Genre: First Person Shooter
Developer: DreamWorks Interactive
Publisher: Electronic Arts
# of Players: 1-4
Memory: 3 blocks
ERSB: Teen
Also On: Playstation 2, X-Box
Features: Dolby Pro Logic II and Progressive Scan
Introduction:
Medal of Honor: Frontline was released on the Playstation 2 many moons ago and now it has made its way to both the Nintendo GameCube and X-Box with enhanced visuals and multiplayer to boot. The Medal of Honor series is known for delivering some of the most realistic World War II games ever made and Medal of Honor: Frontline is an excellent addition to the GameCube’s growing First Person Shooter library.
Presentation:
"And when he gets to Heaven
To Saint Peter he will tell:
One more soldier reporting, Sir --
I’ve served my time in Hell."
The moment I read that passage before the first level I knew this game was serious about the entire World War II atmosphere it presents. The game’s menu is pretty nifty; you navigate a table top cluttered with documents, memorabilia, and a pistol, each one representing a different gameplay mode or section. Load times are brief, I would say about 5 to 7 seconds to load each level map.
Gameplay:
Medal of Honor: Frontline for the GameCube is a very linear experience, though that is not exactly a bad thing. It’s linear for a reason, to progress the game’s story. There are many scripted events that you will come across by in the game, such as a fellow soldier being shot on the battlefield in attempt to rescue a key member, his death causes for you to take his place and accomplish what he failed. Other scripted events have no real effect on the gameplay but instead just add to the drama, for example one of my fellow teammates when parachuting down into a village in France unfortunately got trapped on a windmill, when I was about to rescue him I heard him yell “No, wait!”, Nazi soldiers then killed him with a barrage of bullets from a far distance.
Missions vary across many different locales, some are just intense warfare battles, and others involve espionage. You won’t encounter too many intense battles, but when you do they are a blast. The first level in the game is D-Day, if anyone has seen the Steven Spielberg movie Saving Private Ryan then they should know exactly what I’m talking about. D-Day is one of the most intense levels in the whole game. You start off in one of the passenger army boats with your fellow soldiers; your Captain gives you a short briefing telling you to meet up with him on the shore. While he is briefing you and your men, you look around at your surroundings, the beautiful ocean, your fellow men puking, and the raging battlefield in front of you. In a few short seconds later you find yourself in the water, your boat has been destroyed by Nazi opposition, as you try to swim to shore you see you fellow men trying to do the same but most of them are getting hit by enemy fire piercing through the water. When you get to the shore you meet up with your Captain as he attempts to give you your orders, you can’t help but be distracted by the chaos in front of you, Nazi airplanes fly by dropping bombs sending your fellow troops sky high as well as shaking the Earth beneath you. That is probably one of the most intense scenes in the game and this game does an excellent job of trying to be as realistic as possible. Most of the missions in the game are described to you with a FMV audio file or some documents, the standard really so I can’t really complain. Missions may take some time to complete, I myself have taken at least 20 minutes per stage but that can be mostly due to fact that I tend to ignore mission objectives and kill all those damn Nazis first plus wander aimlessly for awhile.
Unfortunately, Medal of Honor: Frontline suffers from control issues. It can be unnecessarily hard to aim, thus making it very difficult to get a good hit percentage at the end of each level. Something is just not right with the analog sensitivity and after spending much time with James Bond: Agent under Fire, Turok Evolution, and TimeSplitters 2 I cannot help but be incredibly frustrated with the games controls especially when games like those play so well with the GameCube’s controller.
Now for the multiplayer…
The multiplayer option was added to the GameCube and X-Box versions of Medal of Honor: Frontline, I guess, in attempt to make it more than just a port of the Playstation 2 original. Unfortunately, it was a waste of time and effort. The game’s multiplayer mode is one of the most pitiful attempts I’ve ever seen, only one mode is available and that is Death Match. On top of that the multiplayer maps are pulled straight from the Single player game, this causes the maps to be just too damn big and open for four players to run around on. It’s kind of odd that I should be complaining about the maps being too “large” since most of the time reviewers bitch about them being too “small” but you have to think of it this way, Is it really better to play on battlefields filled with nothing or in an area that has a nice variety of levels, hiding spots, rooms, etc…?
