14 DAY TRIAL // Medal of Honor is the new first person shooter from developers Danger Close and DICE and publisher Electronic Arts, taking the player to the battlefields of Afghanistan and putting him in the dessert combat boots of a variety of characters that engage the Taliban after the events of September 11, 2001.
One of the main issues with Medal of Honor is that the characters that form the heart of the story are pretty bland and uninteresting beyond their military exploits and their jargon laden speak. Which leaves the way the developers recreated the geography of Afghanistan itself as one of the most impressive characters of the game, managing to amaze even when seen through the Unreal Engine that otherwise can make characters and buildings look pretty ugly.
The skies at day are an overwhelming shade of blue, inspiring a peace and quiet which stands in stark contrast with the killing that goes on at ground level.
The mountains, coated in snow and forests, seem taken out of fantasy epics, again offering a contrasting space to the dark deeds that the Taliban who inhabit are preparing for and to the tough actions that need to be taken by SEALs and Tier 1 Operators.
And then there's the ground itself, mostly sandy and barren, sometimes with a red hue, sometimes covered with grass, ready to soak up the blood of Americans, Afghans and Chechens alike.
It's omnipresent and often blows up, from explosions, bullet impacts and heavy weapons fire, almost angry at the men which disturb the majesty of this capable of peace corner of Afghanistan.
It's weird to talk so much about sand, mountains and skies when it comes to a first person shooter but this closeness to the country where the action is located is one of the strong points of Medal of Honor and the game might have been so much better if other aspects of it had been similarly designed.