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Next Free EA PC Game Revealed

Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault is coming soon to the On the House program.

By Eddie Makuch on March 17, 2016 at 8:00AM PDT

The next "On the House" game for EA's Origin PC game store has been revealed. The new freebie is World War II shooter Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault, which was originally released in 2004. It currently sells for $10, but when it's added to the On the House hub sometime "soon" it can be yours at no charge.

No Caption Provided

Pacific Assault will replace Need for Speed: Most Wanted, which was free starting in February up until this week. On the House offers one free game at a time, but there is no set schedule for when new titles will replace the existing ones.

Most Wanted is no longer available through the program and Pacific Assault has not been added yet. It should be coming soon, according to EA. We will let you know when it arrives.

While On the House titles are completely free for all Origin users, gamers can also pay $5/month for an Origin Access subscription to get a library of free games (among other perks). The lineup of games in "The Vault" grows on March 22 when Titanfall is released into the library.

GameSpot's Pacific Assault review scored the game an 8.3/10.

"It can be difficult to reconcile how, exactly, such a grim event as World War II could become the context for a fun-filled action game, but it's once again made for an exciting experience in Medal of Honor Pacific Assault," reviewer Greg Kasavin said back in 2004.

After 2012's Medal of Honor Warfighter came up short, EA put the series on hiatus. No new entries in the shooter franchise have been announced, though EA still retains the rights to make more games in the future.

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This was back when the Medal of Honor series was magnificent. Although, I still think MOH: Allied Assault was the series' crowning glory, this game wasn't bad either. It gave some perspective to the Pacific Theater of WW2 which many people easily forget. The Great War was actually won in the Pacific and not many people know that. This game was one of my best memories from my school days. Of course I bought it for PC and it ran like s**t lol. But it was fun nevertheless and a challenging game to play even on medium difficulty thanks to the bonus objectives like shooting down x number of Japanese Zeros during the Pearl Harbor level lol. You get some memento or medal for such acts of bravery as well hehe. I can't wait to install it in my high end rig loaded with a GTX 980 !! I will run it at 4K resolution if possible and experience it all over again.

Upvote • 9 years ago

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I have to congratulate EA! I have like 13 games from this system! Good classic games. And i love this game.

2 • 9 years ago

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"On the House" has giving me 11 games already...welcome the 12th.

> Bejeweled 3, Red Alert 2 and Yuri's Revenge, Most Wanted, Jade Empire - Special Edition, Plants vs Zombies: GOTY, Sim City 2000 - Special Edition, The Sims 2 - Ultimate Edition, Syndicate and Theme Hospital

I have to congratulate EA for not giving basic versions of their games, but rather GOTYs, Special Editions and Ultimate Editions. I still haven't actually spend money on their service though...

Upvote • 9 years ago

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I don't play enough EA games to justify EA Access for myself.

I do like the On the House program. I got Dead Space, PvZ:GW, and Jade Empire from this program. As well as some other games. My PC can't even run Need for Speed yet, but now I've got it for when I upgrade.

It's kinda like PS+ and XBLGwG except there is no subscription needed and these don't come out monthly. All you need is a free Origin account and the Origin client.

Works for me. I can fill up my backlog of games with some free games.

3 • 9 years ago

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Edited By normanislost

@Hvac0120: it's not an EA access thing, this is just a free for having origin

Upvote • 9 years ago

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@normanislost: I thought I made that clear in my comment when I said "All you need is a free Origin account and the Origin client."

Upvote • 9 years ago

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Still waiting for Fifa 16 on EA Access.

Upvote • 9 years ago

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deactivated-60b838d2a137f

I remember this game being alright, gets very repetitive later in the campaign though, but it was a decent WW2 shooter, nice to see the Japanese theater for a change... now more than 10 years later this is still one of the only games to have a SP campaign in this setting. I don't think it'll hold up well today though... even as a freebie, I don't see many people putting the time in to play this, but hey, I can't exactly diss EA for giving something away free!

