Medal of Honor: European Assault Review (no fat)

Game Description

The fact that the original Medal of Honor started this whole WW2-shooter frenzy made developers Electronic Arts introduce numerous add-ons to the game. Having to cope with strong competitors such as Call of Duty, World War Zero or Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, Electronic Arts rushed Rising Sun and got several bad reviews and a lot of criticism from the series’ fans. When Medal of Honor: European Assault was released, everyone expected Electronic Arts to redeem the series and that’s just what happened.

Medal of Honor: European Assault - Plot and Mission Setup

Although the game’s name contains the word European in it, don’t be fooled: it’s still up to the Americans to eventually save the day. The American savior theme is getting quite boring in World War shooters and the game could lose some points there, but the decision of using it over and over again probably has some marketing reasons behind it.

For the while, you will play the role of a highly trained American agent named William Holt. The game takes you through a lot of WW2’s greatest battles in Europe and North Africa. You will fight alongside the “Battered Bastards of Bastogne” of the 101’s Airborne in the Battle of the Bulge, you will battle Rommel and his desert troops in Africa and you will even get to witness the epic battle of Stalingrad first-hand. Finally, EA decided to skip Normandy this time around.

While the game is enjoyable and the missions hold details, a grand total of eleven missions isn’t too grand at all. The game won’t hold a nifty FPS player for more than 4-6 hrs and the only redeeming factor for the rather small game-time is the fact that the missions have a replay value because of the various sub-objectives present in the game.

Medal of Honor: European Assault - Level Design

Some complained that the Medal of Honor games offered to little variation an replay value and confined the player to a singular route and to narrow buildings and landscapes. European Assault doesn’t resolve the first problem, as the game is still as linear as the other games in what regards story and mission development, but its wider levels offer a less claustrophobic feel to the game and the larger areas of land will give you some exploration freedom.

So while everyone will be looking to complete the same objectives, some will be practicing displacement and others can find different and ingenious ways to compete the same task.

Medal of Honor: European Assault - User Interface

One of the most important additions to the console version of Medal of Honor games is that the user interface is greatly improved. With the help of your controller stick and a single button, you can now duck, jump and lean left or right. This makes you feel like you have full and easy control of your character and you won’t need to sprain your wrists in the controls trying to quickly crouch through a fence with enemy artillery and bullets in your back. Sure, it takes a little more time to learn how to use the new system correctly, but in the end it’s well worth it.

Medal of Honor: European Assault – Graphics

The design of the battle theatres with their destroyed, smoking buildings, dense woods or ruined cities is quite impressive and is done in a professional manner. Cutscenes also took a big facelift, making them smoother and looking more realistic. A strange thing is that although vehicle models look remarkable, character models lack that little feature that makes them seem “alive”. Your squad-mates’ faces aren’t very expressive, at least compared to what we were used to from other games and they look kind of blocky and lacking detail.

In the scenes of realism from the World War II, EA has, perhaps, tried to make us believe in ghosts as well. The ammos dropped by dead soldiers disappear into thin air, perhaps indicating that the ghosts of dead soldiers don’t want the enemy to use their ammo..

Also, the flashy ammo icons don’t go too well with the WW2 background. They look more like a part of an arcade game rather than a period-game like MoH. Apart from that, the game’s graphics engine runs smoothly, producing a good frame-rate even when there’s a lot of smoke or a lot of characters around you.

Medal of Honor: European Assault – Sound

The Medal of Honor franchise always had great audio settings, whichever aspect of audio you evaluate. European Assault keeps this hallmark of the series alive and even cranks it up a notch. There’s really nothing you can find to be faulty in the sound department of the game, although the German soldiers’ lines might seem a bit funny at times, when they should actually be intimidating.. or threatening at least.

Medal of Honor: European Assault – Conclusion

European Assault is definitely a step forward, when compared to the average Rising Sun and the slightly above-average Pacific Assault. Its great control features and sound will give console players a better gaming experience than most of the other console-shooters around and the large levels will loosen up those claustrophobic fans out there. Although not bringing anything too original, Medal Of Honor: European Assault still rates well with fans and critics alike.

Medal of Honor: European Assault – Cost

The currently retails for $39.99