Medal of Honor: European Assault
Added June 17th, 2005 by Kisan Parikh
Introduction:
Medal of Honor: European Assault is the latest addition to the already successful Medal of Honor series. EA hopes to please gamers with this latest campaign filled with some new features. Joining the ranks as one of many WWII Shooter games, European Assault allows gamers to become William Holt. Holt is an American OSS member who fights in four main areas: St. Nazaire, North Africa, Russia, and alongside Americans in the Battle of the Bulge.
Gameplay:
European Assault’s general gameplay style stays true to that of the previous Medal of Honor games with a few new additions. One of these additions is the new objectives system. Instead of being presented with certain objectives and being forced to complete every one of them to continue onward, European Assault attempts to be more-open ended. Primary objectives are given to you prior to each mission. These generally involve the words Find, Eliminate, and Destroy. Secondary objectives are revealed as you explore each level. These secondary objectives include tasks such as clearing bunkers, taking control of areas, and destroying certain objects (vehicles, weapons, etc.). The more objectives you complete, the more prestigious medal you earn for that particular mission. This feature was effective in eliminating a linear feeling. I feel that it also gives gamers an extra incentive to go back and explore each mission in order to find and complete every objective.
Medal of Honor: European Assault is the latest addition to the already successful Medal of Honor series. EA hopes to please gamers with this latest campaign filled with some new features. Joining the ranks as one of many WWII Shooter games, European Assault allows gamers to become William Holt. Holt is an American OSS member who fights in four main areas: St. Nazaire, North Africa, Russia, and alongside Americans in the Battle of the Bulge.
Gameplay:
European Assault’s general gameplay style stays true to that of the previous Medal of Honor games with a few new additions. One of these additions is the new objectives system. Instead of being presented with certain objectives and being forced to complete every one of them to continue onward, European Assault attempts to be more-open ended. Primary objectives are given to you prior to each mission. These generally involve the words Find, Eliminate, and Destroy. Secondary objectives are revealed as you explore each level. These secondary objectives include tasks such as clearing bunkers, taking control of areas, and destroying certain objects (vehicles, weapons, etc.). The more objectives you complete, the more prestigious medal you earn for that particular mission. This feature was effective in eliminating a linear feeling. I feel that it also gives gamers an extra incentive to go back and explore each mission in order to find and complete every objective.
Each objective can be seen (once it has been uncovered) on your compass, which is found on the HUD. The compass shows all primary objectives in yellow. Blue is used to distinguish secondary objectives. The compass also displays the location of your squad members. Yes, that’s right, squad members. Medal of Honor: European Assault allows gamers limited control of a squad to aid in your missions. The squad feature obviously does not compare to the extensive one featured in Brothers in Arms, and I do have my complaints about it. First of all, your squad is pretty stupid. They dance in front of enemies just asking to be shot, and I felt they were a waste of my med kits. They do help a little bit though, and it is important to keep your squad alive to receive vital med kits for the next mission.
When your squad fails to keep you alive, you will be shown EA’s new take on the classic checkpoint system. Instead of being returned to a point earlier in the map, you have a limited number of revives. Revives allow you to magically stand up and begin fighting anew. While I love seeing some innovation, I feel that this feature is way out of place and people will become annoyed with starting at the beginning of a mission once they run out of revives. This is not the only new feature that is out of place. Adrenaline mode can be activated once a player’s ‘Adrenaline Meter’ is full. Adrenaline mode temporarily makes your character invincible; makes your weapon stronger; your ammo infinite; and your character goes into The Matrix’s ‘Bullet Time’. Suddenly this WWII soldier has become Superman, and the only thing missing is the cape. Something doesn’t quite add up about these two features.
The AI in European Assault is pretty decent, but there is plenty of room for improvement. While the enemies don’t do anything incredibly stupid, they are extremely predictable which quickly makes the game feel very repetitive. For instance, enemies will take cover, but they peek out at pretty standard intervals. This can easily be exploited by just continuing to focus on one spot and blasting away when the Nazi sticks his head out.
