Medal of Honor: Frontline

Good morning LT., first I want to congratulate you on your fine work in the past. You have proven yourself worthy of your legendary status and continue to prove that one man can make a difference. Today’s assignment is a tricky one, capitalize on making a game that takes everything the original had and taking it up a notch, are you up for the challenge? I thought so, well good luck in your venture and may the force be with you…errr well never mind. Get used to eulogies like these as they flood this game LOL. Once again EA has brought a very loved franchise from the PSOne and redone it, PS2 style! Not being a huge fan of the original MOH, just read my reviews, I was skeptical of this one from the get go. I am happy to report that I was proven wrong.

The main issues I had with the original games is that they felt unfinished. Poor collision detection and choppy frame rates flooded the games more than the Nazis themselves. EA has taken the time to fix the major problems of the original and really utilize the PS2’s power. There are still frame drops from time to time, but nothing to compare to the originals. The game is also a bit grainy from time to time, but this comes from the PS2 inability to alias correctly. This problem is sure to be remedied in the XBox version. The models in the game are top notch with several points of hit detection. For instance shoot a man in the leg and he loses control for a sec in order to attend to his wound, shoot a man in the groin and watch him barrel over in pain as his manhood is challenged. My favorite animation has to be the guy who gets shot and immediately reaches down and wipes his chest and realizes…hey! I have been shot and almost immediately falls over screaming, classic stuff.

The most impressive thing about MOH has always been it’s sound. This game is absolutely astounding to listen to on a surround sound system! From the opening title screen to the last shot fired this game packs an audio shot that can be heard around the world! You can hear explosions behind you in real time as well as people screaming at you on the Beach Of Normandy. The audio flare rivals the best in the business and the soundtrack is also not bad to boot. Combining the Northwest Sinfonia with some of the best composers in the world the game makes you really feel like you are smack dab in the middle of WW2, very nice indeed.

The game play aspect of MOH is a mixed bag, on one hand you have a familiar control scheme that is easy to pick up and learn (not to mention it gives you the option to play Goldeneye style with one analog stick), but on the other you have some sluggish movement and the frame rate drop sometimes defers your actions and makes things hard to accomplish. This is just a minor gripe and nothing that cannot be overlooked. My main complaint is that the story mode seems almost thrown together, the missions sometimes seem out of place. One minute you are crossing a bridge to disarm explosives and the next you are starting fights between Nazis, it’s almost like they didn’t think out the entire story beforehand. You will see what I mean when you begin blasting through the single player experience. Now my biggest complaint about the whole game….where is the freakin’ multi-player??? This is a FPS game that takes place during WW2!!! Could you imagine a co-op mode or even a 4-player death match!! That would have extended the life of this game ten fold! What is the problem here??? I guess you can’t have everything, perhaps when it arrives on the XBox we can get our wishes.

At the end of the day I recommend getting this game if you own a PS2. It is a solid title that deserves to be played through at least once. With 19 huge missions and tons of weapons variety this game packs enough to keep you busy for quite some time. One of the best FPS games on the PS2 and definitely one of the finest single player experiences this side of MGS. Enjoy it while you can as without multi-player this game will be traded in after you beat it. That is all for now, good luck solider.

Written by
Ken is the Editor-in-Chief of this hole in the wall and he loves to troll for the fun of it. He also enjoys long walks through Arkham Asylum and the cool air of Shadow Moses Island. His turn-ons include Mortal Kombat, Metal Gear Solid and StarCraft.