Medal Of Honor: Ranking The Series From Worst To Best

2. Medal of Honor: Rising Sun

The penultimate entry to the list ran a close race. Released by EA Games in November 2003, Rising Sun was the first Medal of Honor game to be set away from Europe. In a refreshing break from the normality of the series, it played like a sprawling, epic film. It basically took the previous espionage-based mindset, and mixed it with a vast and expansive setting. As mentioned, the game was not based in the European theatre, which had been the setting of all the games in the series up to that point. On this occasion, the player took on the might of the Japanese empire in the Pacific. The player assumes the role of Cpl./Sgt. Joseph Griffin of the United States Marine Corps. It takes place over a number of different settings, from Guadalcanal to Burma, via an undercover operation in Singapore. Rising Sun met mainly mixed reviews. IGN gave the game a rating of 8/10, the same as its predecessor. The game also garnered an average rating of 68/100 from Metacritic, indicating mixed or average reviews. Gamespot rated 6.4/10. In the end, it was the somewhat mixed reception that resulted in a sequel being shelved by EA. Many people will question why this game is ranked so high on the list. The fact is, despite all the criticism, this is one hell of an effort. The soundtrack plays like a score to a Hollywood production, the enemy A.I. is brutal (in a good way) and the split-screen campaign mode was probably one of the best there has ever been. In a recent revisit, Rising Sun still plays well, and the same can't be said for a lot of games 11 years old.