Medal of Honor Hands-On

In previous looks at Medal of Honor's single-player missions, we’ve seen quite a bit of the slower, more methodical gameplay meant to represent the Tier 1 element of the United States military--the guys who are sent in for precision strikes on high-value targets within Afghanistan. But at Gamescom 2010, we got a look at a different side of military options within the Medal of Honor universe--the so-called sledgehammer that takes the form of an Apache helicopter. Inside this instrument of war, you’re a gunner, taking out various ground targets as you patrol the skies of Afghanistan, or more specifically, the Shah-I-Kot Valley region--the scene of some intense fighting in the Afghan war.

Essentially, the first part of the mission functions as a tutorial, giving you a chance to familiarize yourself with the Apache’s weapon system. In addition to guns, you have front firing missiles as well as hellfire missiles that track specific targets--you’ll see a box around a target indicating the use of these missiles. And despite being the gunner, you have to be aware that the front firing missiles do exactly that--just because you’re facing west, firing the cannons that direction doesn’t mean your missiles fire in that direction as well. For the most part, it’s all pretty straightforward and eases you into the experience nicely. It also does a pretty good job of preparing you for the type of radio chatter you’ll be hearing over the course of the mission.

In fact, much of the chatter in the mission was heavily influenced by actual Apache pilots. Not only did they lend their considerable knowledge for proper procedure in engaging targets (there’s one section where your accompanying Apache takes time to identify and confirm a target as a friendly or a hostile), but they even helped rewrite a good chunk of the chatter you hear in the mission to help give it a more authentic feel. The development team also took the time to record actual noises generated by Apaches and integrate them into the experience as well, and it all sounds quite fantastic.

With the basic tutorial sections out of the way, it was time to start opening fire. Near the middle of the mission, we were tasked with taking out a couple of mortar positions using hellfire missiles while gunning down any combatants that tried to take up position elsewhere. When the area was secured, we saw a small group of trucks try to escape, but the pilot was able to catch up to them near a bridge a few miles away. A few bursts of fire from the guns took out the lead truck before we turned our sights towards the others and took them out in similar fashion. With that brief confrontation done, we made our way to a town where numerous enemies--including those with RPGs--took up defensive positions.

For the RPGs in particular, it was especially important to pay attention to the chatter coming from the pilot in the other Apache. She often gave position information for enemies equipped with RPGs, which then made it easier for us to rain down a few missiles on their area before they could get another shot off and severely damage the helicopter. We made several trips around the village when the other Apache took heavy fire and ultimately lost weapon function, forcing us to stay on guard for it. We then moved off to a nearby mountain encampment filled with even more soldiers waiting to fire their RPGs. But just like in the previous sequence, paying attention to radio chatter helped a lot as did taking note of whether or not the hellfire target box was appearing onscreen.

With that, our hands-on time ended, but it gave us a nice feel for a mission that’s quite different from other aspects of Medal of Honor that we’ve seen up to this point. It will be interesting to see how these types of missions are placed in the game and how their pacing affects the overall flow for a series that’s typically focused on ground-based first-person shooter combat. Medal of Honor is scheduled for release on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 12.