If you're really itching for a new WW2 game and haven't played this it may be worth a shot, it's sprinkled with some interesting historical facts as well.

Upvote • 9 years ago

loqma73bd53bsia

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loqma73bd53bsia

"While On the House titles are completely free for all Origin users"

Interesting. I open Origin. I go to Free Games..On The House. I see Medal Of Honour - Pacific Assault. I click it. and it wants $9.99

Hell i guess im not an Origin user!

Upvote • 9 years ago

loqma73bd53bsia

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loqma73bd53bsia

@loqma73bd53bsia: oh fudge nevermind. it says coming soon. guess its not out yet. maybe one of these years EA.

Upvote • 9 years ago

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@loqma73bd53bsia: yea maybe you could be sure before judging...

2 • 9 years ago

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Edited By Rahn1908

So they 're giving a 13 year old game for free?!!11!111!!! Wow..... The generosity......

3 • 9 years ago

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@Rahn1908: Its Free .. and its Good !!

4 • 9 years ago

monkeypukefight

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monkeypukefight

@ltjohnnyrico: do you have to pay a subscription fee to get this? Or Just an origin account?

2 • 9 years ago

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@monkeypukefight: I believe it has already been answered but I would feel rude not replying. No you don't need to pay a subscription. I believe that is the Access service .. for this you just need an account.

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deactivated-60b838d2a137f

@monkeypukefight: Just a free Origin account.

4 • 9 years ago

monkeypukefight

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monkeypukefight

@nl_skipper: sweet, i have one so i guess i'll download it when it comes out...

Don't know Why anyone would complain about that.

2 • 9 years ago

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@monkeypukefight: Because they're likely steam fanboys or very anti-EA, even if EA does something right they'll still hate on 'em.

2 • 9 years ago

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I'm still waiting on the next Xbox One game to join the vault. Come on NHL 16! I'm not buying it no matter how long it takes.

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Edited By BeefoTheBold

This isn't in any way managing to change my view that Origin is totally not worth it.

You can understand why EA, Ubisoft, Microsoft, etc. want their hosting platform to take off and do well. It's a definite money maker. But most people have big libraries of games on Steam by this time. It's convenient. It's non-intrusive. It doesn't have a history and a lingering stench of evil like some of its competitors.

On The House is intended to give people incentive to make people use Origin regularly by giving them free games and soften attitudes that it's a program that they WANT to use instead of being required to use like they've been made to in the past. But, unfortunately, it's a long, long way from clearing that bar for me personally and a 12 year old game being free doesn't move the needle a whole lot.

4 • 9 years ago

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Edited By deactivated-60b838d2a137f

@BeefoTheBold: Origin not worth it...? Not worth what exactly..? The 12 seconds and 8 mb is takes to install...? I mean it's essentially the same thing as Steam, it's convenient, non-intrusive, and it's actually more of a pleasure to browse EA's store than it is Steam these days (a hard thing to admit), since Valve just decided to turn a blind eye to quality control, the Steam store is a damn mess these days.

If you're willing to use Steam, you should feel the same about Origin, don't let your personal bias of EA ruin your perception of a platform that's essentially identical to Steam... it's not like people use Steam by choice anymore either, it's forced on you for most games.

3 • 9 years ago

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@BeefoTheBold: I for one am glad Origin exists-- because I doubt I'd be enjoying Steam refunds if it wasn't for EA pushing that bar.

What do we learn here? Stop being a fanboy to one platform; competition is good for the consumer.

Most of my games are on Steam, in fact 500+, but that doesn't make me think it deserves to be the only platform out there.

Origin is no less intrusive than Steam, and neither is Uplay (though I'd agree that for single-player games there's no need to have Uplay launch when bought from Steam-- but that is such small fish). It's no less intrusive because EXACTLY like Steam they all have overlays - which can be completely disabled.

