Medal of Honor: Rising Sun is the 5th installment of the Medal of Honor series, released by Electronic Arts in November 2003. Rising Sun is another first-person shooter, set in World War II in the Pacific Theater, unlike most Medal of Honor games. This game features single-player and multiplayer capabilities (terminated as of November 2006). In the single-player game, the player assumes the role of Cpl./Sgt. Joseph Griffin of the United States Marine Corps.
A sequel was originally planned in which players would have assumed the role of Joseph's brother Donnie. However, the sequel was quietly canceled after Rising Sun received poor reviews.
Missions
1. Day of Infamy 2. Pearl Harbor 3. Fall of the Philippines 4. Midnight Raid on Guadalcanal 5. Pistol Pete Showdown 6. Singapore Sling 7. In Search of Yamashita's Gold 8. A Bridge on the River Kwai 9. Supercarrier Sabotage
Weaponry
Medal of Honor: Rising Sun features many weapons used in the Pacific. American weapons are mostly used in the beginning half of the game. In the last few levels, however, Japanese weapons become available.
American
- M1 Garand
- M1903/A5 Springfield
- M1911 Colt .45
- M1928 Thompson
- Browning Automatic Rifle
- Winchester Model 12 Shotgun
- M9A1 Bazooka
- Browning M2 (fixed)
Japanese
- Type 99 Arisaka (enemy use only)
- Type 11 LMG
- Type 99 LMG
- Type 14 Nambu (enemy use only)
- Type 97 Grenade
- Type 96 25mm (fixed)
- Type 92 Howitzer (fixed)
- Katana (enemy use only)
- Lunge Mine (enemy use only)
- Model 89 Mortar (Enemy use only)
British
- Welrod
- Sten Mark II
- Lee-Enfield (ally use only)
Music
The award winning soundtrack in Rising Sun was orchestrated by Christopher Lennertz. Michael Giacchino, composer of the soundtrack for Frontline, left to work on the soundtracks of the series Call of Duty, after which Lennertz took over. Lennertz's score received overall positive reviews.
A promotional CD soundtrack was released for the game. Digital versions of the soundtrack were also made available and are currently for sale off of music services like iTunes.
Characters
Main Characters
Joseph "Joe" Griffin
Introduced in- Day of Infamy
A well-liked Marine from Mather, Pennsylvania, Joe is the older brother of Donnie Griffin and Mary Griffin.
Donnie Griffin
Introduced/Captured in- Fall of the Philippines
Revealed to have been rescued in- Medal of Honor: Heroes
The athletic and popular younger brother of Joe Griffin, Donnie started proving his heroism at the age of 13 when he saved two children from a house fire.
Phillip Bromley
Introduced in- Singapore Sling
Bromley is an embittered hero, angry at the British government that did not prevent the fall of Singapore to the Japanese in spite of the intelligence he provided them. He works from hiding to sabotage the invaders.
Michael Floyd
Introduced in- Midnight Raid On Guadalcanal
A soldier from Montana, Floyd is known for his contingency-planning and his ability to focus on detail. Unfortunately, he sometimes loses sight of the big picture.
Edmund Harrison
Introduced in- Pistol Pete Showdown
Killed/saved in- Pistol Pete Showdown
Lt. Harrison is an expert at demolition. He was unique among his comrades for actually enjoying his job, at times to the point of being a pyromaniac.
Ichiro "Harry" Tanaka
Introduced in- Singapore Sling
Killed in- Supercarrier Sabotage
Hawaiian-born Tanaka is a pilot and undercover agent for the OSS. The son of Japanese immigrants, he is willing to give his life for a country that views him, like other Japanese-Americans, with suspicion.
Jack "Gunny" Lauton
Introduced in- Day of Infamy
"Gunny" is an American Marine who works closely with Joe.
