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By Alex Wisniewski on June 7th, 2002
Introduction The Medal of Honor series has been one of the greatest games of it’s genre. With the PC version of Medal of Honor Allied Assult, the Playstation version of Medal of Honor, to the amazing PS2 version of Medal of Honor Frontline. Frontline surprised me and probably many more with its eye-popping graphics, very realistic sounds and sound effects, and most of all the terrific gameplay. In Frontline, as Lieutenant James Patterson, you’ll be making your way behind enemy lines using stealth and sabotage as well as heroic force to achieve your own goals with it all taking place in the middle of a battlefield in World War 2 defeating Nazis. Frontline takes the same cinematic approach that Allied Assault did, with a heavy emphasis on scripted events throughout its epic missions. Even though Frontline has a couple frustrating points, the game is more than good enough to outshine any shortcomings that it might have. Frontline is simply one of the best games out there for its genre.Presentation When you first turn on Your PS2 and load Medal of Honor Frontline, you will see some actual footage from World War 2. Then it will take you to the main menu after a couple of quick advertisement type screens. The main menu was nicely designed with the old World War 2 look. The main menu also has a large variety of different options to choose from which are: play, next mission, gallery, personal records, and options. Play is for starting a new game or loading your old one. Next mission is for if you started a campaign, you can proceed to the next mission in the game. Gallery is for reviewing the results of your success by viewing actual footage from World War 2 to see how your accomplishments are changing the campaign for the Allies and you can also review movies on the making of Medal of Honor Frontline. Personal records is so you can review the medals and statistics that you have accumulated in the current campaign, and you can also choose from the player stats option and the medals option. Options is for entering passwords and adjust bonus features, as well as change audio, difficulty and controller settings. When you first pick new game, it will start you off automatically on a boat with your fellow allies. This cinematic intro allows you to look around and watch other boats get blown up by German aircraft. Seconds later, after your boat hits the beach and the door drops, an artillery shell explodes and throws you off of the boat into the sea along with your other allies. Then it starts you off on your first mission.Graphics & Sound Right when you start your first mission, you will notice the amazing lifelike level textures and character models. The level looks great, the characters look almost real, and the sound is amazing. The sound fits everything perfectly from the sound effects to the music. Your fellow allies even talk to you for the mission briefings. I think this is the best and most realistic sounds a video game has ever brought to my ears. It sometimes feels like I am in the middle of a real battlefield in World War 2.Gameplay The gameplay of Frontline is amazing. There are 19 deadly missions in all in which you can use a large number of 18 authentic World War 2 weapons. As you play through all of the missions and open up new levels, you will see all of the amazing different character models and level textures, although the AI could use a little polishing. The enemies aren’t the dumbest enemies you’ll come across in a game, but they are not the smartest either. Although the AI could be better, it really isn’t too bad of a problem. Each level has it’s own design and layout and they are all fun and very realistic which makes opening up a new level always something to look forward to. The music fits the game perfectly as well as the sound effects. In Frontline when you’re in the middle of an intense gun battle, it sometimes feels like you are actually there. Frontline has a great deal of things to offer which makes the game very fun and exciting.Lasting Appeal Frontline doesn’t have much replay value since mostly all you can do is replay the levels and that’s about it. Yet, there are secrets that you can unlock after you beat the game which does add a plus. Even though Frontline doesn’t have the best replay value, it still has a great deal of things to offer like the amazing graphics, gameplay, music and sound effects.Conclusion After playing Medal of Honor Allied Assult for the PC, I got pretty excited that a new one was coming out, so I bought it. When I played it, I was pretty astonished since it was a lot more than what I expected it to be. I am happy that I bought Medal of Honor Frontline and I recommend you buying it too. If you have a PS2 buy it. |
