They Shall Grow Not Old

Though the majority of the game occurs over a 48 hour period, Medal of Honor’s story begins during the initial invasion of Afghanistan by coalition forces.  The game begins in a village in eastern Afghanistan where a Navy SEAL team is sent to meet with an informant, Tariq, regarding Taliban forces in the area.  Despite being assured that the town is secure the team is ambushed and is forced to separate.  As Rabbit (the player character) and Voodoo make their way back to Mother and Preacher they search the village for Tariq they eventually make their way to a local fort and are able to rescue him.  At a meeting place outside of town Tariq pleas for their help and informs them of a sizeable Taliban force far larger than intelligence estimates hiding in Shah-I-Kot Valley.

Though the game isn’t clear about the transition of time between this and the next mission, the story jumps to the capture of Bagram airfield in December 2001 in which the same SEAL team (AFO Neptune) assists rebel Afghan forces in taking it from the Taliban.  This contradicts official reports that British SBS forces are the ones that took the airfield so it is clear that EA is taking some liberties with the actual history of the Afghanistan war.  Either way however it ends with Neptune securing the tower and fending off a Taliban counterattack with airstrikes.

From there the game jumps forward several months to March 2002, the beginning of Operation Anaconda.  We are introduced to AFO Wolfpack, a team of Delta Force operatives tasked with weakening insurgent forces near Shah-I-Kot Valley in preparation for a Coalition invasion.  From there on the game jumps between Wolfpack, Neptune, and a team of Army Rangers who all experience Operation Anaconda from their perspectives, each occurring progressively over the course of two days and eventually coming together for one final mission.  While the story ends on a somber note it definitely hints at a sequel which, let’s face it, is mandatory if you’ve put this much effort into your game.

One item of note is a sidestory that takes place throughout the course of the game.  Taking place during cutscenes inbetween missions is a conflict of interests between a colonel ordering forces during the operation from Bagram airbase and a general back in Washington D.C.  While the colonel is making progress using the AFO teams during the operation the general is dead set on putting large numbers of American soldiers on the ground in the valley whether the colonel likes it or not.  The general comes off as very arrogant and single-minded whereas the colonel is clearly the protagonist.  During one particular scene the general orders an AC-130 to fire on a convoy approaching Bagram that isn’t responding identification requests.  As it turns out it was a convoy or Afghan Nation Army forces that were on their way to the valley and thus a large friendly-fire incident occurs.  What strikes me about it is that the general doesn’t even bat an eye at causing friendly force casualties and isn’t held accountable for the incident.  This is probably meant to continue the plot but the lack of accountability makes it feel like something that should have been in there.

As We That Are Left Grow Old

With Medal of Honor being Danger Close’s seventh title in the series they certainly have their had plenty of time to get the gameplay down but with a new setting, weapons, and design goals there is the worry that it will not compliment the reset of the series like it should.  Thankfully though the team has created a very solid singleplayer experience.

Medal of Honor takes notes from many of the standard rules for shooters nowadays.  You can only carry two weapons in addition to your pistol, there is very little in the way of weapons customization, and the game uses a regenerative health system.  While these points are all fine and dandy they really don’t make the game stand out all that much from the other shooters on the market like Modern Warfare.

One element of the game that does set it apart from the others out there is Medal of Honor’s pacing.  While the Call of Duty series is specifically designed to give you almost nothing but fast-paced and action packed, the Medal of Honor series seems more methodical in its pacing.  Several missions in the game encourage stealth gameplay while others will have you outnumbered, outgunned, and running for your life.  There is never a point in which you feel you could take on the entire enemy army alone but at the same time you don’t feel like you are being handled by your NPC teammates.

Another one of the more enjoyable aspects of the game is the way in which the levels gel with one another.  As previously stated, baring the first two levels of the game, the rest of the Medal of Honor experience is almost completely consecutive time-wise.  While some levels may be separated by just a handful of hours others instead occur back-to-back with characters you play as in the next level actually participating in the finale of the previous one.  One example occurs at the end a sniping-oriented level where AFO Wolfpack is actually laying down some sniper fire to cover the retreat of AFO Neptune.  This rate of progression helps me feel like I’m participating in a larger effort rather than jumping from conflict to conflict without much of a segue like what the Call of Duty series does.

