Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor began in 1999 on PlayStation at DreamWorks Interactive, a studio co-founded by Steven Spielberg, who gave the series a World War II atmosphere inspired by Saving Private Ryan. Playing a paratrooper or Allied soldier, players fight through key battles across the European and Pacific theaters, with the series built on scripted action sequences, mood, and cinematic mission storytelling. The distinctive atmosphere owed a lot to the orchestral score by composer Michael Giacchino, who built his name on the early games before becoming far better known for film music.

The following years brought a string of entries widening the series' scope, with development gradually passing to studio 2015, Inc., which later spun off EA Los Angeles. Allied Assault (2002) on PC became known for its Normandy landing and the Spearhead and Breakthrough expansions, while Frontline, Rising Sun, and Pacific Assault each focused on different fronts and battles, from European cities to Pacific islands. European Assault (2005) and Airborne (2007) then adjusted the pacing and, above all, introduced an unusual free-jump mechanic letting players choose their own landing spot on the battlefield. Alongside the console and PC games, portable Game Boy Advance versions adapted the series into simpler action for handhelds.

The 2010 reboot, from newly formed studio Danger Close Games, dropped World War II in favor of a present-day conflict in Afghanistan, with multiplayer developed by DICE, the studio behind Battlefield, meant to set it apart from the dominant Call of Duty. The follow-up Warfighter (2012) met a cold reception from both players and critics over technical shortcomings and a weaker story, and became a turning point for the series.

Medal of Honor has since faded behind rivals Call of Duty and Battlefield, with no new entry since, even as its earlier chapters — especially Allied Assault and Airborne — are still remembered as some of the first trips into the war-movie atmosphere of big action games and as a direct inspiration for later military shooters. That early focus on mood, music, and cinematic mission design was picked up and expanded by a whole wave of war shooters that still trace their roots back to it.