Medal of Honor: Airborne

Medal of Honor: Airborne places you right into some of World War II's most heated battles. The game's historical background teaches you while playing. Unlike Medal of Honor games before, this installment takes a different approach. Instead of setting players up with linear levels, EA lets you choose where to start each mission by throwing you out of a plane. While floating through the air, you can steer the parachute to whatever location you desire. Starting in a new fighting spot keeps the game from getting old, and you don't have to start in a difficult location if the past position was a death wish.

In the game, a compass shows you the destination of each objective making it easy to find your goals. One of the common strategies is to land on high ground to view the action and shoot at enemies before leaping into the fight. This game gives you choices on how you want to attack a problem. However, some of this new freedom is an illusion. For some of the level's objectives, you'll be forced to take a linear path, and while this might not be a bad thing due to the action, it can make the parachuting aspect feel more like a gimmick.

Some levels are more open than others, but the enemies get increasingly difficult. However, the constant infantry vs. infantry combat becomes old after a while, and it would not have hurt to have more enemy variety. The presentation values in Medal of Honor: Airborne are outstanding. All crucial aspects from the mission briefings to the menu system have been given attention.

You experience some intense moments even while flying. In one situation, the plane gets hit, and the engines explode in a chaos of flame. The advantage of the levels is that EA put a great level of realistic detail into the game, especially in the levels where towns have been shelled. One example of that would be Operation Market Garden. The sound effects of the weapons are excellent, and they provide an excellent representation of a real firearm experience. However, the AI needs work.

For some levels, it seems like the enemy will mindlessly run at you, but the place where AI suffers the most is with the open portions. Sometimes, the enemies will not respond even when you shoot at them. One of the most annoying behaviors of the AI is when friendly soldiers step in front of you. This happens too often. It becomes especially annoying when you throw a grenade, and it bounces off the friendly soldier's helmet and falls into your lap. In most cases, you can run away, but if you cooked the grenade, the lack of AI just killed you.

Medal of Honor: Airborne is certainly not a masterpiece, but it is the best game for the franchise in a while. Pros: The levels were designed well, and the airborne aspect allows for some chance of replayability. The graphics are realistic and the music and sound effects are excellent. Cons: The beginning can be slightly confusing, and the lack of AI is the biggest con. However, some people may also dislike that they cannot choose their parachuting destination with some of the objectives.