“There’s nothing
good about war but there’s good in why we fight wars.”
These are the
words we hear in the beginning of Medal of Honor: European Assault before we are
tossed into the brink of madness that is World War II during the Allied assault
into the then-German occupied territories. We have been to hell and back before
in other Medal of Honor games on the Xbox but while those were good experiences
European Assault is a step in the right direction for the series.
You assume the
role of Lieutenant William Holt, an American officer working under the OSS along
with British and then-Russian field agents. It is as Holt that you take part in
important operations such as raids and intelligence gathering that lead up to
some historical battles such as the Battle of the Bulge. We first see Holt in
March of 1942 during the Allied raid on an important port in St. Nazaire in
France. We come to see, through the eyes of Lt. Holt, the start of a lengthy
campaign that will take him to North Africa and even as far as Russia.
The opening
sequence in St. Nazaire serves not only as an introduction to the enemies and
mission structure, but also the gameplay style and the size of the playing
environment. Unlike past Medal of Honor games where you were restricted from
certain areas, this one certainly leaves room to explore off the beaten path, so
to speak. Of course the path always tends to lead to the objective at hand but
at least now there’s enough space to walk in completely different directions.
This means more areas to explore within an environment and more things to see so
now the game doesn’t feel like its pushing you along a specific path to complete
the main objective.
The mission
objectives themselves even point in different directions, allowing you to pursue
an objective in the opposite direction and then head back to the main mission
objective. You can earn a gold medal for completing all the required, secondary
and bonus objectives in each mission. So aside from attempting to uncover the
plans for a prototype tank (main objective), you also have to grab important
documents (secondary objectives) and eliminate a high-ranking Nazi officer
(bonus objectives). Each mission structure seems to play the same way but that’s
not bad considering its fun to assassinate officers like Horst Brenner, and
there are instances in the game where the secondary objectives change to
something dramatic such as taking out an enemy tank.
Yet, what stands
out from Medal of Honor Frontline or Rising Sun is that the gameplay style is
refreshingly dissimilar and things that seemed just Ok in the past games have
been reworked to feel great in the game. As a result there’s better aiming,
there’s a crouch that will allow you to go flat on your stomach and there’s a
lean-and-shoot that doesn’t expose your entire body. What this amounts to is a
game with a steady pace even with wild firefights going on around you. This
doesn’t mean the game is not linear, it still somewhat hints that there’s a main
objective to complete but you don’t feel like the game is pushing you. And while
the game does not offer spontaneous and wonderfully surprising moments like
Brothers In Arms (there’s a moment where you have to move forward or that
reinforcement of enemies that was radioed in a few seconds ago will not show up)
there are good scripted bits.
New to the
series is an Adrenalin meter that fills up with each enemy you kill out in the
field. Once filled you can press the black button (on its default setting) and
time slows down and you become invincible, your bullets cause extra damage and
your ammo supply is unlimited. Of course, this doesn’t last very long but it
does make for some really Rambo-like moments where you can charge into the fray
with guns blazing and no worries of getting killed. In the likely event that you
are shot dead out in the field, you can get automatically revived. Scattered
throughout the field are Revive icons that are sort of like extra lives. What
this does is revive you soon after you are struck dead so it feels as though you
were just knocked down rather than killed.
Unlike the other
games in the series, this is not a completely solitary affair. Holt is also in
command of three fellow officers that can be directed to certain spots you
indicate with the click of the left analog stick. While the commands are limited
to just positioning, they’re helpful enough to shoot enemies down and that is a
good thing considering the enemy AI is smarter and better at finding cover. On
the other hand, the actual positioning doesn’t often cover the area you
indicated and you are now looking out for the health of your men as well as your
own. You can heal fellow squad mates but this isn’t as easy as it sounds because
they tend to move around like hyperactive children in a playground. Often times
you’ll have to order them to stay put in one area to heal them.
A multiplayer
option is back but there is no Xbox Live support for online play. The game
doesn’t even support System Link so you are forced to play an up-to-four-players
multiplayer mode using a single Xbox. Thankfully -at least – there are a nice
number of multiplayer modes. There’s the essentials like Death Match and Team
Death Match but there are also mission objective-based multiplayer modes such as
Face to Face (where you have to plant a bomb in the enemy’s base) or Survival
(capture a flag and run with it as long as you can). With a total of nine
multiplayer game modes it sort of makes up for the lack of online play … but
not by very much.
Graphically,
European Assault isn’t the prettiest Xbox shooter in town and that’s quite a
shame considering there are various unique locales and environments filled with
a lot to see. While there are areas where things can look rather plainly (like a
good majority of the North Africa missions) there are places (like Russia) that
look rather impressive. Sadly even the faces seem pretty generic. The visual
effects are great and they do drive home the impression that you’re in the thick
of battle. In the Battle of the Bulge, for instance, mortar fire and explosions
toss enemies like rag dolls.
What does bring
the war to life is the game’s sound that is so incredibly detailed that if you
were to play it loud it would – no doubt about it – scare your neighbors or at
least fool them into thinking you’re watching a movie with an abundance of
action sequences. Those who are familiar with the Medal of Honor series already
know that the sound and its score are the game’s most powerful features. It
manages to bring us a beautiful score that – accompanied with the good voice
acting and sound effects – make this a wonderfully cinematic experience.
Medal of Honor:
European Assault is not a major turning point in the series but its changes make
this the start of something amazing and it certainly is an experience that
shouldn’t be missed. If you’re a first-person shooter fan, this is a game you
will want to buy. If this is your first Medal of Honor game then you are
starting off at a good point in the series.
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Gameplay: 8.2
Mission-wise
there is a lot to do and there are even mini-bosses you must eliminate during
each mission. The game also feels much better now that there’s different
crouching positions, a squad you can use to help you and the new Adrenalin
meter. In short, this is the way we love our Medal of Honor games … nicely
paced, challenging and plenty to do.
Graphics: 7.0
Sadly European
Assault is a plain-looking game with little personality in terms of character
models and some areas within the environment. From afar everything looks pretty
good and the locales are neatly detailed but they lack polish. Explosions, on
the other hand, look great.
Sound: 9.2
Once again we
are treated with an audible feast that should be played with the volume up or,
if you have a great sound system hooked up, play this one with true surround
sound. The sound effects are heavily detailed, the voice acting is wonderful and
the score is just plain gorgeous.
Difficulty:
Medium
The enemy AI
seems a lot smarter than those found in the tame experience that was Rising Sun
and that’s a good thing for those looking for a real challenge. Enemies will
duck for cover, move to better positions and attempt to replace a downed gunner.
The mission objects are also a bit harder to complete but this is what makes the
action all the more dramatic. You’ll be thankful for the Revive feature, trust
me.
Concept: 8.0
EA Games
certainly knows how to make a presentable historical war shooter and once again
we’re treated with actual war footage and a story that’s emotionally gripping.
While the game is still a bit linear, the environments are huge and allow the
freedom to explore. The squad management is a great touch; although experienced
gamers will wish there were more specific commands to issue their squad mates.
Multiplayer:
7.9
Unfortunately
this one doesn’t support Xbox Live multiplayer fun … a feature that would have
been excellent seeing as the multiplayer modes are plentiful and actually pretty
fun. Still, up to four friends can battle it out split-screen style in a
free-for-all deathmatch or objective-based team missions.
Overall: 8.3
Surpassing the
last Medal of Honor game, European Assault is a much welcomed addition and a
step up for a series that is starting to show its true colors. With its wide
open spaces fit for exploration and wonderfully action-packed mission scenarios,
this is a first-rate game for fans of first-person shooters set during WWII.
