Medal of Honor has made many headlines in the months leading up to, and following, its release. The game received positive remarks from critics but failed to meet the high expectations of what was considered a Call of Duty competitor.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, on the other hand has been less controversial.

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However, they denied the game was a failure and have promised gamers that the next instalment will be “something they appreciate more.”

Speaking with Eurogamer, Patrick Soderlund said, “I'm not going to comment on the sales because EA has an earnings report going out and we will unveil sales in that meeting.

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Hot Zone is a “King of the Hill” game mode wherein two teams vie for domination of a designated location on a map. The winner is the team that held the position for the longest.

Hot Zone will be available on four maps, the newly created Hindukush Pass and Korengal Outpost, and reworked maps Shahikot Valley and Helmand Valley.

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Feeling like a 'best of' album that the label rather than the band put together, it lacks originality. The sense of déjà vu playing this game isn’t helped by market saturation of modern war shooters either. Coupled with a story that’s suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder, the game has understandably been sitting around the seven-out-of-ten mark in the review stakes.

Perhaps this is as much the fault of the hype machine as anyone. Surrounded (and no doubt bolstered) by controversy over the inclusion of Taliban forces in multiplayer, publishers Electronic Arts have still sold a lot of copies. Which would be great, except that controversy only works by propelling a good game into the limelight and securing pre-orders. It worked for Grand Theft Auto. Unfortunately, controversy over a mediocre game only leads to a sense of disappointment, and selling a record number of copies of a lukewarm product is worse for your reputation than selling only a handful.

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As the embargo on Medal of Honor reviews lifted and scores came in below expectations, EA’s share prices slipped six percent.

In response, EA said to the Los Angeles Times, “Critics' scores are highly subjective. The game had the highest pre-orders in the 11-year history of the Medal of Honor franchise.

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At a launch event in New York, Owens told website Joystiq, “The objection was, kind of from an older generation that doesn’t understand games, that the soundbyte was ‘Play as the Taliban and kill US soldiers.

“There still is, it seems, a group that’s still a little bit leery of a game taking place around an active conflict.

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As far as the US military is concerned, that’s not enough.

“Out of respect to those touched by the ongoing, real-life events presented as a game, Exchanges will not be carrying this product,” said US Army & Air Force Exchange Service Commander Maj. Gen. Bruce Casella.

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To participate, simply download the client from the game’s official website.

The open beta is very brief, running only until the 8th of October NZST.

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EA came under pressure from many corners for its controversial inclusion of the Taliban in the multiplayer component of the game. New Zealand’s own defence minister, Dr Wayne Mapp, said that the inclusion of the Taliban in Medal of Honor “undermines the values of our nation, and the dedicated service of our men and women in uniform.”

Gameplanet disagreed.

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In the past, video games, and those who play them, have been easy targets for tabloid journalists with a looming deadline and column inches to fill.

No one will argue that violent youth offending, childhood obesity and the video game business are all dramatically on the rise. It’s also true that games frequently deal with violent subject matter and that people sit down to play them for extended periods of time.

Drawing a correlation there is remarkably expedient. Similarly, it’s convenient for us as a society to disown our issues and shift the blame to an industry.

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"This game undermines the values of our nation, and the dedicated service of our men and women in uniform," said Mapp. “Terrorist acts have caused the deaths of several New Zealanders.

"Hundreds of New Zealand servicemen and women have put their lives on the line in Afghanistan to combat terrorism, and this month Lieutenant Tim O'Donnell died in action over there."

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For the first time in the franchise’s 10-year history, Medal of Honor is leaving the WWII theatre and putting players in war-torn Afghanistan.

Medal of Honor, an all-new first-person shooter game, will introduce the Tier 1 Operator: a relatively unknown entity directly under the National Command Authority who takes on missions no one else can handle. Developers Electronic Arts and DICE have been working closely with Tier 1 Operators from the US Special Operations Community since the earliest stages of development to create the most authentic modern war experience.

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EA posted this “explanation” on the game’s official blog:

“Today we are coming to you with an update on the Medal of Honor beta. First, the good news. The PlayStation 3 and PC betas are in full swing with lots of great, constructive feedback flowing back to the team. For that, we thank you. We appreciate you sharing your candid feedback and for pointing out areas of improvement. That’s the beauty of a beta – your feedback will make the game better for everyone.

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EA’s media briefing at the historic Orpheum Theatre in downtown Los Angeles kicked off with the announcement of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. Dated for November 16th, the Criterion-developed title hopes to simultaneously bring the series back to its roots and pave the way for adoption by the so-called “connected generation.”

In it, players compete online, chasing one another as either the police or as renegade mavericks driving outrageously expensive cars. Criterion highlighted Hot Pursuit’s Autolog – a suite of features “to connect, compare and compete.”

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Players will be granted early access to two action-packed maps on the PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.

EA also announced today that Battlefield: Bad Company 2 VIPs who have pre-ordered Medal of Honor, will be able to enter the multiplayer beta starting June 17.

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For the first time, Medal of Honor will leave the theatres of World War II and enter modern war-torn Afghanistan.

Additionally, players ‘will be introduced to the Tier 1 Operator, an elite warrior and relatively unknown instrument of the U.S. Military that operates under the National Command Authority,” states EA.

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