EA has decided to drop the Taliban name from Medal of Honor in the face of political pressure and requests from the friends and families of fallen soldiers.

The in-game enemy previously known as Taliban will now be called the Opposing Force.

Executive producer Greg Goodrich didn’t mention political pressure in his official explanation, instead suggesting it was done solely out of respect for the relatives of soldiers killed in action.

“In the past few months, we have received feedback from all over the world regarding the multiplayer portion of Medal of Honor,” he said in a statement.

“We’ve received notes from gamers, active military, and friends and family of servicemen and women currently deployed overseas. The majority of this feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. For this, the Medal of Honor team is deeply appreciative.

“However, we have also received feedback from friends and families of fallen soldiers who have expressed concern over the inclusion of the Taliban in the multiplayer portion of our game. This is a very important voice to the Medal of Honor team. This is a voice that has earned the right to be listened to. It is a voice that we care deeply about. Because of this, and because the heartbeat of Medal of Honor has always resided in the reverence for American and Allied soldiers, we have decided to rename the opposing team in Medal of Honor multiplayer from Taliban to Opposing Force.

“While this change should not directly affect gamers, as it does not fundamentally alter the gameplay, we are making this change for the men and women serving in the military and for the families of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice – this franchise will never willfully disrespect, intentionally or otherwise, your memory and service.

“To all who serve – we appreciate you, we thank you, and we do not take you for granted. And to the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines currently serving overseas, stay safe and come home soon.

Start Date: October 4 | End Date: October 7, 11:59 PDT

Grab your MREs and prepare to spend four days playing two new maps and modes for the multiplayer version of Medal of Honor. Anyone can download and play. All that is required is an EA Account when you launch the game and to accept the beta agreement.

Recommended System Requirements

Operating System: Windows Vista (SP2), Windows 7. Processor: QuadCore 2.0Ghz. Memory: 2GB RAM+. Video Card: A video card with 512MB of VRAM and one of the following chipsets: NVIDIA GeForce GTX260; ATI Raedeon 4870. HDD Space: 2GB. Soundcard: Soundcard with DirectX 10 compatibility. DirectX: DirectX 10. Disc Drive: 16X CD/DVD Drive.

Where to download Moh Beta?

EA will announce the links and partners where you can download the PC Open Beta Client as soon as they are available. EA will of course post them on the official blog but as a special thank you to our community they will be tweeted on Twitter  and posted on Facebook first.

New Moh video:

Whenever a book, film, television, painting or music album becomes the topic of heated debate, a critic who is an expert in that field is called in to provide context. If a video game makes headlines, it seems anyone from any field, regardless of their experience, can pass judgment on not only the title up for discussion, but the entire games industry. Whether or not these pundits have any first-hand knowledge or experience of video games is seldom mentioned. In the rare instances video games experts are called upon for their expertise, they’re usually shouted down or dismissed.

This week, Liam Fox, the Defence Secretary, kicked open a proverbial anthill by calling for the forthcoming first-person-shooter (FPS), Medal Of Honor to be banned. Fox branded the game “un-British” over reports that it allowed players to take on the role of Taliban soldiers and kill British troops. In an interview with the Sunday Times, in which he expressed his outrage and disgust, Fox called on video games retailers not to sell Medal Of Honor “to show their support for the armed forces”.

The Telegraph hasn’t yet received a preview copy of Medal of Honor and as far as I am aware Fox hasn’t seen the game either. In a

statement released in the wake of Fox’s comments, EA pointed to factual inaccuracies in the Sunday Times article over the involvement of British troops. “Medal of Honor does not allow players to kill British soldiers,” said an EA spokesman. “British troops do not feature in the game.”

Fox has since defended his position; according to the BBC, he said the fact that players can assume the role of Taliban soldiers in the multiplayer mode is the main issue. But this sort of thing isn’t unheard of in FPS multiplayers. If Medal Of Honor is unfit for public consumption on these grounds, then what are we to make of last year’s Modern Warfare 2 where the multiplayer mode cast players as South American terrorists and militia members from the army of Ira… sorry, from an un-named Middle Eastern nation. Why has nearly every WWII game with a multiplayer, in which one side of players are Nazi soldiers, been allowed to pass classification from the BBFC without comment? In light of some of these past examples, Fox’s call for a ban looks more than a little extreme.

There may be a sensible debate to had about the merits of using a current, ongoing conflict as the subject matter in any entertainment format. But a ban is not condusive to this. A ban stifles any chance of reasonable discussion and simply maintains the status quo.

This also seems to be the opinion of the Department for Culture Media and Sports which moved to distance itself from Fox’s comments, brushing them off as his “personal view.” It also cited the fact that there is a ratings system in place, and that Medal of Honor was awarded an 18 classification which means it should only be sold to, and played, by adults. The BBFC for their part, asserted that the game is fit for release and sale – in an interview with CVG a BBFC spokesman said the ratings board “gave [Medal Of Honor] a cautious 18-rating, but it’s not as strong as other comparable games.”