At some points in the campaign, European Assault is an amazingly fun shooter. These moments of fun come at various points in the game where it does something that all good shooting games do -- it makes you feel as if you are facing a massive enemy force, even though there aren’t really very many opposing soldiers. In these moments, Medal of Honor: European Assault’s gameplay is above average, but repetitive periods and strangely inserted features keep this game from maintaining that status.
Graphics:
Medal of Honor: European Assault falls short in the visuals department. Despite the more expansive look, the game’s environments don’t have much detail. The character models look pretty good, but there isn’t much variation when it comes to the faces. On the flip side of things, I thought that the gun models looked pretty good. You can easily see that much more effort was put into these, because the amount of detail is much different compared to that of the environment.
When your squad fails to keep you alive, you will be shown EA’s new take on the classic checkpoint system. Instead of being returned to a point earlier in the map, you have a limited number of revives. Revives allow you to magically stand up and begin fighting anew. While I love seeing some innovation, I feel that this feature is way out of place and people will become annoyed with starting at the beginning of a mission once they run out of revives. This is not the only new feature that is out of place. Adrenaline mode can be activated once a player’s ‘Adrenaline Meter’ is full. Adrenaline mode temporarily makes your character invincible; makes your weapon stronger; your ammo infinite; and your character goes into The Matrix’s ‘Bullet Time’. Suddenly this WWII soldier has become Superman, and the only thing missing is the cape. Something doesn’t quite add up about these two features.
The AI in European Assault is pretty decent, but there is plenty of room for improvement. While the enemies don’t do anything incredibly stupid, they are extremely predictable which quickly makes the game feel very repetitive. For instance, enemies will take cover, but they peek out at pretty standard intervals. This can easily be exploited by just continuing to focus on one spot and blasting away when the Nazi sticks his head out.
At some points in the campaign, European Assault is an amazingly fun shooter. These moments of fun come at various points in the game where it does something that all good shooting games do -- it makes you feel as if you are facing a massive enemy force, even though there aren’t really very many opposing soldiers. In these moments, Medal of Honor: European Assault’s gameplay is above average, but repetitive periods and strangely inserted features keep this game from maintaining that status.
Graphics:
Medal of Honor: European Assault falls short in the visuals department. Despite the more expansive look, the game’s environments don’t have much detail. The character models look pretty good, but there isn’t much variation when it comes to the faces. On the flip side of things, I thought that the gun models looked pretty good. You can easily see that much more effort was put into these, because the amount of detail is much different compared to that of the environment.
European Assault featured some decent animations, despite some choppy moments. I liked the body part specific animations of the soldiers when they were shot, and explosions looked average. I would have liked something a bit more… explosive. Overall, European Assault fares as a very mediocre game in terms of graphics. They weren’t necessarily that bad, but I would loved to have seen much more.
Audio:
This may just be European Assault’s strongest feature. As I said earlier, this game provides moments where it feels as if massive forces are opposing you. The audio plays a huge role in this sensation. Guns have the powerful bang that you would expect, and the gameplay sounds really throw you into the heat of the battle. The musical score is fantastic as well, but it only appears in certain areas of the game, cut-scenes, and the opening menus. This was perfectly implemented to prevent the music from taking over the in-game sounds. The audio in this game is excellent and fits the game perfectly.
Controls:
Although European Assault doesn’t feature full customization of the controls, it does offer four different layouts to choose from. The default layout, Sharpshooter, may be a little tricky for Xbox FPS fans. That’s due to the fact that this control scheme varies from the ‘Halo Layout’ which many Xbox gamers are accustomed to. I felt that the layout was not completely natural, but it was easy to pick up. Most gamers should not have a problem with the controls in European Assault if they are patient at the beginning.
