Soldiering on.
Nearly three years ago, Electronic Arts brought us Medal
of Honor: Allied Assault, effectively ushering in a new era of WWII first-person shooters. Intense battle sequences, great gameplay and an inspiring soundtrack were just a few of its hallmark features, helping it become a very serious player in the crowded PC FPS arena.
Since then, though, the competition has grown considerably thanks to the likes
of EA’s own Battlefield franchise, Joint
Ops: Typhoon Rising and, most specifically, Activision’s stellar Call
of Duty. We haven’t forgotten about MoH, but truth be told,
the series is fighting an uphill battle to recapture the glory it enjoyed when Allied
Assault blasted on to the scene. And like a determined soldier, EA has
come back firing with Medal
of Honor: Pacific Assault.
Pacific Assault takes a step back from the European theater
of operations and into the Pacific. You play as Private Tom Conlin, a soldier
with the U.S. Marine force at Tawara Atoll. Vaguely reminiscent of Allied
Assault‘s
Omaha Beach level, the action starts off hard and fast as you hit the beach running
with enemy fire from all directions, pushing your way into enemy territory with
the standard assortment of rifles, guns and grenades. From there, you’ll flash
all the way back to boot camp and the events of your tour leading up to that
moment.
The game follows the same formula as past editions of the MoH series
with plenty of linear run and gun first-person shooting peppered with scripted
events. Enemies pop in and press a relentless attack against you while you do
your best to beat them off with your boom sticks. A few changes have been made
for Pacific
Assault, but for the most part, it follows in the boot prints of its
predecessors.
Boot Camp serves as an introduction to the game’s controls. MoH vets
will fly through this tutorial with only a few new concepts to master. In keeping
with the times, Pacific
Assault has added a stance control. Players are now able to drop from
a standing position to kneeling and all the way down to prone to help with accuracy.
You’re also able to pick up injured comrades and drop them off at the nearest
medic for some much-needed first aid. No real big changes here.
One interesting nuance of Pacific Assault is that you’ll no longer be scooping up health packs, instead relying on the A.I.-controlled corpsman to patch you up. If you’re injured, you just need to call in your medic, who will run to your side and sew you back together. It’s a good thing he can’t be killed or you’d be in some serious trouble.
Speaking of squadmates, you’ll often have a few along for the ride (none of them
can die, oddly enough). You can issue a few basic commands such as “advance,” “cover
fire” and “fall back” for a little support in the field, but you shouldn’t rely
on them too heavily because they’re mostly just there for support. You’re the
hero of the story, after all.
Incidentally,
the storytelling is the game’s strongest suit. Rather than just dumping you into
a one-man Rambo rampage, Pacific
Assault sets an interesting, dramatic stage for Private Conlin’s experience
in the war. You’ll hear from your fellow recruits and squadmates as you fight
to survive against hordes of enemy forces. Scripted events help greatly in this
regard, leading to some very intense, cinematic moments. One of them greets you
as you enter Pearl Harbor for the first time. One minute you’re being escorted
on to the base, and the next, there are explosions everywhere and you’re dodging
fire from enemy Zeroes. The officer who was just escorting you quickly becomes
a victim of enemy fire and you’re left to fend for yourself. The shocking, lonely
nature of war is captured wonderfully.
It is unfortunate, then, that the reality set up by the story is interrupted
by some hideously unreal events. Like Allied Assault, Pacific
Assault has a nasty case of the pop-ups. Enemy soldiers will unexpectedly
spawn in at the strangest times, making you wonder if you’re fighting grunts
or ghosts. This phenomenon is probably due to the game’s scripted events, but
knowing that won’t
make you feel any better after being smoked by some enemy soldiers triggered
to appear when you crossed some imaginary line.
On the other hand, Pacific Assault does a great job of breaking
up the action and keeping it interesting. Instead of trudging through the entire
campaign on foot just shooting at pop-up people, you’ll also take control of
stationary guns, hop aboard a boat to gun down Zeroes and even fly a plane. These
provide some of the most harrowing, chaotic gameplay bits and control well.
As your drill instructor said, you’ll be a Marine of land, sea and air.
Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault boasts a slick new proprietary
engine that holds up well against other of its ilk. The environments are
lush and believable, the faces of both allies and enemies look great and the
myriad effects are well done and interesting. Naturally, you’ll need a pretty
hefty rig to crank up the visual settings, but if you’re a fan of first-person
shooters, you already knew that.
Unfortunately, Pacific Assault has a tendency to keep you waiting. The load times are pretty long; even the fastest processors on the planet won’t help as you stare blankly at a load screen.
At least your ears will be happy, though, thanks to Pacific
Assault‘s excellent audio. In keeping with tradition, the game chimes
in with perfect voice acting, booming special effects and a musical score worthy
of a Hollywood film. It serves as a reminder that great audio is under appreciated.
Pacific Assault‘s multiplayer game is split up into three modes.
You can of course play Free For All and Team Deathmatch – no surprises there
– but a new mode called Invader is the true heart of the multiplayer. Here, you’ll
pick from one of four soldier classes (infantry, medic, demolitions and ammo
tech) and head into battle on one of eight maps. You’ll
need to accomplish a set of objectives to achieve victory, such as blowing up
a target and then securing an area, while the other team is trying to stop
you. It’s not quite as engaging as the larger scale tug-of-war battles found
in other online WWII shooters, but is interesting enough to keep you coming
back.
There are two versions of Pacific Assault: the standard
version and the fancy DVD-only Director’s Edition, which has a few exclusive
extras. Featurettes like an interactive WWII timeline and propaganda gallery
teach you more than you ever wanted to know about the war (unless you’re a big
history buff).
In keeping with the time-honored traditions of the series, Medal
of Honor: Pacific Assault puts on a good show. Pulse-pounding scripted
events and great presentation create a nice backdrop for the Pacific theater
of operations, but small annoyances such as enemy pop-up and lengthy load times
stifle the package. Nonetheless, this warrior deserves its decorations.
