For those who enjoy realistic first person shooters; people of the military; or those who are die hard shooter fans!!
Medal of Honor has a lot of uniqueness to it that is going to be welcomed very well from those who enjoy realistic first person shooters; people of the military; or those who are die hard shooter fans looking for something new and/or challenging. MoH has a lot of components that can be compared from many other games put together, which some may find true...but it carries all those particular mechanics very well and makes it an original feel on its own. MoH will not however be liked for those who only care about winning without conversation between teammates, using tactics instead of run & gun, and taking only a few clean shot to kill or be killed.
First off, I have to state that this game was partly made due to the help of actual U.S. military tier one force groups, such as Rangers & Special Forces working with producers and developers to get the right balance of realism & fiction. With this being said, the game has a decent realistic curve to it that although makes the game harder in a sense...it makes it more believable, fair & enjoyable to those who accept a challenge. Also being in the military myself, along with many of my other fellow soldiers, our consensus of the realism this game produces capture a depth of what really happens (or could happen). Not saying that MoH is EXACTLY 100% realistic.....no not at all, but it's more realistic than many other shooters and still has a good balance of fiction to make it fun and enjoyable. Let's face it, if you want a true 100% realistic game the U.S. Army produces games as training tools such as America's Army, etc. Although very realistic, they do not have a very fun value to them or do well with consumers. On the other hand games that are completely fictional such as Gears of War, Halo, etc. are very well accepted by the consumers but produce very little realism (although they are GREAT games in their own right). In a nutshell MoH has taken a shot at producing a game that is realistic, fun, with a high replay value, and does an amazing job that many other games have tried to simulate this formula and have not had as much success (example - Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising....great game, but not accepted well with the public).
On the topic of the MoH itself it carries an assortment of different playable values. It has its single player campaign; multiplayer with a variety of Team Assault, Combat Mission, Objective Raid, Sector Control, and Hardcore mode; Along with a "Tier One" campaign that hasn't really been seen in too many games. The difficulty is set all the way up here, the game is timed so performing certain actions will cut down your time, and the results of your win will be shown as medals and ribbons displaying your actions throughout the levels at the leaderboards.
The single player campaign drives you through the story of a Ranger team. although fairly short even for a first person shooter, it is very realistic to a point that you may find yourself sweating trying to survive a conflict at hand, just due to the intensity of firefights. This game is pretty linear, they want to tell a specific story and not wandering off in random terrain chopping down troops like Rambo/Commando but at many times a player can find themselves frustrated by not exactly knowing how to get past a certain point….and its USUALLY that the gamer just overlooked what the creators wanted you to use to get through the section….which I found myself doing many times unfortunately. The environments are very authentic in the sense when bullets are hitting, grenades & mortars are going off…A LOT of dust kicks up! And this affects your skills (and theirs) DRAMATICALLY!! As well as the sound of the weapons and a round traveling past your head are VERY VERY convincing-ly authentic! The games' "Tier One" is defiantly the cream of the crop when it comes to being the best at single player. That is hard charging, highest difficulty, no saves, timed levels that you get ranked on (along with ribbons/awards) for how you do throughout the section.
Multiplayer defiantly plays differently than most shooters. You begin by picking a "class"....that being a riflemen (assault/LMG's), special ops (SMG/shotgun), or sniper (and yes snipers are actually worth playing in this game). You acquire points for kills and over time you will unlock newer weapons and particular parts for those weapons as you progress in rank (i.e. extended magazines, scopes, etc.). But by playing in a particular class will ONLY unlock things within that class...so playing as special ops will ONLY unlock parts/weapons for special ops and not riflemen or sniper. Each class also has its own set of completely different weapons, so each does have its functions on different situations and terrains dramatically in multiplayer. Also, what I found very interesting is that each team has different set weapons with different set parameters. So the U.S. soldiers' team carries weapons that reflect upon what the military uses in real life, the other Insurgents team carries weapons that reflect what they use in real life, but each gun is made to act and perform like the actual weapon IN REAL LIFE. Meaning a U.S. special ops weapon (M-4) will not perform like a Insurgents special ops weapon (AKS-47S) that will perform differently....like it would in real life (same is true with riflemen & sniper weapons as well). This gives a great realistic and tactical feel on choosing weapons that work for you and suit your current need on the battlefield. During a multiplayer game you can receive offensive or defensive perks that can shift the tide of battle if used efficiently. These are gained by getting so many kills in row just like many of the current shooters (CoD).Offensive pertains to mortar strikes, and different levels of air strikes/drops, etc. Defensive pertains to dishing supplies to your teammates rather than dishing out direct damage you could supply your buddies to be stronger & tougher. Such as full ammo to your teammates, to giving them FMJ (full metal jacket) ammo to increase their damage, to giving them flak vest/body armor to increase defense, etc. Spawning points in MoH have been set to make front lines constantly reinforced. Meaning you have the option to spawn back to your base after you have been killed or you could spawn where a majority of you team is combating with the opponent across the level on the front lines. Although this is risky because you could spawn with your buddies, but be wiped out within seconds of spawning due to your team getting wiped out by grenades, mortars, strikes, tanks, etc. So pick your timing and positioning of your spawning carefully!