Medal of Honor Airborne Xbox 360 Review

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December 9th, 2007 Rich Reed Leave a comment Go to comments

In the world of first person shooters, the theme of WW II at times seems rather old. While it is a popular theme to base a game on, it just seems the chances of seeing anything new is going to be slim. I don’t say this as a knock. After all you can’t exactly rewrite history. When I first saw the new Medal of Honor, I was impressed and I was also glad to see they wanted to try and restore the franchise back to the glory days when it was one of the best games around. MOH Airborne looked like it was going to accomplish this.

The developers promised a real WW II experience with an advance AI system and not a run and gun gameplay, which turns me off when it comes to the WW II titles out there. In the past they all seem built around run, shoot and repeat and little more. So does Medal of Airborne break the mold and is it the FPS title I expected? Read the full review and find out what I thought.

Gameplay

The basic story for the single-player mode is not that deep and I don’t think they wanted it to be. Gamers take on the role of a young airborne member named Boyd. Right away the new feature of parachuting into the battle comes into play with a brief jump school. It also acts as a quick way of teaching you how to jump and aim your landings. Most gamers will ace the jump school part and perhaps even get a little over confident. As the campaign starts, you start in one of the six areas that make up the single-player mode.

The rules of jumping are simple. You start anywhere you want to and just make sure not to botch up the landing. Green smoke markers are the safest areas to land and are near extra ammo, health and other supplies. Land outside of those areas or near the spotlights and get ready for an onslaught of Axis enemies. You can also land on the buildings and try taking out the enemy from the top while waiting for the AI back up.

I liked the fact you could land at different locations and thought it added a new twist on an old genre. I also like the fact you could melee attack from the air or I should say right before landing. In certain areas this can be a way to get an advantage. Of course during the game you earn weapon upgrades that will improve your aim, ammo and other important things to have. One problem with this system is the way you are rewarded each upgrade. I am in a trench taking out the enemy when I trigger the first upgrade. The screen goes to slow motion and a medal appears and the upgrade is announced on the screen. While it sounds cool, the problem is your in slow motion and can take damage when it triggers.

I have read and heard others say the aiming is hard in the game. Iron sights are hard in real live, so I really didn’t think it was hard. It was a little more realistic, but I thought the aiming was fine. I will say the enemies seem to have a better aim, but the AI on your side does a great job as long as you’re near them. At times it is apparent there is a small issue with the hit detection. I would hit an enemy three or four times and then have them drop compared to them hitting me and having it register every time. It seems this is more of an issue early in the game and you will find a way to adjust for this.

Cooking grenades and waiting for that right time to throw them is fantastic and the bounce added helps players aim for open doors. Most of the coolest features will require trial and error. The game did move slowly initially, but it picked up later. Overall the game shows that changes were made to make it the best Medal of Honor since the first one. I will agree that the single-player campaign should have been longer though.

Control

The basic controls are easy to learn and most gamers will learn them within the first 15 minutes of playing. Learning to control your landings and get a greased landing each time will take longer. I really think most gamers are not used to having to look straight down and then adjust while in the middle of a jump. It takes a little more time to learn. Other than landing the controls are set-up well and no complaints.

Xbox Live

Here is another challenge for WW II themed games: having an online mode that isn’t the same old deathmatch theme. MOH Airborne tries to offer a few different modes, but they do rely on the deathmatch and capture the flag type of games. If you pick to play with jumpers, the modes are certainly more fun than just on foot. The online modes are solid and the lobbies are easy to create and join. My only major complaint is when playing without jumpers, if players know the spawn points, it gets annoying and fast. I enjoy picking off someone just like many of you, but when I am the target, it gets old. I never enjoy snipe fests and this is the major issue of that mode. At least when you’re in the air you can change the pattern and try for a melee kick or land and have time to set up an attack.

Those that play FPS games with me know I don’t normally care for the CTF mode. I just find it boring. Maybe flash backs from my youth but they really annoy me except for when it’s more of a team-based twist and more than one flag is the target. MOHA offers a decent CTF mode and I enjoyed playing. I think since the way it was set up it seems more of a struggle then just taking over the flags. While you’re trying to gain all three flags, so is the enemy. The advantage switches all the time. Overall the online modes are rather good and not something most would expect from a WW II FPS title.

Graphics

MOH Airborne Xbox 360 Screenshot

Whenever you get a chance to see a game before release, you need to be carful when reviewing it. Last minute changes are made and the build you see is never the final. Case in point, the builds I saw of the game had some great graphics and at times almost too flashy. While the final retail version looks good, it seems a bit worn looking at certain points in the game. It is not terrible and I could almost say it makes the game have a more realistic feeling.

MOH Airborne Xbox 360 Screenshot

I just know they changed a few things and the graphics are not as detailed. There are some flaws and few minor glitches that seemed preventable. The upgrade system is a good example, but overall the graphics look fine. They are just not as detailed as I thought they would be. I also have to point out that when you get killed, you see Boyd’s arm flung over and the death scene can’t be turned off.

MOH Airborne Xbox 360 Screenshot

Audio

The effects are good and sound authentic. They even recorded every weapon while actually shooting them. It sounds good and offers more of a realistic feeling. A few of the voice-over lines seem to have been recorded or mixed in a way that makes it hard to hear everyone clearly. Other than that the music and the effects are well done and nothing to complain about.

Replay Value

Medal of Honor Airborne needs to be played with some patience and not rushed. It starts off a bit slow and works its way to exciting. Those who play expecting this will get the most replay value out of the game. There are a lot of challenges to complete and you don’t always need to beat each one to reach the next level. For those who go back and complete everything, like find all secret landing areas, are going to get the most enjoyment. Online is solid as I stated, but you will need to learn how each mode is played. Overall a solid title with a lot of replay value, but you will need to play at the game’s pace and not your own.

Bottom Line

Overall Score: 8.0/10.0

Additional Comments

The problems with the hit detection should have never been an issue, but the game showed plenty of new changes to make this a solid title. It’s not perfect, but I think the airborne angle helped to create a new challenge. EA took some risks and the team wanted to give players a different take on the WW II FPS genre. For the most part they succeeded. I hope they continue this angle and add even more in the next installment. I think they are certainly on the right track and proved they could make things feel a bit new in an old theme.

XBox Solution