 The good don't always make it. Shortly after September 11th, Special Forces units were moved into Afghanistan to locate and eliminate key Taliban and Al Qaeda strongholds. You are a member of the Special Forces squad in charge of softening the Taliban for the rest of the US Military. Few games have the guts to show real war. This is one of those games.
1. Gameplay
 Time to bring it back from the dead. Then, like a spider, along comes this new Medal of Honor game to try and take back the crown from the Call of Duty franchise. As Call of Duty has transitioned from World War II to the modern world, Medal of Honor has as well. However, Medal of Honor distinguishes itself from Call of Duty in a way that few similar shooters have. In Call of Duty, players will basically be playing a no-holds-barred Michael Bay-style action movie. There will be explosions, there will be absurd stunts, and there will be a storyline that makes about as much sense as ketchup on corn. But hey, anyone who goes into Transformers expecting a “Best Picture of the Year” performance is going to be disappointed. Transformers is great because it’s loud and has pretty colors, and Call of Duty is exactly the same. Medal of Honor is not the same at all. While Call of Duty is more like an over-the-top unrealistic action movie, Medal of Honor is much more like a war documentary. Those looking for unbelievable explosions and heart-pumping action are going to be severely disappointed. Those looking for serious insight into the early days of the US involvement in Afghanistan immediately after 9/11 and how the members of the Special Forces survived while extremely outnumbered are going to have an amazing experience.  It's also time to grow some facial hair and start wearing a hat and sunglasses. Unfortunately, that seems to have been Medal of Honor’s fatal flaw. People were expecting Call of Duty, but instead got something that was much calmer, quieter, stealthier, and realistic. Medal of Honor is a beautiful piece of historically accurate art that gives an accurate impression of Special Forces combat. Yes, players will still have an absurd kill/death ratio, but the reality is that not every situation ends up being a “do this or the world will end” kind of thing. The War on Terror was never going to erupt into World War III, but that doesn’t make it any less important to the security of the United States. The single player campaign is a sobering experience. The characters are believable and compelling, the situations make sense for what our soldiers were facing during that time in Afghanistan, and that reality makes any person empathize with what was and is still occurring. This is the kind of piece that shows both why the fight is necessary and why war is horrible. Few members of the US Military die, but those few losses hurt deep.  You fight for your squad, not yourself. Which brings me to the multiplayer experience. As with pretty much every first person shooter game to have come out in the past five years, Medal of Honor includes a multiplayer section. Unfortunately, the multiplayer for this game was one of the most frustrating experience I have had with any game in years. While I played, I had one of the highest (if not the highest) scores on my team despite being below level 5 for the vast majority of my game time. Despite this, I found myself killed every few seconds, sometimes within moments of respawning. The game’s maps and spawning system are so severely flawed that often times I would spawn in an area that was being watched by an enemy sniper from across the map, which would often lead to my instantaneous death.  Oh joyous day of days. I love seeing this over and over again. If the game had ended at the single player experience, I would have rated this game very high for overall fun. The single player experience was a great change of pace to the monotony of current shooters. But the complete idiocy of the multiplayer experience ruined the rest of my fun and, as a result, I would have trouble recommending this game to friends.
The multiplayer would significantly increase the overall play time of the game, but the problems mentioned in the sections immediately preceding and following this one should give sufficient indication as to how long a player will put up with the online community.
The multiplayer experience was an entirely different story. Clans and high-level players so dominate the gaming landscape that it is nearly impossible for a lone player to enter a game and be competitive. Even if a lone wolf is competitive enough to pose a challenge, that player is always overwhelmed by the fact that the opposing team has six players of the exact same skill as him. At least for the PC, stay away from the multiplayer for this game. 2. Parental Notices
 Fairly standard. It is extremely easy to get headshots, especially during stealth missions when enemies do not know of the player’s presence. If a headshot is achieved, usually a wet crunch can be heard and both blood and skull fragments fly up from the enemy’s head.  Someone get the mop. Certain heavier weapons, such as the .50 calibur sniper rifle or the shotgun from close range, can lead to even greater bodily harm. Enemies that are shot with the sniper rifle in the limb (including the head) will lose that limb completely.  Those bits toward the bottom of the screen used to be his head. Shotguns at close range can also remove an enemy’s head completely.  Should have worn a helmet.
 And who doesn't love a mouth full of cancer.
3. Other Factors
 At least it's a nice moonlit night. There are a few sections of the ATV ride where the player will have to drive off a steep drop, often times getting a large amount of air in the process.  I tried flapping my arms really hard, but unfortunately I still fell like a stone. In a later section, the player will jump out of a low-flying helicopter so that he can be inserted onto a mountainside without having to stop the helicopter.  This is what the ground looks like before your face bloodies it up. Late in the game, the player will be faced with a dire situation. Taliban and Al Qaeda forces are chasing the player down the mountainside, shooting at him as he tries to escape. He reaches a cliff face where his squadmate tells him that it’s better to have a broken bones than bullet holes. So they both jump off the cliff.  You jump, I'll stay here.
 Don't. It wasn't lucky enough for the main character.
For the most part, the language within this game is appropriate for the gritty nature of the characters and combat. However, the dialog during some of the more intense moments is almost certainly the kind of thing that parents may want to avoid having young children hear. It’s not the worst language I have ever heard, but it was common and prominent enough that I noticed its presence. Hostages The Taliban forces manage to take hostages numerous times throughout the game. Sometimes the American forces can save the hostages.  We'll take the bag off your head after we get out of here. However, there are a few times when the Americans arrive too late.  Unfortunately, we can't save everyone. The two hostages pictured above were never adequately identified. I wasn't sure if they were American or of some other nationality.
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