MEDAL OF HONOR: ALLIED ASSAULT
Developer: 2015
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Game Type: First Person Shooter
Similar To: Quake

Date: 4/2/2002
By: Rice

Note: Screenshots courtesy of FiringSquad.com

    For those of you that followed my Return to Castle Wolfenstein review, you know that I found its single player campaign to be extremely lackluster. It was, afterall, nothing more than polished rehashes of the same old styles of gameplay. When I picked up Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, I dreaded slogging through another dozen hours of repetitive WWII based FPS action. Good thing I went through with it anyways, because it resoundly beats the living snot out of Wolfenstein.

Your aim is off, dude.

    Electronic Arts and 2015's FPS is the best shooter I've played all year, bar none. It has tightly scripted missions and memorable romps around the WWII European Theater, not to mention solid graphics powered by id's Q3 engine and stable, bugfree gameplay. If you're looking for an intense and engaging solo action experience, look no further--MOHAA delivers them in spades.

    You play the role of Lieutenant Powell (Colin?... nah), decorated Army Ranger and all around Nazi ass kicker. That's as much character development as it gets. 2015 didn't bother to make a strong background storyline, a la Saving Private Ryan--it just let the war environment speak for itself. MOHAA is comprised of six large missions, each having little to do with each other. You're sent out on a variety of covert operations, sometimes with backup, sometimes solo. They range from bombing weapon stashes to rigging U-boats to even Omaha Beach itself. The only thing they have in common is intense action through and through. Make no mistake, this is no Rainbow Six or Operation Flashpoint. This is Quake with Springfield Sniper Rifles and Thompson SMG's.

Suck it!

    My fellow critics rave about MOHAA's seamlessly scripted levels that feel alive and interactive, masking the actual linearity of them, and I wholeheartedly agree. It makes playing the game feel like you're playing a Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster. One second you're merrily strolling about, picking snipers off from a distance when, *BAM!*, the ground next to you is shelled and your compadres go flying. You spin around and scramble for cover, but not before you take two bullets in the shoulder for your previous lack of attention. As you gather your breath from behind a war-torn Army Hummer and patch yourself up with a handy medkit someone left behind in the vehicle, you shed a quick tear for your now-mangled teammate. You then emerge from behind the hummer, eyes bloodshot, guns ablaze, and realize this is war. You have some Nazi's to payback.

    *BAM!* Damn, sniper got me right between the eyes. *Click F9 to reload the game*.

    So that's how a usual sequence goes. Pretty freaking intense. I cried a waterfall for all my fallen GI's, because I thought I was hot stuff and chose "Hard" as the difficulty setting. Little did I know my decision affected lives other than my own. Sniff... Plus I wore out my F9 key reloading so many dang times.

More violence! However, MoHAA is completely devoid of blood.

    Speaking of which, about the only gripe I have against MOHAA is its AI. More specifically, its sniper AI. In one mission, I swear I was going up against an entire army of world class snipers that wall hack. It was completely unfair because even if I hid behind a bush, they could still see me as if I was in their face. Of course, my vision was shrouded by polygonal leaves, and had no shot whatsoever. My poor little F9 key took a pounding for many hours before I finally staggered through those levels. Needless to say, it was frustration at its max. For those that plan on playing, I suggest you God Mode through that mission. Seriously.

    But beyond MOHAA's bloody accurate snipers, you'd be hard pressed to find another glaring fault in this fine game. The D-Day Omaha Beach level is probably one of the most well orchestrated levels I have ever played. You begin in a rickity little metal boat getting final orders from your Captain and hearing men around you praying softly. When your boat hits the sandbar and the door falls open, everyone around your vicinity fall like fruit flies from the German bullets whizzing around. You quickly wade behind a thin, crude wooden barricade before you lose your own head, all the while hearing men around you scream, "Captain!! What the HELL are we DOING HERE?!?" The entire sequence felt and sounded so real, I had chills running down my spine whenever I scurried from one trench to another.

Going to gun down this plane.

    Not only are the audio effects superb, so are its graphics. As I mentioned near the beginning, they are powered by id's popular Q3 engine, much like how Wolfenstein was. It's a bit difficult to compare and contrast the visuals for both games, but I give Wolfy a slight edge due to its somewhat fantasy-esque storyline which allows for more artistic levels and textures. This is not to say MOHAA is ugly. Heck, the Q3 engine can make a cardboard box look stunning. Anyways, the levels have sort of a Soldiers of Fortune kind of feel, since you're shipped all over Europe by Uncle Sam throughout the missions.

    Another technical excellence is its grade A quality musical score. When you're sneaking around, it's softened to a hush, pink panther-ish score. In contrast, when you're exfiltrating after a successful sabatoge and clear out a room full of baddies, the music beats and soars in such a way you feel highly accomplished and decorated. Any form of patriotism surfaces, especially in this day and age when we're battling terrorism. Whenever I riddle an enemy officer with lead, I pretend it's Osama Bin Laden I'm mowing down, which gives me a grisly feeling of satisfaction. It's all about atmosphere baby, and this game's got it packed everywhere nice and dense.

Next stop: German U-boats.

    Multiplayer wise, Wolfenstein is the clear winner. Its comprehensive emphasis on teamwork for each map is by far more engaging than what MOHAA offers, which is nothing but regular free for all deathmatch in various glorified forms. Ho hum. But I'm not docking any points for this, because 2015's primary goal with this game is to create a tier 1 single player experience. A tacked on multiplayer aspect can only be viewed as icing on the cake, which can be easily scraped off and ignored if desired.

    As if you could not draw this conclusion yourself, this game is a flat out winner in my book. Not only is it selling well, it's garnering sweeping praises by critics and gamers alike. Just go play it and thank me later.

A Nazi officer uniform and proper papers can get you anywhere.

Final Grade: A-
Summary: Best World War II game I have ever played. Frustrating A.I. keeps it from getting a flat out A. If you are looking for multiplayer, look towards Return to Castle Wolfenstein instead.

Gratuitous Screenshots:

We are all going to be screwed.

MEDIC!

"Captain! What the HELL are we DOING HERE?!?"

Stuck? Just pull out your trusty panzerfaust...