Game Review: Medal of Honor

The first Medal of Honor (MOD) was released on the PlayStation, 11 years ago. Since then, the most successful and enjoyable sequel in the franchise was Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, remembered for its recreation of the D-Day landing on Normandy beach. It was the Saving Private Ryan of games.

A few other sequels made their way to various platforms, but EA finally laid to rest the franchise with Medal of Honor: Airborne. Compared to the other war-themed games from the competition, it was lacking. And EA already had the Battlefield brand on which to build.

In the meantime, Activision had taken over the Call of Duty (COD) franchise. This was the brand competing with MOH and, funnily enough, COD started out with some of the same team members who helped develop the first few MOH games. Of course, many will now remember Call of Duty for its recent spinoff: Modern Warfare.

That's where EA is going with this reboot of the MOH franchise. It's set in a contemporary war scenario, with many parts of the campaign narrative inspired by the operation that led to the invasion of Afghanistan. Players take control of what EA marketers have called “a Tier 1 operator” - a kind of special forces soldier usually only read about in fiction novels.

EA says these same soldiers on which the game is based were used to advise during development. It's not clear if that paid off, though. The game feels less engrossing than Modern Warfare or Black Ops, the latest Call of Duty game.

Levels and gameplay are all... by the numbers. There are two really nice features not used in other console shooters. The first lets players rely on their AI squad mates to resupply ammo, rather than picking up the weapons of fallen enemies.

The other is a duck and lean system: simply hold the 'lean' button and use the left analogue stick (on consoles) to have analogue control over how far to lean left or right, or how far to pop out from cover when ducking. It's intuitive and a feature other games should really copy.

The game's narrative isn't made quite so clear. Yes, it's something about a war on terror and you're involved in a secret operation, but none of the levels or checkpoints really make the story feel important. It's also not helped by the quiet radio chatter from your squad, a problem compounded by the lack of on-screen direction for level objectives.

EA opted to have the entire online section of MOH designed by Dice, which is responsible for the Battlefield games. The single player campaign was put together by Danger Close. Two developers, two different games. One disc.

As a result, the multiplayer is a different kettle of fish altogether. It doesn't have the same feel, or game mechanics, as the campaign. In fact, it's just a cut down version of Battlefield Bad Company 2. Even then, it's not perfect.

Starting a multiplayer game sees you choose one of three classes, with a limited selection of weapons. Those weapons don't have any add-ons - these are unlocked as you level up - and you're basically going into battle with rifles that have no upgrades. Most of the players on the opposing team will trash you, using their upgraded weapons. It's frustrating.

Ultimately, Medal of Honor means well, but falls short. There are game-breaking bugs in the single player that some might not have encountered, but probably will. It's too linear and the game “feels” insubstantial. It was released too soon before Black Ops, the game most gamers will opt for this festive season.