Another enjoyable thing about the game is that your characters actually feel mortal and that they could die at any second.  During one level toward the middle of the game is one of my favorite scenarios in a game: the last stand.  I don’t want to spoil the moment but suffice it to say you and your squad find yourselves completely surrounded and what seems like the entire Taliban army rolling down the hills upon you.  As the sad violin music starts playing in the background while you defend your position one of your teammates next to you is calling on the radio for support, begging for anything to come rescue them.  However, nothing does and as your cover is run down and you begin running out of ammo your squad leader tells the radioman to call off the coming help.  The feeling that you know you are going to die has been done before (Medal of Honor Pacific Assault’s final sequence draws strong comparisons to this occasion) but in this one particular instance it is certainly well done.

Age Shall Not Weary Them

While the singleplayer component was developed by Danger Close, EA opted to instead have the multiplayer done by DICE, the same development studio responsible for the excellent Battlefield series.  DICE has always had the same flavor permeating each iteration of Battlefield and it certainly has translated to Medal of Honor, albeit with some considerable changes.  While the core gameplay of a Battlefield title is definitely there have been some considerable changes to the formula.

One of the most omnipresent changes to the formula is the compact nature of the maps.  While some of the maps feel as large as a Battlefield one it is very clear that EA is attempting to take on a more arcade oriented experience, meaning faster spawning, killing, and overall pacing.  While Battlefield maps are known to be some of the largest out there in the shooter genre Medal of Honor’s maps are no larger than your average Call of Duty map and can take seconds to cross instead of minutes.  There is also a surprising amount of verticality to some of the maps included in the game, something that you don’t really get in a Call of Duty map.

Medal of Honor’s multiplayer component consists of four main modes of play: Combat Mission, Team Assault, Sector Control, and Objective Raid.  Team Assault is Medal of Honor’s version of a team deathmatch and is pretty much where the heart of the multiplayer gameplay is going to be found.  Sector Control sounds exactly like what it is: a territories variant where two teams compete to control portions of a map.  Objective Raid is similar to Sector Control except it involves attacking and defending certain objectives on the map (like Call of Duty’s Demolition mode).  I’ll talk about Combat Mission in just a second.

Once again the Battlefield flavor is very much present throughout the Medal of Honor multiplayer experience but that’s not to say that there is not quite a bit of Call of Duty influence present here.  While the game is indeed class-based (players can choose between Assault, Special Ops, and Sniper classes) the player is able to customize their loadouts through a progressive ranking system.  Also present is a reward system similar to Call of Duty’s killstreak system called Scorechains and Support Actions.  Rather than the traditional kill count-based support you call in, Medal of Honor uses points based on actions you take.  These points that you earn can be used for offensive or defensive actions and get progressively stronger the more points you earn.  For example, earning fifty points will allow you to use your first support action which allows you to either issue a mortar strike or calls in a UAV to show enemy positions on your radar.  Further unlockable support actions can grant you offensive powers such as calling in airstrikes or defensive powers that grant upgraded ammo or body armor.  While a standard kill will only earn you ten points killing them in certain attributes of that kill, such as getting a headshot or the victim being of Tier 1 status (rank nine or higher) will grant you additional points.  You can also earn ribbons, repeatedly unlockable challenges, which grant you points based on what they are.

Probably the most interesting aspect of the Medal of Honor multiplayer component is the Combat Mission mode.  Though currently limited to three playable maps, Combat Mission is well worth its own weight in gold.  Players take turns as either Coalition or OPFOR forces and attempt to defend (if playing as an OPFOR) or attacking (as a Coalition member) a series of progressive objectives that vary in scope and significance.  The progression of these objectives is linear in nature and does not allow you to bypass it in favor of another one.  The Helman Valley level, for example, has the Coalition forces initially clearing a makeshift roadblock before securing a small settlement, a triple-A post, and finally a larger village.  As you play through the level and objectives are completed by the Coalition the map is expanded (lengthwise, ensuring linearity) and additional aspects of the map open up, changing spawning rules and giving you a brand new area to fight in.  The nature of Combat Mission is nothing short of fun when played with competent teammates but if you are the solo kind of guy who usually just wants to kill the enemy more than anything else then Combat Mission isn’t the mode for you.

Nor The Years Contemn

Medal of Honor is one of those games that takes two entirely different approaches to its gameplay and combines them into a single retail package.  While there have been some success stories in this department over the years there have been others that have just resulted in a terrible experience, gameplay or otherwise.  The latest iteration in the Wolfenstein franchise last year epitomizes this fact, as the multiplayer was outsourced and became an extremely lackluster experience.

