Defence Secretary demands MOH ban

Defence Secretary Liam Fox has demanded shops refuse to sell EA's Afghanistan first-person shooter Medal of Honor because it allows players to kill British troops as the Taliban.

"It's shocking that someone would think it acceptable to recreate the acts of the Taliban," Fox said.

"At the hands of the Taliban, children have lost fathers and wives have lost husbands.

"I am disgusted and angry. It's hard to believe any citizen of our country would wish to buy such a thoroughly un-British game. I would urge retailers to show their support for our armed forces and ban this tasteless product."

A spokeswoman for EA told the Sunday Times: "The format of the new Medal of Honor game merely reflects the fact that every conflict has two sides.

"We give gamers the opportunity to play both sides. Most of us have been doing this since we were seven: someone plays the cop, someone must be robber.

"In Medal of Honor multiplayer, someone's got to be the Taliban."

Earlier this month DICE, the Swedish developer behind the multiplayer portion in question, defended the decision to allow gamers to play as Taliban soldiers, saying: "It's a game."

"I think it is a fair point," said producer Patrick Liu when asked whether statements saying that gamers will feel uneasy playing as Taliban soldiers are fair.

"We do stir up some feelings, although it's not about the war, it's about the soldiers.

"We can't get away from what the setting is and who the factions are, but in the end, it's a game, so we're not pushing or provoking too hard."

Medal of Honor will be released on 15th October for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.