The UK

Aug 23, 2010 by James

The game Medal Of Honor is drawing some unexpected and undeserved criticism in the UK from Liam Fox. Britain’s Defense Secretary has called for retailers to ban a “tasteless product” and that he was “disgusted” that any British citizen would want to buy such a product. The Government said Dr. Fox was expressing a personal opinion only. Clearly the Government got a copy of the game and Fox did not.

The game Medal Of Honor is a well known series of games that has been around since the original PlayStation however this is the series first jump into “modern warfare”. The game puts you in the combat boots of a “tier one” operator (Delta Force types and Army Rangers) who are engaging the Taliban in Helmand, Afghanistan. According to Entertainment Arts, the company who is producing the game, it is a very accurate account of soldiers experience in Afghanistan. Fox however has his facts construed.

Liam Fox believes that the game at some point allows players to switch over and play as the Taliban and kill British soldiers. Entertainment Arts responded quickly saying “they’re no British troops in the game”. The company already released a beta version of the game and there are only American forces in the game. The only point you can switch sides is in multi-player mode which is a staple of every combat game including Call of Duty and SOCOM U.S. Navy Seals. In multi-player you are allowed to play as the Taliban and fight off other internet connected players that portray either Rangers or Delta operators. Still no Brits though.

The head of EA Games Frank Gibeau said that the game was produced while working closely and extensively with the U.S. Military and actual Special Forces members to ensure realism. A spokesman for EA said “Multi-player combat is a long-standing, common and popular feature of videogames. In multi-player, teams assume the identities of combatants on both sides of the conflict. Many popular videogames allow players to assume the identity of enemies including Nazis and terrorists. In the multi-player levels of Medal of Honor, teams will assume the identity of both US forces and the Taliban.”

It seems Liam Fox is hoping that people count on his word rather than just doing a quick Google search of the game. Similar problems “plagued” Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 but that seemed to only boost sales of the game which has won many awards in the industry. A UK survey conducted last year showed that 1/3 of the country considered themselves “gamers” so it is highly unlikely that this will reduce sales.

I can attest to Medal Of Honor as a whole as I have played every single game from that series and they’re always excellent and pay very close attention to detail. This is just like every other so called “violent” videogame out there, they always receive some negative attention but the public continues to buy them. If you remember Grand Theft Auto the game that allowed you to have sex with a hooker and then kill her as well as shoot cops you will also know that it is one of the highest selling game series ever. While most people don’t go out and kill hookers and cops videogames allow people to take a break from reality and submerge themselves in fantasy and in the end that is what all games are; fantasy.

The game is scheduled for an October 12, 2010 release

Quotes Via: Guardian UK