Medal of Honor: Airborne
| Developer: EA Los Angeles | Publisher: Electronic Arts |
| Release Date: September 4, 2007 | Also On: PC, PS3 & Xbox 360 |
Medal of Honor has taken a beating from Call of Duty in recent years. Going back to Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, the low point of the franchise, each game since has been a step in the right direction, but not quite there. European Assault and Vanguard are recent attempts that fell short of greatness. Is it possible that with the power of next-gen consoles that Medal of Honor could reinvent itself? It's not only possible, EA Los Angeles has done it.
Before I say anything else, let me first say that throw out all of those conceptions you have of World War II first person shooters to date. They get a bad reputation for looking the same, controlling the same, and never really changing the way you that you play. You have a linear path with streams of Nazis charging without second thought.
This is where Airborne is different. For the most part, the AI is intelligent. They will flank you quite often, they are proficient at throwing grenades and use plenty of team work. If they are under fire they will find cover and if you are nearby they will melee you instead of acting helpless. EALA wanted a more dynamic form of warfare, one that would only be possible on a next-generation of video game systems, and you get that in Airborne.
What you also get is a break from the linear and scripted gun fights of every World War II game in generations of past. The idea is to have this expansive shooter where the player makes all of the choices, where AI will react to those choices and the game will never play out the same each time. Afterall, war is never a linear path that repeats itself exactly the same in each encounter.
In order to give the player maximum control, your character will parachute out of an airplane into battle. Using the left analog stick to control the forward or back motion and the right analog stick to control the left/right movement, you can target very specific areas on the battlefield. Always look for a specific advantage, such as a rooftop, a drop zone (where fresh supplies will await your landing) or some place that is well-covered. To add a little replay value, the developers included skill drops where you have to land in tricky places, such as a window.
Dropping anywhere on the map raises a number of different technical problems that only now with new hardware can be overcome. One of the most obvious is the sheer size of the levels. In Husky you will be engaging in house-to-house warfare in this massive city, making your way to the Town Hall where you will need to blow up a couple AA guns located on the roof. Not every landing will be pretty, though, as you will have to time your landing right with the A button. You can get one of three landings: a botched landing (which wastes time as you untangle yourself), a flared landing (wastes a little time, but better than botched), and a greased landing (you strip right out of your parachute).
The way the game is played and how you experience the level will change every time you play it. Having this new gameplay dynamic, where you could theoretically land at a new location every time you played the game, will alter your encounters quite a bit. You could choose to take an easier route, pushing towards your objective by landing at a drop zone. Here you will find a cache of weapons and supply of ally reinforcements. You may choose the totally opposite approach and go for the fortified mansion that is the Town Hall. Not only will you have to adjust your play style (run-and-gun vs. sniping) depending on where you land, you are potentially setting yourself up for an immediate death.
The multi-player is a major draw to most first person shooters and Medal of Honor: Airborne is no different. Just as every other game, it has its strengths and its flaws, yet it is an enjoyable experience overall. The biggest complaint I have in all is with the servers themselves. They're slow to find games, match people and load. It could take as much as five minutes in between games just to play again. It's incomprehensible to me that there is no sort of system to allow you to invite groups of friends or at the very least stick with the people that you are matched with instead of starting the searching process all over again after every match.
Just like the single-player, vertical gameplay plays a big role in the multi-player. The parachuting is the biggest difference between Airborne and other online shooters. If you are lucky enough to be an Ally, you will drop from the sky each match. You can land literally anywhere on the map, be it on the rooftop, a ledge, a hole in a ceiling or simply in the middle of the open where all of the action is. A great deal of care needs to be put into landing by whoever plays as Allies. This changes how you play the game on both sides.
For Allies, it means that you can drop directly to a zone in order to capture a flag or help a friend in trouble by landing directly behind (or on top of) the enemy. Playing as Axis means you can snipe incoming enemies and see exactly where your enemy lands. Inversely, it also means they may land behind you and you won't even know about it. Nonetheless, it sure as heck is an improvement from random spawning that sometimes will leave you extremely vulnerable. That said, the annoying random spawns are still present for Axis and they did a poor job of spreading them out.
There are only three gameplay modes to choose from: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and Airborne Objective. The first two are rather basic, but can be fun to play. If you want to put your skills to the test, Deathmatch might be the route. The real fun, however, is had in the Airborne Objective mode. This Capture-the-Flag spinoff has the Allies airdrop into the map with control of all three flag zones ending the game. The central flag requires two players from the same team to capture it. If all three flags aren't captured in the time limit, the team with the most flags wins.
So is Medal of Honor: Airborne worth the $60 investment? Depends. If you are a fan of the series, World War II shooters in general and/or more open gameplay, this is the best Medal of Honor since the PlayStation. Having to compete with shooters like BioShock, Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4 makes it a tough call. I would say that the relatively short campaign and fun, but not flawless multi-player make this a great candidate for weekend rental. If you can fit another shooter in between Halo 3 and BioShock, you may also want to consider a purchase.
| Graphics: | 8 |
| Sound: | 9 |
| Gameplay: | 8 |
| Creativity: | 9 |
| Replay Value/Game Length: | 8 |
| Final: | 8.3 |
| Written by Kyle | Review Guide |
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