Medal of Honor Review

Game:  Medal of Honor
Year (s):  2010
Company:  dev. Danger Close, DICE (multiplayer only)  
            pub.  Electronic Arts
Engine:  Unreal Engine 3 (singleplayer), Frostbite 1.5 (multiplayer)
Type:  First-Person Shooter
Metacritic Score:  72
My Score:  I just took a shit that leveled a house

Price (as of May 27, 2012)

Regular price on Steam:  $19.99
Lowest Buy-It-Now on eBay (new, with shipping):  $9.99

Game Time: 5 hours, first time, on default. 

Obligatory Trailer:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1njQT9kJaM

See Also

Call of Duty 4 Review:  http://fpsandmtg.blogspot.com/2012/03/call-of-duty-4-modern-warfare.html


Plot

You play the role of a handful of different US soldiers, fighting Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan.  Things go boom.  Bullets go zoom.  The Colonel and the General will argue again soon.  Welcome to this half-assed cartoon.


Engines

There's nothing new to say about an Unreal engine. 

Frostbite has been used exclusively for Medal of Honor and Battlefield titles, and in one Need for Speed game.  I can't comment further because it was confined to the multiplayer.  Due to what I call a bonehead decision, the multiplayer not only has a different developer and engine, but also requires a separate download and a (non-Steam) player registration.  


Combat/Gameplay

You may have noticed the See Also was for a different game; it's because they're twins in gameplay.  They even share most of the weapons.

Your teammates are invincible, and with Wolverine-like healing powers, you are too.  Your teammates yell out enemy positions, so you could be amazing at the game while stoned.  Vehicles segments are poorly presented, and probably the only time you might get killed.  AI is insipid.  With no challenge, there isn't anything for the adults in the room to appreciate. 


Expansions / DLC / Sequels

I had the Wikipedia page open.  I could have been professional and added that information here, but I didn't.  Medal of Honor is such a Candyland shooter that I choose to believe any of its bastard offspring, and all the developers, were killed in one of the many, many, in-game airstrikes. 


Final Thoughts

The Good:  My favorite part of the game was, by far, the logo for Danger Close during the game initialization load.  The credits were satisfactory.

The Bad:  Everything else.  This game is insultingly short; with no immersion, no challenge, and nothing done particularly well.  If you get this as a gift, donate it to Good Will.