Medal of Honor Rising Sun

"Just another WW II game?"

Yes that's right, the gaming community hasn't had enough World War II games, so let's try one more, but is this just a poor rip-off of a WW II game? Or a whole game in it's own. In MOH: Rising Sun, you play as Joseph Griffin, a marine stationed in Hawaii at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The thing about this game is that you are thrown right into the action. No menus that ask you questions, the game just starts. And it starts with a bang. The first level of this game involves you escaping a ship that has just been attacked. After the first two levels of non-stop action, the game begins to slow down. You venture to many places meeting new people along the way, killing the Japanese soldiers, stealing the uniforms off generals, jumping into turrets, and riding on elephants. That's right, you ride on an elephant with a turret mounted on its back.

Graphics/Sound: The graphics aren't too great in this game, however at certain points in the game they really do look nice, such as all the pretty jungle environments. Other times, such as one level that it is set at night, you will wonder what the hell is going on as you get shot because you can't see any of the enemy soldiers. The people look decent, nothing special. The music is nice, setting the scene for some action, and sound effects aren't bad either. Voice overs sound very good, getting all of the Japanese language in there. You even here a thud when you smack people with your gun! 7/10

Game-play: Ah yes, the ever important part of anyone's review. This was the first FPS that I owned, but not the first I had played. I had little to judge game-play by, but from what I could judge, it was pretty damn good. The controls move like they should, your gun doesn't start moving on its own when you're sniping or shooting. The game never lags or slows down in any way, a plus. And yes, you get to ride on an elephant, which is always cool. There are a variety of guns, just waiting to be shot: automatics for that crazy person willing to shoot everything that moves, and precision rifles for the sharpshooter. 9/10

Playtime and Re-playability: The game isn't very long, probably around 8-10 hours on single player. Co-op is even shorter, I beat it with my friend in 2-3 hours. But single player and co-op isn't why I keep going back to this game, the multiplayer is. For most Gamecube owners, online play is a dream. Multiplayer on MOH: Rising Sun gives you a simulation of an online game. The greatest number of soldiers on the battlefield at one time can be 8. 4 humans and 4 computers. Everyone on your team will have a little flag above their head, either an Allie flag, or a Japanese flag, depending which side you take. Names appear above enemies and allies, so you can see who's who. Sounds just a bit like online play. The multiplayer has kept my friends and I going for hours on end, and then we went back to it a week later. Yes, it is that fun. 8/10

This is a good game, but not the best out there. The multiplayer is fun, the single player is fun, and co-op is fun, though short. If you can let that and the poor graphics go, you will have a lot of fun with MOH: Rising Sun. My final score for Medal of Honor: Rising sun is an 8 out of 10.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/03/05