I heard about the new upcoming Medal of Honor during this year's E3, but didn't pay it much mind. "A new Medal of Honor? Whatever." I loved the series back in the day, but I typically don't have high hopes for games being brought from the early PS2 era into this generation because they generally don't do enough to make it as good as it once was. We all saw how Medal of Honor: Airborne turned out. Not horrible, but nothing worth playing in my honest opinion. My opinion on the new Medal of Honor changed completely when I was basically forced to watch one of the newer gameplay trailers. Not this one in particular, but take a look so I at least have something to reference:

Courtesy: GameTrailers

My initial impression? Looks like they've combined some of the best elements of today's most popular shooters to make for a very thorough and refined gameplay experience. It appears they've taken the one thing I like about Modern Warfare, which is the smooth aiming and movement, and made it even better. So far, no game has even appeared to do this. Although I didn't really get into Battlefield: Bad Company 2, it obviously draws a lot from this as well. I did still appreciate how the gameplay was handled, so that's also a great thing.

From the look of it, it's everything I want from an online shooter. It has all of what makes some of the best online shooters great, and not a lot of what dragged down others *cough* Modern Warfare 2. The game looks to be all about player skill, which is what is most important. Thankfully, there are no perks! Nothing that I've seen so far to give anyone an unfair advantage. Also, a ribbon system! Anyone who has played Resistance: Fall of Man knows how nice those are. They don't count for a whole lot in the long run, but they're great for some instant gratification. What can I say? I like it. The maps also appear to have a much more dynamic and realistic feel, with a nice layout on top of that. The graphics were initially a little less than amazing, but as you can see from the above video, they've been improved drastically, and easily best Modern Warfare 2 as well as BC2. Very detailed with some great effects around every corner. Nice!

The thing I like most is how much more in depth the gameplay looks. You don't have to crawl around and employ strategy everywhere you go, so it won't be putting CoD vets to sleep, but it appears to rely on so much more than just nonsensical run-and-gun action. The days of blasting everything in sight, and nothing more, are behind us and the multiplayer can consist of so much more. MW2 failed at that, IN MY OPINION, but this looks to really step things up in that capacity. The actual shooting mechanics, while just as smooth, look to be more weighty (which is a great thing) meaning realistic combat where you do have to account for enemy movement, distance, etc. but not so much that it takes over the experience. The sound effects also sound fantastic and add a lot to guns.

Admittedly, I have not had a chance to play this game, as the beta was over before I even knew this game was worth checking out. From what I hear from actual FPS fans (not just CoD fanboys), it's shaping up to be everything I'm expecting. The only thing left to worry about is how all the little details will play out once the final version is on store shelves. Will lag impact the gameplay? (The game will come with dedicated servers), How prevalent will cheating be?, Will there be many stability issues out of the gate?

Still, I have high hopes. In case you didn't read my last blog about why I dislike Modern Warfare, you should probably check that out, and maybe you'll start to understand my excitement. It's been a long time since I've truly gotten into an online game, and hopefully this will change that. Expect a full review shortly after release!