GameCube

Medal of Honor: European Assault

Medal of Honor: European Assault is the best next-generation Medal of Honor game. It's the best World War II game that I've ever played, period. Better than Call of Duty, better than Return to Castle Wolfenstein, better than Frontline. The developers at Electronic Arts Los Angeles pulled off a game that is infinitely more playable than its predecessors and competitors, all while giving hardcore gamers a serious challenge on the harder difficulty settings. EA dropped an A-Bomb on their competitors with this one. Enlist in the European Assault today, soldier.

European Assault hat von der ersten Spielminute an meine Entäuschung über Rising Sun wieder gut gemacht. Die erhöhte spielerische Freiheit hat mir sehr gut gefallen und bringt die Serie einen deutlichen Schritt nach vorne. Auch wenn die Missionen herrlich abwechslungsreich sind, ist die Spieldauer einfach zu kurz.

By now, everyone and their mothers have played a World War II first-person shooter. Surprisingly, there are as many good games in this sub-genre as there are healthy soldiers lined up for physicals. And while it's true that their shaved heads and crew cuts may look similar, each one still offers a little something different. EA's Medal of Honor series, the granddaddy of them all, is no longer the star soldier of it once was. Sad as it may be, EA has done as much to hurt its series as it has to help it. If Medal of Honor: Allied Assault on PC was the pinnacle of the series, Medal of Honor: Rising Sun was its Waterloo.

It's tough to say what the future will hold for the Medal of Honor franchise. The WWII first-person shooter genre is becoming more crowded with each passing month, and there's a good chance that we'll be seeing more similarly themed games in the future. With this title, however, EA has shown that they aren't going to give up without a fight, and they've succeeded in breathing new life into the series by opening up the levels and adding some interesting gameplay mechanics. If what we've seen in European Assault is any indication, the reports of the franchise's death are greatly exaggerated.

For console shooter fans, European Assault is definitely a step in the right direction after the forgettable Rising Sun. We liked the more-open level designs, and fans will definitely enjoy exploring the new levels, as well as completing every last secondary objective. But even if you spend the time to do that, the adventure doesn't last very long, and the lack of online multiplayer further limits the game's value. Still, longtime fans of the series will at least want to rent this one, as it delivers some solid WWII shooter action.

MOH: European Assault is an average game, but its presentation, not its gameplay, is what sets it apart from other WWII shooters. If you’ve not yet played a WWII-themed shooter, this is a good one on which to cut your teeth while getting a well-researched and entertaining history lesson in the process. The thing of it is, the chances are high that you’ve already played your fair share of WWII games, so MOH: European Assault is probably going to be one you’ll be just as happy passing by.

Friendly fire isn't even an issue in the single-player campaign, and therein lies the problem. In grasping for accessibility, MoH: EA undermines the series' basic dramatic premise that you're an exceptional soldier, but still just a guy with some guns who's playing a tide-turning role in the events of World War II. If you're in it purely for the fun of soldiering, MoH: EA is a reasonable purchase title (although if you're a clock watcher, be warned that it falls a bit short of epic at around 10 hours). If you need the drama to complete your experience, the bright green medkits might taint the cinematic sweep, but it's perhaps worth a rental if you're a fan of the series or the genre.

Demeuré inchangé durant des années pendant que la concurrence évoluait, MoH essaie seulement de rattraper le tir en intégrant ce qu'on trouve déjà ailleurs depuis des lustres. Jeu en équipe, niveaux plus ouverts ou même le discutable bullet time. L'ennui, c'est qu'il s'y prend mal sur certains points et surtout qu'il a quelques années de retard. Cependant, on peut tout de même reconnaître que l'effort sur la linéarité ressentie de manière moins contraignante est appréciable Malheureusement, la durée de vie rikiki rend la pilule encore plus indigeste avec une campagne solo qui ne vous tiendra que 6 à 8 heures selon votre niveau et un mode online curieusement évincé. Faucons de Guerre n'est qu'une étape dans ce qui pourrait être une évolution positive de la série, mais on attendra la prochaine.

Fans of Medal of Honor will no doubt love this latest entry in the series. EA haven't really changed this too much, and there was really little reason for them to do so. With the series selling so well, why tinker with a winning formula. The squad control may appeal to some people, but can pretty much be ignored if you don't want to play squad-leader. Anyone coming to the series late will probably find it hard to take the dated look and rather archaic lack of checkpoints, but if you can get past the numerous problems, there is an enjoyable game to be found.

EA paraissait tenir le bon bout, avec de bonnes idées et de nouvelles orientations qui auraient pu largement réussir à sa série si mal embarquée depuis Soleil Levant. Mais les développeurs n'ont tout simplement pas réussi à faire coïncider cette nouvelle aspiration réaliste avec l'esprit originel de la série beaucoup plus simple et agressif. Par ailleurs, avant de songer à gonfler en nouveautés leur dernier-né, il aurait été malin de corriger d'abord les défauts que traîne la série depuis quelques épisodes. Avec une I.A. toujours aussi loufoque et des graphismes pas forcément au top, il n'est pas évident de se laisser aller à l'intensité des batailles. Restent des niveaux vraiment vastes et bien construits où s'installe une ambiance tendue et prenante qui arrive de temps à autres à nous faire oublier la ribambelle de petits défauts qui polluent un peu trop ce Medal of Honor. Allez, encore un petit effort.

Everything I’ve said goes for every version of European Assault. The graphics, controls, load times and multiplayer options are all the same, which means none of them are online. There's really no excuse anymore for releasing a first-person shooter on the Xbox or PS2 with no online features, but that's exactly the case here. Instead, up to four players can compete in any of several multiplayer games on one system. This wouldn’t be so bad if the game featured bots like Conker: Live and Reloaded, but it doesn’t. If you think Capture the Flag is boring, try it with only two players...or even four.