Medal of Honor doesn’t single-handedly define the first person genre. Nor does it introduce some radically new idea or change the way we look at games in general. But rather, like Call of Duty, it also broke away from its WWII roots and reboots in a modern setting. In many ways, it’s just like the other ‘modern warfare’ shooters that are already on the market. So why even get it? Because, it does what it does very well, and it’s also pretty damn fun.
The story takes place in Afghanistan over a two day period during Operation Enduring Freedom. During that time, you’ll switch, with fairly equal playtimes, between a SEAL, Army Ranger, and “Tier One Operator”, with an Apache helicopter mission thrown in for flavor. The campaign does a good job of being believable. Soldiers interact with a sense of camaraderie, and converse with accurate force-specific jargon. Equally realistic objectives and scenarios are also within the campaign, mirroring the kind of operations these men would undergo in real life. The influence of the military sources that were used in the creation of the game are apparent. It’s also worth mentioning that the frame rate does drop significantly when the action gets really frantic, but it’s not game breaking.
The controls are the same as MW2, at least on the consoles, so if you’re coming from that game you won’t get that sense of ‘controller shock’ that can occur with other titles. You’ll receive the standard assortment of weaponry found in any other game of this kind: assault rifles, shotguns, pistols, etc. The ever present one hit kill knife is also in the game, and is as satisfying as ever. The Apache segment is on-rails, and you only control the weapons. This works fine, however, as it’s more fun to shoot at targets without worrying about piloting as well.
Multiplayer is a much different game compared to single player, having been developed by Battlefield creator DICE. Much like Battlefield, there are different classes to choose from and weapons to unlock, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end. The maximum number of players for each team is 12, players can’t form into squads, and maps are relatively small, making CQB a common occurrence. Damage from weapons is also greater, so death is much more common. It’s fast and frantic, and it’ll be sure to tide you over until Black Ops comes out next month.
Overall, Medal of Honor doesn’t offer much that hasn’t already been seen, nonetheless it’s a solid game. I highly recommend it.
-Tactical FanBoy
