Medal of Honor Airborne

Happy landings.

They say that E3 is always a crap place to get a good look at a game, but my time with Medal of Honor Airborne takes this to a new extreme: I can't actually pick the enemies out from the scenery. Such is the depth of rubble, and the density of similar colours on the textures that wrap the fallen tiles, halves of bricks and half-buried window frames, that I have to put on my glasses to spot the German movements further up the street. It's absolute chaos. A few seconds later I'm dead. And then it's back in the aeroplane for another attempt.

Airborne's headline feature is that you start off in the sky, parachuting into the level, and that this lets you approach missions however you like. Obviously, then, if you die before you've completed any objectives, you respawn in the plane and try again. It's a key distinction, because the death-rate can be quite high if you're gung-ho, or a poor judge of enemy concentration. In a sense, it also mitigates against the usual agony of death; here, if you're confident of your plan, you can target the same landing zone with a renewed vigour, but if you're sure you'll just die again you can try something different.

Feeling I was somewhat in the latter camp, my second attempt (glasses locked on), sees me arcing toward a cluster of rooftops. As I descend I can glance quickly over the city, which is vast, and struggles relatively little with the amount of fully formed houses, bridges and town squares it's rendering - so much so that it's hard to believe that Unreal Engine 3, king of the corridor shooters, is pulling levers behind the scenes. Anyway, I skid across the tiles of a church or something similar, which towers in partial ruin over a Nazi-infested street. Presumably a man with a giant bedsheet strapped to his back landing smack bang in the middle of a bright red roof is slightly conspicuous though, because in my exposed state I'm dead again pretty quickly.

'Medal of Honor Airborne' Screenshot 1

There are several factors to consider when descending on French towns. Number one, does it have a Hypermarket?

The next time I benefit from a bit of instruction from the developer. The game separates hot-zones and safer areas on your mini-map, which also indicates objectives in yellow, and enemy troops in red. Targeting a safe zone proves to be the trick, guaranteeing a certain amount of reinforcement on the ground. Hotter areas have put me under fire from ground troops, or sprung me into buildings infested with difficult-to-see Nazis. I even had rockets fired at me. Not so here. Another benefit to this attempt is being shown how to land properly, cutting my chute smoothly just before my feet hit the ground so I can be up and running, gun-in-hand, rather than tumbling and then having to get my head together before taking full control.

Levels progress in as linear a fashion as your entrance suggests - that is to say, they're completely freeform. Your objectives can be tackled in any order, and enemies will continue to reinforce those areas for as long as they're not completed, eliminating the older feel of simply having to clear the area and then running around vacuuming up health and ammo-packs before moving on unopposed. Indeed, AI is described as much less scripted than in past Medals of Honor. It's hard to discern exactly how clever it is in a few minutes of play during a crowded E3 showcase (not least given that it was opposite the Rock Band stage), but on one occasion I could swear a pack of Germans attempted to draw my troops into an alleyway. They also attempt to retake positions, we're told.

'Medal of Honor Airborne' Screenshot 2

Taking out AA defences is pretty important for obvious reasons.

The other thing about your in-game objectives is that you might not be strong enough to capture them at the first time of asking. You may need to reconsider your pre-level weapon load-out (two main weapons and a side-arm), or simply focus on other objectives to accumulate reward points to upgrade your kit. Upgrades will do things like reduce the amount your SMG's barrel leaps up with each shot. Weapons in general seem to have benefited from more thought, too - the sniper rifle, for instance, now involves squeezing the trigger to stabilise your shot before pulling it the rest of the way to release the bolt. And you thought your digicam skills would go to waste.

Meanwhile, if you get shot (I do - I get shot all the time), you quickly learn that the health system is similar in some senses to Resistance: Fall of Man, with four bars that individually regenerate if they're only partially dented, but disappear completely if taken the whole way down - necessitating the acquisition of a good old-fashioned health-pack.