Visuals:
I honestly did not know what to expect from this game visually since I never touched the original PS2 version. Unlike most PS2 to GameCube ports Medal of Honor: Frontline is actually one stunning little gem. At first character models don’t come off as being too impressive but like a piece of art all the little things in there make the big picture a masterpiece. What the hell did I mean in that last sentence? I meant that the game has some kick ass effects, I was amazed when I would see massive explosions occur, consuming the screen in smoke, not only that but there is just so much that can go on at once, Nazi airplanes drop bombs from above sending soldiers flying to their untimely deaths. It was also pretty neat to see bullets piercing the water and watching them trail through killing your men underwater in the first level. But the most impressive thing about this game visually would have to be the realistic movements of the characters, not only would their lips move in sync with their words but they would react to everything the way you would expect them to. For example if you were to shoot an enemy in the chest they would grasp their chest then take a look at the blood on their hands while they would fall to their demise and another disturbing example would be that for some reason every time you would kill someone they would “look at you” as if they were trying to get a good last look at their murderer.
Unfortunately not all is perfect. Frontline does suffer from a minor framerate problem. The original PS2 version was said to have suffered from a similar problem but to a much larger extent. It’s not unbearable though, it’s just a bit choppy , it does not hinder the gameplay experience one bit but framerate is such an important factor in today’s game that we just always expect a rock solid 60 frames per second. Texture work is decent on most accounts but when going up real close to a door it begins to get dull.
Medal of Honor: Frontline is all about realism and for the most part it gets that down very well but there’s one thing missing…Blood. I don’t usually crave blood in games, but it seems to be a given for shooters these days.
Audio:
From the moment I turned on the game I was impressed by this title’s soundtrack. The musical score for the game is flawless, it perfectly fits the game in every possible way, imagine Saving Private Ryan meets Braveheart. Sound effects are just as equally impressive, from the first level you sense of hearing is abused with soaring airplanes flying above you, explosions all around you, machines guns firing straight at you, and on top of that your Captain is shouting orders at you. If this is what war really sounds like then …Damn! Voice acting is very nicely done, but it can be somewhat difficult to hear what you allies are telling you since the explosions and gunfire around you are so loud that everything else sounds like a whisper.
Lasting Appeal:
Medal of Honor: Frontline can be a very difficult game if you’re not playing it on Easy. So, it could possibly take you some time to complete this game. FPS veterans though, will most likely burn through Frontline in a matter of days, if possible, even a single sitting. With approx. 20 levels throughout the entire game it could take you some time to complete, in my case it took me at least 20 minutes to complete most levels my first time through. Unfortunately, the game doesn’t have too many rewarding hidden treats and Frontline’s multiplayer is too much of a pathetic attempt to ever play a second time. So, unless you want to test your skills over and over again on the highest difficulty setting (which many gamers do…), Medal of Honor: Frontline is an ideal candidate for a rental to tide your over for a few days.
Final Thoughts:
Medal of Honor: Frontline is the first game in the series to appear on a Nintendo console, it may not be better than the PC Medal of Honor games but it’s not a bad game by any means. If it wasn’t for a weak multiplayer mode this game would be another stellar entry to the GameCube’s growing library of First Person Shooters. I’m hoping Electronic Arts next Medal of Honor console title will fix all the faults found in Frontline.
The Good: -Awesome soundtrack
-Great World War II atmosphere
-War is real, and this game does a good job recreating some part of World War II
The Bad:
-Nazis, I hate these guys!
-Multiplayer is weak!
-Aiming precisely is too hard for its own good
