Medal of Honor: European Assault.

[Jedi152]

Ok, so i know i usually dislike MoH games, but i was looking at the case for this one and have to admit that it looks good. Semi-decent WW2 games are a bit lacking on consoles at the moment...

It has British missions (St. Nazaire particuarly excited me), Russian missions etc.

But now that i've looked at the official website it seems that you still play an american OSS agent (and some random french woman).

So does this mean that you'll play an american in levels such as St. Nazaire? Are EA implying that British Commandos on one of the most daring raids in history were led by an American? (i've no doubt EA will have them using US weapons) What about the russian levels?

Does anyone have this game? What is it like?

[Emperor's Light]

I rented it, and I was underwhelmed.

First, don't expect historical accuracy. If you do you will only be disappointed.

Second, yes, you play as an American OSS agent. It's not entirely clear why the British needed an American OSS agent with them at St. Nazaire. But there it is. You don't lead the raid, if that makes you feel any better.

The same thing with the North African campaign. Now, strangely enough, rather than working with the SAS or LRDG on a raid against a German secret research facility, you work with the 7th Armoured Division instead. That is not only historically inaccurate, it just makes no sense. The best I can guess is the designers wanted to get "Desert Rats" in there because it sounds cool.

For Soviet campaign, there is some hoopla about the Soviet Union allowing you to be in Stalingrad to recover some key plan from the Germans. Again, historically inaccurate...makes no sense...blah blah you know the drill by the now.

Third, the game play is not very good. You have 3 squad members that are supposed to fight with you. However, you can only give them two orders: attack and regroup. There's not a very significant difference in behavior between the two. For the most part they just stand in the open to get shot. It amuses me to now end that you will be hiding behind a rock for something to avoid machine gun fire, and you will see your squad members dash out and stand on the other side of the rock...presumably to PROTECT the rock from German machine guns.

Fourth, yes, at St. Nazaire you use American weapons. You have a M1 Garand and a Thompson. The Commandos have Thompsons, which may be accurate as the Sten had just hit production at the point. In North Africa you get a scoped Lee-Enfield. In Stalingrad you get a PPsh41 and a Mosin-Nagant. You can also salvage German Sturmgewehr 44s. Now, it's called "44" because it's model year is 1944. Why do the Germans have Stg 44s in early 1943? Presumably because one of Hitler's secret science projects was time travel.

The single player campaign is short. There is no online multiplayer.

[Jedi152]

Hmm. No historical accuracy. Sounds about right for a MoH game.

I'm really upset about British troops using US weapons in games. It sounds sad, but i'm a bit of a sucker for games to even make the most basic sense.

I understand using the Thomson, as commando units did, but the M1? The Enfield was probably one of the most successful weapons of the war. EA had programmed a Moisin-Nagant for the Russians, how much effort would it have been to make a different skin for it?

Why bother making an American main character? Obviously EA just wanted to wave the American flag a bit more.
Would Americans not play the game if it has a Russian or British lead at certain parts? Evidently not: Call of Duty sold well.


So once again EA fall short of the mark, for stupid reasons.

Thanks for the heads up - i won't waste my money on MoH, just buy a second hand CoD:Finest Hour.

[Ozorik]

I they went to the trouble to make a scoped Enfeild...

[Rykion]

The Sturmgewehr 44 came out in 1943 as the MP43. They gave it the machine pistol (submachine gun) name because Hitler didn't want new rifles. He found out about the new rifle and it gained the new name in 1944. The gun itself appeared in July 1943 though.

The OSS and the French resistance have always been the main focus of Medal of Honor games. Historical accuracy is poor in most games.

[Emperor's Light]

The Sturmgewehr 44 came out in 1943 as the MP43. They gave it the machine pistol (submachine gun) name because Hitler didn't want new rifles. He found out about the new rifle and it gained the new name in 1944. The gun itself appeared in July 1943 though.

Yes the prototype Mkb 42(H) also had limited quantities for field trials in early 1943, but I doubt they somehow found their way into encircled Stalingrad. MOH just wanted you to have cool weapons, and since they already had it in previous games I assume it saves EA time and effort.

I haven't played COD: Finest Hour. I liked the COD for the PC, but Finest Hour didn't get very good reviews.

[Rykion]

I wasn't trying to imply that the MoH team did research and found out that the SG44 was at Stalingrad. Just mentioning that it was in production before 1944. Even well researched games like Brothers in Arms sacrifice accuracy for gameplay. The only games that seem to put a lot in trying to be very accurate are strategy wargames like the Combat Mission games.

[Ravening Wh0re]

come on guys. youre talking about EA!

they suck the life out of the games industry, and take artistic license with everything.

dont expect anything to be historically accurate (or fun for that matter)

[Emperor's Light]

OMG Ravening Whore is alive!!!1eleven

With FPS games I expect "old school war movie" level of historical accuracy and realism. However, MOHEA doesn't even feature good gameplay. The squad AI is terrible. It becomes kind of a pointless feature.

[Ravening Wh0re]

Haha. Hello, Lightie.

You know I'd come back sooner or later


Did EA honestly think that this MOH was going to be a CoD beater?
They do what they always do: update a franchise, glitz it up, and heavily market it. No innovation whatsoever.

I heard they put in an "adrenaline" bar. you really cant get more gimmicky than that with such a sober subject

[Emperor's Light]

The adrenaline bar is basically a limited invincibility mode. Enemies also move slower while adrenaline mode is active. It's not a new idea. Other games have done this, and it doesn't add that much to the game. One thing about WWII FPS I liked is that they teach you to use cover and tactics rather than just twitching fast enough with your mouse/control pad. The adrenaline bar takes away from that.

[general trooper]

moh frontline was alright for a time. but it all went wrong when rising sun came along. now that really was a concrete jungle.

[holymarine]

I hust played Vanguard for the wii. And a heads up for those who havent played it but its pretty short. But still good fun if your into ww2 and fps. You even get a chance to use the parachute jump bit at the start of an operation lik what will be in Airborne. Looking forward to that game.

[Firebreath]

Did EA honestly think that this MOH was going to be a CoD beater?
They do what they always do: update a franchise, glitz it up, and heavily market it. No innovation whatsoever.

Truer words were never spoken.

I have absolutely no interest whatsoever in yet another Medal of Honour (although I use to multiplay the very old Allied Assault with some mates every once in a while). Or another Call of Duty, for that matter.

[holymarine]

Did EA honestly think that this MOH was going to be a CoD beater?

You do know that Medal Of Honour had about 3-4 games out before Call Of Duty came out

[RavenMorpheus]

Ok, so i know i usually dislike MoH games, but i was looking at the case for this one and have to admit that it looks good. Semi-decent WW2 games are a bit lacking on consoles at the moment...

It has British missions (St. Nazaire particuarly excited me), Russian missions etc.

But now that i've looked at the official website it seems that you still play an american OSS agent (and some random french woman).

So does this mean that you'll play an american in levels such as St. Nazaire? Are EA implying that British Commandos on one of the most daring raids in history were led by an American? (i've no doubt EA will have them using US weapons) What about the russian levels?

Does anyone have this game? What is it like?

You can't really go wrong with it, ok its not quite as good graphically as the other MOH games but it's not so linear either, you don't plod forward completing objectives, you can roam around the battlefield doing the objectives in whatever order you want - granted there is a set way to do them that is the path to least resistance but it's up to you to discover that path.

Your always an american as per usual but your "attached" to various units during the game.

Weapons wise you've got the same old same old.

Personally I liked it more than frontline or rising sun (or the equivalent on formats other PS2) because of the slighlty less linear nature of the levels.