EA's new Medal of Honor game is the first in the series that is not set in the Second World War. (Courtesy EA)

Electronic Arts has given in to protests and pulled the ability to play as Taliban fighters from its upcoming Medal of Honor video game.

The game, which is being released for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on Oct. 12, is set in the early stages of the current Afghanistan conflict. It was to allow gamers to fight as Taliban against U.S. and allied troops in its online multiplayer mode, a feature that sparked criticism from some military officials and families of soldiers who have died in Afghanistan.

Critics said allowing people to play as the enemies in a current conflict would be insensitive to the families of soldiers who have died.

The Redwood City, Calif.-based company relented Friday and said it will cosmetically change the feature so that players will instead control generically named fighters.

"Because the heartbeat of Medal of Honor has always resided in the reverence for American and allied soldiers, we have decided to rename the opposing team in Medal of Honor multiplayer from Taliban to Opposing Force," executive producer Greg Goodrich said in a statement on the game's website.

"While this change should not directly affect gamers, as it does not fundamentally alter the gameplay, we are making this change for the men and women serving in the military and for the families of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice — this franchise will never wilfully disrespect, intentionally or otherwise, your memory and service."

Gamers were divided on the change. Some criticized the company for setting the game in a current conflict in the first place.

"I just do not feel right knowing I am buying a game about a current war going on to loin [sic] the pockets of EA executives with money," said one gamer in a Gamespot forum.

Others were critical of the company for backing down.

"What a contradiction of what this game means," wrote a gamer. "This whole time they were preaching about realism and they can't even say who the enemies are."

Many gamers also accused the media of practising a double standard. Films such as last year's The Hurt Locker — set during the conflict in Iraq — can win best-picture awards while video games dealing with similar topics evoke controversy.

EA president Frank Gibeau commented on that trend in August.

"At EA we passionately believe games are an art form, and I don’t know why films and books set in Afghanistan don’t get flak, yet [games] do," he told the Develop-Online website. "Whether it’s Red Badge Of Courage or The Hurt Locker, the media of its time can be a platform for the people who wish to tell their stories. Games are becoming that platform."

The new Medal of Honor game is a reboot of the long-running series, which was created by film director Steven Spielberg and saw its first release on the original PlayStation in 1999. All of the games in the series have taken place during the Second World War, with the new game representing the first time a new setting has been used.

The switch to using "Opposing Force" brings Medal of Honor closer to another successful war game franchise, Activision's Call of Duty. The most recent game in that series, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 — released a year ago — used fictional Middle Eastern characters in its multiplayer mode also named "OpFor."

Japan's Konami drew similar criticism last year over Six Days in Fallujah, a game it planned on developing in conjunction with Iraq war veterans. The company dropped plans for the game just over a month after announcing it.