Masataka Shima
Introduced in- Singapore Sling, there is also a picture of him in the Baseball Stadium in Fall of the Philippines
A high ranking Commander of the Japanese Imperial Navy and the game's main antagonist. He is foreshadowed in the early missions, one of the player's objectives in "The Fall of the Philippines" mission is to recover a photo of this sinister villain. He is first seen in the flesh in the "Singapore Sling" mission. He speeds by in his staff car, almost killing the rickshaw escorting Joe and Tanaka to the hotel. He is later seen at the hotel addressing several German officers about the wealth that the Japanese Empire has discovered in eastern Asia. He rushes out of the room when Bromley drops in. He is next seen in the "Supercarrier Sabotage" interrogating the player. When Tanaka tries to free Joe, Shima holds him at sword point, and slits his throat. Shima is seen for the final time raising up on a platform to the upper deck with Joe's captured brother Donnie, "Say goodbye American fool. This is as close to your brother as you will ever be!" he shouts. He then escapes with Donnie in a plane and flies to a Japanese POW camp.
Secondary Characters
Kandler
Introduced in- Singapore Sling
A German officer headed to the meeting at the hotel in the "Singapore Sling" mission. Joe and Bromley sabotage his staff car when he drives by. Joe steals his uniform and infiltrates the Axis summit. While at the meeting, He barges in shouting that the player is an impostor, and that Joe has stolen his uniform. He manages to escape alive, despite Bromley shooting dead all the other German officers. He is neither seen or mentioned again in the game.
Serguey Borov
Introduced in- Singapore Sling
A Soviet traitor to the Allies. He plans to replace Stalin and declare peace with Germany. He too manages to escape the hotel alive during the shootout in the "Singapore Sling" mission. He is neither seen or mentioned again in the game.
Silas Whitfield
Introduced in- Pearl Harbor
An engineer in the Marine Corps. He manages to keep Joe's PT boat afloat in the "Pearl Harbor" level.
PFC Spinelli
Introduced in- Pearl Harbor
Another fellow Marine. He operates the radio on the PT boat in the "Pearl Harbor" level.
Martin Clemens
Introduced in- Pistol Pete Showdown
A real life Scottish guerrilla fighter, working with the Guad natives to rid the island of Guadalcanal of its Axis invaders, in the level "Pistol Pete Showdown."
Raj
Introduced in- In Search of Yamashita's Gold
This pilot of the Flying Tigers is shot down while flying over the temple in the "Yamashita's Gold" mission. Joe and Australian Chindits try to save him at the crash site, but he has been captured by the Japanese by the time the player reaches the crash site. Tanaka meets the player at the crash site and follows him to the temple. Once in the lower levels of the temple, the player saves Raj, locates Bromley, and escape by helicopter.
Reception
Rising Sun mainly met mixed reviews. IGN gave the game a rating of 8/10, the same rating as its predecessor. The game also garnered an average rating of 68/100 from Metacritic, indicating mixed or average reviews. Gamespot rated the game a 6.4/10. The game was noted for poor artificial intelligence, linear level design, and some of its unnecessary plot elements. The PS2 version suffered from several ingame glitches and was one of the many reasons for lower ratings by gaming magazines such as EGM.
Online Gameplay Use
The PlayStation 2 version remains the only version Medal of Honor: Rising Sun has for online gameplay. It has been taken down however.
See also
- Walkthrough
Trivia
- This is the first game in the Medal of Honor series in which the Sikorsky R4 Hoverfly experimental helicopter is present during gameplay.
- Most weapons, such as the BAR, Triple 25, Type 92 Howitzer, Welrod, Type 99 LMG and the Bazooka are only usable in one mission.
- Rising Sun is the first (and so far only) game to feature American, British, Japanese, German and Russian soldiers all in one storyline.
- A few of the levels in Rising Sun are reconstructed in Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault, with some notable changes.
- This is the first game to feature a usable mounted machine gun on the elephant and other wildlife, such as an alligator.
- This is the first Medal of Honor game to utilize players controlled by A.I. in multiplayer.
External links
- Official site
- Medal of Honor: Rising Sun on IMDb
- Medal of Honor: Rising Sun at Moby games
- IGN GC review
- Planet Medal of Honor
- Medal of Honor (Cheats)
- Medal of Honor: Rising Sun for PlayStation 2 on Metacritic
- Medal of Honor: Rising Sun for Xbox on Metacritic
- Medal of Honor: Rising Sun for GameCube on Metacritic
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