E3 2003: Medal of Honor: Rising Sun Preview

By Tom Bramwell Published 22 May, 2003

EA demonstrates that on-rails, linear first person shooters can still be spellbinding.

If there was one constant amongst the many, many World War II-based shooters on display at E3, it was each developer's attempts to downplay the brilliance of Medal of Honor, mostly citing its linearity and lack of story-based emotion. And in retrospect, it's easy to remember it their way. It was very much a shoehorned adventure through Private Ryan-inspired environments, shooting things in a particular order and then quick-loading to get a bit further through them, eventually escaping into the next, even more difficult Nazi-popping Allied excursion.

But given 10 minutes in EA's E3-based "theatre of war", watching one of their chaps run through the first level of Rising Sun, we reckon a lot of developers would change their minds - and we can't see their efforts knocking it for six in quite the way they seem to have envisaged.

In the Navy

'E3 2003: Medal of Honor: Rising Sun' Screenshot 1

Another sombre WW2 moment...

Even at pre-alpha, MOH Rising Sun grabs you by the eyeballs and drags you across a bed of war porn at a dazzling pace. Set on the dawn of the infamous December 7th, 1941, it begins as the camera whistles over a sleeping Pearl Harbour and into the bunk of an American sailor aboard one of the resting battleships, as he peers sadly at photographs of lost crewmates. All of a sudden the ship is shaken by what turns out to be a marauding aerial force of Japanese bombers, and the player leaps from his bunk, and has to race alongside other sailors through the confines of the ship, shepherded by anxious-looking officers at each bulkhead. Along the way he pauses to douse fires in water, before having his extinguisher visibly yanked from his hands by another crewman - surprisingly something we haven't seen before in an FPS.

As he continues on, water sprays from every busted nook and cranny of the hull, and the interior gradually starts to disintegrate around him under the force of bombs, sending many of his shipmates to their deaths. It's a section of scripted, through-the-eyes-of-the-player cut-scene-style gameplay, the likes of which we haven't seen since Half-Life. The cinematography is truly blinding.

Eventually the player makes it to a hatch with a friend, only to watch him emerge and suddenly spin like a top as he's riddled with bullets from a Japanese fighter, collapsing back into the ship like a ragdoll. A few seconds later the player braves the fire and hauls himself out onto deck, just in time for a Japanese plane to crash land on the bow ahead of him, cart-wheeling along in slow motion to the dull throb of the player's heart. It's time to put down the invaders, so the player races to an anti-aircraft gun and lets rip.

Anti-aircraft

'E3 2003: Medal of Honor: Rising Sun' Screenshot 2

Er. Learn to fly, mother funster!

One of EA's biggest innovations here is AA guns that work. Other FPS games seem keen to emphasize how useless they are, but in Rising Sun you can genuinely send the enemy ploughing into the seas with spurts of well-aimed gunfire. Still, it isn't long before a massive explosion sends our hero careening through the air, flipping the screen around the player's viewpoint so he lands upside down in the water. Now the player has to get to the surface, and swims in the direction of a motorised dinghy silhouetted against the red sky above, and the outstretched arm of an officer trying to pull him aboard to safety.

What follows is a Black Hawk Down-style on-rails shooting section as the player is dragged through the horror of Pearl Harbour, firing a massive AA gun at the prowling aerial forces of the Japanese, ducking beneath the shattered, listing ships strewn across the ocean as they topple in the dinghy's direction, all of which culminates in the destruction of the USS Arizona, which takes a direct hit right in front of the player.

EA has clearly worked very hard to show us all why the Yanks get so worked up about Pearl Harbour, even 62 years later, and even closes out the level with a bit of cheesy dialogue from the player's CO, who asks everyone to take a good hard look at the destruction in front of them, because apparently nobody who wasn't there will ever know the true sight of these events. He stops short of saying that the day will live in infamy, but he challenges us all to remember those who didn't make it through.

Risen

Drum-beating aside through, Rising Sun is technically magnificent, with the sort of war-torn vistas that Frontline can only dream of rendering - and on the PS2 to boot! The sight of massive explosions and oil fires softly reflected in the water ahead as the player rounds the damages hulls of a hundred ships is an eerily beautiful sight, and everything is soaked in detail (and water), from the squadrons above to the ship interiors and deck furniture, which wouldn't look out of place in the PC version.

