Medal of Honor: Airborne Reviews
Airborne failed to make the Medal of Honor series any better and actually brought the series down farther than it originally was before.
- Posted Nov 20, 2007 7:03 am PT
- Recommended by 1 of 3 user.
- Difficulty:
- Very Hard
- Time Spent:
- 10 Hours or Less
- The Bottom Line:
- "Disastrous"
The Medal of Honor series has been through a rough stretch. For the past few years the series has gone downhill and never managed to pick up enough steam to get back on top. With stellar performances from rivals such as Call of Duty, Medal of Honor needed something to break it out of the current funk it was stuck in. EA had their hopes set on Airborne, a re-invented shooter that let players choose their own paths through levels and customize weapons. Unfortunately, Airborne is not as great as imagined as turned out to be just another mediocre addition to a dying series.
Airborne follows the efforts of the 92nd Airborne division who paratroop into battles during the second World War. What makes these battles so interesting are the fact that you begin each level jumping out of a plane and you can glide your way to any starting position you choose, for the most part. On each level there is green smoke which designates a safe landing spot. If you happen to land outside of the green smoke area you will soon be blasted without mercy before even hitting the ground. There are also only an average of two safe spots on every level, making your "decision-making" not really that hard to manage.
After you land you will than be thrust into every level with a set of objectives. The objectives vary from the spot from which you start, but there are always the same boring missions over and over again; things like destroying an anti-air gun at Point A than returning to Point B to hold off an enemy attack. Mix around a few decals and offer up new locations and you have the basic feel of Medal of Honor Airborne. However the inconsistencies don't end there. You have to deal with a completely uneven difficulty for the entirety of the game. Enemies are crack-shots meaning they will hit you wherever you are. Crouching has no effects to your location as you will get hit, and even when you are hiding behind a car or wall, enemies seem to be carrying armor piercing rounds that will kill you in one hit.
The AI is also dumbfounded uneven. During some levels you might have enemies flank you, trying to outnumber you in sheer force. While another level has enemies that fire at walls or face in the opposite direction. Both of these types of enemies can be brutally painful to take down, for you have ace shooters combined with idiots with guns. You can see the problem that arises here. If you happen to move a snail's pace through every level you will be bored of the dull locations set in such places as a house, followed by a two story house. Its amazing the amount of originality expressed here. End sarcasm.
EA also implemented a new upgrade scheme for the weapons. Whenever you use a weapon constantly it will eventually upgrade depending on how many enemies you hit. So there could be times when you are running around shooting and the screen will slow down, and all of a sudden you will pull out a grenade launcher add-on from your pocket and equip it to your gun. WHAT? Does that make any sense to you either? This is the most ludicrous addition to a shooting game since Oddworld flung chickens at people. Yes, an Oddworld reference in a Medal of Honor game. Not only does this feel so out of place, but its done wrong all together. Some weapons take five shots to upgrade while others need hundreds. Guess which weapons you wont be using much?
There is also the effects of a never ending loading screen. Whenever you die you are forced to re-start the level by jumping out of the plane. Meaning, you have to sit through nearly minutes of a loading screen every time you die. See how long that lasts for you. The cutscenes are often unskippable, so if you die right before one, grab some popcorn and prepare to watch some WW2 films.
The multiplayer is hardly any better than the single player. You have two groups, the axis and allies factions who fight against each other in matches like high ground, capture the flag and deathmatch. But herein lies the rub. The allies get to jump out of a plane at the start of every match, while the axis are…um running around on the ground. In nearly every match I was in, the Allies won because of sheer advantage. I guess EA thought the Nazis deserved to be taken down even a bigger notch than before.
Medal of Airborne tried to re-invent the series by offering the ability to start anywhere in the level and upgrading levels. Airborne failed to make the Medal of Honor series any better and actually brought the series down farther than it originally was before. Only play Airborne is you are a diehard fan of the series, otherwise set your sights on much more rewarding shooting experiences.
Airborne follows the efforts of the 92nd Airborne division who paratroop into battles during the second World War. What makes these battles so interesting are the fact that you begin each level jumping out of a plane and you can glide your way to any starting position you choose, for the most part. On each level there is green smoke which designates a safe landing spot. If you happen to land outside of the green smoke area you will soon be blasted without mercy before even hitting the ground. There are also only an average of two safe spots on every level, making your "decision-making" not really that hard to manage.
