Product Description

Set for the first time in the Pacific Theatre of Operations from 1941-1944, Medal of Honor Rising Sun gives players a sense of the courage it took to fight the Japanese from Pearl Harbour to the shores of the Philippine Islands. Players will assume the role of Marine Corporal Joseph Griffin, as he survives the attack on Pearl Harbour, leads the assault of Guadalcanal, and finally rescues his brother from a Japanese POW camp in the Philippines.

Armed with wits and a variety of authentic weapons, it's up to players to stop the Japanese war machine in its tracks. Players can even team up with a friend in the all-new co-op multi-player mode to battle the Japanese forces. Along the way, players will earn awards and medals for their meritorious service in defeating the enemy.

As with the original Medal of Honor, the producers sought council from numerous outside sources to make certain the game is as historically authentic and realistic as possible. Captain Dale Dye, who served as military technical advisor on the previous titles in the Medal of Honor franchise, continues his efforts with the Medal of Honor Rising Sun team to ensure the authenticity of the game. The PlayStation 2 version is playable online against up to seven other players (broadband connection and Network Adapter required). Online features include 10 multiplayer maps with multiple options; with a USB headset you can make use of the Voice Chat and Quick Chat facilities. Modes include Death Match, Team Death Match and Capture the Flag.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2664 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Released on: 2003-11-28
• Rating: To Be Announced
• Platform: PlayStation2

Amazon.co.uk Review
Following on from a succession of hugely popular campaigns across numerous formats, Medal of Honor: Rising Sun brings the franchise back to consoles with another engrossing first-person action game. The action is taken to the Pacific Theatre for the first time, plunging the player into the shoes of Marine Corporal Joseph Griffin. Over the course of the game, he has a lot to get through too. There's Pearl Harbor to survive. His brother to rescue. And the small matter of a number of Japanese soldiers who stand in the way…

In truth, the formula hasn't moved on much for the franchise, but then it does work spectacularly well. The game's various missions are varied, and they demand elements of stealth, action and a bit of sabotage along the way. And they're not afraid to pull the proverbial rug from underneath to keep you on your toes. As ever, the multimedia elements border on spectacular. The musical scores of Medal of Honor games are rarely given the credit they deserve, but their contribution really can't be understated. The cinematic visuals, however, do tend to hog the headlines, and it's easy to see why. As you fight to complete a mission with explosions going off all around you there's little time to notice them.

A couple of mild criticisms, then. There isn't much scope to deviate from the set path through the game, which is very tightly scripted. Not a bad thing, but not something that will appeal to everyone. Plus it would be nice to see a few more risks taken with the Medal of Honor formula. These mild grumbles aside, Medal of Honor: Rising Sun is simply a very good video game. It's tense, gripping and desperately addictive. And when you ultimately see the end game sequence, you really will be thirsting for more. --Simon Brew

Play Magazine
"A decent FPS that's now complete with a tidy co-op mode... fans won't be disappointed. 81%."

Customer Reviews

Excellent game although online play is best
I was one of the testers for this game and I played it straight for a couple of weeks. The game is excellent although its best form is on the PS2.

The gameplay is constant and the action never stops making this game difficult to stay away from. On top of this, you can repeat levels to gain extra bonuses (some of which are very funny!), and the online play is fantastic!

Unfortunately, EA does not support Xbox live so no online play there, but if you have a PS2 and an broadband adapter, you are in luck. The online play matches that to Golden Eye but is even better as you can play up to 8 people within each match. You get a choice of weapons, maps and you get to choose your multiplayer skin.

As a consolodation, the Xbox still has single screen multiplay which in my opinion is still better than Golden Eye but on top of this, there is also a cooperative game play which is also very fun although watch out for that positional respawning!

Excellent title and well done to the guys at the studios for this!

A massive disappointment
After all the waiting, a damp squib. Medal of Honor: Rising Sun fails to move on from Front Line, with feeble graphics, dreadful enemy AI and quite simply too few missions!

The opening sequences look great, but what about the gameplay? Is it possible to "die" in the first two missions? You just blast away hopelessly at everything in sight, and you never get the chance to improve because you seem to get through the level whatever happens. Gameplay seems to have been sacrificed on the altar of realism and verisimilitude. Check out Ratchet and Clank (admittedly not in thrall to the need for realism) for how to manage such set pieces - I was going to say "task-based" set pieces, but there appear to be no real strategic tasks in the first two missions of Rising Sun, apart from some gimmicky stuff with a fire extinguisher below decks in mission one. All you seem to do is wait for the ship to get blown up, or for the planes to stop flying over!

The final mission closes with a similarly dreadful and distinctly bewildering aircraft-based shootout. Maybe I would understand it all better if I repeated the entire game on the "hard" setting, but life has to go on.

The graphics are less sharp than Front Line in places - the ammo and health pickups are certainly less well-defined, and harder to see.

The storyline suffers from a lack of clarity - what's all the stuff about the brother? It's never taken to a proper conclusion (unless we're supposed to wait for the sequel!).

Apart from the Singapore mission (the best, and closest to Front Line in feel), the promised multi-path levels are a disappointment - too full of dead ends and loops back to the original path.

The settings also appear easier - I started on normal and completed the whole game within a day or so, without dying on the first two "levels" at all. At least in Front Line the first level was properly competitive - the Pearl Harbor sections here (too short to merit the description "missions") are too formulaic and feeble. And I'm sure machine-gun nests are easier to overcome in Rising Sun. Some of the weapons appear over-powered, too - the shotgun surely shouldn't work so effectively at such a range, and the same possibly applies to the single-round Welrod pistol.

The problems with "enemy AI" continue in Rising Sun - Japanese soldiers run on the spot, poke through walls, and generally ignore you as their comrades fall in a hail of gunfire so you can pick them off more easily. Rising Sun also eschews the insane slaughter of the final mission of Front Line (which offered excellent gameplay), with the result that, to compensate for this, some of the enemy are absurdly hard to kill in the final mission. Should have kept the bonkers shoot-out, guys!

The good bits - and there are some - include a great start to the Guadalcanal mission (slipping into the jungle under cover of night), the Singapore hotel, the ruined temple, and the Burma railway mission. Tools placed in later levels that let you go back to previous levels and unlock different bits are also a nice touch, but I was too bored to explore this properly.

And finally, to paraphrase Woody Allen, such a disappointing game, and it's all over so fast! Not enough missions, and too many similar ones (there's only so much jungle a man can take...). Fans of MOH Front Line will enjoy this because so much is familiar (hence the three-star rating), but don't hold your breath.

Overrated
First of all I'd just like to start off by saying... Don't buy this! It's not worth it!

When I got this game for christmas I expected one of the greatest shooters of all time! But, I was wrong and I have realised this after playing upto the 9th mission.
The guy below says the graphics are 300 times better than Frontline and gameplay is better but I totally disagree! The graphics are virtually identical to that of Frontline and the gameplay is just about the same except I like Frontline's prologue (Saving private Ryan style) way more.

When I first bought this game I was kinda biased. I made myself think it had great graphics and the missions were awesome. The missions are very long, especially the last 2 and they're pretty thrilling. The graphics are ok, not really anything special about them.

The reason I say not to buy this game is because after playing you will be dissapointed because of the bad plot and waste of potential.

There are many games out there that are way better! Take Timesplitters 2, Metal Gear Solid 2 and Splinter cell for example :)

This game is only worth a rental in my opinion.