Play Medal of Honor before you judge us, says Danger Close

Danger Close marketing boss Craig Owens has explained the decision to rename the Taliban to OPFOR in Medal of Honor's multiplayer.

"The objection was, kind of from an older generation that doesn't understand games, that the soundbyte was 'Play as the Taliban and kill US soldiers," Owens told Joystiq at an event in New York.

"There still is, it seems, a group that's still a little bit leery of a game taking place around an active conflict."

He further added: "Really the big thing was playing as a Taliban killing US troops. So we basically just changed it to 'Opfor' -- which is a term they [the US Armed Forces] use, some of our competitors use -- more out of respect."

Owens says the decision to rename the Taliban in MoH's MP, developed by DICE, was not down to trying to change the mind of the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, who had banned the game from going on sale at military bases.

He further added that people should try the game before you judging it, insisting it has "always been about the respect for the troops," and that it's "not about Afghanistan. It's not about the enemy. It's about the brother beside you."

Medal of Honor releases today in the US for PS3, 360 and PC, and launches on Friday in the UK

Reviews go live later today at 2pm BST. Watch the launch trailer here.