'Medal of Honor Airborne' Screenshot 3

You're often fighting alongside other members of the 82nd.

Interestingly for an E3 demo, the producers are happy to discuss other elements - that it's made up of campaigns like D-Day, an Italian rescue operation and a mass airdrop into Germany at the end, for instance. But most curious of their reveals is what happens in the final mission, Der Flakturm. Flakturme were concrete fortresses designed to stop the Allies gaining aerial control of certain cities, and, if you believe Wikipedia, were effective enough that the Russians didn't bother trying to attack them at all and simply beat the rest of the town up before sending an emissary round later to negotiate the occupants' surrender. Not that you'll be doing that in Airborne, mind. For a start, you're an American called Boyd Travers. And for a second (or maybe an 82nd - ho ho), you'll get to assault one instead, either landing on top of it or falling into the streets around and having to overcome masses of sniper fire on your approach.

In many senses the same, then, Medal of Honor is nonetheless refreshed by its Airborne evolution. With the full game due out in September, it won't be long until we know whether it's refreshing, too.

Medal of Honor Airborne is due out on PC and Xbox 360 this 7th September, with a PS3 version currently to-be-dated.

Comments (34) Latest comment 4 years ago

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  • Dermoth #1 5 years ago

    "Such is the depth of rubble, and the density of similar colours on the textures that wrap the fallen tiles, halves of bricks and half-buried window frames, that I have to put on my glasses to spot the German movements further up the street."

    Oh, great, another brown FPS.
  • bioreit #2 5 years ago

    I'm looking forward to it.

    Never cared for MOH games, but the ability to start where I want to start, each and every time, without the 'corridors-through-open-fields' approach of previous games, appeals mightily.

    And the pulling the trigger a bit to ensure a good sniper shot is fantastic.

    /loves sniping
  • UncleLou #3 5 years ago

    Not a fan of the series, but the concept sounds great. Let's hope they can pull it off.
  • Benno #4 5 years ago

    Oh great, more respawning enemies

    yawn....
  • woodnotes #5 5 years ago

    "Medal of Honor Airborne is due out on PC and Xbox 360 this 7th September, with a PS3 version currently to-be-dated."

    MS moneybags / Unreal Engine 3 (take your pick) strike again :)
  • Tonka #6 5 years ago

    Finally an FPS set in the WWII!
  • Azazel #7 5 years ago

  • Duke_Red #8 5 years ago

    The peoples sarcasm on this site never ceases to amaze
  • monkie_king #9 5 years ago

    seems appropriate:
    Call Of Duty 2 Gamer Wonders If War Is Worth Dying 79 Times For
    [link url=http://www .theonion.com/content/node/44458
    ]http://www .theonion.com/content/node/44458
    [/link]

    "you start to wonder if it's really worth it," said 23-year-old Avers, who has been decorated 1,327 times since 1995, when he began fighting on his Sega Genesis."
  • xandoodle #10 5 years ago

    After watching Band of Brothers again i'm really intrested in this.

    Shame about the nextgen ness :|
  • bdc #11 5 years ago

    Why EA, why why why do you persist?
  • gaselite #12 5 years ago

    Sounds like an interesting amalgamation of MOH and elements of Battlefield. Hopefully it's a return to form for a once great series.
  • TonyCocaCola #13 5 years ago

  • Garibaldi #14 5 years ago

    Sounds vaguely promising, except for the part about 'upgrading' attributes to experience less recoil and such, they should just focus on making it a really good FPS and not some lame hybrid.
  • Darren #15 5 years ago

    The Medal of Honor series turned rubbish when Call of Duty was released and was only ever any good on the PC anyway (bar the mediocre Pacific Assault). MoH: Airborne looks OK from what I've seen but if I play another WWII FPS, I fear I might start to lose the will to live! LOL
  • bigjimbeef #16 5 years ago

    Am I the only person that reckons the first screenshot looks a little bit like Midgar?

