Medal Of Honour:Airborne

"Just another World War II shooter" is what I thought of Medal of Honor: Airborne (MoHA) initially. To an extent I was right – the game isn’t revolutionary like MoH: Allied Assault was in its time, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road for the Medal of Honor series. What the series has lost in the evolutionary sense, it’s more than made up for with the one thing that can save any franchise – the fun factor.

MoHA lingers somewhere on the borderline of a strategic shooter and a complete Nazi fragfest. Although the strategy involved is restricted to taking cover when needed and flanking the enemy from time to time, it’s enough to ensure that you don’t go about the game like another Serious Sam. The reason I draw the comparison is that the number of enemies thrown at you is enough to populate a small country. That isn’t such a bad thing though, since it keeps the mood of the game frantic and the action as intense as possible.

The intensity of the game isn’t just the product of the sheer number of enemies however; what enhances it is the fact that you parachute onto the battlefield and land amidst all the action. Getting into battle this way was a little disorienting at first, since I ended up landing slightly off the safe zones (marked by green smoke) and right into enemy territory. Once I got the hang of it though, I was able to land on my feet and start unloading my ammunition on to some Nazi faces instantly. Getting into battle this way feels awesome initially, but it becomes a drag way too soon.

An area of the game that never comes under the dark cloud of drudgery is the gunplay. You’ve got to give credit to EA Los Angeles for the amount of effort they’ve put into making the guns sound and feel as authentic as possible. Indeed, if the guns were any more realistic they’d perforate your ear drums. They feel nice and clunky, each having its own amount of recoil that’s very well balanced with its power.



To ensure that you don’t get bored of the gunplay, they’ve even pumped a very addictive 'gun upgrade' system. The more you use a gun the more experience you get with it. You can accumulate enough experience to upgrade the gun three times (automatically). The thing I love about the upgrades is that the difference between the upgraded and un-upgraded versions of the gun is massive. Even the types of upgrades you get vary from gun to gun – some gain a scope while another gets you an extra barrel of ammunition.