E3 '07: Medal of Honor Airborne Updated Hands-On

By Jason Ocampo, GameSpotPosted Jul 11, 2007 11:39 am PT

We see the last level in this World War II shooter, and it looks incredible.

EA has shown Medal of Honor Airborne a number of times at this point, but it used E3 to show off a never-before-seen level in the game. In fact, it was the beginning of the last level, and it looked absolutely incredible.

Airborne covers all the major Allied airborne drops of World War II, starting with Operation Husky (the invasion of Sicily) to Operation Varsity, which was a drop on Nazi Germany itself. The last level is actually the second of two levels that cover Varsity, and it's pretty insane. You start off in the belly of a US transport along with the rest of your "stick" of paratroopers when intense antiaircraft fire literally saws the plane in two. The cockpit is sawed off, and suddenly you're staring at your objective, a huge flak tower. The Germans built a number of these towering concrete fortresses to defend key cities against aerial bombardment, and it's your job to parachute atop one and neutralize it.

Click to enlarge!

As soon as you jump out of the remains of your aircraft, you have control over where you land. Our first attempt dropped us in the middle of a squad of angry Germans and we didn't live much longer after that. That's a reminder to aim for the green smoke markers that indicate safe drop zones. Our second attempt managed to land atop one of those, so we were able to get our bearings and start taking the fight to the enemy.

The visuals in the game have vastly improved since we last saw it just a month ago, and the game looked really good back then. Now it simply looks amazing, and this may sound like hyperbole, but it looks like some of the prerendered cutscenes used for other games. Since you can select your loadout going into a mission, we went with an M1 Garand, a shotgun, and a pistol, and all were put to good use against some tough enemies. As this is the last level in the game, you'll encounter the most difficult opponents yet, including black uniformed SS troopers armed with MG42 machine guns and wearing gas masks. When you see them, find some cover and start sweating.

As the Call of Duty series is moving away from World War II, this could very well be Medal of Honor's moment to shine. Airborne looks incredibly polished, fun, and highly replayable. You'll be able to get your hands on it around the end of August, when it ships for the Xbox 360. It's also coming out for the PlayStation 3 and PC.

56 Comments

  • obdiah2

    Posted Sep 1, 2007 1:57 pm PT

    This game is not for 64bit OSs. I get hang ups on Vista 64bit but it works fine on XP Pro 32bit on the same PC

  • tgu1jvaldes

    Posted Aug 20, 2007 6:24 pm PT

    ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz EA, why you dont try to do something new!!! Always the same Mier...a!! PLEASE!!!

  • jordanmurphy007

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 7:30 pm PT

    why does everything around look all destroyed and yellow tinged and yet theres a picture there just hanginf butifully not even TOUCHED
    !!!

  • zznn

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 5:33 pm PT

    Great!!!

    How about my system,not the best.
    Windows XP pro and Vista 64-Bit Ultimate.
    Nvidia 6800 GT
    AMD Athlon 64-Bit 3800+
    3 Gigs of Ram,I know it's a weird configuration.

  • TheCrapp

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 12:00 pm PT

    Hey fratos, your system is OK, i think you will play with decent FPS even with medium-high settings so don't worry about it...

  • fratos

    Posted Aug 19, 2007 2:24 am PT

    Ok ... I find my self in a dilema . MOHA is runing on Unreal 3 ... wich demand a lot out of an PC. My sistem :Asus M2N sli deluxe motherboard , 2gb ram sycron 800mhz , 3500 Amd Ath. 64 and GF 7600 GT. Now , Rainbow Six Vegas wich is based on the same engine had a decent frame rate at medium graphical settings but, MOHA looks a lot better .What do you think ? will i enjoy this game at a decent FPS aswell or will i need to upgrade? if so , what would you recomend me to upgrade ? my video crad or my procesor? await your answears ... Cheers mates!

  • Gursewak_rules

    Posted Aug 18, 2007 4:56 pm PT

    I thought it was going to be all about air combat and dog fights. But then again what fun would it be if you can't shoot sum people up!

  • Walterroux

    Posted Aug 18, 2007 1:22 am PT

    Everyone is saying how now call of duty has changed direction and medal of honour has got the market to themselves. HELLO people, what about Brothers In Arms.

  • Wayward_Son_88

    Posted Aug 17, 2007 7:26 pm PT

    I've heard their have been some problems with the enemy A.I. But if they can get it fixed, their's a very good chance I'll get this game. I'm very excited about parachuting anywhere in a non-linear level.

  • zakumo123

    Posted Aug 16, 2007 7:11 am PT

    Yeah.....faster they come faster i clap my hand^^

  • Lonelynight

    Posted Aug 15, 2007 10:43 pm PT

    Why is it coming out on the 360 first?

  • Gleba2388

    Posted Aug 15, 2007 7:55 pm PT

    It's time EA finnaly take out the Medal Of Honor franchise from the pit...

    Too many bad games in a row is bad for the MOH series, but who know what'll happen now?

    Hope they can manage it! Looking great, btw....

  • grilawrfr101

    Posted Aug 15, 2007 7:41 pm PT

    any game is good aslong as you can bust a cap in some nazi a$$ but i do hope that this game brings the heat!

  • NinjaMunkey01

    Posted Aug 15, 2007 10:39 am PT

    I hope that this is as good as it looks at the moment. I was disappointed by the game medal of honour heroes on the psp.

  • nowblink

    Posted Aug 14, 2007 7:06 pm PT

    The games too easy

  • bamaman92

    Posted Aug 11, 2007 3:36 pm PT

    This looks like it is going to be great. And yes... I think that if Call of Duty wants to move away from the WWII genre then Medal of Honor needsw to keep sending out those kinda games for the next gen consoles because there will be no competition and if this is any indication it appears that they will be doing a great job!

    Oh and by the way... I am thinking that this game is turning out to look a lot better than Call of Duty three. I am a Medal of Honor person more than Call of Duty.

  • mario2295

    Posted Aug 5, 2007 10:32 am PT

    i am so getting this

  • obsessedwithrts

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 3:34 pm PT

    This game is gonna be the best WWll game of all time. Non-linear gameplay means INFINITE replay value. WILL NEVER GET OLD.
    but it had better not be the last MOH game...i mean now that COD is goin modern EA has the WWll genre to themselves and they should appreciate it.They still have rangers infantry (more secret ops) aircraft pilots and many more...so keep em coming EA!!!!
    And if anyone finds out about a demo (for the 360 of course) please post it here

  • Pgtest

    Posted Aug 2, 2007 8:37 am PT

    ANYONE knows that hardware demands for this game... Will it be VIsta ONLY or WHAT... ???? The silence can sometimes be telling.....

  • kittykiller897

    Posted Jul 30, 2007 6:08 pm PT

    i bought the first moh the day it came out, and i loved it. i found it very intense. all of the levels had good variety. However, i have played rising sun and pacific assult and i didn't like them as much as the first. this game looks very promising though, especially if the team does well with its multiplayer aspect.

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