Gaming Target - Xbox: Men of Valor: Vietnam

Written by Alex Fitzgerald on March 18, 2003

First Impressions: Finally, a game like Medal of Honor where when you shoot a guy point blank actualЕlike, you know Ц BLOOD comes out.

One of the finest First Person Shooter series ever is the Medal of Honor series on the PSOne, PS2, and PC. The games featured everything you could ask for in an FPS - tight controls, gorgeous graphics, unbelievable sound effects and music, and inventive, challenging gameplay that kept you glued to your gaming chair for hours on end. The one pitfall the series had was publisher Electronic Art's insisting that the titles be kept at a teen rating. This left this awesome FPS game without not only blood (a key element in any realistic shooter game) but certain factors that would have given the game the gritty, war is hell feel that a true World War II FPS should have. This never really restrained the Medal of Honor series, in quality or sales, but for hardcore FPS buffs, the lack of blood always left something to be desired.

Now though, those hardcore FPS buffs who were bummed out by the lack of blood in the MOH titles will get to see the Medal of Honor: Allied Assault developers, 2015, try their hand at incorporating blood - and a different war (Vietnam) into their treasured tried-and-true FPS formula. Enter 2015's new game -- Men of Valor: Vietnam.

The big change that 2015 is making to their core MOH: AA gameplay is the more realistic take their incorporating with their new title. Under the freedom of new publisher Sierra, blood will now be incorporated along with other scenes that will give the game the gritty Vietnam feel that is deserved. Also keeping to the realistic tone is the game's core gun-fighting. No longer will you be able to simply run out and gun people down as was allowed in the MOH: AA. Instead, in MOVV you will have to rely much more on finding cover within the jungle in order to survive.

Another way the 2015 team is making their FPS gameplay more realistic has to deal with how the AI works. See, unlike other games where the AI will act pretty much all the same, MOVV's will instead work in a variety of soldier types. For example, at one point you may be fighting an enemy soldier who is gung-ho to kill, but then the next minute you may be fighting a soldier who is more concerned with his own safety than your death. There will also be a variety of scripted events that will happen during the missions that will suddenly alter whatever plans you may have made...just like in real war.

There have been other changes made to the FPS gameplay aside from the more varied enemy AI. One more change is that there is now much more emphasis on using your squad teammates to get through the missions. Sure, you can leave them be - they'll still do a pretty decent job of trying to help you along your way, but if you do take the time to dish out orders then you'll find out that your other squad members do make quite a bit of difference.

Keeping with the recent trend in FPS games, MOVV will feature a wide array of drivable machines to break up the FPS gameplay. Slated vehicles for when it comes out include M113 armored personnel carriers, UH-1 helicopters, motorcycles, and jeeps.

These vehicles will be even more fun to use when you have a buddy to share them with. That's right boys and girls; MOVV is going to feature co-op play, so you and a buddy can take on the Charlie Company together through the entire game's story mode. You and a buddy, or two, or three, will also be able to delve into other multiplayer modes come the game's release, including deathmatch, capture the flag, and other multiplayer modes that are more goal-oriented than the standard deathmatch. To top it all off, all of these modes are expected to be playable online via Xbox Live. Can you say, "sweet"?

The graphics are also expected to shine, as an updated Unreal engine will display everything from beaches to jungles to vast cityscapes in beautiful graphical splendor. Expect to see some very lushly detailed environments that can be absolutely destroyed with a good old batch of napalm. Unfortunately, not a lot else can be said about the graphics thus far, due to the lack of media released by 2015. Let's just hope we see something soon, as the few screens that have been released are reason enough to get excited.