Anticipation for one of the big games of 2010 is heating up. Electronic Arts’ Medal of Honor has set a new franchise record, hitting the highest number of pre-sell units in the franchise’s 11-year history. This milestone positions Medal of Honor alongside EA’s top pre-selling action games, and there is still one week remaining until the game hits retails shelves on Oct. 12.

Co-developed by EA’s Danger Close Studio in Los Angeles and DICE in Stockholm, Medal of Honor is a reboot of the storied first person shooter (FPS) franchise, now set in war-torn Afghanistan. The game introduces players to the Tier 1 Operator, an elite warrior and relatively unknown instrument of the U.S. Military that operates under the National Command Authority to take on missions no one else can handle.

All of this momentum leads to the Oct. 12 launch and the release of the PC Multiplayer Open Beta on Oct. 4. In preparation for the Beta, players are invited to download the client starting Oct. 1 to ensure easy and quick access on day one. The Medal of Honor Multiplayer Open Beta begins on Oct. 4 and will close on Oct. 7 at 11:59pm PST.

The Medal of Honor Multiplayer Open Beta features two new maps inspired by real world locations: Kunar Base and Shahikot Mountains. Kunar Base is played in the Sector Control multiplayer mode where two sides fight to control tactical sectors of the map. Shahikot Mountains is played in the tactical and objective-based Combat Mission multiplayer mode where gamers battle through a series of objectives to defeat the opposing team. Both modes pit teams of 12 players (total 24 players) against one another with realistic destruction, tactical support actions and a weapon customization system that generates hundreds of combinations.

About the Author

John Gaudiosi

Editor-in-Chief

John Gaudiosi has been covering videogames for the past 20 years for outlets like The Washington Post, CNET, Wired Magazine and CBS.com. He has focused on the convergence of entertainment and videogames for outlets like Video Business, Home Media Magazine, Entertainment Weekly, The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. He currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of Gamerlive.TV and is also a freelance game columnist for Reuters and writes for outlets like Forbes.com, NVISION, Official PlayStation Magazine, EGM Now, Geek Monthly, PrimaGames.com, and Yahoo! Games. John also serves as the video game expert for NBC in Washington D.C. and has produced videogame documentaries for The History Channel and Starz Entertainment. John was named one of the Top 50 Game Journalists in the world by Next-Gen.biz in 2007. He is the co-author of Scholastic Books' How to Get into Videogames, Prima Publishing's Madden: Twenty Years of Videogame Football and Electronic Arts: The Official History.