Medal of Honor Airborne: Loses the plot when supernatural enemies
Airborne, the latest in the Medal of Honor World War 2 series, takes an attempt to do something new, parachuting into free open levels. This managed to be pulled off well enough to be enjoyable. The game has some shortcomings though, its length, graphics and unrealistic enemies.
You play as the mute character Boyd Travers, who is a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne division. At the beginning of each level Travers sits in the briefing room, to get a brief overview of his objectives for his mission. After the briefing is over you get to pick your weapons for the upcoming mission and you are given the choice to stay with recommended weapons for the level or pick your own.
There is a grand total of 6 levels for your to complete in campaign, don't freak out though, each level will last for 1 hour or over. So the game averages out to last about 8 hours.
Starting each level greets you with a quick scene just before you jump out of your aeroplane which is normally about to explode by the time you jump out. While you are falling, you can land almost anywhere on the level, you have the choice of safe areas, which are marked out by green smoke, or land anywhere else such as rooftops. You'll find if you choose to not land in the safe areas, you will probably die on your way down to your location or soon as you land from enemy gunfire. You will have to rely on a bit of trial and error to find your perfect landing spot. There are also Skill Drops, which are sometimes marked by a parachute or you have to find where they are in your travels on foot. But once you find them on the ground there is not much point to them, unless you die.
Once you are battling it out on the ground, it's up to you to decide where to go, there are usually many objectives to choose from. As nice as it is not to be linear, you'll find you will do some backtracking on your way to the next objective, once all your original objectives are complete, you usually get a "regroup at" objective which then leads onto a few linear objectives to finish each level.
About halfway through Airborne, the game severely ramps up its difficulty by introducing a new enemy; "Elites" These guys can kill you in about 1 second, they carry portable turrets and have perfect aim. They also take around a full clip of ammunition or a heap of grenades to take them down. They really wreck the game by introducing these unrealistic enemies into the game, especially when they have given you and other enemies' realistic health. It makes the later levels really difficult and not as enjoyable.
If you are the achievement grinder, picking your own weapons at the start may be the wisest choice, as each weapon you use gets experience for the more people you kill. Each weapon can be levelled up 3 times; these unlock an array of different weapon enhancements, such as, faster reload times, scopes and weapon attachments. Weapons also sound really authentic.
Using your weapons on the battlefield can sometimes be somewhat annoying. This game demands perfect accuracy. Looking down the weapons sights or scope can make hitting enemies a bit hard. Often you will miss your target, even though your aimer is directly on them, the same problems are even present with the sniper rifle which can really get on your nerves.
The game also uses a great peek system which has been missing from recent WW2 shooters, when you pull the left trigger; you look through the sights of your weapon. In this view you cannot move, but can crouch, lean, or go up on your feet. This is really handy when taking cover, you can quickly pop out the side of a crate and take one guy out and instantly go back to your position or you can duck even lower to make sure your out of harm's way.
The graphics in Airborne are just average, nothing here is revolutionary. The game manages to keep a very stable frame rate though, which is really appreciated. What's missing is destructible environments, nothing will move or break in an explosion or gunfire.
Airborne is a great World War 2 game that manages to hold its worth while having some issues.Medal of Honor Airborne: Loses the plot when supernatural enemies come to play.
