Medal of Honor was one of the first and most revered first-person shooter franchises on game consoles. That’s partially why it was so sad to see the franchise tumble downhill as time went on. Now it’s back with a brand new look and feel, and both Danger Close and DICE have come along with it. With them, they bring hopes of successfully rebooting this storied franchise. But did they pull it off?

This week there are reviews of the remastered version of Medal of Honor: Frontline and recent PSN games Lara Croft and the Guardian of and Light and Worms 2: Armageddon, as well as previews of LittleBigPlanet 2 and Vanquish.

There’s also a new feature called Head to Head (which sees two members of the FirstPlay team battle it over which of two games is the best), a look at what’s new on the Digital Comics Store, and screenshot galleries of epic MMO Final Fantasy XIV and upcoming PSN title Swarm.

Who likes free stuff? If you’re one of the people that does and you happen to be a Medal of Honor fan, you’ll be very interested to hear about the first batch of DLC that’s already on the way. Click the title to read more.

Earlier in the summer when Blacklight: Tango Down was nearing its initial release date, we were actually pretty excited to play it. Our excitement was soon replaced with annoyance as it was delayed for an unforeseen amount of time. Now, we have a firm release date again, but based on when it’s coming out and the other games that surround it, we have to question if anyone still cares.

On the frontline of this week’s episode (do you see what we did there?) is a review of the modern reboot of the classic Medal of Honor series. Other reviews include the muddy racer WRC: FIA World Rally Championship and the cute PSN title Swords and Soldiers (along with a European-exclusive demo of the game).

Elsewhere there are previews of the imaginatively titled (not) EA Sports MMA, and the awesome-looking multiplayer of Call of Duty: Black Ops. You’ll also find a cool video of Skate 3, and screenshot galleries including Batman: Arkham City and Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One.

Lucy Porter is back from her holiday in what almost feels like a bumper episode of FirstPlay. For a start, there’s a record amount of reviewed games this week, including the epic Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and equally awesome Enslaved: Odyssey to West, as well as PSN titles Blade Kitten and Flight Control HD.

They’re joined by (believe it or not) even more reviews, screenshot galleries of Killzone 3, MotorStorm: Apocalypse and Portal 2 (WANT!), a round-up of the latest and greatest minis, and a couple of pretty cool themes to brighten up your XMB. Keep it up FirstPlay!

It’s time again for the North American PlayStation Store Update! This week is a tad lighter than the few before it but that certainly doesn’t mean there’s not some good content to be found here.

If you’re a Plus subscriber, you’ve got a new episode to Qore to look forward do (as do non Plus Qore subscribers) as well as a Mini titled, Bubble Trubble and a couple of themes. Beyond that, the Plus update is only discounts to previous released content, although it is worth noting that one of those discounts is for a game that is just being released – Alien Breed: Impact.

For the rest of us, there are two new games: Deadliest Warrior: The Game and Alien Breed: Impact – both of those titles have a demo.

If none of that interests you, there’s plenty of other demos, videos, add-on content and media, so surely you can find something that will tickle your fancy. Have a look at the list and be sure to let us know what you’re picking up.

We know a lot of you out there have been patiently waiting to hear who won the first ever Platinum Community Member contest, and we’re pleased to be finally bringing you the results. So who are the big winners? Come on and check it out.

With all this talk about Medal of Honor it has been easy to forget about that other big military shooter, call of Duty: Black Ops. Treyarch is putting their game back in the map with week with the talk about Nazi Zombies (although specific details have kept us from reporting it) and a new customization video. Click the jump to see it.

We haven’t had a healthy 3D discussion around here in quite some time. Now, thanks to THQ, it’s time again to hook this piece of discussion bait and cast it out to you readers.

EA has been promoting Medal of Honor like crazy over the past few months. Their line of Medal of Honor Experience videos have been great and all the press they’ve gotten over the Taliban controversy hasn’t hurt, either. EA announced recently that all that publicity is paying off in the form of preorders.

Anticipation. It’s the constant state of the avid gamer; always with their fingers on the pulse, they await the next big sensation. Whilst they feast on a gratifying main course of Dead Rising 2, F1 …

We’ve been bringing you the Medal of Honor Experience videos for several weeks now. Today, we’ve got the fifth installment ready for your viewing pleasure. While this might be the least impressive video of the five, it does something that none of the other videos can boast. Come inside to see what it is.

The PSN has had ridiculously good updates lately. This update came earlier than usual thanks to a scheduled maintenance. If you didn’t access the Store before the maintenance started then you’re out of luck until it finishes at 5pm pacific.

First, there’s a bunch of deals for the pointless PlayStation Plus subscription service. Zen Pinball is free, amongst other games. Swords & Soldiers is available earlier for PS Plus members as well.

In terms of deals, Mega Man 10 is half priced. Definitely pick that up. If you wait until next week, Mega Man 9, 10, and avatars will be bundled together for $14.99.

Next we have three new games: Blade Kitten, DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue, and Sonic Adventure. Ok, maybe Sonic Adventure isn’t exactly new but you know what we mean. If that’s not enough for you, there’s actually a whopping seven demos to try out.

The PSone Import Store makes its debut this week. The first two games available are Cho Aniki and Gaia Seed, two classic Japanese exclusive shmups.

Enjoy

With over a quarter of a million votes cast, the long list phase of voting in the 28th Annual Golden Joystick Awards is over.
Now the short lists have been revealed for the biggest gaming awards …

Aside from the Medal of Honor video we just showed you, another piece of news that flew under the radar last week is a new trailer for the Vietnam expansion of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 that’s coming this winter. Jump in to see it.

We had quite the stream of news flowing out of TGS last week. In case you missed it, you can see everything we reported, here. We came to realize today that there were a few pieces of news that didn’t come out of TGS that you may have missed, starting with a new Medal of Honor trailer. Come inside to check it out.

EA have just released the third of their ‘Medal of Honor Experience’ videos, designed to present exactly how Medal of Honor plays. This third trailer is titled ‘High Value Target’, and shows off the game’s online multiplayer.

Over the past few months we’ve had more Medal of Honor coverage than you can shake a stick at. We’re continuing that trend today by showing you another trailer – this one from the campaign.