Medal of Honor is back with all guns blazing or maybe not so, as this offering lends itself to a new twist allowing gamers to take a stealthier approach to the action...

MOH: European Assault casts gamers as an American secret agent amongst the British ranks who is sent in to help 'tilt' the war into the Britain's favourable direction. This secret operative is you: William Holt and you will experience all these classified missions that 'never occurred' (wink wink nudge nudge) from the comfort of in front of your own TV. It is obvious that this is going to be a very cinematic experience, and from the E3 trailers it is safe to assume gamers can be expected to battle it out on landscapes ranging from the dry wastes of the African desert all the way back to the frontlines in Europe.

Graphically it's looking better than ever with EA boasting it can cram 35-50 characters on screen at once making for some intense battles which now have a more strategic element as EA are promoting the 'take cover' tactic. This means gamers will now benefit from hiding out of the way of enemy fire for a few seconds and use a new control scheme implemented to 'peek out' and fire a few shots at the attacking enemies. Not to worry though it won't be all hiding, this is after all Medal Of Honor and bullet exchanges will take place along side some troops who will aid you in your progress.

And the war sim genre keeps on turning

A nice addition to this aspect of the game play is that you will be able to heal your comrades if they should take damage. This is done by collecting med packs located throughout the levels which can then be used on Holt himself or your team-mates. This brings in another strategic element as a player might be forced to choose between healing his friend or saving himself whilst bullets fly over head and grenades go off a few metres away. Sounds intense doesn't it? It looks it as well; battlefields are now larger and players are no longer forced down a linear set path allowing for some 'where to now?' decision making when there needs to be adequate cover and a tactical advantage for your team.

Another new features is 'adrenaline' mode, this is a kind of invincibility and is activated through a number of achievements such as headshots, completing secondary (optional) objectives and multi-kills. Once your hit your adrenaline level you become a kind of super human and can rush out and kill ten guys within a short space of time, temporarily becoming a one man killing machine. Once the adrenaline is depleted however you will need to get back into cover as MOH strives to produce a realistic tone and it only takes a few bullets before Holt falls.

MOH: European Assault went gold on 26/05 and will storm stores soon.