Friday 12-Sep-2003 5:33 PM More harrowing wartime action as Uncle Sam's boys take on the Japs EA's latest WWII romp concerns itself with the pernicious threat of bayonet-happy Japs rather than the guttural, scowling square-heads, but aside from the requirement to shoot people from a different continent, is this just business as usual? Not a bit of it, according to lead designer Kevin Perry, at least...
Interview by Stuart Bishop
Give us some background on this latest title.
Perry: The Medal of Honor series has always had the benefit of taking place during the most gripping real-life epic of the last century: World War II. Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan willfully armed themselves against all treaties, whipped their own citizens into a killing frenzy, and set loose the greatest forces of real evil ever known.
The peaceful nations of the world reeled from the initial assault, but did not falter; instead, spirited resistance held on in the face of overwhelming odds, buying time for the massive mobilization of resources and fighting men the Allies would need to shatter the Axis so thoroughly that another WWII could never happen.
Most tales of World War II begin and end in the West, from Normandy to Berlin. Medal of Honor: Rising Sun tells that story from a rarely-seen side - the war in the Pacific. After the treachery of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Empire spread by force throughout the Pacific, gnawing away at Indochina and threatening the shores of Australia and even the West Coast of the United States.
As in Europe, at first the Allies faltered before the onslaught, with thousands of beleaguered soldiers and civilians surrendering to the advancing Japanese. Slowly, though, the Allies re-established mastery of the seas and conducted a daring island-hopping campaign through harsh and brutal territory, driving the Axis back to the shores of Japan itself.
Medal of Honor: Rising Sun tells a part of this tale. It focuses on one young Marine, Joseph Griffin, caught by history at Pearl Harbor, who weathers the initial setbacks of the Allies as a series of fighting retreats.
But as the Allies rally, he too strikes forth in daring commando raids and deadly jungle strikes. But as the Marines gear up for their deadly advance across the Pacific, he is recruited by the shadowy OSS and given a far greater mission: to uncover and halt a sinister Japanese plot that threatens to alter the balance of power across the world and allow them to keep their stolen empire.
How much, and what types of research have you undertaken for the game?
Perry: Medal of Honor: Rising Sun does not pay its World War II setting mere lip service. Exhaustive internal research takes place on every element of the game, including weapon behavior, uniform details, and soldier psychology and training. Team members have taken research trips all across the Pacific, often finding remnants of actual battles on remote islands and amidst deep jungles.
Other trips include live firing of period weapons, with careful digital recording of their motions, sounds and behaviors. The storyline is carved from actual historical events and campaigns, and the character arcs and even some characters mimic the lives of real people.
In addition to internal efforts, significant time is spent cultivating external experts, such as noted military consultant Capt. Dale Dye--all of whom help guide the player's experience towards authenticity.
All of this effort is not put forth to slavishly mimic reality, but to better aid the construction of an environment that feels more real than most games and many movies. Anchoring the game in history affords an easy internal consistency, while ensuring that the game remains accessible to the most casual of players.
World War II also offers a nearly inexhaustible supply of material to draw from for future storylines, characters and missions. Nowhere is this focus better exemplified than with EALA's continued work with the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. This ensures that Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, like its predecessors, reflects the ideals and integrity of the actual Congressional Medal of Honor.
Finally, this historical focus allows the use of the hundreds of hours of stirring archival footage appropriately in the game. These familiar, grainy movies provide a clear link between the actual heroes of yesteryear, and the situations placed before the player during the game.
We know that the player will be plunged into Pearl Harbour at the beginning and then go into the Pacific Theatre proper. Can you give us a more detailed idea of the particular World War II battles that will be represented?
Perry: The player will have the opportunity to see and participate in some of the most famous battles of the early war in the Pacific: the dusty urban warfare of a bombed-out city in the Philippines; the thick jungles and grassy hills of Guadalcanal, where the US first faced battle-hardened Japanese troops in a dense environment; the quiet menace of an occupied Singapore; the silent beauty of an abandoned temple in Burma; and the tragic fruits of the labor of thousands of POWs on a railway in Thailand.
The player will also finally take the fight to the enemy, finishing the game in an ironic reversal of the opening: fighting through the decks of a Japanese aircraft carrier.
Both Rising Sun and PC title Pacific Assault are set in the Pacific Theatre. How will both games differ, specifically?
Perry: Both games are very different, while covering the same basic subject matter. The storylines, missions, and feature sets are all very different. While both carry the Medal of Honor name, they are different but equal extensions of the franchise.
Frontline was very much a cinematic-style game, with linear level design and scripted sequences. Can we expect the same from Rising Sun, or are you aiming for something different with the sequel?
Perry: Medal of Honor: Rising Sun builds on the cinematic expectations of modern action games and raises the ante by seamlessly weaving these scripted sequences with freeform gameplay. The storyline is not just text filler between unrelated missions. Medal of Honor: Rising Sun presents the story through action.
From the sudden savagery of Pearl Harbor, to a trek through forbidden jungles in Burma, to a desperate sabotage mission aboard an enemy carrier, the storyline is always presented in-game and in-character. All the briefings use the game engine, all the twists occur at gunpoint, and the hard-won intelligence and plot are indeed hard won by the player himself, under fire or undercover.
We have chosen to add more open gameplay areas to the game. While overall storyline progression remains necessarily linear, the player can often attack areas from many directions and achieve his goals in different ways.
Presumably you'll be enhancing NPC AI, both enemy and friendly. Could you give us some details on your plans or aims in this area?
An improved version of the Medal of Honor series AI. The enemies have always been tactically aware as individuals, reacting to the player's position and actions with fire and movement as appropriate. New to Medal of Honor: Rising Sun is a squad tactical awareness that lets the enemy use concepts such as covering fire and flanking when possible.
