Medal of Honor

Censorship, politics and understanding
To someone from a country that has a mature attitude toward gaming, the current lack of an R18 rating in Australia must seem a little confusing. With games being censored (like Left 4 Dead 2) or pilloried in the media for mature depictions of violence (like MW2), it occurred to us that such a sensitive topic as Afghanistan, which is an ongoing conflict, might cause issues.

"We're telling historical fiction," said Greg. "We're telling the story of a band of fictional characters in a real event."

"The truth is," adds Rich Farrelly, Senior Creative Director. "You make the game you want to make first, and then worry if it's going to tank in a given market." But Greg's not worried.

"We've done over the top before, and we always ask ourselves if we're going too far," he said. "But this experience is not that. It requires the right tone and intent, and it's a story we want to share, and get in front of as many people as possible."

The other ball EA needs to keep in the air is its access to the serving operators, who Greg assured us have 100 per cent veto of what does or does not go into a game. "We heard of this thing that happened," said Greg, "and so we put it into the game. But when our Tier 2 guys saw it... they thought we did it well, but they also told us that there are maybe four people in the world who even have the right to tell that story." Greg looked solemn for a moment. "So, yeah... We let that scene go."

The war must go on
We've not even seen a final product yet, but already EA's looking well ahead. Call of Duty has most definitely eclipsed Medal of Honor as [i]the[/i] military gaming franchise, but you cannot help but get a sense that Greg's team is ready to fight back. "We've set ourselves a very high bar for the quality of the execution," said Rich when we asked him not only about commitment to the brand, but also to the brand on PC. "Greg and I are PC gamers from way back, so that's a community we do not want to upset."

Understandably, they're hoping this commitment leads to success, but what then for Medal of Honor?

"If I'm around for very long," said Greg, "I really want to broaden it up. It's not about the medal, it's about the honour - I would love nothing more in the future to open it outside of the American soldier." Could he mean...

"Absolutely - we'd love to cover some other nationalities, and your Australian SAS guys are meant to be some of the best. That's what the Tier 1 guys told me when I said we'd be bringing some Australians over for this preview."

And wouldn't that be something?