Medal of Honour
Worth a shot?
Review For all the pre-release controversy surrounding Medal of Honour, EA's contemporary world shooter is surprisingly understated.
The controversy that players would be able to "recreate the acts of the Taliban" was, like most other videogame controversies, founded on rumour and speculation. Served up by credulous politicians and journalists for consumption by an even more credulous army of virtuous curtain twitchers, it was defused by EA's eleventh-hour decision to rename playable Taliban fighters as "Opposing Forces".
Come on in, the gang's all here
Politicians and journalists placated, EA was able to ship the game with only nominal changes to multiplayer menus. But it doesn't take a genius to work out who you're fighting as, as you and your kaftan-wearing, bearded compatriots run around the snow-capped mountains of Afghanistan's Hindu Kush shooting US service personnel with RPGs and AK-47s.
Contrary to the hullabaloo, the real danger of MoH's currency was never that it would trivialise the sacrifice of 'our boys', but that it would trivialise the highly contentious War on Terror itself. And on that point, MoH at times skirts worryingly close to propaganda.
Set just a few months after 9/11, the fervent patriotism and righteousness of MoH's early levels is understandable. But seen through the lens of the near decade-long quagmire it feels uncomfortably naïve.
Shotgun owners are so rude: one cock and they blow
Fortunately, focus quickly shifts from this early dose of flag-waving to stories of individual soldier heroism, better balancing reverence for their sacrifice without unnecessary demonisation of the enemy. The narrative and level structure intertwines the actions of Navy Seals, Delta Force and Army Rangers into a convincing account of US Advanced Force Operations, where a mix of intelligence gathering, reconnaissance and heavy fire support affords distinct variety to gameplay.
Next page: The enemy is brainless
COMMENTS
No prone?
Why do developers persist in having "realistic" fps games you can't lie down in?! I mean maybe you wouldn't expect Duke Nuke 'em ever to be seen lying down (although tbh I've not read whether that feature is in the game) but surely it's ridiculous to not be able to hit the deck here?
So why am I still playing WAW
when I had Modern Warfare and traded it in? ZOMBIES! And Black Ops haz them!
Zombies > Everything else in the history of the world!
Should have reviewed the PS3 version
It's considerably better. Better textures and lighting, much less tearing and pop-in that the Xbox version suffers from.
The PS3 version also includes Medal Of Honour Frontline from the PS1 era, included on the disc, with HD graphics and trophies...
Loving the PS3 version
with the extra content and better graphics. 9/10 here.
But no WWI FPS games?
I, for one, thought it was kind of cool in COD to take part in the Normandy invasion.
I think, however; there's a huge opportunity being lost. Korea may be America's forgotten war, but even Korea may have had a video game ascribed to it (MASH)
However; where are the FPS games for WWI? And, no, I don't mean WWI flying games (something entirely different.)
A well placed and timed grenade always livens things up...
