Verdict: Excellent gameplay, intelligent AI and an abundance of weapons.
Medal of Honor is probably the classic WWII shooter. Ever since James 'Jimmy' Steven Patterson first stormed ashore on Omaha beach back in 1999, EA has been pumping out new editions like it was going out of fashion. Medal of Honor: Airborne is the 11th instalment and very different from previous incarnations.
The biggest change is a fundamental shift in how you play the game. In every other edition (and most single-player FPS games, in fact), you follow a linear game path - start here, run there, blow up this, shoot that and so on. However, this isn't the case with MOH: Airborne. Instead, the game follows the exploits of Private First Class Boyd Travers, a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. Missions start with you leaping out of a plane and then floating down into the combat zone, with tracers whistling past your head and the occasional Dakota going down in flames next to you. And here's the part that impressed us: you basically steer yourself into the battlefield and wherever you land is where the war starts. At least, it begins for you. The battle is inevitably raging and you can just sit and watch the action going on for a while. It's rather entertaining.
However, war isn't a spectator sport and pretty soon you're going to have to get into the thick of it. Each map has a number of missions that need to be completed. Of course, the order in which you carry them out depends mainly on where you land. For example, on the opening map, you have to take out a pair of heavily defended anti-aircraft batteries. You're advised to land in a quiet part of the town and then fight your way to the target. Of course, if you're feeling brave/stupid/suicidal, you can just land on the roof and - with luck - blast Jerry before he knows what's hit him. Not only does this make the game very open-ended, but it also means that no two missions are the same, even when you die and have to go back to try again.
The game's AI has also been given a serious overhaul, with enemy characters acting reasonably intelligently. Miss a long-distance shot at an enemy guard and he won't stand there waiting for the second shot; instead, he'll run for cover and then try to close in on you, while trying to avoid your gunfire.
As far as weapons are concerned, the game, as always, delivers in spades, with the usual historical range of rifles, sub-machine guns, grenades and rocket launchers. Less realistic are the power-ups you receive. Hit a certain number of enemies and you're granted bonus attributes for your gun (such as an expanded magazine or a second firing stock to increase accuracy). This isn't to say that field modifications didn't happen in WWII, but suddenly receiving them in a middle of a firefight doesn't feel right.
Visually, the game is top-notch, with the developers making full use of the heavily modified Unreal 3 engine. In addition to the usual HDR, there are some more subtle details: zoom in with the sniper sights and you need to wait a second or two to focus on your target.
The game's only major failing is that there are only five big battles (Sicily, Italy, France, Holland and Germany), so you'll probably complete the single-player campaign in a few days, although the multiplayer (and a host of expected player mods) should keep the game alive for many months.
Medal of Honor: Airborne is a great all-round game. Whether you're a newcomer to WWII shooters or a grizzled veteran with an unhealthy interest in war games, we can't think of a more entertaining way to while away the rest of the bl**dy awful summer than sitting in front of your PC liberating Europe.
