Rising Sun

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The single-player campaign follows U.S. Marine Corporal Joseph D. 'Joe' Griffin from the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, through missions in the Philippines, Guadalcanal, Singapore, Burma, and Thailand. Key moments include Joe waking on the USS California during the Pearl Harbor attack, meeting Gunnery Sergeant Jack 'Gunny' Lauton, and being rescued by a PT boat. On January 1, 1942, Joe and Gunny meet Joe's younger brother Donnie in the Philippines; Donnie is presumed dead after a tank is overrun by Japanese soldiers. On August 7, 1942, Joe participates in a midnight raid on Guadalcanal. On October 14, 1942, Joe takes out artillery position 'Pistol Pete' with help from Scottish guerrilla Martin Clemens and two natives, Selas and Kiep, and rescues POW Lieutenant Edmund Harrison. In March 1943, Joe infiltrates a Japanese-occupied Singapore summit led by Commander Shima, meeting OSS operative Ichiro 'Harry' Tanaka and British SOE operative Major Philip Bromley. On April 26, 1944, the three investigate Japanese gold smelting in Burma temples and rescue their pilot Raj. On July 17, 1944, Joe and Bromley blow up a train of Shima's gold, then board Shima's supercarrier. Tanaka is killed by Shima, and Joe witnesses Shima escaping with Donnie in a plane. Joe and Bromley escape the carrier as it sinks. The ending of Medal of Honor: Heroes reveals Joseph was planning POW rescue raids, signifying he eventually rescued Donnie later in the war.

Reader's Guide

Medal of Honor: Rising Sun is a first-person shooter. It has two multiplayer modes: Deathmatch (a free-for-all match) and Team Deathmatch, where the player can choose teams. The online multiplayer was one of the more successful elements of the game, coming at a time when online play titles for the PlayStation 2 were not widely available. The online mode attracted and retained a loyal playerbase until its closure in January 2007. The game also has a two-player campaign that follows the same plot (except the omission of Supercarrier Sabotage) and allows either player to respawn if the other is still alive. This, however, lacks many things the main campaign has, including the entrenching tool, the machete and most of your squadmates. Offline multiplayer is also available, where up to four people can play against each other and optionally AI bots. The game had a marketing budget of $6.3 million. The PlayStation 2 version received a 'Double Platinum' sales award from ELSPA (at least 600,000 copies in the UK) and a 'Gold' certification from VUD (at least 100,000 units across Germany, Switzerland and Austria). The game received 'mixed or average' reviews on Metacritic. Critics agreed the opening Pearl Harbor missions were a great introduction, but later missions were considered sub-par, leading to questions about whether the game was released unfinished. Rising Sun received an award for 'Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition' at the AIAS' 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. A sequel was originally planned where players would assume the role of Joseph's brother Donnie, but it was canceled after Rising Sun received mixed reviews.

Did You Know?

• The game's online multiplayer was terminated in January 2007.
• The marketing budget for the game was $6.3 million.
• The PlayStation 2 version sold at least 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom.
• The game won an award for 'Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition' at the AIAS' 7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.
• A sequel where players would have played as Joseph's brother Donnie was canceled after Rising Sun received mixed reviews.