The new Medal of Honour was hyped and expectations for it were high. The classic series that began on the Playstation was one that I grew up with. And like many other people, I was hoping for an explosive return to a franchise that has become dull in recent years.
Unfortunately, I ended up disappointed. What the new game offers is a solid rental title. It's fun, but doesn't merit a full purchase.
The graphics are exceptional and the lighting is some of the best I've seen (especially in the night time levels). The environments are realistically set in the middle east, and somewhat varied. You fight from anywhere inbetween a mountain top to a small village. Likewise the sound is spot on - atmospheric and immersive at the right times, with the gun shots having adequate realistic weight to them.
In spite of these promising elements the campaign gameplay dynamics remain locked in the era of the old games. It feels like a glorified version of duck hunt...(i'll explain that!). Aside from some truly impressive set pieces where you have to call in air strikes, or snipe from a distance, the gameplay follows this exact dyamic -> you come across a clearing or a section of a level, and enemies pop out from windows, from behind cars, from behind walls and so forth. Once 10 or so enemies have been killed, your squad calls that all clear, and you move on to the next section. Rinse and repeat.
Now, I realise you may think 'but you've just described every shooter'. But, there is no variety here, an aspect that other shooters demonstrate so well. There are a lack of guns to pick from, I think I used 3 core guns the whole game. And you literally just keep shooting enemies from a distance out of windows or from behind rocks. It gets stale, and in this era of FPS games, where we see expansive environments, exciting stories, imaginative scenarios, this just doesn't cut it!
Another issue was the ease of the game, I personally didn't find it challenging. I played on 'Hard' but only died a few times. Also the game is short, about 4-5 hours long.
On the multiplayer front, the game shines in comparison to the single-player. The modes are a combination of COD and Battlefield. You have the close-quarter, fast-paced side of COD, with the rush/conquest game modes of Battlefield which see you fighting across an expanding level area. The game is solid, though again, nothing original. Other games have done it better, like the two aforementioned titles. There are three standard classes - Soldier, Special Ops, Sniper. You level up as you use each, which lets you unlock more weapons and upgrades.
There are a relatively small number of players, though jumping into games was never an issue for me. The game is however dominated by Snipers. It has not been adequately balanced and there are far too many hiding places for Snipers.
A word of warning - IMPORTANT - dont buy the map pack. EA have taken down the servers as no-one bought it/played it. It will be a useless purchase.
It's a solid reboot of the series, but some old gameplay mechanics keep it from being exceptional. And the multiplayer potential was there, but was not realised. Worth a rent.
Presentation - 7
Gameplay - 7
Longevity - 5
Originality - 5
Multiplayer - 7
Overall - 7
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