Medal of Honor: Rising Sun

Medal of Honor: Rising Sun
Developer(s) EA Los Angeles
Publisher(s) EA Games
Composer(s) Christopher Lennertz
Series Medal of Honor
Platform(s) PlayStation 2
Xbox
GameCube
Release date(s)
  • NA: November 11, 2003[1]
  • EU: November 28, 2003
  • JP: December 4, 2003 (GC, PS2)
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Medal of Honor: Rising Sun is the fifth installment of the Medal of Honor video game series, released by EA Games in November 2003. Like its predecessors, Rising Sun is a first-person shooter set in World War II. Unlike predecessors, Rising Sun is set during the Pacific War. It features single-player and multiplayer capabilities (multiplayer terminated as of November 2006). In single-player mode, the player assumes the role of Cpl./Sgt. Joseph Griffin of the United States Marine Corps.

A sequel was originally planned in which players would have assumed the role of Joseph's brother Donnie.[2] However, this was canceled after Rising Sun received only mixed reviews.

Plot

The game starts when U.S. Marine Corporal Joseph D. "Joe" Griffin wakes up on the USS California to the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.[3] He makes his way topside, putting out fires and aiding crewmen along the way,[4] and, once topside, meets up with Gunnery Sergeant Jack "Gunny" Lauton, his commander, and Joe works to shoot planes and torpedoes. Soon after, however, he is blown off the ship, but is rescued by a PT boat carrying Gunny, Pfc. Frank Spinelli and Pfc. Silas Whitfield. Joe gets in the turret and shoots down planes to defend Battleship Row. After witnessing the sinking of the USS Arizona, they defend the USS Nevada as it attempts to escape harbor.

On January 1, 1942, Joe and Gunny are stationed in the Philippines, where they meet up with Joe's younger brother, Donnie, who is in a Marine demolition unit. Donnie and the demolition men need to blow Calumpit Bridge, but their demolition truck got captured. The three successfully get the truck back, and the bridge is blown, but Donnie is still inside a tank when it is overrun by Japanese soldiers, and is presumed dead. On August 7, 1942, Gunny, Joe and two other Marines are part of a midnight raid on Guadalcanal to take an airfield and destroy an ammo dump before the main assault at dawn. On October 14, 1942, however, the Japanese are hammering them with artillery from their position codenamed 'Pistol Pete'. Because of this, Gunny gives Joe two Marines and the mission to take out Pistol Pete. The mission is successful, and, along the way, they meet up with Martin Clemens, a real Scottish guerrilla fighter, 2 natives called Selas and Kiep and they rescue P.O.W. Lieutenant Edmund Harrison, a demolitions expert who blows up the guns for them. The mission is successful, and Joe is recommended by Gunny, and is put in the Office of Strategic Services and promoted Sergeant.

In March, 1943, Joe is sent to Singapore to infiltrate a top secret Axis summit led by Japanese Commander Shima. Along the way, he meets up with Pfc. Ichiro "Harry" Tanaka, a Japanese-American OSS operative, and Major Philip Bromley, a British SOE operative. Joe manages to steal German Colonel Kandler's uniform, and infiltrate the summit, where Japanese commander Mastaka Shima reveals the discovery a large quantities of gold in Burma; and introduces Serguey Borov, a Russian traitor of the Allies who plans to overthrow Hitler and Stalin to declare peace between Russia and Germany. Joe's cover is blown when Kandler suddenly bursts in, but Bromley arrives, and the two fight their way out of the hotel, and Tanaka picks them up in a double decker bus.

On April 26, 1944, the three are sent on a mission to investigate Japanese gold smelting operations in temples in Burma. While there, Raj, their Flying Tigers pilot, is shot down, and they set to work getting him back. Bromley and his men destroy four AA guns so the a proper air strike can be done, and Tanaka and Joe infiltrate the temples, and rescue Raj. The air strike destroys the gold smelting operation, and the mission is successful. On July 17, 1944, Joe falls out their plane while in Thailand while they are investigating a train with Shima's gold in it. He meets up with Bromley, and they blow up a train full of Shima's gold, but more of it is aboard Shima's supercarrier, so they fly there, and arrive the next day.

