Steven Spielberg was watching his son play GoldenEye 007 on the Nintendo 64 and had a thought. He realized that video games weren't just distractions; they were a way to keep history alive for a generation that didn't live through it. That’s how the Medal of Honor game series started. It wasn't born in a boardroom of suits looking at spreadsheets. It was born from the mind of the man who just finished Saving Private Ryan.
Honestly, it’s hard to explain to younger players just how much this franchise changed everything. Before 1999, shooters were mostly about space marines or demons. Then came Lt. Jimmy Patterson. Suddenly, we weren't just clicking on pixels; we were storming the beaches of Normandy. It felt heavy. It felt real.
The Medal of Honor game series basically invented the cinematic shooter. Without it, you probably don't get the massive Call of Duty machine we see today. In fact, the people who made the best Medal of Honor games literally left to go start Call of Duty. It’s a wild bit of industry history that most people forget.
The Spielberg DNA and the Quest for Authenticity
When DreamWorks Interactive started working on the first game, they didn't just look at old movies. They hired Captain Dale Dye. If you know anything about war movies, you know Dye is the guy who puts actors through hell to make them look like real soldiers. He brought that same energy to the game. He made sure the reloading animations were right. He made sure the sound of a Garand pinging was perfect.
Most people don't realize how much the Congressional Medal of Honor Society was involved. They actually helped. They saw the game as an educational tool. That’s why those early games had those black-and-white FMV briefings. It wasn't just fluff; it was an attempt to ground the gameplay in the actual sacrifice of real people.
But it wasn't just about history. It was about the music. Michael Giacchino—yeah, the guy who did The Batman and Up—got his big break here. His score for the original PlayStation game is genuinely one of the best pieces of orchestral music in gaming history. It didn't sound like bleeps and bloops. It sounded like a Wagnerian opera.
The Peak: Allied Assault and the Frontline Era
If you ask any old-school PC gamer about their most stressful gaming memory, they’ll probably say "Omaha Beach." In 2002, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault dropped. It was developed by 2015, Inc. The D-Day level was a masterpiece of terror. You’re in the Higgins boat. You hear the metal clanging. The ramp drops, and half your squad is gone in seconds.
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It was brutal.
Console players got their own version with Frontline. It started with that same beach landing. I remember playing that on a PS2 and thinking graphics couldn't possibly get any better. The atmosphere was thick. You’d be sneaking through a foggy Dutch village in Market Garden, hearing the distant bark of a German Shepherd, and your heart would just race.
This was the golden age of the Medal of Honor game series.
- Allied Assault (PC) - The one that changed the industry.
- Frontline (PS2/Xbox/GC) - The console king.
- Rising Sun - A bold move to the Pacific theater that, honestly, was a bit hit-or-miss but had an incredible opening at Pearl Harbor.
- European Assault - Experimented with more open levels and "Adrenaline" mechanics.
The series was everywhere. It felt invincible. But behind the scenes, things were getting messy. Most of the Allied Assault team split off to form Infinity Ward. They took everything they learned and made the first Call of Duty. Suddenly, the king had a rival.
When the Series Lost Its Way
Success breeds imitation. By the mid-2000s, everyone was making a World War II game. People started talking about "WWII fatigue." The Medal of Honor game series tried to pivot. Pacific Assault on PC was technically impressive—it had amazing physics for the time—but it was demanding. You needed a beast of a computer to run it properly.
Then came Airborne.
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I actually think Airborne is underrated. The hook was that you could parachute anywhere in the level. You could land on a roof and snipe, or drop right into the chaos. It was non-linear before that was a buzzword. But it felt a little too "gamey" compared to the gritty realism of the older titles. The "Super Soldiers" in gas masks at the end of the game? That was a weird choice. It felt like the series was losing its identity.
The 2010 Reboot: A Controversial Shift
By 2010, the industry had moved on. Modern Warfare was the new king. EA decided to reboot Medal of Honor by bringing it into the modern era. Set in Afghanistan, it followed Tier 1 Operators.
This game caused a massive stir.
Because you could play as the Taliban in multiplayer, it was actually banned on military bases. The developers, Danger Close and DICE, had to change the name to "Opposing Force." It was a PR nightmare.
The 2010 reboot actually had a really solid campaign. It was written with the help of active-duty Tier 1 operators. It felt quieter and more personal than Call of Duty. It wasn't about blowing up the Eiffel Tower; it was about a small group of guys on a mountain trying to survive. But the multiplayer felt like a weird hybrid of Battlefield and CoD that didn't quite click with anyone.
Then came Warfighter in 2012.
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Man, Warfighter was a mess. It was buggy. The story was confusing. It tried to focus on the toll war takes on families—which is a noble goal—but the execution was clunky. It felt rushed. The reviews were scathing. EA put the franchise on ice shortly after. It was a sad end for a series that literally defined the genre.
The VR Comeback: Above and Beyond
For years, nothing. Then, out of nowhere, Respawn Entertainment—the Apex Legends and Titanfall people—announced a new game. But there was a catch. It was VR only.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond (2020) was a return to the series' roots in World War II. It was massive. It was expensive. It required an Oculus Rift or a high-end PC.
The coolest thing about it wasn't even the game itself. It was the "Gallery." Respawn went out and interviewed real veterans, filming them in 360 degrees. One of the short documentaries included in the game, Colette, actually won an Academy Award. An Oscar! For a video game project! Spielberg would have been proud.
Why We Still Talk About These Games
The Medal of Honor game series always had a certain dignity. Even when it was just about shooting bad guys, it felt like it respected the subject matter. It didn't have the "rockstar" vibe of later shooters. It felt like a history lesson that happened to be fun.
We see its fingerprints everywhere. Every time you play a game with a cinematic scripted sequence, or a game that uses real-world military advisors, you're playing something influenced by Lt. Jimmy Patterson’s first outing.
If you want to revisit the series today, it's actually surprisingly easy. Many of the classics are on GOG or EA Play.
How to Experience the Series Now
- Start with Allied Assault on PC. It still plays remarkably well. Use a widescreen fix mod to make it look decent on modern monitors.
- Track down a copy of Frontline. The remastered version was included on the Medal of Honor 2010 PS3 disc. It’s the best way to play it without a CRT TV.
- Watch "Colette." Even if you don't play the VR game, find the documentary. It captures the soul of what the series was always trying to do.
- Check out the soundtracks. Put on the European Assault or Frontline score while you work. It’s genuinely moving music.
The Medal of Honor game series might be dormant for now, but its legacy is baked into the DNA of every first-person shooter on the market. It taught us that games could be more than just toys; they could be monuments. Whether we ever get a new "classic" entry or not, those early trips into occupied Europe remain some of the most important moments in gaming history.