The Medal of Honor series has come to help define the modern WWII shooter and first person
shooters in general. And after the great success of Medal of Honor Frontline, it was decided
they needed to get away from killing nazis on the beaches of Normandy. But instead taking
you away from the 1940s, they keep the same time period and moved you to the South Pacific
and the land of the rising sun.
Just like in Frontline, the game starts off with a bang, a large and memorial set piece
that will leave your jaw on the ground. Before you even choose to start a new game, you are
interrupted by a day that will live in infamy. You are just laying on a cot, when your ship
is attacked by the Japanese, forcing you to get topside and fight back immediately. It
is a great touch, surprising you and throwing you right into the action, just like the soldiers
of Pearl Harbor. After the attack, you suit up and ship out to get your revenge.
The game will take you all over the lands of the far east with new mission objectives
and plenty of people for you meet and then kill them. The missions are mostly linear,
with clear objectives and set pieces that can’t happen until you complete missions.
They are also very large, with multiple objective coming up as you go through them. You have
squadmates but they are not really that effective. The game is clearly much more Rambo than Rainbow
Six. One man against the entire empire of Japan. At least you are well equipped with
your fair share of rifles, grenades, and machine guns. You will go into an area and lay down
the law and then move on to the next. And for the most part, rinse and repeat.
A major complaint about the game is the enemy AI. It’s like they know their only purpose
is to die and they are in complete acceptance of that fact. They will blindly charge, waiting
for you do pull the trigger and end their suffering like Paul Bäumer. It does take
away from the game, with enemies rarely wanting to take cover or use tactics. And the levels,
while cinematic and impressive, feel a little too narrow with only one path to success.
The game is a fun continuation of the Medal of Honor series, taking the series to a whole
new part of the war. With some get set pieces like fighting off planes at Pearl Harbor and
the large, long levels full of enemies, it is enjoyable. But the linear levels and poor
enemy AI, hold the game from becoming a classic.