Replay:
This is another area where Medal of Honor: European Assault falls short, and here it falls flat on its face. I can live with a short 8-12 hour campaign, but not without Xbox Live support. The split screen style multiplayer is almost useless and basically no fun to play. This said, exploring the campaign and trying to acquire the highest medal in every level can provide replay value for those who enjoy the game. Seriously though, why leave out online multiplayer support? This factor makes the replay value of this game very disappointing. The only decent form of replay value at all is going back and discovering every objective.
Audio:
This may just be European Assault’s strongest feature. As I said earlier, this game provides moments where it feels as if massive forces are opposing you. The audio plays a huge role in this sensation. Guns have the powerful bang that you would expect, and the gameplay sounds really throw you into the heat of the battle. The musical score is fantastic as well, but it only appears in certain areas of the game, cut-scenes, and the opening menus. This was perfectly implemented to prevent the music from taking over the in-game sounds. The audio in this game is excellent and fits the game perfectly.
Controls:
Although European Assault doesn’t feature full customization of the controls, it does offer four different layouts to choose from. The default layout, Sharpshooter, may be a little tricky for Xbox FPS fans. That’s due to the fact that this control scheme varies from the ‘Halo Layout’ which many Xbox gamers are accustomed to. I felt that the layout was not completely natural, but it was easy to pick up. Most gamers should not have a problem with the controls in European Assault if they are patient at the beginning.
Replay:
This is another area where Medal of Honor: European Assault falls short, and here it falls flat on its face. I can live with a short 8-12 hour campaign, but not without Xbox Live support. The split screen style multiplayer is almost useless and basically no fun to play. This said, exploring the campaign and trying to acquire the highest medal in every level can provide replay value for those who enjoy the game. Seriously though, why leave out online multiplayer support? This factor makes the replay value of this game very disappointing. The only decent form of replay value at all is going back and discovering every objective.
Summary:
On the grand scheme of things, Medal of Honor: European Assault is a decent game, nothing more and nothing less. The gameplay is a bit repetitive due to the predictable AI, but it isn’t repetitive to the point where it doesn’t have any fun to offer. I loved the way objectives were handled in this game, and I hope future games use this method to offer a less linear style of game. Another thing I loved about this game was the superb audio. This includes both the in-game sounds and the musical score.
On the grand scheme of things, Medal of Honor: European Assault is a decent game, nothing more and nothing less. The gameplay is a bit repetitive due to the predictable AI, but it isn’t repetitive to the point where it doesn’t have any fun to offer. I loved the way objectives were handled in this game, and I hope future games use this method to offer a less linear style of game. Another thing I loved about this game was the superb audio. This includes both the in-game sounds and the musical score.
My main problems with European Assault’s gameplay are the features that feel completely out of place. Adrenaline mode is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen in a game. The very idea of an invincible soldier in a WWII game just does not make any sort of sense. The same goes for the revive feature. I know what the intent behind this was, but I would much rather use the good old-fashioned checkpoint method. Those were my gameplay beefs, but the most disappointing part of this game, by far, was the complete lack of replay value. If you are going for a great single player experience, it needs to be much longer than what was offered here. If a developer wants to offer a short campaign, give the gamers an incentive to keep the game in their Xbox. There is a very simple way to do this: Xbox Live Multiplayer! The decision to leave this out and instead include a miniscule campaign makes no sense to me.
This aside, Medal of Honor: European Assault will please fans of the series, and there is in fact some fun to be had. I recommend this game as a rental to everyone who loves the series, but I wouldn’t shell out the full price. My guess is that you can easily finish the game in a full week’s rental. If you can, wait until the price drops, and then this game will be worth it.
This aside, Medal of Honor: European Assault will please fans of the series, and there is in fact some fun to be had. I recommend this game as a rental to everyone who loves the series, but I wouldn’t shell out the full price. My guess is that you can easily finish the game in a full week’s rental. If you can, wait until the price drops, and then this game will be worth it.