Let's just go through this immense inconvenience shall we? Exit Steam, double click Origin. Hmm, yes, I can see how much of a headache that is. How about GoG? Exit Steam, double click GoG. Well, uhum, seriously major work to do there. How about Uplay? Exit Steam, double click Uplay.

Perhaps it's when you first load Windows? Let's see. Double click Origin instead of double click Steam.

So many people, including my brother, come out with this comical, this laughable defence of being simply a Steam fanboy. Here's something that will blow your mind: I actually think Steam is better, as it has more features, and is the default choice for any game with mod support. However, I can contain this in my mind and also understand the purpose of other platforms. You DO NOT want Steam to be the only game in town, you may think you do, but you don't.

4 • 9 years ago

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@billzihang:

You kind of breezed past the massive history of the non-Steam platforms (GoG aside) being buggy spyware.

http://www.cinemablend.com/games/EA-Says-Origin-Isn-t-Spyware-Although-It-Does-Scan-Your-Entire-PC-36690.html

more recently

http://wccftech.com/ea-spying-file-snooping-origin-client-investigation/

Which is what I meant by "lingering stench of evil". I'm not a fanboy and have nothing against companies wanting to try and compete with Steam. I was merely pointing out the barriers to entry and the lack of value that most of them face and how it objectively makes it worse for the customer in many cases.

What's wrong with Ubisoft games just being on Steam? Why should I be forced to have it on Uplay instead of Steam? Why should I HAVE to research whether or not there are problems or issues with Uplay? What ADDITIONAL VALUE does Uplay offer to ME the CONSUMER to make up for the convenience of just being able to have it on Steam? Or, if it DOES allow me to have it on Steam, the additional use of CPU resource and additional possibilities of conflicts that require Uplay to launch in addition to Steam if I have it on Steam?

To repeat: if somebody wants to make a REAL play on putting together something that is better than Steam and actually gives more value, then yes please! But more often than not, these other platforms are great for that individual publisher, but for the consumer all it does is require you to have another client/program on your computer, make your game management less convenient by spreading your games across multiple platforms, and does not add much to the end user experience.

2 • 9 years ago

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Edited By Billzihang

@BeefoTheBold: Update: A slight clarification on my part. The screenshot only proves that the origin client is actively looking at the list of the programs recently run. Basically it shows that origin is aware of the files you have on your PC (that have been run).Read more: http://wccftech.com/ea-spying-file-snooping-origin-client-investigation/#ixzz43B65cLbn

Nvidia Control Panel does this. OMFG SPYWARE!!

For ****'s sake you tin foil hat loons, it gathers information relevant to running games and EA software.

Just what benefit would it be of them to crack into your private folder and download all your secret images of you fucking Farmer Jonas' goats last time you went to camp on his farm?

There are plenty of reasons to criticise companies and governments, but to think that a game company is up to some sinister evil plot to steal your identity is right up there with believing we faked the Moon landings. You believe that as well?

By all means say you don't like the other platform. See, this isn't what I have a problem with; it's people spouting mindless dribble. You are quite free to not use those other programmes, but you cross a line when you 'justify' your dislike with bullshit.

3 • 9 years ago

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@billzihang:

In this day an age privacy is a hot topic and a sensitive one at that. Doing something unethical will get you called out quick, and gathering trend and marketing data falls into that category.

Battle.net client only looks up for games in the default directory, if it is not located then you can manually give it the directory or manually search the drive.

Abusing the UserAssist functionality that was in Windows Vista was extremely shady. Which mind you gives you the ability to basically extract all running executables on the system with time stamps and how many times they were run. That is a violation of privacy on all accounts no matter how unimportant that information seems to you.

Upvote • 9 years ago

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@BeefoTheBold

I think this whole discussion is irrelevant. The whole point of Origin is so that they can manage EA titles , sales , game updates and multiplayer for their bigger titles i.e BF4 , BF Hardline etc etc while gaining the ability to advertise their own titles and potentially gain additional sales via the platform(shown by the extensive EA game ads and "Buy Now" links on the homepage once you login).

