Medal of Honor Frontline Preview

Medal of Honor Frontline made some serious waves when it was released on the PlayStation 2 earlier this year. The game's impressive graphics, awesome sound, and attention to detail made it one of the most immersive first-person shooter games on the system. Following the game's critical and commercial success on the PlayStation 2, Electronic Arts has opted to bring it over tothe two remaining console platforms. Rather than just do an exact port of the PlayStation 2 game, though, EA has opted to add a multiplayer mode to the Xbox and GameCube game conversions. We recently had a chance to check out the GameCube version of Frontline to see how it's coming together.

For those unfamiliar with the game's premise, Medal of Honor Frontline is the latest installment in Electronic Arts' critically acclaimed Medal of Honor series, which began on the original PlayStation. You'll be thrown into the trenches as Lt. Jimmy Patterson as he undertakes a dangerous mission that could turn the tide of World War II. You'll infiltrate the German frontline amid the chaos caused by the Allied forces' Operation Market Garden offensive in order to steal the HO-IX flying wing, an experimental Nazi craft that would be an invaluable asset to the war effort. The game will span 19 levels spread out over six missions based on real events that occurred during World War II. Patterson's assignments will range from an assault on Omaha Beach to a deadly battle for control of the Nijmegan Bridge, which film buffs will recognize from A Bridge Too Far. While the odds may sound more than a little daunting, Patterson will be provided with some quality support. You'll find a respectable arsenal of more than 20 authentic World War II weapons, such as the Springfield sniper rifle, the Panzerschrek rocket launcher, the MG43 mounted machine gun, and the Browning automatic rifle. In addition, you'll get help from a small squad of troops eager to do their part.

The game will follow the same structure as its PlayStation 2 cousin and will have a linear progression between missions. You'll be briefed beforehand and given as much information as the Allied forces have been able to gather. Each assignment you take on will offer a variety of objectives that will grow as the mission progresses. At the end of each assignment you'll be awarded a medal based on your performance. Control in the game has been mapped out well on the GameCube controller and is responsive. You'll have the same control configurations as in the PS2 game, including the "MOH sharpshooter" and "classic" options,as well as the ability to tweak each of them a bit to suit your tastes. Using the Z button is a chore during the heat of battle, but it's nothing insurmountable.

While the core content of Medal of Honor Frontline remains unchanged, EA has added a multiplayer game for up to four players, which isn't included in the PlayStation 2 game. Unfortunately it's a split-screen-only mode, which is nice, but we'd like to see some online Medal of Honor multiplayer sometime in the future. However, as an offline game, the multiplayer works well. You'll of course want to have as big a television as possible to make sure you and your friends can keep track of what's going on, but otherwise it offers a tasty experience.

Medal of Honor Frontline's presentation is pretty much on par with its PlayStation 2 cousin at the moment. In terms of its graphics, the game looks a bit better in places and exactly the same in others. You'll find that some textures are cleaner while others are chunky, and color in the game looks a bit washed out in places. The game's frame rate is a bit too close to that of the PlayStation 2 game for our tastes, fluctuating quite a bit between 30 and 60 frames per second. The game's audio has fared better and is as immersive as ever. The sonic experience definitely contributes to some of the more insane levels. The orchestrated soundtrack, which is full of sweeping scores that are worthy of a good war movie, frames the action perfectly

From what we've played so far, Medal of Honor Frontline is coming together pretty well. The game's graphics could use a bit more polish, although it does play well. The immersive atmosphere and story-driven gameplay definitely work well together. If you're a fan of first-person shooters, you'll want to keep an eye out for Medal of Honor Frontline when it ships this November for the GameCube.