The War in the Pacific was fought very differently than the War in Europe. The terrain was very different, the character and training of the enemy was different, and therefore the weapons and tactics used by both sides differed a great deal.
The terrain of the war in the Pacific was generally quite forbidding. The few islands are covered in dense jungles and impenetrable swamps, as is the coast of Indochina. While long vistas were occasionally found, in general the fighting in the Pacific is very close and personal.
The balance of gameplay in Medal of Honor: Rising Sun reflects that, with the addition of the city fighting in Singapore and the Philippines and the very close encounters aboard the Japanese aircraft carrier.
The Imperial Japanese Army had a very different character and training than the combatants in Europe. While the common stereotype of a suicidal Kamikaze warrior is of course untrue, in general the Japanese fought more tenaciously and with greater personal determination than most other armies.
Every Japanese personal weapon had an enormous bayonet attachment, and many hours of training were spent on its use. Officers were often placed out of command school according to their proficiency with the sword.
Close combat with the enemy was the order of the day. This was compounded by the generally poor nature of the Japanese armament, especially compared to the Germans; few soldiers had access to automatic weapons, and tanks and heavy weapons were scarce.
The two factors above mean that Medal of Honor: Rising Sun features some very different weapons and tactics, both by the allies and the enemies. The favoured Japanese support weapon was not a bazooka, but a light man-portable mortar called the Knee Mortar. To foil tanks and other hard targets, the Japanese used so-called pole mines, essentially high explosives attached to the end of long poles, which infantry would charge with. The allies also adapt to the situation, from Gunny's classic Shotgun to Bromley's sleek silenced Sten submachine gun.
What updates are you making to the game engine, and how will this impact the visual style of Rising Sun? In connection with the above, what can we expect from Rising Sun's environments?
Perry: Moving the franchise to the Pacific Theater allows for bold new environments and dramatic vistas. From the smoke-filled skies of Pearl Harbor, to the impenetrably dense hills and jungles of Guadalcanal, to the detailed flight deck of a Japanese aircraft carrier, Medal of Honor: Rising Sun will take the player where no game has before.
Led by an Academy Award winner, the visual team includes dozens of Hollywood-trained modelers, lighters, special effects and character artists; they can and will concoct a graphic panorama worthy of the epic history.
Those characters, both enemy and allied, are brought to life with a vast library of human animations, beginning with the noted variety of this game's predecessor and adding dozens and dozens more.
From achingly realistic hit reactions, to hundreds of lines of in-character in-game dialogue, the animation team composes and creates discrete chunks of visceral human behavior, investing the game with life while anchoring it in reality.
New in Medal of Honor: Rising Sun is a distinct focus on the differences between allied and enemy animations sets; the soldiers of the Imperial Japanese Army moved in distinct ways according to their discipline and training, and the game will reflect that.
The sense of immersion in exotic and deadly environments does not depend only upon graphics and animation. Medal of Honor: Rising Sun will continue its tradition of award-winning sound design with evocative sound effects and a haunting and stirring musical score.
The confusion of open naval combat and the quiet danger of a brooding jungle are very different atmospheres, which only a powerful sound design can truly convey.
What new firepower are you including in Rising Sun, and also, do you have plans to include driveable vehicles as well?
Perry: In Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, the player makes use of a wide variety of vehicles, from jeeps and rickshaws to Japanese aircraft and even an elephant. However, the player is too busy shooting during these events to worry much about mundane tasks like driving.
You're including a multiplayer co-op mode in Rising Sun. Presumably this means that two people can go through the whole campaign together? Could we get more details?
Perry: Co-op is a completely separate mode of play for Medal of Honor: Rising Sun. Two players can choose to progress through specially-created versions of the single player levels and experience both the action and the story. In fact, special challenges have been created specifically for cooperative play.
What other plans do you have for Rising Sun multiplayer?
Perry: Medal of Honor: Rising Sun will provide intense online multiplayer action on PlayStation 2 for up to eight soldiers. Players will go head to head across nine levels ranging from the jungles of the Pacific to the streets of the Orient.
There will be a variety of options and customizable match parameters available including selection of Weapon Sets, Friendly Fire, and Time Limit options.
Players can find and join games using the EA matchmaking service and will be able to choose from a selection of Axis and Allied soldiers. Once play begins, soldiers can communicate with voice chat using a USB headset for more coordinated team play or taunting competitors.
You've already stated that a sequel to Rising Sun is planned. Could we get some more specifics on this, for example the plot, who we'll be playing, how settings and missions will differ (it's set in the Pacific Theatre again)?
Perry: The player in Medal of Honor: Rising Sun is Joe Griffin. The player, in the sequel, plays Joseph's brother Donnie.
Donnie is younger and more technical than Joe. While Joe has gotten a good deal of attention from his superiors for his leadership and individual initiative, Donnie has been no less impressive in the areas of demolitions and the beginnings of modern combat engineering.
Joe and Donnie's paths do cross during gameplay in this game. In an early mission, Joe encounters Donnie as the Japanese invade the last US outposts on the Philippines. The demolitions unit that Donnie is attached to has come under heavy enemy fire, and Joe helps them fulfill their mission.
Donnie fights alongside the player in a supporting role, and at a climactic moment heroically saves the day-but is irretrievably cut off by the advancing enemy troops. Joe fears the worst, but discovers late in the game the true fate of Donnie. . .
In Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, Donnie is a scripted character. In the sequel, the player takes over the role of Donnie, and Joe is a scripted character. The player will experience what really happened to Donnie, and fight with and against many of the same characters in different but parallel situations.
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