Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault
- December 07, 2004 17:29 PM PST
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With a set of fresh features and a new simple squad control feature, Pacific Assault is poised to bring the Medal of Honor franchise back into its finest hour.
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Fighting the Good Fight
With 31 levels spread across five historic missions ranging from the early morning attack on Pearl Harbor to the bloody island hopping battles of Guadalcanal and Makin Atoll, Pacific Assault offers a hefty load of historically accurate adventure intertwined with an engagingly original and highly cinematic story. As greenhorn United States Marine PFC Tommy Conlin, you fight your way through the deadliest conflicts in the Pacific Theater with the help of your three best friends, whom you meet in boot camp. Unlike most shooters, Pacific Assault is high on characterization, with each of your three fellow squad members having very distinct and believable personalities that change and develop as the game progresses. The story itself has a decidedly Spielberg-ish feeling, as many of the gripping scenarios resemble those from films like Saving Private Ryan and the award-winning Band of Brothers miniseries (which is a very, very good thing). As a result, your investment in the gripping narrative is far greater than you might expect from a FPS game, and it's from this movie-like appeal (saturated with 1940s nostalgia) that Pacific Assault draws much of its strength.
Trigger Happy
Aesthetically, Pacific Assault is a masterpiece. The visuals are simply astounding, with huge battles between Allied and Imperial forces taking place on the ground while massive dog fights swirl overhead and mortar shells and dive bombers pummel the ground around you in sharp, crisp detail (though such beautifully busy scenes will tax even the fastest computers with a few nasty bouts of slowdown). And, in typical Medal of Honor fashion, the audio presentation is second to none with great voice acting, a cool orchestral soundtrack, and outstanding sound effects that deserve to be heard in surround sound with the volume up high. Pacific Assault also adds a few new gameplay elements to the tried and true Medal of Honor formula in a successful attempt to breathe new life into the series. Gone are the arcade style health pack pickups that lay strewn about in the previous games, as you must now call upon Jimmy, your squad's medic, to heal you in the heat of battle. This means that healing yourself is now as much a matter of strategy as it is a necessity, since being patched up in an open firefight will leave your medic exposed and makes easy targets of both of you. The new "Verge of Death" feature also adds an element of suspense to your untimely (but eventual) demise on the battlefield as you collapse and lose control of your character until you are either finished off by an enemy, left to expire, or rescued in the nick of time by your medic. Plus, MOHPA also boats a simplistic but highly functional squad control feature that enables you to issue basic commands to your already competent teammates, thereby letting you choose between a team oriented style or a more maverick approach.
Tokyo or Bust
Though Pacific Assault shines throughout, there are a few dodgy spots that could have used some shoring up. At times the enemy forces can be rather crushingly difficult, and you will certainly die often; a fact which becomes horribly annoying thanks to the terribly long load times between respawns. Also, the environments aren't very destructible and there are a few buggy moments throughout, especially regarding the collision detection. But, patient and persistent gamers who aren't afraid of facing death often (and who's PCs are up to the task) would be remiss in letting this one sneak by. What this FPS game lacks in antagonistic aliens and demons from hell, it more than makes up with good old-fashioned gunplay and an unbeatable theatric presentation.
