Review: Medal of Honor: Airborne – Jump into the thickest fighting

Mike Bantick
Friday, 28 September 2007 15:43

Opinion and Analysis

Electronic Arts have resurrected the Medal of Honor franchise with a rush and breath of fresh air as players leap from not-so perfect planes and into the WWII action once again.

Whilst rival franchise Call of Duty ditches the World War II arena to explore the modern arena of warfare, EA’s Medal of Honor has stuck to its 1940’s roots.

	Developer	EA
	Publisher	EA
	Rating	M
PC, PS3, Reviewed on Xbox 360

After a string of lack lustre titles that blurred into each other, and along side other companies attempts to bring the last major global conflict into living rooms, EA have given MOH:A a gimmick that works for the relatively short period that is the campaign.

Taking the major European theatres towards the end of WWII, MOH: A sees players jump into the action controlling Travis as he parachutes through the skies above the war-torn battlefield. 

Each mission begins with a briefing, importantly laying out the objective areas and the necessary safe drop zones.  Then it is into the plane with Travis’s 101st Airborne buddies.

Each mission consists of a number of objectives, that, with the drop in style of mission start feels very open and up to the player how to tackle. 

Within reason this is the case, though the reality is that each mission area consists of a number of sectors, many indoors, that can only be tackled one way.  This nullifies the parachute drop gimmick to some degree.

Apart from some minor AI glitches, mostly on the friendly front, the run and gun play is satisfying in recreating the chaos, noise and to some extent the fear of battle.  Landing in the midst of the enemy and subsequently being blasted, is a sobering experience.

The aforementioned AI glitches consist of computer controlled characters getting stuck on the terrain.

MOH: A consists mainly of infantry battles, with limited variation of weapons and vehicle combat.  This can become somewhat routine over the course of the campaign, but the different locations add colour.  Level design is also well thought out, giving a pacing that keeps the action fresh with challenge.

In Fact, the single player part of MOH: A is indeed a challenge, this is necessary, as the campaign is not lengthy.  With Challenge drop zones to be found whilst on foot, it is obvious the designers believed the game would be difficult as well.  These Challenge zones can only be “landed” upon during a subsequent jump into the mission after a death.

The clatter of weapons, the language of soldiers and the gritty detailed (although not destructible) battlefields do a great job of atmosphere development, as do the polished presentation during mission briefings.

Call of Duty 3 was a console only triumph of WWII game-play, but having moved on to modern combat, this leaves Medal of Honor: Airborne as the choice of would-be GI’s everywhere. 

The Drop Zone gimmick works, the multiplayer is adequate and the pace is spot on, happy Nazi busting.