DreamWorks Interactive

Lore & Background

The studio's legacy is deeply intertwined with the evolution of first-person shooters during the late 1990s and early 2000s. For *Medal of Honor: Underground*, the main character Manon Batiste is based on Hélène Deschamps Adams, a real-life member of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the forerunner of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Adams appears in the game's final mission to brief Manon before the level. The development team, including Hirschmann, Langteau and Henson, researched by meeting with people who had been involved with the French Resistance, including Elizabeth Peet McIntosh and Deschamps Adams. Producer Scott Langteau noted that "Underground had an entirely different feel than the original [Medal of Honor], and yet the gameplay was entirely familiar" and that "Manon used petrol bombs and also used her femininity to gain access to restricted areas."

In Their Own Story

The hum of the server room is replaced by the distant crackle of static from a radio broadcast. A developer sits before a monitor displaying the jagged, pixelated silhouette of an Allied soldier against a backdrop of burning Normandy hedgerows. The screen flickers with the weight of history being digitized, frame by painstaking frame.

Reader's Guide

DreamWorks Interactive's development history for *Medal of Honor: Underground* included a focus on a personal story set in World War II. The game's protagonist, French Resistance commander Manon Batiste, assists her brother Jacques, who is killed in an attempted heist. Manon carries out her mission for the resistance until she is found and recruited by the OSS, who assign her around North Africa and Europe to foil the Milice and Nazis' defenses and plans of invasion until 1944, when Manon returns to help liberate Paris and avenge Jacques. Composer Michael Giacchino explained that for Manon, he wanted a theme that could convey one emotion at a particular moment, and then a completely different emotion the next. He created two main themes that are very similar yet very different: one in a major tone conveying national purpose, and a secondary theme dipping into a minor 6th chord describing Manon's more intimate and emotional feelings. Both themes are bookended with what liner notes author Paul Tonks named 'the resolve theme,' representing moments where Manon is called upon to steel her nerves and gather courage. Producer Scott J. Langteau showcased the game at E3 2000 along with Tony Rowe and Lynn Henson. The PlayStation version received "favorable" reviews according to Metacritic, and won the award for Sound at IGN's Best of 2000 Awards, as well as the "Sound Design" and "Original Musical Composition" awards at the AIAS' 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.

Did You Know?

• The main character Manon Batiste is based on Hélène Deschamps Adams, a real-life OSS member who appears in the game's final mission to brief Manon before the level.
• The development team researched by meeting with people involved with the French Resistance, including Elizabeth Peet McIntosh and Deschamps Adams.
• The PlayStation version was nominated for Sound at IGN's Best of 2000 Awards but did not win.
• The game won the 'Sound Design' award at the AIAS' 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, and was nominated for 'Original Musical Composition' but did not win.
• Producer Scott Langteau noted that Manon used petrol bombs and her femininity to gain access to restricted areas.

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