Modern Medal: EA Announces Medal of Honor Modern Day Reboot, VGA 09 Debut Trailer

EA announced a new “modern day” direction for their Medal of Honor franchise today. The upcoming sequel, simply titled “Modern W…whoops, Medal of Honor” will be set in a war-torn Afghanistan. In an interesting move, EA LA will focus on the single player aspect, while EA DICE will develop the multiplayer portion of the game.

Considering the success of Activision’s Modern Warfare series, this move to the modern day setting shouldn’t surprise anyone. That said, I like the look of the character shown in the VGA teaser below. He kind of reminds me of Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top. He’s got beeeeeeaaard! He knows how to kill you!! … Every girl’s crazy for a war-torn man! Okay, I’ll stop.

You can get your first look at some Medal of Honor “reboot” gameplay on December 12th during Spike TV’s 7th annual Video Game Awards. Press release and teaser trailer below.

Chris Plante over at UGO’s game blog seems to think he resembles “Cowboy” from a 2002 TIME LIFE series of photographs taken of troops in Northern Afghanistan. I’m sticking with ZZ.

EA ANNOUNCES ‘MEDAL OF HONOR’
Franchise Re-booted with New Development Teams, New Soldier, New Setting

Guildford, UK – December 2, 2009 – Medal of Honor™ returns to the front lines, this time in today’s war. For the first time in the franchise’s 10-year history, Medal of Honor is leaving the WWII theatre and putting players in war-torn Afghanistan. Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today revealed that in 2010, Medal of Honor, an all-new first-person shooter game, will introduce the Tier 1 Operator: a relatively unknown entity directly under the National Command Authority who takes on missions no one else can handle. The development team has been working closely with Tier 1 Operators from the US Special Operations Community since the earliest stages of development to create the most authentic modern war experience. Inspired by real events, Medal of Honor reveals the mission of today’s most elite soldier – his will, his mindset and his uncompromising professionalism.

Medal of Honor is being built with a best-in-class single-player campaign. The Medal of Honor development team at EALA has been hand-selected by the studio leadership of General Manager Sean Decker, Executive Producer Greg Goodrich and Senior Creative Director Rich Farrelly. To compliment the single-player experience, EALA has enlisted the multiplayer expertise at EA DICE. This team will develop the multiplayer experience of Medal of Honor. These two studios are coming together to deliver a world-class Medal of Honor that is poised to re-set and re-boot the franchise for a new generation.

“When we first set out to reinvent Medal of Honor, we wanted to stay true to its roots of authenticity and respect for the soldier but bring it into today’s war. The Tier 1 Operator is the most disciplined, deliberate and prepared warrior on the battlefield. He is a living, breathing, precision instrument of war.” said Greg Goodrich, Executive Producer, Medal of Honor. “We are honored to have the rare opportunity to work closely with these men to create a game that shares their experience.”

“EA has always been an advocate for telling the soldiers’ story. The new Medal of Honor follows that tradition. We felt it was important to tell the story of today’s war and today’s elite soldiers via today’s most relevant medium – videogames,” said Sean Decker, VP and General Manager of EALA. “We are so proud to bring together two powerhouse development teams to make this game a reality; EA Los Angeles and EA DICE. Medal of Honor promises to be an unforgettable entry in the modern shooter genre.”

Tune in to Spike TV’s 2009 Video Game Awards on Saturday, December 12 at 8pm PST for a world-premier first-look at Medal of Honor.