Gritty realism
Written: Jan 13 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Lush outdoor scenery, very individual models, killer gameplay
Cons: Not quite as pretty as RTC Wolfenstein, the graphics occasionally get in the way
The Bottom Line: For just a demo, this has captivated me. It's pretty, fun and varied. The realism doesn't hurt the gameplay at all - it's excellent and believable.
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| demonica's Full Review: Medal of Honor: Allied Assault For Windows |
This review is based on the demo version of the game.
Two World War Two first-person shooters released very close together - Return to Castle Wolfenstein and Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. Both are excellent, but if you're looking for a realistic yet not too tortuous telling of the war, Medal of Honor is your best bet.
Two demos are available at the moment before the final version is released next month. The multiplayer game I shall look at later - first of all the single player mission.
You start off in a very rural location with your sergeant behind you. First thing I though was "Oh no, not another shoddy AI sidekick". I was mistaken - you will gain a fair few platoon members as you go along, and they all work brilliantly. They don't get in your way, and they help courageously with fighting the enemy.
You follow a relatively linear trail to find and destroy some experimental weapons. The scenery is beautiful when you're outdoors - luscious leafy trees, haggard roads, decimated hulks of buildings. It is slightly let down by the dull interiors of the buildings - drab wallpaper, unexciting furniture and little or no decoration. Then again, it is the forties, and the buildings are abandoned!
The shells of exploded vehicles litter your path - smoking and providing cover for the Axis soldiers to snipe at you. The volumetric smoke effect can get in the way of your aim - as can the leafy trees behind some of the buildings. Well - you wanted realism, didn't you!
The climax of the single-player mission I found quite difficult - picking through a relatively open battle field amongst snipers and fixed machine guns, batteries of experimental rocket launchers and a mine field.
It is a very difficult thing to achieve - to be challenging enough to even the most hardened gamer, but still avoid being too frustrating to continue after half a dozen reloads. Medal of Honor, in this mission, pulls it off well.
Multiplayer, the game is a completely different story. The two modes are not quite as disparate as the RTC Wolfenstein ones (which were even developed by completely different companies).
One important point to mention, which sets the game and gameplay apart from most multiplayer FPS games, is that you select one main weapon at the start. You also have grenades and a basic pistol, but are pretty much limited to your choice until you respawn.
The one multiplayer map offered in the demo is a decimated tower block with a courtyard in the centre. It's multiple levels and crumbled walls provide ample opportunities for sniping.
There are holes in walls, windows, windows partially obscured by tattered curtains blowing in the wind. As the building is partially destroyed, there is a lot of opportunity for throwing grenades into the floors above you.
It is worth employing different strategies depending on the number of people on the map. One-on-one I have found that with a sniper rifle, the game can be very fast-paced, fun and full of tension. When more people are around however, the sniper rifle feels too slow for those awkward face-to-face moments.
An important thing to think about with online multiplayer games such as this is the availability and quality of servers. The game utilises GameSpy, which is a very useful server selection and interface tool. It makes it very easy to pick a server with enough space and a low enough ping.
I have found quite a few servers with low pings, but every so often, even these are plagued with terrible, horrible, debilitating lag - so bad it feels as if you are blind drunk and can't even make it through a doorway. I'm hoping this is due to the general state of the internet at the time, and not a problem with the game's networking code.
All in all, I have really enjoyed playing this demo, and will continue to do so until the full version comes out. It's not often that a mere demo has the ability to capture me like that.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
demonica
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Member: Erica Marfell
Location: Bradford, Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Reviews written: 8
Trusted by: 1 member
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