Danger Close’s singleplayer experience is built on a heavily modified version of the Unreal 3 engine, an engine that, while still looking good, is beginning to show the end of all the bells and whistles it can produce.  Considering that it is now an almost five year old engine it’s understandable that the end of its lifecycle is just over the horizon.  However, given the work done by Danger Close on this engine it is clear that they were determined to make their version of the game look good and indeed it does.

One thing that struck me about the singleplayer engine is the facial animations.  Despite the fact that some of the faces look remarkably similar the animations are well lip-synced and definitely sell on realism.  The only complaint to be made regarding it is that, well, they are all delivered quite hard.  Almost all of the script in the game is focused on the moment and getting the job done and doesn’t really venture off and allow you to explore some of their characters.  I mean, sure, they are very good soldiers but there is that element that you want to know what else they do besides killing Taliban soldiers.

Particle effects in Medal of Honor are a mixed bag.  Some of the effects in the game are outstanding and really sell you on the environment you are in.  Smoke effects are done quite well and have a different flair from that of Infinity Ward’s design as they seem to billow a bit more naturally.  One particular scene has you creeping through a village that has just been obliterated by airstrikes and as you tread carefully there are sporadic fires everywhere with a lot of ambient smoke.  It really sells on the feeling of being in the aftermath of what was just depicted on screen.  The downside however is the explosions.  A war game simply isn’t a war game without explosions so it is a required part of any experience.  Unfortunately though, while the detonation of a grenade is well done the much more massive ones you’d expect feel quite canned in nature and don’t look realistic at all.  After all, the detonation of a 105mm howitzer shell should not have the same impact that a 40mm shell would.  Some of the explosions are great set pieces though: several key objectives blow up so nicely that not only is dirt and mud sent flying and lands all around you but the fine dirt remains ambient in the air, giving a nice representation of the power of that explosion in that environment.

At the Going Down of the Sun And In the Morning

DICE has always been known for creating great game engines and Medal of Honor is no exception in this regard.  In the three recent Battlefield titles DICE has utilized an engine known as Frostbite, an engine specifically designed to allow for procedurally destructible buildings and imperative sound design.  While the Battlefield titles have benefited from this it seems as if Medal of Honor was given the short end of the stick.

That isn’t to say that Medal of Honor is a bad multiplayer experience because of this; far from it.  The problem is that, given that you have the Frostbite engine you’d expect to have it fully implemented into the gameplay.  This isn’t the case however as many of the design imperatives are clearly missing or are almost not there at all.

The biggest culprit in this case is the lack of destructible buildings you’d want to be wiping out.  Instead what we get is partially implemented, makeshift walls and covered windows.  That’s it, nothing else.  With version 1.5 of the engine being used for Medal of Honor you’d figure that it would demonstrate all the more the power of the engine but it seems as if DICE had their hands tied with this game.

What they couldn’t accomplish with the first half of the equation they definitely did so with their focus on immersing you into the experience.  Simply put I’ve never seen a more immersive audio and ambient event system in a multiplayer experience to date, and that’s saying something.  While in the game not only will you hear Coalition and OPFOR forces talking to one another they will also call out different types of enemies in the area.  This is one such game that, though you don’t want to do it to hamper a team, you could take off your headset, listen to the voices around you, and still do well when playing.  DICE also has a lot of scripted events occurring just outside of the maps in the game and while they have no impact on the gameplay they do really help seal the feeling that your participating in a war instead of a multiplayer map.  Both of these are especially helpful in selling the Combat Mission mode, as you’ll hear Python 1, the Coalition team used in all of the modes and maps, conversing with Bossman, an actual character in the singleplayer.  If you’ve ever wanted to find a multiplayer experience that feels as significant in scope as the singleplayer this is probably your best bet… at least until the game’s inevitable sequel.

We Will Remember Them

Medal of Honor had a lot of things blocking it from trying to be a successful game.  Amidst the several strong yet inanely stupid controversies over the game’s design, the much complained about beta experience, and the questionable usage of DICE’s multiplayer design to a game that isn’t supposed to play like a Battlefield title, at the heart of things beats a good game with a strong future coming its way.  Though there is little here that can help drive Call of Duty fans across the aisle it does help bridge the game between Battlefield and Call of Duty, if only halfway across the chasm.  So, for the Call of Duty or Battlefield fan out there, if you are looking for a new, slightly different experience from what you’ve been playing for years, Medal of Honor is certainly your game.  The future only looks brighter for this series, though, in my opinion, a return to the World War II setting wouldn’t be a bad thing if they could keep it this exciting.