Bromley and Joe fight below deck, while Tanaka infiltrates the officer's quarters. Joe and Bromley are gassed and captured after much fighting, and Shima reveals to Joe he has Donnie on board. Tanaka manages to free Joe, but is personally killed by Shima. Joe fights through a lot more of the ship, and sees Shima getting away with his brother in a plane. Eventually, Joe and Bromley meet on deck, and steal a plane. After several failed takeoffs and shooting down many enemy planes, they get off the ship, and Bromley mourns Tanaka's death, but declares that they will search for Donnie.

The ending to Medal of Honor: Heroes revealed that Joseph was planning POW rescue raids which means that Donnie Griffin was eventually rescued by Joseph later in the war.

Gameplay

Medal of Honor: Rising Sun is a first-person shooter. It has two multiplayer modes, Deathmatch: a free for all match, and Team Deathmatch, in which the player can choose teams. The online multiplayer was one of the more successful elements of the game, coming at a time when online play titles for the PlayStation 2 were not widely available, the online mode attracted and retained a loyal player following right up to its closure in January 2007. The game also has a two-player campaign[5] that follows the same plot (except Supercarrier Sabotage is omitted) and allows the player to respawn if the other player is still alive. This, however, lacks many things the main campaign has including the entrenching tool, the machete and most of your squadmates. Offline multiplayer is also available, where up to four people can play against each other[6] and alongside AI bots.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
GCPS2Xbox
Eurogamer4/10[7]
Game Informer7.5/10[8]7.75/10[9]7.75/10[10]
Game RevolutionC[11]C[11]C[11]
GameSpot6.4/10[12]6.4/10[12]6.4/10[12]
GameSpy[13][14][15]
IGN7.5/10[16]8/10[17]7.5/10[16]
Nintendo Power3.8/5[18]
OPM (US)[19]
OXM (US)8.8/10[20]
Aggregate score
Metacritic68/100[21]68/100[22]65/100[23]

The game received "mixed or average" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic.[22][21][23]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/ea-ships-medal-of-honor-rising-sun/1100-6081752/
  2. ↑ Reed, Kristan (July 16, 2003). "Medal of Honor: Rising Sun (First Impressions)". Eurogamer.
  3. ↑ http://www.gamespot.com/articles/medal-of-honor-rising-sun-preview/1100-6076254/
  4. ↑ http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/r_mohrisingsun_ps2
  5. ↑ http://www.ea.com/uk/medal-of-honor-rising-sun
  6. ↑ http://www.ea.com/uk/medal-of-honor-rising-sun
  7. ↑ Reed, Kristan (November 27, 2003). "Medal of Honor: Rising Sun (PS2)". Eurogamer. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  8. ↑ "Medal of Honor Rising Sun (GC)". Game Informer (128): 159. December 2003.
  9. ↑ Biessener, Adam (December 2003). "Medal of Honor Rising Sun (PS2)". Game Informer (128): 136. Archived from the original on April 18, 2008. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  10. ↑ Helgeson, Matt (December 2003). "Medal of Honor Rising Sun (Xbox)". Game Informer (128): 168. Archived from the original on June 13, 2008. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  11. 1 2 3 Gee, Brian (November 5, 2003). "Medal of Honor: Rising Sun Review". Game Revolution. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 Shoemaker, Brad (November 12, 2003). "Medal of Honor Rising Sun Review". GameSpot. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  13. ↑ Guzman, Hector (November 21, 2003). "GameSpy: Medal of Honor: Rising Sun (GCN)". GameSpy. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  14. ↑ Guzman, Hector (November 21, 2003). "GameSpy: Medal of Honor: Rising Sun (PS2)". GameSpy. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  15. ↑ Guzman, Hector (November 21, 2003). "GameSpy: Medal of Honor: Rising Sun (Xbox)". GameSpy. Retrieved September 23, 2005.
  16. 1 2 Lewis, Ed (November 10, 2003). "Medal of Honor: Rising Sun (Xbox, GCN)". IGN. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  17. ↑ Lewis, Ed (November 10, 2003). "Medal of Honor: Rising Sun (PS2)". IGN. Archived from the original on November 30, 2007. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Medal of Honor: Rising Sun". Nintendo Power. 176: 148. February 2004.
  19. ↑ Nguyen, Thierry (January 2004). "Medal of Honor: Rising Sun". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. Archived from the original on December 9, 2003. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Medal of Honor: Rising Sun". Official Xbox Magazine: 85. December 25, 2003.
  21. 1 2 "Medal of Honor: Rising Sun for GameCube Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
  22. 1 2 "Medal of Honor Rising Sun for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
  23. 1 2 "Medal of Honor Rising Sun for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
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