Given the developers’ insistence on setting Medal of Honor in Afghanistan to begin with, it becomes hard to disassociate yourself from this viewpoint. To Danger Close’s credit, the gameplay is solid and polished, with varied styles of play and top-notch production values, thanks to a heavily modified Unreal engine.

From a mechanical perspective, feels like a hybrid of Modern Warfare and EA’s own Battlefield: Bad Company series, though Danger Close has made a couple of tweaks that should be used in more FPSes. The first, leaning out of cover, has been used in PC-shooters for ages, but for some reason is rarely seen in console games (regardless, it’s invaluable). Medal of Honor’s campaign also uses a sprint-to-slide mechanic that lets you reach cover quickly and efficiently. Although both of these mechanics take some getting used to, once you’ve grown accustomed to them it will give you quite an edge in battle. I don’t generally make note of this, but the game’s environmental effects and level design are also worth mentioning. It’s surprisingly rare to find any FPS that actually incorporates sand and dust into attack strategy, but there are times in Medal of Honor where these natural elements are more than just atmospheric wisps only present to create texture within an environment, and can actually obscure your vision. Similarly, given that much of the Taliban forces are entrenched in mountainous regions, it should be noted that Danger Close has done a great job making your enemies hard to see when hiding among boulders on large ridgeback hills.

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The amount of hard work and dedication that went into the creation of Medal of Honor is pretty evident. The game shines from a technical standpoint, and it plays as well as you would expect from high-polish production like this one. The limited vehicle use, arcade shooting, and stealth segments also help break up the pacing, so you don’t get too burnt out on simply shooting everything in sight for hours on end. Technically, these elements all make Medal of Honor a good game, but it’s still one that suffers to some degree from a lack of purpose. Paying tribute to our brave men and women in uniform—who often go through situations that are unimaginable to all of us sitting at home with controllers in our hands—is a great thing. The step that EA has taken towards establishing a precedent for exploring topical subject matter in a video game may be a small one, but it’s still important. But almost everything else about Medal of Honor, while enjoyable, makes it hard to shake the feeling of playing just another military shooter.

By Steve Haske
CCC Freelance Writer