The Video Game Review: Medal of Honor: European Assault
by Allan Dellikat
Everybody knows that WWII first-person shooters are as common as white belts at a Bright Eyes show, but most gamers acknowledge that Medal of Honor is the series that fathered the genre. MOH crossed over many systems through the years while maintaining its fanbase and integrity. But like all long-running titles, the series has hit its share of landmines. When it came time to review the latest installment, Medal of Honor: European Assault, I strapped on my helmet, grabbed my machine gun and hoped for the best.
European Assault has, by far, the coolest plot of any WWII game yet. You play a hand-picked recruit in the early stages of America’s elite OSS, the real-life predecessor to the CIA. Assassinations, sabotage, secret stealing, all that fun black-ops shit is what this game is all about. The graphics are better than ever and the score is great. The environments are complicated landscapes of destruction and the Nazi AI has gotten much smarter, which is where my problem began.
The AI is so smart I was usually dead before I realized I was being shot. This isn’t a game where you run haphazardly through a war zone firing at anything that moves. You’re required to use patience and take cover when killing Nazis. Once you’ve gotten the duck-and-cover down, the game is much more enjoyable. Still, I was living med-kit to med-kit praying to make it to the next checkpoint, especially when taking down Panzers on foot.
If you’ve got the patience and can get a handle on the controls, this game is U-boats full of fun. I was admittedly put off at first by the degree of difficulty but after a couple of days I couldn’t stop playing. Simply put, this game is a badass good time.
Best Feature: Superb graphics, sweet sound and hey, killing Nazis is always fun!
Worst Feature: Controls are annoying at first.
Weirdest Feature: That I have no friends so I couldn’t review the multi-player mode.
