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Since enjoying the PC demo of Medal of Honor,
I was so looking forward to this console equivalent as you set off on 19 levels
starting with the D-Day landings in Normandy on June 6th, 1944.
The PC version, subtitled "Allied Assault", had crisp clear graphics and A.I.
to rival most first-person shooters on the market. I expected the same of the
Xbox version, subtitled "Frontline", given that it has high capabilities, which
were superbly seen on the recent
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin.
At first I was so impressed as I looked around the boat I was on, heading for
the beach. However, the simplicity of my first task did disappoint somewhat.
There are four men trapped in tight spots that require you to shoot at the
enemy in the bunker, in turn. However, shooting away and capping them after
3 or 4 shots does seem rather unrealistic, especially once you've had chance
to test out the atillery they're using in later levels.
The second level was reasonable. Infiltrate an enemy bunker underground, blow
each of them away and make your way to the top before you drop a charge and
then get out of there. Then things began to take a turn for the worse as I
played the next few levels.
Firstly, the gameplay is too linear. You do expect this with certain kinds of
game but this game follows this path too rigidly. When you see a town square
with plenty of available exits and stairwells you expect to be able to investigate
but the stairs are always blocked and there's way too much of "this door will
not open". And why would the enemy stand next to barrels just shouting "Shoot
me and I'll explode"?
There's also not enough to do in some levels. On one of the PC levels I was really
up against it as enemy men piled down some stairs, each to take a shot at me.
Here, there's only a handful which are easy to blow away and when you do take
aim and fire - where's the blood??
Similarly, the graphics lack detail when getting too close. Everything looks
fine when you're running about but I noticed this problem as I started investigating
the scenery, hoping I could go through some of the doors on the level.
There's no major problems with the sound, but all the best effects seem to happen
at the start of the game.
Definitely a 'could do better' game. It's excellent at first, but soon gets
repetitive. Unless the full version on the PC is better, you'd be best
going for
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
on that platform.
Update: A couple more levels in and things are improving, but it's still
a case of 'try before you buy' with a rental.
GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ENJOYMENT
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
The second level was reasonable. Infiltrate an enemy bunker underground, blow
each of them away and make your way to the top before you drop a charge and
then get out of there. Then things began to take a turn for the worse as I
played the next few levels.
Similarly, the graphics lack detail when getting too close. Everything looks
fine when you're running about but I noticed this problem as I started investigating
the scenery, hoping I could go through some of the doors on the level.
