Medal of Honor: Rising Sun Critic Reviews

A masterpiece, plain and simple. From the opening Pearl Harbor sequence, to the rain-soaked midnight raids, to the machine-gun-mounted elephant rides, Rising Sun oozes with jaw-dropping quality at every single turn.

Solid gameplay wrapped in an engaging story with a dab of multiplayer madness on the side makes for one tasty gaming meal.

No, the game doesn't look as good as a "SOCOM II," but the gameplay I think is pretty solid, and it's got some really good online play to it.

Engaged me more heavily than any FPS I've played this year.

The end result is that we get another decent Medal Of Honor Game set in the same Medal Of Honor mould when everyone knows that if your going to survive in the jungle you're going to have to adapt to survive.

While a lot of work has been done to make this an accurate experience that feels and sounds right, the gameplay itself lacks the upgrade that it needs.

The single-player campaign doesn't cover much new ground but the multiplayer takes no prisoners.

Each iteration of the Medal of Honor series has been better than the last, and Rising Sun is no exception. It would have been nice to see EA take a few risks and break formula, but the game's a great war shooter nonetheless.

A decent enough way to get your World War II on, but does nothing to move the genre forward or distinguish itself from other FPS games.

The single-player campaign is only eight missions long, and over before you know it. While the multiplayer online games are fun, they are too simplistic to last as long as other games tailored for online like "SOCOM 2" or "Rainbow Six 3."

It's a shame to see a game that could have been spectacular turn out to be just a little bit above average.

The graphics looked washed out and lacked textures and seemed dated.

The soundtrack perfectly compliments the World War II motif, transitioning flawlessly from one epic instrumental to another.

It's not a bad game, but then again, it's not the be-all and end-all Pacific-theater FPS we expected. The primary emphasis on gloss and glamour over gameplay and challenge suggests that Rising Sun is geared more toward the tyro rather than the savant.

Feels a bit like Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor in that an attempt to make an epic WWII Pacific Theater experience results in a product with brilliant touches mixed with mediocrity.

While bitching about the problems with the enemy, if you manage to hit your enemy with a bullet, I’d make sure to hit him repeatedly… head shots aren’t necessarily fatal, and shots to legs can usually be walked off after bouncing around for a few seconds.

It's fraught with lots of minor gameplay problems that eventually add up to one major headache. Rising Sun isn't completely without merit, since it comes packaged with some nice extra materials and mostly solid production values, but the weakness of the gameplay itself undermines what could have been a much more enjoyable experience.

True-blue Medal of Honor fans will still enjoy Rising Sun’s cinematic style, respectful and historically accurate atmosphere, and heavily arcade feel. But for many, the game will feel too familiar in a fast-food way, lacking that old Medal of Honor magic.

A cookie-cutter, linear romp through the sweatier, jungle-infested portions of the Pacific conflict that's sure to almost satisfy fans of the series (especially those craving a split-screen co-op mode -- it's in there!), but leave pretty much everyone else shortchanged; especially in the graphics and gameplay department.

The few moments of true excellence are sadly overshadowed by some dull level design and lackluster enemy AI. Still, the game provides enough juice to keep the avid "Medal of Honor" fan happy.