Calum McGuire asks if Medal of Honor has problems even a reboot can't solve

I'm just going to say it - Medal of Honor is not a good game. Having exhausted my current gaming library, I decide to peruse my local game vendor,  and noticed a new face on the shelf. It's Medal of Honor; I had played and loved its old ancestor Frontline, so I decided to take a chance on a game series reboot. It was a chance I should not have taken. MoH traditionally had players fighting in everyone’s favourite war, reminding us why the Nazis were bad people. This game brings the series literally up to date, portraying a conflict which is still ongoing. That is not to say that the game is some kind of sharp critique of the war in Afghanistan, far from it - MoH doesn’t have the brains for that.

Upon firing up, players will find themselves taking on the role of a mysterious ‘Tier 1’ operative with a chip on his shoulder and a bush on his face, conducting secret missions in hostile territory. You’ll also occasionally take on the role of a US Army Ranger and jump into the gunner seat of an attack Helicopter. The back of MoH’s box proudly proclaims that the game was made with the input of former Special Forces soldiers. During the design phase the developers assured everyone that this was going to lead to a singularly immersive and realistic gaming experience.

Something seems to have gone horribly wrong, however. Despite the input of all these former hard-assess, MoH struggles to shake off the taint of generic shooter syndrome. High profile consultants have not saved the game from being boring. MoH tries desperately to bring the player into the game’s world, and at times almost manages to pull it off... almost. The big problem is that other games just do it better. Not only is MoH’s single player experience forgettable, it also feels a bit rough round the edges. Far too often you are confronted with all manner of visual glitches, MoH inhabits a strange world where objects and buildings can disappear and reappear at random. The levels all feel too alike, with no real attempts to shake things up with a little more variety or originality.

It all feels a bit half-baked and unfinished. There's no real feeling of what’s going on or why you’re doing it. Your squad mates serve simply as killing machines and ammo dispensers with no recognisable emotion, motivation, or characterisation. They seem to be there simply to help you glide through the missions more easily, and glide you shall because the game is far too easy. Even on the highest difficulty level, the enemy is simply not smart or accurate enough to stop you. I found myself simply running headlong into any enemy I saw and stabbing them repeatedly psycho style just because I could. Your biggest enemy will be the level design - I often found myself wandering aimlessly around until I stumbled into the correct area to continue the mission.

I guess I should talk about the multiplayer. Problem is that MoH in multiplayer is a different game. Literally different, as it was developed by a third party. Unfortunately, despite their extensive expertise in crafting a good multiplayer experience, something seems to have gone wrong. The multiplayer conspicuously emulates other well-known online shooters (specifically Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Call of Duty) but has not managed to live up to their standards. Multiplayer level design is poor, the maps are either lacking a distinctive theme, or just straight forward broken. In one map it is practically impossible for the Coalition forces to break though the Afghan lines, and in another, almost the instant you jump into combat, you will be killed, as the enemy can see you appear from their side. My own pet theory for this is that the third party multiplayer developers have deliberately sabotaged the competition.

It is clear that MoH is just a bit too wobbly to be considered one of the greats. Neither the single nor the multiplayer feels sufficiently well done to elevate the experience to above average, everything about the game just emanates mediocrity. Though it's early days yet for the new Medal of Honor franchise, it is clear from this first outing that the series is not ready to compete with the big boys yet.