And although it's hardly going to trouble the likes of Half-Life 2 and Doom III for visual prowess, EA's development studio has a real eye for games that rival Hollywood for film-making, and as long as the rest of the game keeps it up, this will be one heck of an adventure. We can hardly wait for the pre-Christmas release, on PS2, Xbox and Cube, and as we exited the Rising Sun cinema last week concerns about linearity couldn't have been further from our minds...

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (62) Latest comment 8 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Blerk #1 9 years ago

    Sounds great! Amazingly for EA, the Medal of Hono(u)r titles have always been top-notch. I see no reason why this one should be any different.

  • lost_soul #2 9 years ago

    I hated the last MOH game on the PC, but this sounds very good.

    I've always wondered how the Americans feel about the Pearl Harbour monument being overrun with Japanese these days, I know I found it a bit, well, odd.

    edit: Mugwum, you lied!
    Edited by 1 at 22/05/03 @ 14:11

  • krudster #3 9 years ago

    You're not stupid, no, but we've got tons of games to cover and only so many hours in the day to write up our previews! I doubt you'd all be interested if we posted 25 E3 features on the same day...

  • FWB #4 9 years ago

    I've always wondered how the Americans feel about the Pearl Harbour monument being overrun with Japanese these days, I know I found it a bit, well, odd.

    Probably even more pissed when it was eventually revealed that the US government knew about the attack and let it continue unopposed to help boost public support for a war.

  • DaM #5 9 years ago

    Do you think they'll release this in Japan? I know they don't like FPSs.
    Were the first 3 released in Germany, or does their constitution ban things like this (I don't think you can buy toy guns, or comedy moustaches).

  • UncleLou #6 9 years ago

    Were the first 3 released in Germany, or does their constitution ban things like this (I don't think you can buy toy guns, or comedy moustaches).

    We are born with a full beard, so there's no need for comedy moustaches.

  • Razz #7 9 years ago

    "I hated the last MOH game on the PC, but this sounds very good. "

    There was another one after the first one? WTF?!? o_O

    Please advise! :)

  • FWB #8 9 years ago

    Razz: Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (plus the addon Spearhead). Surely you've heard of it? Very good game, if very linear and scripted.

  • UncleLou #9 9 years ago

    But that was the first one (on the PC, that is), wasn't it?
    Edited by 1 at 22/05/03 @ 15:01

  • Razz #10 9 years ago

    "Razz: Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (plus the addon Spearhead). Surely you've heard of it? Very good game, if very linear and scripted. "

    I got that. Love it to the maxx! Spearhead you say... eh?! Never heard of it. Must. Have. It. Any review links? Purchase links?

  • lost_soul #11 9 years ago

    There was another one after the first one? WTF?!? o_O

    I meant Allied Assault, Was there not another PC MoH game before that then? Must be confusing it with the console version.

  • lost_soul #12 9 years ago

    Anyway, I didn't like Allied Assault on the PC.

  • FWB #13 9 years ago

    I got that. Love it to the maxx! Spearhead you say... eh?! Never heard of it. Must. Have. It. Any review links? Purchase links?

    Voila. No idea what its like, but I think it got some good reviews. Its MOHAA, so it can't be THAT bad. :)

    Was there not another PC MoH game before that then?

    Yes, there was. Never played, in fact I hadn't heard of it until I took an interest in AA.
    Edited by 1 at 22/05/03 @ 15:10

  • Razz #14 9 years ago

    "Anyway, I didn't like Allied Assault on the PC."

    So, I take it your not going to give me a link for Spearhead?

  • Nemesis #15 9 years ago

    Even the Mac version of Medal of Honor was good.

    Well said, but didn't run as well as RTCW. Same on the PC!

