Medal of Honor is seeing a surprise revival in the form of a Respawn Entertainment and Oculus Studios co-developed VR game: Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond.
When Titanfall and Apex Legends developer Respawn Entertainment revealed it would be announcing a new AAA title with Oculus this month, not many guessed it would result in this particular franchise revival. Oculus announced the VR spinoff with a trailer to boot, making this project the first entry in the Medal of Honor franchise in seven years.
The main concern with any FPS VR title is that gameplay could potentially boil down to just an on-rails shooting gallery. Thankfully, players can be seen practicing a number of different mechanics throughout the trailer, such as swimming, climbing, and moving through trenches in the “reality of WWII.”
Despite a few unrealistic combat scenarios shown in the trailer, Respawn Entertainment and Oculus Studios are still maintaining the real-life themes found in previous titles. To aid in this, the team talked about the importance VR brings to the game’s immersion and has opted to interview WWII veterans about their experiences to help make the game feel as real as possible.
The last entry in the series, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, released in 2012 to harsh criticism from critics and fans alike. For many, the game’s release signaled at best a hiatus for the Medal of Honor franchise, making today’s announcement a shocking sign of hope. With a new VR title on the horizon, EA could be testing the waters to see if interest for the series is still out there. If the title sells well enough, fans could see a more familiar Medal of Honor entry come sooner rather than later.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is scheduled to release sometime in 2020, so stay tuned for any release updates.