What’s more, the Defence Secretary’s comments will probably influence the game’s sales; it’s just more than likely they’ll have the opposite effect to that which he intended. Whenever a high-profile figure condemns a video game it usually causes pre-orders to increase exponentially. Any notoriety a game earns ahead of its release date almost always attracts attention from outside the title’s core fan base; calls for an outright banning of the game, as has happened in this case, simply attract more prospective punters. Before Fox’s comments, Medal Of Honor appealed primarily to franchise loyalists and FPS fans. Now, a much larger number of gamers will be attracted to it to find out what all the fuss is about. By condemning the game, Mr Fox has simply pushed raised its profile Medal Of Honor further into the public conscience. He may as well have paid for EA’s billboards in every major city in the UK.

Such are the consequences when people who do not play games attack them. As a section of society used to the scorn and derision of others, mainstream condemnation simply makes something more attractive. Some might say that this shows the immaturity of gamers, but in the end, when attacked from all sides by people who don’t even have the decency to pick up a controller and form their own opinions, it’s not surprising that we have little time for overly-dramatic (and often factually inaccurate) accusations.

There will be segments of society which share Fox’s disgust at the Medal Of Honor’s content. They may even share his desire for a ban. I can’t speak to their mind-set, but I can say that I for one, consider it “British” to be able to make up my own mind. One of the joys about living in a democracy is that we are allowed to make our own decision about the worth and appeal of art. Then, if we have issues with it, we can vote with our wallets. That’s what living in a free society is all about.

src: Daily Telegraph

The company hopes to gain ground in the shooter space this holiday with the release of Medal of Honor, and will continue to chip away at Activision’s lead with steady releases of Battlefield titles next year.

As a publishing partner, EA also has Crysis 2, which was delayed until early 2011, and the Respawn Entertainment project currently in development by Call of Duty creators Jason West and Vince Zampella.

“Between Battlefield and Medal of Honor, we’re going to see a substantial increase in our share against the FPS sector in 2010 compared to years past,” said CEO John Riccitiello during the publisher’s earnings call this afternoon.

“I think we’ve got a shot at getting back into a leadership position over the next couple years,” he added. “Just watch this space on news we’ll bring you on future titles in 2011 and beyond.”

Riccitiello noted, however, that while the company will make significant progress this year, they are keeping their expectations realistic this holiday with the release of Halo: Reach and Call of Duty: Black Ops.

“Make no mistake, we think we’ve got the people and brands to take the leadership back in the FPS space, and we’re intending to make a good, positive share gain this year,” he said.

“I don’t expect to topple either Halo of Call of Duty this year.”

EA announced last week all limited edition copies of Medal of Honor will include beta invites for Battlefield 3, which they expect to help boost sales even further.

“While there will certainly be stiff competition this holiday as there always is in the FPS category, we think the investment we made with our EALA team making single player and DICE making multiplayer should pay off handsomely,” EA’s CFO Eric Brown added.

Medal of Honor releases on October 12 for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.

Source: IGN

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Operating directly under the National Command Authority, a relatively unknown entity of handpicked warriors are selected when it is crucial that a mission must not fail. They are the Tier 1 Operators. There are over 2 million active soldiers. Of those, approximately 50 thousand fall under the direct control of the Special Operations Command. The Tier 1 Operator functions on a level above and beyond even the most highly trained Special Operations Forces. Their exact numbers, while classified, hover in the low hundreds. They are living, breathing, precision instruments of war. They are experts in the application of violence. The new Medal of Honor™ is inspired by and developed with actual Tier 1 Operators from this elite community. Players step into the boots of these warriors and apply their unique skill sets to fight a new enemy in the most unforgiving and hostile conditions of present day Afghanistan.

This is a new war. There is a new warrior. He is Tier 1.

• Fight Today’s War: Elite Special Forces in a gritty combat campaign using the surgical tactics of Tier 1 Operators combined with the sledgehammer force of Army Rangers.
• Unparalleled Authenticity: Intense story with incredible pacing and variety set in the rugged Afghanistan landscape, creating a shooter experience only available from the storied Medal of Honor franchise.
• Online Multiplayer Redefined: Developed by the world-class team at DICE (makers of Battlefield Bad Company 2) this fast paced combat delivers the perfect mix of tactical warfare and all-out action.

“The game play was very smooth, fast , beautiful and amazing. They kept telling us it was a pre Alpha build but I still don’t believe them. I was amazed that while I was struggling with my keyboard layout I was still enjoying the game. I’m still blown away at how well the game played, even with the guys from Romania. While we could not see their pings, they did not feel like they where half way across the world. Now granted EA could have a dedicated circuit to their Romanian building but seeing how they run their web servers I don’t think so.”

- Rudedog

You can read Rudedog’s full review here.

The recording was a joint venture with DICE and EA LA, developers of Medal of Honor’s multi- and single-player components, respectively, the results of which, praised by critics and players alike, can already be heard in the DICE-developed Bad Company 2 which released earlier this year.

DICE audio director Stefan Strandberg explains some of what went on: “For two days we had movie guys Jean Paul Fasal and Brian Watkins there with an 80 microphone set-up capturing every weapon sound you can imagine to both computer and analogue tape recorders.”

“We even had people sync-recording in the mountains five-kilometers away”

Source ‘That Video Game Blog‘