    Multiplay MOHAA doesn't receive enough exposure, which is a real shame. It doesn't offer the expanse of BF42, but it does present you with tight, well designed levels and intense firefights. BF42, whilst great, does make you wait around a lot. Roll on the next one! \o/

  • FWB #16 9 years ago

    IMHO, infantry combat in AA is still better than BF1942. Plus the level designs are, naturally, much more detailed. Spearhead added a nice multiple objective MP gamestyle, but it (the demo) ran a tad too slow on my PC, for my liking. The next AA expansion (no idea what its called) will add vehicles to the game (well tanks).
    Edited by 1 at 22/05/03 @ 15:13

  • lost_soul #17 9 years ago

    Here:
    http://shop.gameplay.co.uk/webstore/produc tpage.asp?productcode=RM0805

  • Razz #18 9 years ago

    "It doesn't offer the expanse of BF42, but it does present you with tight, well designed levels and intense firefights. BF42, whilst great, does make you wait around a lot. Roll on the next one! \o/ "

    Sorry mate but BF42 suxd monkey balls, horrible mouldy monkey blx.

  • Razz #19 9 years ago

    "Here:
    http://shop.gameplay.co.uk/webstore/produc tpage.asp?productcode=RM0805 "

    Excellent, my child... know your place ;)

  • FWB #20 9 years ago

    Purchase links:

    Gamesplanet.co.uk
    Play.com

  • renzo #21 9 years ago

    Allied Assault was the first MoH on PC. Spearhead was the expansion for that. Frontline was console-only. And... err... thats about it really. There two MoH on the PSOne before all these... two or one? I'm not sure. I hope that clears things up. I think I'm a bit more confused than before.... *scratches head*

  • lost_soul #22 9 years ago

    Little does Razz know, that was actually an encoded link to goatse :-)

  • Razz #23 9 years ago

    Cheers FWB. I didne see ye first link. Cheers mate.
    Personal Opinon on spearhead?

  • Razz #24 9 years ago

    "Little does Razz know, that was actually an encoded link to goatse :-) "

    Har har /looks at lostsoul worriedly

    (o/

  • Razz #25 9 years ago

    Renzo: Cheers for the info. Would you happen to know if there is a sequel planned for the PC?

  • FWB #26 9 years ago

    I can just give you my thoughts on the demo. It has two great levels and more interesting MP gamestyle with multiple objectives. The new weapons are cool: the Enfield Rifle, rifle grenade, portable MG and mortars. If you like MOHAA then I'd recommend it. If MOHAA was enough for you - like me - then probably give it a miss.

    As for a sequel, well as I said, there's a second addon coming out and there's also MH:pacfic Assault for the PC. Let's not forget Men of Valor: Vietnam.

    For a proper sequel you'll probably have to wait till the Doom3/HL2 engine is out.
    Edited by 1 at 22/05/03 @ 15:22

  • Nemesis #27 9 years ago

    Sorry mate but BF42 suxd monkey balls, horrible mouldy monkey blx.

    Easy there tiger.

    Spearhead gives you some more skins/voices/weapons for the Russians and British (yay), but does run a bit slower due to the funky fog and so forth. It's on Mac as well \o/

  • lost_soul #28 9 years ago

    Personal Opinon on spearhead?
    http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=4139

    EG gave it 7/10.

  • FWB #29 9 years ago

    Ohh and don't forget Hidden and Dangerous 2. Not from the same developers, nor does it use the Quake3 enginer, but the first one was great.

    And Razz, you could always join the elite Eurogamer Vietcong community. :) Great FPS. Do a Euorgamer forum search for the Vietcong thread for more info.
    Edited by 2 at 22/05/03 @ 15:27

  • Razz #30 9 years ago

    "the demo. "
    Try using pointy brackets i.e. >

    Cheers for your thoughts. Being a MOHAA fan boi, I think I will consider your proposition and contact in the morning. Cheers for the info once more. Hopefully I shall be spearheading by tuesday morning.

    "Ohh and don't forget Hidden and Dangerous 2. Not from the same developers, nor does it use the Quake3 enginer, but the first one was great.

    And Razz, you could always join the elite Eurogamer Vietcong community. :) Great FPS. Do a Euorgamer forum search for the Vietcong thread for more info. "

    Arghhh! Information overload! Information overload! Thank you for your invitation, but I have no internet connection worthy of online gaming at the moment. Also, I see Vietconfig, skinnies (black hawk down)... etc as highly unP.C. terms for foriegn soliders. I tend to keep away from such media. Cheers mate anyhow,
    Edited by 2 at 22/05/03 @ 15:36

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #31 9 years ago

    "Sorry mate but BF42 suxd monkey balls, horrible mouldy monkey blx"

    Fool.

