Monday, October 18

Modern Warfare Too

It turns out that the best thing about Yakuza 3, was its trade in value. Helping to account for half of the purchase price of Medal of Honor, the baffling tale of shirtless Japanese gangsters was for me, best left unrealised. Anticipation for MoH has always been high for me. The principal reason for this being the assignment of DICE to develop the multiplayer offering. Even if the campaign had been critically lauded (which it has not been), I thought it was a pretty safe bet that I would be spending far more time competing online with this title. Now, after a few days of play, I don't know what's harder to deal with: my disappointment, or the fact that I was wrong.  



Medal of Honor is a mess. Now that you know, feel free to keep living your life knowing that better games will come along (better franchise reboots even). While there are some hints of promise littered throughout the campaign and in the online component, neither have proven to be essential experiences.

Medal of Honor's campaign is almost entirely derivative of the macho military formula found in the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare games; all the way from how the credits are displayed at the outset, to the obligatory deaths to illustrate the price of conflict and the way the narrative switches between missions. Now that I think about it, the final moments of MoH and Modern Warfare 2 are remarkably similar. Save for the boat chase and knife shenanigans at the end of MW2, you could argue that Infinity Ward are due writing credits. The action is also comparable to the MW games, with the same brand of awkward (though not as strictly enforced) stealth, lengthy (read: exhausting) set pieces and staggered pacing. It is also a remarkably short adventure, and while it ended exactly when I needed it to, it only lasted about 4 hours. I'd be surprised to see whether it lasted longer than Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days, another shooter of questionable length and value.

I'll elaborate more on the multiplayer in my forthcoming review, but you should know that it does not compare favourably with either its direct competitor, Modern Warfare 2, or DICE's last offering, Battlefield: Bad Company 2. You may have read that it was somewhat unforgiving, and depending on the modes you end up dabbling in that may be true. In the case of Team Assault however I believe it has more to do with horrendous map design than a steep learning curve or realistic damage (more realistic than most, but still far from lifelike). 

I'll try and invest a few more hours in the multiplayer, but I dare say that I will be trading in Medal of Honor before the end of the week. Has anyone else picked it up? Your thoughts?

9 comments:

  1. It was a horrendous game. I am trading it in on wednesday at eb for FIFA 11. I am so disappointed that it has turned out as shit as it has. I thought the mp was going to be awesome. But alas, it is far from it. The fact that it has the worst lag in any online game I have played (in the fps category) makes it that much worse.

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  2. How about the severe lack of maps? That's been my biggest gripe with the multiplayer. I agree the lag is bad, and presumably as a result, so is the hit detection. I hope you have better luck with FIFA bro.

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  3. What a disaster! Seemed like DICE just phoned it on this time, but it's not like they don't have other bigger projects they're working on.

    CoD should salve the wounds.

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  4. Either CoD or the Vietnam expansion for BF:BC2.

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  5. yeah I am looking forward to the Vietnam expansion pack. And yes, the fact there were what, 8 maps? And three of those only playable on COmbat mission? Seriously, that is poor.

    And Black Ops is looking pretty good right now, so hopefully it will be better than MW2. I have given up on online play at the minute. I am determined to finish ACII now. I am about, I suspect, half way through. Doing the missions in Venice for the thieves (Rosa's crew). So it should take me too much longer. I am not bothering with side missions, I couldn't be bothered.

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  6. The last few sequences are not terribly long, so you may be farther in than you think. Are you going to pick up Fallout: New Vegas, Sambo?

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  7. Yeah bro. I think I am getting back into RPGs hey. I keep looking at Oblivion like "why did I trade that awesome game in?!" I am so tempted to rebuy! LOL

    But New Vegas is going to be pimp man. It looks really really good. i don't know how to put it. That and I was such a massive fan of Fallout 3.

    Also, after Christmas I am think of picking up Borderlands. I can't see myself sinking as much time into Black Ops as I did into MW2 (although i have no doubt it will be a better game). But I didn't think I would sink as much time into MW2! LOL The thing that may make me spend that much time on it is the split screen online part, and the fact that it has a theater mode.

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  8. Looking forward to New Vegas too, Sambo. Ready to pick it up on Thursday!

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  9. Yeah it is pretty exciting. I think that's what MoH will go towards

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