In order for Origin to compete with Steam they would have to directly enter the retail business which they have showed no incentive of doing, and in addition to this from a technical standpoint for multiplayer functionality it is much easier to integrate with a pre-existing framework.

Another similar example to this would be the Battle.net client, which has exactly the same purpose. Both Origin and Battle.net have existed for years and with two large corporations in Activision-Blizzard and EA behind them I am positive that if they wanted to compete with Steam they would have done that along time ago but that is not the case.

In the case of GoG is a much younger platform but decided to fill a niche market that Steam didn't cover with classic games and that did get them market share and a dedicated following. Now they are trying to grow and compete as depicted by the GoG galaxy presentation they had last year.

3 • 9 years ago

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@SiNoNaX:

Yeah, that's a reasonable interpretation. EA's game library, by itself, just isn't big enough to fill the Steam or even GoG role. As big as they are, they're still only one publisher.

Which is why I find the thought of having to have Origin on my computer for no other reason than be advertised to a bit annoying. The other stuff, sales, game updates, etc. could just as easily be done via the already existing Steam client.

That's why I, ultimately, think that Origin and it's equivalents like Uplay are a value for the COMPANY but not for the CONSUMER but feel differently about GoG. It's largely filling a space that Steam wasn't already doing in a lot of ways and the company behind it has been pretty customer friendly in the past and therefore inspires a bit more trust.

Upvote • 9 years ago

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@BeefoTheBold:

Exactly it doesn't provide any value to the consumer , unfortunately EA probably does not want to have to deal with Steams terms of use , other requirements and even providing a share of sales (I am assuming there definitely has to be something of that nature behind the scene). That could be a primary reason they created the platform in the first place. Giving Steam even 5% from all sales would translate into massive amounts of money and definitely much more money than the cost of developing the origin platform. So due to this we sadly will have to deal with multiple platforms.

I personally don't bother with any platform other than Steam which plays an important role in my decision to buy a game, if it is non-steam than it better be damn good.

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Edited By BeefoTheBold

@billzihang:

Oh noes! My opinion "crosses a line"!

Your argument is that Origin is only MILD spyware. It only looks at some of the stuff it shouldn't be...like the list of what programs you're been running recently. How, exactly, is that relevant to running games and EA software?

Answer: It isn't. There's no legitimate reason for EA to need to know that. You can at least make the argument that Nvidia needs to know that in order to be able to prioritize which games they optimize their drivers for. Games that more of their customers own and use are higher up the list sort of thing. But there's no reason why EA needs to know that I played Assassin's Creed: Black Flag.

Nice strawman on the "do I think EA is trying to steal my identity". No, I never said that. I never even remotely IMPLIED that. I stated

1. That their client was looking at information that they had no legit reason to need to access

2. That their client does not ADD VALUE beyond what the already existing and far more popular Steam client already does, and therefore there's no incentive to use it.

What was it you were saying about using bullshit to justify your dislike again? Please...do elaborate. Because it's hilarious.

Upvote • 9 years ago

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@BeefoTheBold: Bullshit as in what you clearly state instantly:

"Oh noes! My opinion "crosses a line"!" Just how much clearer to I need to make it that opinion isn't in question here? This has got nothing to do with your liking of the platform or not.

Nice how you conveniently ignore what I said about Nvidia Control Panel doing the same? How exactly does it know how to populate the individual game settings, because they magically pop up as add-able after I launch and exit any given fullscreen game. SPYWARE!!

How many programmes magically know that you have software that belongs to them. "XX Install detected." This is nothing new; and to call it spyware is paranoia. You have no sense of proportion, it just isn't at all 'spyware' when a gaming platform searches the disk for relevant files. They all do it. Years ago with manual patches, you'd download and launch it, and wow "Game version 1.05 detected in C:\Diablo 2" My God, spyware.

Upvote • 9 years ago

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@billzihang:

"Nice how you conveniently ignore what I said about Nvidia Control Panel doing the same?"