  • Razz #32 9 years ago

    :D

    I never played multiplayer *sniff* :'(

  • Feanor #33 9 years ago

    "Probably even more pissed when it was eventually revealed that the US government knew about the attack and let it continue unopposed to help boost public support for a war."

    You sound like you think you're stating a fact, but of course you're just spewing propaganda. People like you would blame the US for the Black Plague if you could. The only legitimateconspiracy theory about Pearl Harbor was that Churchill and the British Government possibly knew about the planned attack, and didn't warn the American government in order to ensure the US would get more involved in the war. And even that theory hasn't been proved.

  • Razz #34 9 years ago

    "Black Plague "

    Oi... o_O
    Is that a racsit comment?

  • lost_soul #35 9 years ago

    I think he meant the Bubonic plague.

    Which is also called the black death.
    Edited by 1 at 22/05/03 @ 16:39

  • ssuellid #36 9 years ago

    Feanor, no-one knows for sure but the US had cracked the Japanese codes some months before and had been intercepting messages. Also for the first time ever all US aircraft carriers based at Pearl Harbour where at sea at the same time and all oil stored at Pearl Harbour was drained into safe locations - something else not done before. Coincidence? Probably.

  • UncleLou #37 9 years ago

    I am no expert when it comes to Pearl Harbour, but afaik, a lot of leading historians take it almost for granted that the US government knew of the attack beforehand. There may not be facts to prove it, but (modern) history research isn't about facts mainly, but about conclusions. It's new to me though that the UK government is said to have been informed as well.

  • FWB #38 9 years ago

    You sound like you think you're stating a fact, but of course you're just spewing propaganda.

    Ever been to the Pearl Harbour museum in Hawaii? Thought not.

    I think you should go. Does a nice little piece on it. Besides that I've read enough on the issue to be convinced the government knew what was going on.

    Your ignorance is excused. :)

  • Razz #39 9 years ago

    "I think he meant the Bubonic plague.

    Which is also called the black death. "

    Ah. Good.

  • lost_soul #40 9 years ago

    Bloody hell FWB, is there anywhere you haven't been??

    I have to say, I found the Pearl Harbour monument very moving.

  • FWB #41 9 years ago

    Bloody hell FWB, is there anywhere you haven't been??

    S.America. I'd love to go. I've got family who spent alot of time down there - for a number of reason ;) . But first I feel I need to see more of Asia.

    I consider myself an extremely lucky person to have had the opportunity to have visited and lived in a fair number of places. It also helps when your mother used to work for airline companies (African and Arabic). :)

  • Rusta #42 9 years ago

    gowd Frontline is pants on the console

  • Blerk #43 9 years ago

    gowd Frontline is pants on the console

    Clang! Sorry, but you are indeed talking out of your arse there. It's a great game!

  • FWB #44 9 years ago

    Blerk, hunt him down.

    Note: Not PC so don't click if you're easily offended.
    Edited by 1 at 22/05/03 @ 17:24

  • UncleLou #45 9 years ago

    I beg to differ. Frontline is the biggest PoS my poor PS2 ever had the disgrace to be plagued with. I am comparatively easy to please with FPS games, but it's hard to believe for me that anyone could really enjoy this. It's the worst FPS I have ever played, and I have played a lot of them.

  • Blerk #46 9 years ago

    Maybe we're after different things from our FPS, then? I liked the more sedate pace, the 'realistic' weaponry and the story-lead gameplay. Conversely, things like Quake III leave me cold.

  • V0oD0o #47 9 years ago

    Damn, hope this comes out on the PC sometime too.

  • UncleLou #48 9 years ago

    Apologies , Blerk, I hate that game with a passion, so I sometimes sound a bit rude there. ;-)

    I absolutley prefer realistic shooters to sci-fi/fantasy stuff as well, but...ah..., don't get me started. I hated the controls, the "corroidor" level design, the graphics, the lacking save-option, the lacklustre AI....everything. That said, the first level at the beach was absolutely wonderful, but it went all downhill from there on imo. :-(

  • Blerk #49 9 years ago

    I hated the controls

    All the other things I could understand (maybe!), but surely the controls are just the same twin-stick setup as (just about) every other PS2 FPS?

