Details about the next Medal of Honor have allegedly been leaked in a recent survey sent out by EA, according to French site JeuxVideo (translation). The document supposedly refers to the game as "Medal of Honor: Operation Anaconda," which is named for the large-scale military initiative undertaken in the Shahi-Kot Valley and Arma Mountains in March 2002 (finally outside of the WWII comfort zone, are we?). Unlike Call of Duty 4, apparently this version of "modern combat" will focus on historical events, including the Battle of Takur Ghar.

The survey suggests players will engage in a variety of scenarios, including front-line and sniper missions, and a "drone attack." Another tidbit claims the game will feature 60 customizable weapons. While still unconfirmed, the entire report is definitely plausible. But would it be enough to make Medal of Honor relevant again? To stay competitive, EA just might have to look to the stars.

A new development studio has formed in Pasadena, CA, co-founded by former developers of titles like Fallout and Medal of Honor. The new studio, named WhiteMoon Dreams (huh), will focus on creating original IP for the Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Nintendo Wii, but is also open to working with developers on titles in need of assistance.

Heading the studio are Jay Kootarappallil -- a former EA technical art director for titles like Ratchet & Clank and Medal of Honor -- and R. Scott Campbell -- lead concept and game designer on Fallout. At the moment the team is working with a "major Japanese publisher" on an unannounced title. The team hopes to focus on innovative gameplay, and "new directions in the visual medium." We wish the newly-formed studio the best of luck in its endeavors.

If you purchased an Australian copy of Medal of Honor Heroes 2 for Wii, you may be surprised to find the game devoid of the much-touted online multiplayer. That surprise is likely exacerbated by the mention of online multiplayer both in the game's instruction manual and the official Australian web site. (As of this writing, mentions to multiplayer on the site have been removed.)

Looking to retain some, erm, honor in the situation, publisher Electronic Arts is offering a refund. Said the company (via IGN), "We made an error in the documentation and marketing materials. We are very sorry to have caused confusion for our customers. We will provide a refund to anyone in Australia who wishes to return the game to EA because of the lack of online functionality." We couldn't find details on the support page as to how the refund will work, and EA is not giving a reason for the missing 32-player mayhem.



[Via NWF]

For impressions of the PSP version of the game, check out PSP Fanboy.

The Medal of Honor Heroes series is an intriguing one. Opting to avoid "next gen systems," the franchise has stuck to the decidedly non-HD pastures of Wii and PSP. Both platforms have struggled to find many great FPS games, due to the control challenges inherent to each system. However, Heroes 2 triumphs over these shortcomings by tailoring the experience to the unique control schemes of these systems.

One of the biggest problems with Wii FPS games was the size of the bounding box, which made it difficult to look freely in a FPS environment (example: Red Steel). However, Metroid Prime 3's "Advanced" control scheme gave players mouse-like precision by significantly reducing the size of the bounding box. Medal of Honor Heroes 2 expands even further upon this idea, by giving players the option of fully customizing the sensitivity of the game. This allows players to play with precision that matches Nintendo's best efforts.