    Meh.. maybe my monitor's at a funny angle.

    Though I can happily say that I lost interest in WWII games a long time ago. The parachute part does sound interesting enough, but not enough to merit a purchase, methinks.

    Though I do agree with bioreit on the use ofthe trigger for sniping - that is an excellent idea.
  • StormRider #17 5 years ago

    I think the free-to-do-what-you-bloody-want idea is great, and especially needed in this dying ww2 fps genre. At least it'll give the genre a good farewell if this is one of the last ww2 fps games coming, which I don't really think so, especially if airborne turns out to be a bestseller and gets good marks.
  • afghan_jones #18 5 years ago

    Why cant someone make a WW1 FPS?

    or a decent Robin hood game?
    or more games with dinosaurs?
    or Zulu the game?
    or the Great Escape?
    or a prehistoric caveman game?
    or a game where your a cop in Olde London, chasing Jack the Ripper?
    or a King Arthur game?
    or an apocalypto south american game?
    or an Atlantis based game?
    or more Cowboy games?
    or an arctic exploration game?
    or an ancient egypt game?
    or 1920s archaeologist indy style game?
    or bram stoker era vampire hunting game?
    or another Blade Runner game?
    or a knights & jousting game?
    or a Borrowers game?

    My point is, there are tons of cool ideas out there for games we've never seen before , so can we PLEASE STOP FLOGGING THE WW2 THEME?!?!?
  • Rirekon #19 5 years ago

    Let's face it few publishers are going to say "ok, let's stop releasing games we know will sell and try something risky instead". So unless people stop buying WWII shooters EA will keep publishing them.

    However it does actually sound quite interesting, if they pop a demo I'll certainly try it.
  • UncleLou #20 5 years ago

    The only thing more annoying than a new WWII FPS is people moaning about them.

    /disappears in paradox

    ;-)
  • Steroyd #21 5 years ago

    Didn't EA get the memo?

    WWII is out Sci Fi is in.
  • PatrickEwing #22 5 years ago

    christ I'm fed up of the no more WWII games argument, I would bet that there are more alien FPS or Zombie FPS than WWII FPS, I can play any, but to say there are too many WWII games is a load of old codswallop.
  • Hughes. #23 5 years ago

    In every advert I've seen for this on TV it's tearing like a bastard.

    Is vsync considered last gen now?
  • BBIAJ #24 5 years ago

    TV adverts for Airborne, this early!?

    Are you/they insane!?
  • stephenb #25 5 years ago

    @BBIAJ

    No there rich.......very, very rich
  • Hughes. #26 5 years ago

    They're bracketing some sponsored shows on Sci-Fi with pre-release ads, or it might be Sky One, some chanel or other anyway.
  • Monkey-Wizard-Ken #27 5 years ago

  • stormuk #28 5 years ago

    Why cant someone make a WW1 FPS?

    maybe the mud and the fact youd die all the time wouldnt be fun
    though they could tie in a EA Fifa War Edition I suppose

    or a decent Robin hood game?

    FPS in green tights - erm nope

    or more games with dinosaurs?

    No more Lara please...............

    or Zulu the game?

    Interesting but might not be PC

    or the Great Escape?

    Erm isnt this WWII?

    or a prehistoric caveman game?

    FPClub em up - sounds a bit boring

    or a game where your a cop in Olde London, chasing Jack the Ripper?

    Would be a bit dull with just the one baddie

    okay Im bored now.....
  • asphaltcowboy #29 5 years ago

    I for one, think this has potential. Despite being Ea and not Call of Duty
  • glaeken #30 5 years ago

    Like they could make a Zulu game. White people with guns shooting unarmed black people. Good luck getting that released.
  • Quinch #31 5 years ago

    "Like they could make a Zulu game. White people with guns shooting unarmed black people. Good luck getting that released."

