Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault - Plot

Plot

The game puts the player in the role of Pvt. Thomas Conlin, a U.S. Marine in the Pacific Theater of Operations in World War II.

The game opens up on Conlin, about to land on Tarawa in a landing craft. His voice-over reminisces about how much of a journey it was to arrive there, commenting on the friends he's lost, the untrained quality of the new-recruits ("three week wonders", he calls them) and the futility of taking this small stretch of land from the Japanese.

As Conlin's Amtrac approaches the shore, it's hit by an artillery shell, throwing Conlin and the other passengers into the shallow ocean, forcing them to wade ashore. Conlin fights his way onto to the shore, only to get cut down by a bullet during a Japanese counter-attack. As he 'bleeds out', the game flashes back to the start of Conlin's first day of basic training, where the player is introduced to the characters that will become his squad; the squad leader Frank Minoso; a big, smooth talking, New Jersey native; sniper William "Willie' Gaines, a country boy from North Carolina; and corpsman James Sullivan, a quiet sailor from a rich family in Oak Park, Illinois. After training, Conlin is assigned, without the rest of his training battalion, to serve aboard the U.S.S. Arizona. He arrives at Pearl Harbor early on the morning of December 7th, 1941. During the subsequent Japanese attack, he dodges strafing runs, rescues wounded servicemen, and defends USS West Virginia, preventing it from sinking.

In the next level Conlin joins with Minoso, Gaines and Sullivan, as well as two unnamed marines, as they participating in the notorious Makin Island raid. During the raid, they are tasked with destroying a radio tower, destroying a supply dump, and rescuing a downed airman, before returning to their insertion point to fend off a Japanese counter-attack and defend their submarines from an aerial attack.

Following the Makin raid, the squad is deployed to Guadalcanal, where they are first deployed to defend Henderson Field and the outlying area against a Japanese attack, culminating in a push to re-take the airfield. They also participate in the Battle of Edson's Ridge (referred to in-game colloquially as "The Battle of Bloody Ridge") where Conlin earns the Silver Star and is promoted to Corporal, and then the patrols of the Lunga River . As part of the Guadalcanal Mission, Conlin becomes an impromptu pilot, as he is required to take control of the SBD Dauntless that is transporting him to 'the fleet' that is preparing an assault on Tarawa. During this mission, he pilots the aircraft against enemy Zeros, an enemy island base, and finally a Japanese carrier task group. During this mission, Sgt. Minoso (in another plane) is shot and either critically wounded or killed, depending on the player's actions.

For the assault on Tarawa, Conlin has been promoted to sergeant and squad leader, inheriting Sgt. Minoso's BAR (In actuality, the player never commands the squad any more than he has previously, as they are accompanied by an unnamed officer who gives the squad direct orders). The Battle of Tarawa mission includes parts and tactics from all previous levels (a reoccurring theme in the franchise) where Conlin must start by clearing bunkers and anti-aircraft guns near the shore, participating in a car chase, then moving inward to take out tanks and a heavily fortified command center, finally moving through a massive bunker and trench system culminating in an assault on the Japanese Headquarters and surviving a final Japanese Banzai charge. The game ends with a voice over from Conlin, akin to the opening voice over, stating that they still had a "long way to go".

If the player saves Sgt. Minoso, it is revealed during the credits that he survives and while the rest of the squad was at Tarawa, he was flirting with nurses in a naval hospital.