After you land you will than be thrust into every level with a set of objectives. The objectives vary from the spot from which you start, but there are always the same boring missions over and over again; things like destroying an anti-air gun at Point A than returning to Point B to hold off an enemy attack. Mix around a few decals and offer up new locations and you have the basic feel of Medal of Honor Airborne. However the inconsistencies don't end there. You have to deal with a completely uneven difficulty for the entirety of the game. Enemies are crack-shots meaning they will hit you wherever you are. Crouching has no effects to your location as you will get hit, and even when you are hiding behind a car or wall, enemies seem to be carrying armor piercing rounds that will kill you in one hit.
The AI is also dumbfounded uneven. During some levels you might have enemies flank you, trying to outnumber you in sheer force. While another level has enemies that fire at walls or face in the opposite direction. Both of these types of enemies can be brutally painful to take down, for you have ace shooters combined with idiots with guns. You can see the problem that arises here. If you happen to move a snail's pace through every level you will be bored of the dull locations set in such places as a house, followed by a two story house. Its amazing the amount of originality expressed here. End sarcasm.
EA also implemented a new upgrade scheme for the weapons. Whenever you use a weapon constantly it will eventually upgrade depending on how many enemies you hit. So there could be times when you are running around shooting and the screen will slow down, and all of a sudden you will pull out a grenade launcher add-on from your pocket and equip it to your gun. WHAT? Does that make any sense to you either? This is the most ludicrous addition to a shooting game since Oddworld flung chickens at people. Yes, an Oddworld reference in a Medal of Honor game. Not only does this feel so out of place, but its done wrong all together. Some weapons take five shots to upgrade while others need hundreds. Guess which weapons you wont be using much?
There is also the effects of a never ending loading screen. Whenever you die you are forced to re-start the level by jumping out of the plane. Meaning, you have to sit through nearly minutes of a loading screen every time you die. See how long that lasts for you. The cutscenes are often unskippable, so if you die right before one, grab some popcorn and prepare to watch some WW2 films.
The multiplayer is hardly any better than the single player. You have two groups, the axis and allies factions who fight against each other in matches like high ground, capture the flag and deathmatch. But herein lies the rub. The allies get to jump out of a plane at the start of every match, while the axis are…um running around on the ground. In nearly every match I was in, the Allies won because of sheer advantage. I guess EA thought the Nazis deserved to be taken down even a bigger notch than before.
Medal of Airborne tried to re-invent the series by offering the ability to start anywhere in the level and upgrading levels. Airborne failed to make the Medal of Honor series any better and actually brought the series down farther than it originally was before. Only play Airborne is you are a diehard fan of the series, otherwise set your sights on much more rewarding shooting experiences.
More Player Reviews
-
- joshtheboss's Score
- 4.0
- poor
Medal of Honor has officially 'Jumped the Shark' with Airborne. continue »
- Posted Nov 28, 2007 9:39 pm PT
-
- joshtheboss's Score
- 8.0
- great
Very fun and intuitive (NOTE: This review does not include Multiplayer) continue »
- Posted Nov 28, 2007 1:50 pm PT
-
- joshtheboss's Score
- 7.0
- good
Medal of Honor Airborne: Loses the plot when supernatural enemies come to play. continue »
- Posted Nov 21, 2007 3:20 am PT
-
- joshtheboss's Score
- 7.0
- good
It has some great ideas, but the single player is too short and the graphics are pretty lacking. continue »
- Posted Nov 17, 2007 11:59 pm PT
-
- joshtheboss's Score
- 8.5
- great
EA's latest WWII shooter does enough to warrant your $60. continue »
- Posted Nov 16, 2007 9:00 am PT
Tell the world what you think of Medal of Honor: Airborne.
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Critic Scores
- TeamXbox 7.8 / 10
- IGN 7.9 / 10
- Worth Playing 8.5 / 10
- Gaming Age B
- Extreme Gamer 6.5 / 10
- GameZone 8.2 / 10
- VideoGamer 8 / 10
- 1UP 6.5 / 10
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User Submissions
User Videos
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MOH: Vanguard Level 1 intro
The opening video of the first level to Medal of Honor: Vanguard for the PS2 and Wii.
- Posted Aug 21, 2009
by Bart247 | 3'00" | 0 Views
- Posted Aug 21, 2009
User Images
- Electronic Arts
- Historic First-Person...
- Release: Sep 4, 2007 »
- ESRB: Teen
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