Medal Of Honor Review
Developer: Danger Close
Publisher: EA
Once upon a time, The Medal Of Honor series was the premier shooter on consoles. Not unlike Call Of Duty, it learned its trade in World War 2. Whether you were taking down the Germans from the inside via an undercover mission, shooting up the streets, or sleuthing through the French sewers as part of the French resistance. Medal Of Honor was the place to go if you needed a shooter fix.
Fast forward to the present day, and the first person shooter (FPS) landscape is very different. Call Of Duty (CoD) has come along and sold more units than anyone could have dreamed of, with most shooters clambering over one another to emulate the franchise. Keen to take a slice of this considerably sized pie, EA decided to reboot the Medal Of Honor series and bring it into the present day.
Set in Afghanistan, Medal Of Honor (MoH) had caused a stir before it was even released. Gamers playing as the Taliban would be shooting and killing American soldiers. This led to the multiplayer enemies being renamed, comically as “opposing force”, changing nothing about the experience other than the name.
People willing to give the game a chance will probably find plenty to like. After the halfway stage the action steps up and becomes a lot of fun. Gamers will take control of special forces troops invading Taliban caves, before blowing the life out of the same caves in a helicopter gun ship. At times the story is interesting, and taking on the role of a soldier looking to rescue his team mate after he is captured by the enemy adds a dynamic to the game that it definitely benefits from.
The online experience of the game is also solid whilst unremarkable. Maps are designed fairly well and those accustomed to the online shooter will find a surprisingly enjoyable experience to be had. However it is not as good as the CoD series which follows a broadly similar path, making it unlikely to win many fans.
There were also periods of the single player campaign that were rendered unplayable because of game breaking glitches. Throughout my own playthrough of the game, I was forced to restart three different levels on multiple occasions because areas marked for attack had become impervious to my weapons. This would have been unacceptable during the years Medal Of Honor spent ahead of the pack, and are certainly unacceptable for a game in today’s market. Especially when it’s attempting to chase a game with such high production values as COD.
As a whole, Medal Of Honor isn’t a bad game; it’s just not really very good either. For those who really love the FPS genre, and are looking for a game to fill in some time, there are elements of the experience that are fun. However, the vast majority of the title is completely unremarkable and will leave many gamers felling cold. Every aspect of this game is done bigger and better by CoD, leaving very little reason for any person, other than the most hardened FPS fan, to pick this game up.
| Breakdown | Score |
| Graphics:Not ground breaking, but solid. Other FPS games in the same field may have the edge, but this isn’t far away. | 6/10 |
| Gameplay:When it works, it’s pretty good. The latter half of the game is better than the first half, but it’s short. The controls work well and are responsive. However there are some game breaking glitches that are unacceptable. | 5/10 |
| Story:After a slow start, it gets quite interesting. There are some exciting moments, however these are largely offset by a slow start. | 6/10 |
| Replayability:Multiplayer has been done better. The game is short and for the most part unremarkable. A few good moments do little to add to the experience. | 3/10 |
| Value For Money At:If you love FPS games, the you should probably take a look, but if Battlefield and CoD are enough to scratch your itch then there’s absolutely no reason to pick this up. | £15 |
| Overall:Were it not for the glitches, this would be a severely competent game. Unfortunately the glitches are there and cannot be ignored. There are fun moments but these are too few. | 5/10Average |