    Sounds like GTA 7: The Rodney King Affair
  • ExplodingClown #32 5 years ago

    @Tonka: :-D

    @DukeRed: that's what makes this site such a pleasure to read!

    @Darren: too late, my will has already been sapped by endless pixellated retreads of 'Saving Private Ryan'

    @StormRider: good point: why doesn't anyone make a decent WWII game where you're a member of the Resistance? Or SOE? Or a German soldier trying to survive the fall of the Reich and get home to his family? Why are you always a bloody GI? answer- instant ready made market of American consumers, and no research required just another trip to the mystical Well of Cliches >:-(

    @afghanjones: amen, and thus Bioshock is the answer to my prayers (I think your playful sense of irony is somewhat lost on some of the subsequent posters)

    @PatrickEwing: aliens maybe, but there's nowhere near enough zombie games around. Zombies rule. And my gripe with the WWII fps genre is the sameyness, not the quantity - these things may tinker with the ingredients but otherwise Medal of Honor, Call of Duty, Brothers in Arms etc have a horrible familiarity.

    *What's the betting that the music for the menu screen on MOH:A will feature 'distant trumpets/ratatat snare drums' and the tone of the thing will be along the lines of "gawsh, Ah'm jes' a farm boy but Ah lurned that when Uncle Sayam called, these gahs with me would become not just mah buddies but mah brothers". Gruff officer pre-mission briefings are pretty much on the cards.




  • jachap #33 5 years ago

    I fucking love World War Two games.

    The wonderful thing with WW2 is how it lets you strip away all that pretentious shit that is always getting in the way of decent First Person Shooters.

    I mean, you don't need a story. You don't need any exposition whatsoever beyond mission briefings that people will probably just skip, anyway.

    You don't need any plot or any characters. There's no necessity to make up some techno-babble bullshit about the guns because, at this point, every gamer has an ingrained knowledge of the exact specifications of every single side-arm, rifle and submachine gun used by the Americans and the Nazis or the bonus third side: the comedy Russians.

    As for settings. Jesus! This was World Friggin' War TWO. You can set it anywhere. Brown hot places, brown wet places or white cold places. You can even have bits inside grey places! It's not like any of that makes any discernable difference anyway.

    Best of all: straight out of the box, World War Two featured the greatest villains ever. No-one has any moral issue with killing Nazis. I mean, after all, they experimented on disabled people (!) and even had the good grace to do it dressed entirely in black.

    Saying World War Two is generic is stupid. World War Two IS a genre.
  • Agente_Silva #34 4 years ago

    Why do pepole who donīt like or got sick of this kind of shooter keep on posting their opinion! Itīs like I would go comment on Half-Life (whatever episode) and say it sucks because I donīt like Non-Human FPS games - so I donīt bother (me and others) to comment. Medal of Honor Airborne is a GREAT shooter! More from the same, you would say: YES, correct... More from a game that always have entertained many. EA has thought about what had been made in previous series and came up with a simple conclusion: it is not meant to be like BiA so weīll quit on those pesky squad command option (wich in fact did work quite good); it is meant to impress both AGP and PCI-e users (and so it did, AMAZINGLY - Iīm running it on P4, DDR400 and X1950 Pro platform and my graphic setting, by DEFAULT, is High and Full :p); itīs an "in your face shooter" but not a "mommy look Iīm John Rambo" game. If you go Gungh-Ho, like someone said, you probably have to play the same scene for 10 times until you realize you must calm down, explore an IMMENSE map (and even end up finding weapons and health) in order to pass through the various scenarios. In terms of interaction and movement, EA sticks to the basic - i.e: you donīt need to follow a strict map path, just jump onto some boxes or make your way through ceilings and hope down, there you go ready to the next objective! Someone said the game is short - have you completed all objectives beyhond primaries?! This is what EA is good at and I think we all know that! It is surely the BEST MoH Iīve played! :)

    Be Well