Medal of Honor was released this past week, as gamers everywhere were waiting to purchase their copies at their local game shops. I personally went down to my local GameStop the day before, just to see if they would have a copy available during their midnight release event, and was told almost without hesitation, they had sold all their pre-ordered copies and wouldn’t have any available.

EA/Dice’s Medal of Honor is really like getting two games for the price of one, albeit single player campaign was only about 5-6 hours long, it was some of the most intense fighting and gameplay footage I’ve seen to date, it definitely left me wanting more action and wanting to see more of the war through the eyes of the elite fighting forces. From the first mission players are immersed in the war in Afghanistan, trying to gain intel from an informant hidden behind enemy lines and waiting for your team to extract both him and the intel. From here on out the story unfolds as you alternate between playing as a member of the Tier 1 fighting group and playing as a member of the notorious Army Rangers. As a tier 1 operative you are tasked with infiltrating deep behind enemy lines, laying down precision airstrikes on high value targets, securing enemy held territory, and even sniping across great distances. The Army rangers experience is more of a direct battlefield experience, with direct attack objectives and many different experiences; fighting in hills, mountains and valleys, even being chased by hundreds of enemies on your way to extractions points.

Overall, like I said before, single player mode was really intense, I felt myself getting drawn into the stories and feeling a sense of awe and realism from the battles that I haven’t felt from any other title to date. It not only gave me an appreciation and pride of what the men and women that fight for our country go through, but also one of deep sympathy and understanding as I kept thinking to myself during the campaign, imagine if just one bullet hit you in real life, and how much fear and intense feeling that each soldier must experience on a daily basis. Without wanting to give any spoilers away, I’ll just say there was a good couple points where I literally felt as if you could kiss my ass goodbye, as if the game was meant to give you that sense of hopelessness and realism that our soldiers experience when they are away and alone, deep in enemy territory. The game has some great experiences in battle with Sniping wars, ATV riding through the Afghanistan mountains, Calling air support from Binocular views, Minigun decimation from choppers and downed planes, as well as some superb fun being a co-pilot/gunner of an Apache helicopter. All in all, the single player campaign is truly a wonderful experience that will make you not want to leave your seat until the campaign is finished