Medal of Honor

"When it comes to WW2 shooters, it doesn't get any better then this."

Introduction:
This is one of the funnest games I have played, they mix realism, stealth, and over the top action in a perfect balance. It has an authentic feel, and is just an overall great game.

Story:

10/10

OK, I gave the story a ten because it fits the game. It has no super deep storyline, but the story it does have is enough to be interesting and have an authentic feel, while at the same time it doesn't feel like they're cramming a bunch of extra drama in where it is not needed. In this game you take on the role of Lt. Jimmy Patterson who has been hired as an agent for the OSS (Office of Strategic Services). You were supposed to have been in a downed plane behind enemy lines and made your way back to friendly territory, the OSS saw your skill and recruited you.


Gameplay:

10/10

The gameplay of this game is great, Some levels you can really take advantage of your stealth, for instance in one level you can beat the level only killing two guards in order to get their ID cards. In other levels, near the end there is some really over the top action, and in other levels you go around picking them off one or two at a time. So the game is believable, but packs a lot of action at the same time. It is possible to go through the game as a Rambo one man army type guy, but sometimes hard, and it really depends if you want to take advantage of the stealth factor or the Rambo factor. Though to get 3 stars you do need to eliminate all enemies in the level. The guns and explosions have power, you can be killed with one grenade or rocket, which is something some newer games lack, and guns have power too, like a chain gun will spray bullets in the direction you're aiming, but you cannot shoot in a perfect straight line like in some newer games, so weapons have recoil and do not lack power. And you can die in about 6-8 direct shots minimum, especially at close range, but if you are moving, and\or far away, it can take more then that, which gives it a good balance of action and strategy, there is no truly realistic shooter, just more and less, and this ones in the middle. There is also a lot of detail put into the hit detection reactions, if you shoot a guy in the arm he will grab his arm, in the foot and he will hop around (they might just kneel over in real life, but as I have never seen anyone get shot in the foot, I don't know), and there are a few other animations which show the great amount of detail they put into the game, I haven't seen that much detail in any of the new WW2 shooters I have played. The game has several missions, and each mission contains 3 or 4 levels usually, overall I guess there would be somewhere between 18 and 24 levels in the entire game. You also receive the briefing for each level in what looks like a hand written letter, and the briefing or wrap up for each mission in a slide show, this all adds to the authentic feel, plus medals you can earn for getting 3 stars on certain levels. There are some glitches, sometimes you can get stuck to a wall or ladder, usually you can get yourself off, but there might a time or two where you have to restart the level. Also, every now and then people will shoot through walls at you, but none of these things happen too often.


Controls:

7/10

The controls are a bit strange, you have to stop and aim a lot, especially if you want to get head shots. But I would expect there would be a certain amount of stopping and aiming in real life. With machine guns (Or any guns, but it works best with automatics) you can run along and plow down everyone in your path with chest shots. To hit them anywhere else you have to aim.

Graphics:

9/10

The graphics are not bad for it's time, they are better then many games for it's generation, but I have seen a few that have better graphics. Everything has a lot of detail, but do have kind of rough edges, and the guards heads are oddly shaped, but for it's time they are very good.

sound effects:

10/10

This game has excellent sound effects, they are realistic and add to the whole power factor of the guns and explosions that I was talking about earlier.

Music:

10/10

This game has a great sound track, it adds to the whole feel of the game, intense music for intense situations, a heroic dramatic theme for the game. It's all in all a great sound track.

Replay value:

8/10

Going back to earn all the medals and gold stars adds a lot of replay value, and just the sheer fun of playing through this game again gives it great replay value.

Overall I give this game a 9/10 It was almost perfect, with just some small control issues, and a few glitches here and there.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 02/27/08

Game Release: Medal of Honor (US, 10/31/99)