Medal of Honor: Allied Assault

Life

1 April 2005

When Medal of Honor: Allied Assault broke cover and ran its flag up the pole of first person shooters, there was bound to be some comparisons with previously released offerings in the same genre. Not least because another notable recent release some weeks before was  Return to Castle Wolfenstein, which is also mostly set in the European theatre of World War II and which also uses the same Quake III game engine.

Theoretically, both games have equal ingredient and technology possibilities. What differentiates them from one another is their developers and it is their work that hangs in the balance when gamers compare the two. Hardened gamers make hard judges, as they tend to be somewhat fanatical when choosing their favorite shooters.

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault pits you as a Special Forces operative in the run up to D-Day. You perform several missions in the preparation for the main assault, ranging from a North African prisoner break, to a U-Boat base penetration in Norway. The missions themselves are varied but follow the specific objective style. For example, in the U-Boat yard, you must gain entry and steal an officer’s uniform. You then destroy a new technology prototype before blowing up a U-Boat. Rather than the kind of assault style seen in some first person shooters such as Return to Castle Wolfenstein, stealth is as important as firepower in Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.

Wham, bam!
A notable exception to the creeping around scenario is the actual D-Day landings. Remember that scene from Saving Private Ryan where the landing craft are heading for the beaches and a heavy calibre machine gun begins to strafe the boat before it even lands? Well there is a full version of that type of scene in the game. The detailing is superb and is really brought out here. At one point amid the veritable hail of fire, while crouching behind an anti-tank barrier, I looked around and saw another GI behind a barrier puking — a nice touch of battlefield trauma. 

The graphics are something to behold. With French towns lovingly rendered, vehicles highly detailed and even facial expression that are true to life, this game really does expound the full potential of the Quake III engine. Lighting effects are superb and weather accurately modelled. Though a criticism would be that Return to Castle Wolfenstein seems to have got the outdoor environments a little better, Medal of Honor: Allied Assault has certainly won on the indoor front. The dials and valves of the U-Boat interior are positively distracting as you race from bow to stern setting your demolition charges. 

Big guns
The vehicles are a point of note in this game too. At one point you are aboard a jeep manning a 0.5 cal heavy machine gun while another agent drives. You shoot up the opposition and some parked Stukas while he navigates a German airbase. Too many times I think players have passed by superbly rendered vehicles in such games only to sigh and pass on, as they were really only scenery. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault tackles that head on with interactive vehicles including the M4 Sherman tank and the M3 Half Track. 

Present also is the ubiquitous multi-player environment. With Quake III being a tried and tested network and Internet technology the multi-player aspect is smooth and reliable. Variations on the theme are as expected with team combat and traditional last man standing modes among the options. 

Maximum graphics
Overall, this game is to be praised on a number of fronts. Quake III emerged when the hottest thing on the block as regards graphics cards was the Geforce II GTS. So there is an option set for the eye candy that suits this card range perfectly well. Now however, there is its younger brother the Geforce 3 with full DX8 support and a few features besides. Only a card with this sort of muscle can handle the high resolution, full option configuration. But rest assured even at 1024 x 768, it looks a treat.

The AI too can be praised, as soldiers are not gung ho to lay down their lives. They show a distinct tendency towards self-preservation, even going so far as to rival the flush out tactics seen three years ago in Half-life.

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault is well worth the trouble to get into. With the familiarity of Quake III, and an alternative playing style to Return to Castle Wolfenstein, it assures its own place in this year’s top sellers on its own merits. Developers 2015 has come up to the mark of veterans, id Software, and demonstrated that new comers can compete in a sensitive and overcrowded genre.

Specs
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault

  • Rating: 88%
  • Requirements: Windows XP/2000/9x/Me, Pentium III 600Mhz or equivalent, 128Mbyte RAM, 8x CD ROM, 1.2Gbyte of free hard disk space plus space for saved games, 16Mbyte OpenGL-capable graphics card, DirectX 8.0-compatible sound card, keyboard and mouse.
  • Price: €44.43
  • Contact: Game +353 (0)1-677 3755

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