>Post you're responding to states:

"Answer: It isn't. There's no legitimate reason for EA to need to know that. You can at least make the argument that Nvidia needs to know that in order to be able to prioritize which games they optimize their drivers for. Games that more of their customers own and use are higher up the list sort of thing. But there's no reason why EA needs to know that I played Assassin's Creed: Black Flag."

Clearly I'm the person who is "ignoring" what the person I am debating with wrote. I answered your point that Nvidia has a legitimate customer serving interest to know what other programs you're running: to be able to prioritize and optimize drivers for the games most popular among their customers.

The issue is Origin searching out programs that have no relevance to what it needs to do dude. Please try and grasp that point. It finds out the list of ALL recently run programs with no legitimate need to know that information.

Microsoft DirecX upgrades checking for previously installed version is a LEGITIMATE need of the program. EA Origin checking for all of your recently run programs has no CUSTOMER SERVING purpose.

Upvote • 9 years ago

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@BeefoTheBold: Ok, then I will concede that point. I'll meet you half way.

I believe though there are settings in the menus that let you disable that, but at the very worst it's just companies wanting to know the kind of things you want to buy from them. Yes, you should be able to disable it, and I believe the 'Share System Interaction Data' is that option. It's just you see a lot of things ask you "Would you like to enable us to better improve your experience by collecting relevant information" kind of company shite.

The main difference with spyware is the fact that it completely installs without your knowledge, and it can only be removed forcefully, and there is no level of interaction with it.

The truth is Origin does have a disclaimer, it can be uninstalled, and there is apparently options to stop it collecting this information (if it does actually collect it). You can't even stop proper spyware from running at all.

This isn't a defence of Origin exactly, it's more just nailing down the proportionality of it all. EA have a mostly deserved bad reputation as it is, and this is just perhaps the tiniest slice of that cake, rather than a "lingering stench of evil".

I really think there is a very big difference between the two. It's like Windows 10, it's just a minor annoyance, and you can turn it off in the menus.

I did actually miss the NVCP thing, I wouldn't deliberately avoid a point like that.

Upvote • 9 years ago

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@billzihang:

Fair enough!

I understand that the word "Spyware" has some very negative connotations and I'm not trying to equate Origin to far more malicious forms. I think Windows 10 is a good analogy.

But the overall point that I was trying to make that things like Origin (and others like Uplay) have not yet done a whole lot to establish themselves as a good customer value vs. a good value for EA (and other companies).

That's what I was attempting to say earlier with my comments about how its essentially something that benefits EA, but doesn't do much for the customer besides advertise to them, force them to have another program on their computer, and split up their game library (thus making it harder to manage) and it is from a company that has a troublesome past.

I truly am not anti-competition. I use GoG quite a bit and don't rest having to have it in addition to Steam because A) I feel like it isn't a complete duplicate of Steam. It provides a different library of titles whereas the only reason for EA games not to be on Steam is just to push Origin. B) It updates games to work on modern operating systems that might otherwise be a major pain and C) The company connected to it just doesn't have some of the troublesome history that others do.

Admittedly the third point is YMMV and has some bias built in, but I do think it's pertinent. Sometimes I get bit carried away with my language, but I don't think it is a stretch to say that some of the companies in the industry have a troubling history that needs to be taken into account.

Upvote • 9 years ago

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deactivated-60b838d2a137f

@BeefoTheBold: You should probably just stop using the internet if you're this paranoid about a bit of data collection...

3 • 9 years ago

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@BeefoTheBold: I see what you mean, but it's still a free game, so you might as well claim it. With a price like that, you can't really complain.

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@DeadrisingX1:

True enough there! :)

Upvote • 9 years ago

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Nice!

2 • 9 years ago

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I remember playing a lot of this game back in the day, it's a good mix of classic call of duty's storytelling and a healthy mix of brothers in arms squad mechanics. Looking forward to downloading it since one of my install disks is busted beyond repair.

3 • 9 years ago

Use your keyboard!

ESC

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