Medal of Honor is a game that I value, having so many fond memories of it as a child. I was slightly apprehensive towards the new game upon its announcement because, frankly, I considered the series to be dead and buried, never to return after the success of other such first person shooters. But with the power of voodoo magic it seems the series has been resurrected.
The latest game in the series has had to endure a three year wait in the bunkers before its release and new developer Danger Close have certainly done a fine job with the time they were given. Medal Of Honor delivers a fresh look on an otherwise stagnated genre and makes itself stand out, delivering a compelling story, inspired by and developed with actual Tier 1 Operators.
The campaign is told from the perspective of four different characters; Deuce, Rabbit, Hawk and Adams. Each role has an important part to play in the unraveling of this war story. Each loveable soldier brings a unique skill set to the front lines with a contrasting combination of stealth and overwhelming brute force.
Each character is incredibly relatable and brings something unique to the table
It’s not unpredictable but has plenty of surprises around the corner nonetheless. There are plenty of situations when it looks like all hope is lost and every so often somebody will crack a joke or two, which will genuinely make you laugh (“that was pretty fucking ninja” for example).
There is no lack of tension and the time passes quickly without ever giving the feeling that you’ve been short changed. Medal Of Honor is paced so that it balances the in game cinematography and cutscenes perfectly with gameplay. It was quite gratifying to see a first person shooter where so much love and care has obviously gone into the development of the narrative; it stays really authentic throughout.
This title is well written and the voice acting melds magnificently with the script. In fact the sound design shines as one of MOH’s best aspects. The developers have gone to great lengths to record actual gunfire and vehicle sounds on location. This focus on authenticity helps generate an authentic war-zone atmosphere and amps up the immersive gameplay. There are even a few original rock songs which kick in while you’re kicking ass. Everything gels well to create a game which is hard to put down, until its disappointing but hopeful ending.
It’s relieving to see Medal of Honor’s single player campaign is most importantly not “hollywood” its a short lived journey with a persistent feeling you’re fighting a losing battle. The dev team wanted to tell an authentic story and they have achieved it wonderfully, their dedication is impressive.
Medal of Honor doesn't have to rely on epic set pieces. It's focus on authenticity makes it stand out from the crowd
Sadly the game’s visuals are less impressive. They’re not exactly terrible, however they are just a little sub par. Despite this, the environments remain realistic, seeing you raise hell in the Helmand Valley to the city ruins of Kabul. The variation in the environments captures interest, from snowy mountains to vast desert fields, small villages to labyrinthine city streets. However it can be hard to distinguish a Taliban from a Caravan at some points.
Speaking of the enemies, they’re not the brightest AIs in the terrorist bunch. It wasn’t hard for me to flank behind them and surgically remove the upper spinal column with a few well placed bullets; most of the time the bad guys will hardly even notice that you’re there.
Your teammates on the other hand are a well oiled military unit who can handle themselves in any given situation. The character models are genuinely very cool to look at and each one of you war buddies portrays a unique persona. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for the Taliban, who enthusiastically re-spawn wearing the same outfits over and over again, only to be ventilated again and again with the same rib tickling death animations.
As for the combat gameplay, it feels very tactile and there is no loss of satisfaction when killing your relentless opponents repeatedly, especially with the pleasurable touch of achievements. There is a robust sense that everyone is doing their bit to fight the good fight, whether you’re playing as the surgical Tier 1 elites, or the overwhelming force of the U.S Army rangers. You feel part of a team and it contributes nicely towards the games replayability.
The sense of immersion is impressive. You really feel part of a team that's all fighting for the same cause, which is incredibly uplifting
I know you’re dying to hear about the weapons and I have got to say they are a little disappointing. Somehow there just isn’t enough gun porn! Each new chapter of the story presents you with a new toy to play with, weather that be a Barret 50.cal, UMP.45 or even some high powered ordinance. The problem is that the game isn’t difficult without them. In fact I’m sure I could have done the entire campaign using nothing but my 9mm sidearm. All the weapons seem to have minimal recoil, which I found odd. Having said that, the lack of variety in weapons ultimately boils down to the game’s authenticity.
If you are as trigger happy as I am, you will doubtlessly run out of ammo frequently. Thankfully your buddies will always be on hand to graciously dish out another magazine, and the ground is littered with AK-47s. This leads me on nicely to the difficulty curve; in actuality its more of a difficulty slope. The game is easy to pick up and play, but good design choices mean that frequent deaths don’t dissociate you from the story arc. The lack of loading screens helps tremendously, these have been replaced by cutscenes which are all skippable (should you so wish) meaning you can get back in to action quickly.
You may remember during Gamescom 2010, a demo was shown for the helicopter stage of the new game. During the helicopter stage you basically have to shoot anything that moves will Hellfire missiles, it wasn’t particularly mind blowing but it looked fun. This feeling can be applied to the whole Medal Of Honour experience. In a later mission there’s the opportunity to take control of a Quad Bike (which doesn’t score any points for manoeuvrability) but that’s about the extent of the rail shooter vehicle riding portions of the game. The sole purpose of these short joyrides is to provide a novel little segway into your next mission objective, while admiring the middle Eastern scenery.
The new Medal of Honor doesn’t quite provide an epic tale to be told throughout the ages, and depending on how you play MOH’s campaign, the completion time is around 5-6 hours. It can get emotional towards the end, especially after you have developed a sense of brotherhood with your team. If you really are pressed for time, you can pretty much speed run the entire game on hard mode with relative ease, but why would you want to do that when there is so much atmosphere to admire and absorb?
Keep your ears to the ground because a sequel is bound to be on its way.