Medal of Honor
Airborne straps you in the boots of Private FC of the 82nd Airborne
Division. You will fight some of the epic battles of WWII that made our
paratroopers legends. You will begin each mission in the air and behind enemy
lines. A fantastic feature of the game is that you can guide your chute and
land virtually anywhere on the battlefield. Choose to follow the green smoke
and land in a safe area, or drop in behind a machine gun nest that is causing
havoc on your fellow men and surprise attack. The action is non-stop and if
you’re not careful you could find yourself KIA.
There are six
missions that are historically accurate. I was not there so I cannot be for
sure. All the missions have several objectives that you can decide which
order they are to be achieved. That, coupled with the ability to drop anywhere
on the battlefield, gives this shooter a more dynamic gameplay than we are used
to. The missions which you may have heard before in other titles or even seen
on any WWII documentary are; Operation Husky, Operation Avalanche, Operation
Neptune, Operation Market Garden, Operation Varsity, and Der Flakturm (The
Flak Tower).
Some weapons
that you will have access to on the Allied side are the M18 Recoilless Rifle,
M12 Combat Shotgun, Colt M1911A1, Thompson Machine Gun, M1918A2 BAR, M1 Garand
Rifle, and the trusty M1903 Springfield. On the Axis side, C96 Mauser Pistol,
Sig 44 Assault Rifle, MP40 Machine Gun, G43 Rifle, K98K Rifle, and the
Panzerschreck Rocket Launcher. You will also have access to grenades on both
sides. You can strategically “cook” the grenades use them more effectively. By cooking the grenades you delay throwing them after the pin is pulled. This
way the guy you are trying to blow away does not have time to get out of the
way as the grenade lands by him. It takes a few times to get the timing
right, but WOW it can be effective, especially in online games.
The overall
experience of the game is a decent one. Good graphics and sound accompany a
good storyline that gives the feel that you are actually completing a tour of
duty. I also enjoyed the cut scenes between missions that seemed to tie
everything together. The online component seems to be scaled-down compared
to most shooters. There are no 24- or 32-player rooms, but instead are limited
to 12. The three online games are Team Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch Airborne,
and objective. Team Deathmatch is where you choose your side and the team
with the highest score at the end of the game wins. Team Deathmatch Airborne
is like TD but now the Allies airdrop in and the Axis start on the ground. Objective is to capture and hold three flags on the map. The team to capture
all three flags is the winner.
Another
feature that sets this game apart from most shooters is weapon upgrades. You
have the ability to upgrade your weapons to give you an edge on the
battlefield by performing extraordinary tasks.
Tasks include
things like
feats of valor, melee kills, marksmanship, headshots, and dispatching three
and five enemies at a time. Upgrades are permanent even if you drop a weapon
you have upgraded in a mission. The next one you pick up is automatically
credited with any upgrades you have earned.
Like most
shooters, MOHA still has its quirks, like all shooters do. AI, I believe,
will always be a problem because it’s either too easy or too difficult. Rarely do you find a nice mix of the two. This game is no different. The
guys are great shots, but at times it was a bit much. This was a nice change
from the bad guys being too easy, but sometimes it was a bit unrealistic. The
missions are quite short and you could find yourself completing the campaign
in as little as a weekend for the hardcore gamer. Though the room size was
limited, the online games are still quite fun, but I can see them becoming a
bit boring before too long. Overall a decent game.
Review Scoring Details for Medal of Honor Airborne |
Gameplay:
7.5
The game is
fun, but the fun is short as the missions do not take too long to complete. There are more choices like choosing the order of objectives to take out
first, as well as, choosing your landing spot to begin your mission.
Graphics:
8.0
Looked good
as most MOH games do.
Sound: 8.0
Realistic
sound effects like a distant fire fight or falling rubble from a rocket that
just hit a building you are hiding behind.
Difficulty:
Easy
The Missions
are short. An avid gamer could probably finish the campaign in a day or two.
Concept:
7.0
I personally
feel that WWII shooters have just been a bit overdone. I did like that you
have the ability to start your mission from pretty much anywhere on the
battlefield.
Multiplayer: 7.0
Limited 2-12
players and only three games to choose from.
Overall:
8.0
Though we
have seen many games like this, the choice of dropping in at any location on
the battleground is a nice change from the linear maps most are used to. The
missions are short, but there is some replayability found by playing
multiplayer games.
