2002 and 2003 was a year full of FPS games. Among the numerous productions, there were especially many games played on the fronts of World War II. One of the first titles set at the time was Medal of Honor.
The game draws handfuls from the cult productions of Steven Spielberg - the series "Band of Brothers" and the movie "Saving Private Ryan". The game turned out to be good, because thanks to this we can experience an amazing atmosphere in it. Built by many elements associated with Spielberg's films.
MoH: Allied Assault is not the first part of this game. Much earlier, two (supposedly quite good) parts appeared on the playstation. However, it was only the described MoH, released in 2002, that achieved huge success, very quickly becoming a huge hit, attracting millions of players.
In the game we play as one of the allied soldiers. We will take part in many missions throughout Europe (we will also visit Africa for a short time). We will visit: France, Scandinavia, Germany and several other countries. In missions, we will have to fight alone or with several companions. In some missions you have to act quietly, watching out for alarms, and in others, a veritable slaughter takes place on the screen of our monitor, and we move forward, stomping on the bodies of German soldiers. The tasks that we will have to perform will not make us bored and complain about the lack of variety. Among the standard tasks such as: find, free, blow up, destroy, there are also genius missions. These include the mission taken straight from the movie "Saving Private Ryan", which is the landing on Omaha Beach in Normandy, this mission has an amazing atmosphere. Dozens of soldiers try to break through the beach to take over the enemy's position. The corpse is dense and unfortunately on our side. While still in the boat, explosions can be heard around, sometimes we see soldiers from a neighboring boat blown up into the air.
This mission most of all forces the player to get into the role. It is a shocking sight that the first steps on the beach of most soldiers end in death. Also, the battlefield does not look very pleasant, everywhere dead bodies, here and there medics, are busily tending to the wounded. Bullets whiz overhead, and an explosion is heard every now and then. This is the best level in a computer game that my eyes have ever seen! However, Omaha beach is not the only interesting idea of programmers, an interesting mission is also an escape from a burning factory. We run, guns in hand, dodging the flames and the collapsing walls. And on top of all that, large German troops are attacking us. The mission forces the player to fight for survival, it is necessary to hurry, while smashing through dozens of enemies.
An interesting fact is also the mission in which we drive a tank, we will also have to operate a carbine placed on the roof of a jeep. The missions are more or less related to real historical events. This makes the plot very addictive, finally the authors of some FPS noticed that the story part is important. It is this element that makes the game able to attract every player, even those who do not like FPP.
However, when it comes to the plot, the biggest flaw of Medal of Honor should be mentioned - linearity. Unfortunately, the game is ruled by ubiquitous scripts. We are constantly following the paths set by the developers and there are no alternative solutions. This means that the game can be completed in one way, which is unlikely to encourage the player to reach for this title again.
A game in the realities of World War II could not exist without mapped real models of weapons or other militaria, such as tanks, planes, cannons, or even uniforms. Each of these elements has been perfectly executed by the creators. The soldiers of both sides of the conflict surrounding us are dressed in real uniforms used during World War II, and all vehicles featured in this production took part in battles on the real front. The arsenal of weapons is very large, in addition to the standard equipment that we get before the mission, you can also pick up the weapons of dead enemies. Thanks to this, we have such weapons as: Colt, Walther PPK, M1 Garand, Springfield 03, KAR 98 k, Thompson, MP-40, StG44, there are also grenades and Bazooka with its German counterpart in the form of Panzerschreck.
You can also come across machine guns that are permanently mounted (MG-42, M1919A4 0.3″). Each weapon is significantly different from the others, you have to fight in a different way when holding the Colt in your hand, and differently (read: bolder) carrying the assault StG44.
Unfortunately, the pleasure of taking part in a virtual war spoils the AI of our companions. If we have to fight alongside them, we will always end up completing the mission alone, because they will die very quickly. There are also mishaps of virtual opponents, in the form of situations in which they do not notice the player standing next to them, but this does not happen often and it does not spoil the fun so much, especially since the German soldiers are very intelligent. Enemy units under fire seek cover, where they can shoot by leaning out for a few seconds, and in emergency situations run to sound the alarm.
The graphics are top notch. Even today, two years after its premiere, it makes a positive impression. People are very realistically animated, faces are very carefully made. The running people look very natural, the same with the death scenes. Enemies die in several "different ways" with a different number of enemies, the sight of blood would only add more to the game and make the game feel more realistic.
The sounds are top notch. Each weapon sounds identical to its prototype. The sounds of explosions, the agony of soldiers sound like they've been taken straight from a good Hollywood movie. The music has been brilliantly matched, the background changes with the action of the game. The musical side presents a clear kinship with the movie "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers". As you know, both of these productions were characterized by great music, and this is also the case in Medal of Honor.
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault is an excellent production, one of the best games released in 2002. I recommend it to all players, even those who are not fans of shooters. Medal of Honor is several hours of truly interesting gameplay, with a good storyline and excellent audio-video setting.
He prepared
Pawel Kwapisz – pawel_111@o2.pl