  • UncleLou #50 9 years ago

    I don't know, it's the only FPS I have really played on the PS2, but the controls on Timesplitters 2 (just played the demo there) were much, much better. Precise and smooth, while in Frontline, I constantly had to readjust my aim. I'll admit that could be my fault though. Btw, have you played, for instance, the NOLF games on the PC? Story-driven as well, realistic weaponry, but just infinitely more enjoyable.

  • Blerk #51 9 years ago

    Story-driven as well, realistic weaponry, but just infinitely more enjoyable.

    Sounds great, apart from that 'on the PC' bit. :-)

  • FWB #52 9 years ago

    Top FPSs:

    Deus Ex

    Then in no real order:

    Vietcong, MOHAA, Timesplitters 2, Jedit Knight 2, BF1942, MP and Alien vs Predator 2 (just behind Vietcong when it comes to tension).

    OFP doesn't make the list because I see it as more of a sim. Now where is my Napoleonic FPS?

    I have a very large biatch-slap ready for anyone who dares to argue with me. :)

  • Nemesis #53 9 years ago

    Jedit Knight 2

    Now that one I've not heard of...

  • FWB #54 9 years ago

    Its basically Jewish Knight 2.

  • Fishtank #55 9 years ago

    quote:
    Were the first 3 released in Germany, or does their constitution ban things like this (I don't think you can buy toy guns, or comedy moustaches).

    the back of my GC copy of MOH says it was manufactured in germany. can you believe it. well yes actually..

  • Fishtank #56 9 years ago

    quote:
    The only legitimateconspiracy theory about Pearl Harbor was that Churchill and the British Government possibly knew about the planned attack, and didn't warn the American government in order to ensure the US would get more involved in the war. And even that theory hasn't been proved.

    american oil companies were still selling crude to hitler even after the attack on pearl harbor.

  • reto #57 9 years ago

    Do you think they'll release this in Japan? I know they don't like FPSs.

    Ive read that Frontline has been a surprise in hit in Japan. Not sure how the theme of this game will affect it release.

  • Marcus #58 9 years ago

    What about System Shock 2 FWB?

  • FWB #59 9 years ago

    Never played it, but I hear its great. I have dowloaded it though (perfectly legit, for those who ask, from here) so I will get round to giving it a whirl.
    Edited by 1 at 23/05/03 @ 10:47

  • UncleLou #60 9 years ago

    SS2 is great. It's still the scariest game I have ever played. Not in a "jump up from your seat"-style, but in a very uncomfortable "you are alone, on a spaceship, strange things are happening here, there are monkeys, and the droids are a bit *too* friendly"-manner.

    edit: just writing this comment gave me goosebumps
    Edited by 1 at 23/05/03 @ 10:56

  • Dorag_kid #61 9 years ago

    GOOD... GOOD... GOOD

    Sounds interesting shooting away at the enemy seeing them plunge from that great blue yonder. It gives you alot to think about. Hey!! maybe in a couple of years theyll make a game about the war on terrorism. Well i dont know im not that interested ill say how i feel after i played it, eh
    Id blindly rate this game a
    4outof5

  • Brutebasher #62 8 years ago

    I don't know about MOH but I'm sure that RTCW was released in Germany. Anyway, whether it was or wasn't released in Germany there is an interesting legal notice at the bottom of the official site home page:

    http:/ /games.activision.com/games/wolfenstein/

    Says something like some of the content may be forbidden by German law or something. Fancy that - a law preventing you from reinacting wars in a game - 60 years later! I'm just glad that there isn't a law banning driving games just 'cos they may encourage you to drive dangerously! Saying that; PGR and PGR2 do have a notice at the beggining telling you not to drive dangerously as the game may not show perfectly realistic driving manouvers or something like that anyway.

    If politicians had it their way I doubt we'd be playing video games at all. I can just imagine it now: "We're making video games illegal because it's bad for your health."