In recent times, The Medal of Honor series has been pushed out of the limelight slightly by the likes of the Call of Duty series and Battlefield’s Bad Company spinoff. Well things are about to change, as EA’s war veteran is making a comeback after being announced late last year. Gamers have been treated to snippets of the gameplay through some trailers, but EA have released their Beta version of the multiplayer component for some lucky gamers to try out… and we got lucky.

The Beta itself features two different maps: Kabul City, an urban middle-eastern setting, and Helmand Valley, which is a large outdoor area scattered with rocky cliffs and small villages. The version also allows players to experience two of the game modes that will be available in the final version, Team Assault and Mission.

Team Assault is just one open-ended squad deathmatch, while Mission gives players objectives throughout the entire match, which constantly change as each objective is completed (or failed).

The game itself plays very similar to Bad Company 2. This should be expected as it’s also being developed by DICE and it’s definitely not a bad thing. The Bad Company 2 similarities are in the movement and feel of the player and shooting, while the levels are more representative of Modern Warfare 2. It’s kinda like a squeaky clean baby between BC2 and MW2, but one that has its own identity.

The layout and HUD is stylized like a digital readout, really signifying that the series has made its way into the present. Colourful messages, scores and XP updates are stylistically strewn across the screen, and with all the destruction and debris, MoH is so far housing all the bells and whistles.

Down to the way the game is played. So far there are three loadouts available for both terrorist and US forces. Rifleman, Special Ops and Sniper loadouts allow the player to try out a small variety of weapons, although one knows DICE have a whole lot they not showing. Players can also call in mortar and air-strikes when a large enough combo is made. Although MoH does borrow a bit from Infinity Ward’s shooter, there are currently no killcams or anything of the sorts.

At the moment, Medal of Honor’s multiplayer is looking to have a ton of potential. It’s got all the tricks up its sleeve to lure in fans of the genre (as well as a lot more features we haven’t seen),  and it’s got the playability that’s already made Bad Company 2 a fan favourite. It does need a little more time in the oven, but we cannot wait to put that medal back on.