Alternative perspective on Medal of honor

This is not a review of medal of honor or the game play it is mainly an opinion of why this game should be played, and not just have negative outcry against it because it deals with what
some may consider a touchy subject matter.

Sitting down playing the new medal of honor got me thinking. People are upset with this game for giving us a realistic story, that is currently going
on, this isn't a part of history it's not something that happened in someone
else's generation, this is a part of Our Generation.

Now I did not have the chance to support our country by joining up with any specific military branch for various reasons (too heavy for my height, health issues, etc), however I have nothing
but respect for those who help defend our country and I wish them nothing but
safe journey's wherever they may go to protect our rights.

Based on various newspaper articles since they announced Medal of honor and what the story would be about people have been crying out about how wrong this is, how people should not play a game
that has you playing as the "Taliban" killing US troops. So EA's response was to change the name from
"Taliban" to "Opposing Forces," this is where I as a Person
feel that anyone who purchases this game after crying about the Taliban being
in the game are hypocrites, for most people who were upset with the game and
had valid reasons it was due to something that had happened in their life
(living under the Taliban's rule, Family that served, etc).

I do have one big issue with the name change, not because I want to play the Taliban, but because it feels like we as a culture are ok with a generic name like terrorist, or opposing forces
than we are with who the enemy really is.
I realize that there is certain power in a name and it can either be
positive or negative, But where was the outcry over Counter-strike? Is it really so different than medal of
honor? That was a game where you either
played a terrorist or a counter-terrorist, people would have been upset if they
had called them color:black"">Kach and Kahane Chaline-height:115%"">i (terrorist group out of Israel in the 90's) or US
soldiers? They would have still looked
the same just had different names. It's
the same way with any game or piece of media, you can dress it up or program
it, but name it something that people find negative and there is an outcry for
it to be banned.

Game stores located on the bases are not selling this game even with the name change which I respect and can understand due to the fact it deals with a current event, it would be like
going to see a war movie that is all about the Iraq war and theaters not
willing to carry it out of respect for the People who have dealt with the
situation and don't want to re-live the experience (this will never happen,
even though it should in some cases).

knowing all this I thought I would give Medal of Honor a try, I wanted to see firsthand what they were doing with this subject material and game, I can honestly say that we need games like
this, First person shooter games that deal with war, and the military
surrounding them should be handled like Medal of Honor. After playing this I gained a little
knowledge into what it's like fighting and dying for our country, does it mean
i gain full knowledge and feel my life is as stake as what our military deals
with on a day to day basis? No, not even
close.

It does however allow me to empathize with them and gain a little more knowledge then I had prior to playing this game in regards to what it might be like in the middle of a
battle. Something that call of duty Modern warfare and modern warfare 2 never
seem to get right, yes they killed off characters and put you in tense
situations, but they had no weight to the deaths there was no real sense of
immediate danger.

Which is why the controversy surrounding the airport sequence in modern warfare 2 went away fairly quickly, because once people played it they realized it was fairly over the top, brutal
yes but no real weight behind it. With
Medal of honor playing the game I quickly realized that I wanted to survive,
without surviving I couldn't help my team, I had no hope of protecting those
people I work with (do I believe that I'm actually there, no, are you crazy, I
realize this is a video game) but if I could manage to survive and get to a
point where I could help out my team then I had a goal I needed to achieve.

Ultimately by spending the time playing this game and becoming involved in a current story I felt Like I was getting attached to what US soldiers go through in the midst of a battle and
how you really can't go in guns a Blazing like call of duty would have you
believe half the time. Now some people
may think that I hate Call of duty but the truth is I believe that any game
studio that says they want to add realism to the genre, can't make a realistic
game with a fictional story and make us (gamer) feel like we are fully attached
to it, and that they need to in fact use real events to add the realism they
are looking for.

By doing this EA, Danger close, Dice have managed to gain my respect and allow me to gain a little more knowledge so I can thank and appreciate what our troops are doing everyday so I can have all
the liberties and rights that are guaranteed us on a daily basis.

So for all it's worth even if you have an issue with the name opposing forces or Taliban with the multiplayer at least give this game a try and see if you could gain a little perspective and
respect for those men and women who are protecting our country so we can sleep
a little better at night.