World War II games have become increasingly common on Xbox, what with the recent Call of Duty and Brothers in Arms titles garnering a mixed response from gamers although the later favouring more highly with its squad based approach. Well it seems that EA have decided to bring the PSONE classic to XBOX in the shape of Medal of Honour: European Assault. Does it live up to the early Medal of Honour games or is it yet another EA cash cow product?

Gameplay:

What was good about the early Medal of Honour(MOH) games was the fact that when controlling Jimmy Paterson (the single hero) you were presented with a wide variety of daring lone missions which incorporated all out assault to infiltration via subterfuge. On PSone this mix of stealth and all out combat was very welcome and something slightly different from this authentic series. Well since then the series has developed and gone is Jimmy Paterson for a new hero.

MOH: European Assault begins as an assault on ones senses and continues to do so right up to its climax and ending. Gone is the subtlety of the early games in favour of a more movie like experience. When I say movie like I also mean a more arcade like experience. The lone hero Holt is not alone this time round and is mostly accompanied by other troops who he has limited control over (i.e. he can order them to a location or to return to him). These troops will also generally follow wherever your character goes, loyal until their deaths (although you are awarded small bonuses if you do manage to keep them alive). What is noticeable from the offset are the many other troops on your side that you have no direct control over and these guys are just as tenacious although more likely to die right in front of you (for dramatic purposes). The whole feel of the game is geared towards epic battles rather than lone infiltration missions.

There are no checkpoints in the game this time and depending on how well you explore the levels there are bonus objectives that get radioed in on the fly. Completing all of these will gain you gold medals for the level. Most levels are quite long and therefore getting killed at the last part of the mission can often prove a pain especially as our hero is more susceptible to damage this time.

To counter the ever increasing odds there are medical kits across the levels which can be stored and used whenever rather than having to be hunted down and used as you walk over them. Plus there are health packs dropped by certain enemies which prove most useful when you are in the thick of it. What is more there are now revives which means should you bite the bullet and be out of medical packs (which can also be used to heal team mates) you will suddenly get a leash of life and therefore be able to carry on. More revives can be gained by completing mission objectives throughout the level. There is also a special adrenaline move which to me is a rather pointless and totally arcade addition to the game which gives the player infinite health, ammo and slows time down a little for a brief moment. Its use should obviously be reserved for the trickier moments in the game. Finally MOH: European Assault opts to present players with key targets within the levels, these are generally extra tough officers who take several more shots to kill than regular troops which to be honest is not very realistic, but who said this game was realistic anyways?

Graphics:

The graphics are reasonable albeit a little lacking for an Xbox game. To its credit there are lots of things going on at all times which gives a great sense of action. What is slightly disappointing are the bodies which magically will vanish before your very eyes. The general level of presentation is very high and between the missions feature actual WWII footage to accompany the dialogue spoken from what I assume a real war veteran. There is blood in the game but it’s not that noticeable or in your face which is a good thing. Overall the hectic nature of the game provides enough atmosphere to kind of overlook the quality of the graphics when playing.

Sound:

Sound is superb whether it be from the narrative between levels to the actual in game sound effects and general ambience created. There is a lot of speech in the game from your friends and foes and whilst some of the accents are cliché does create some movie like atmosphere instead of being dull. Like I said the ambient sounds are excellent and I’m sure are even better with a decent sound setup in your home. A grand effort in general here, so well done sound guys!

Longevity:

Well Medal Of Honour European Assault is not the longest of games to grace the Xbox console and although providing several levels of difficulty will take competent gamers a weekend at most to finish the campaign. Obviously players can replay levels to get all the objectives done and get all gold medals if they so choose but essentially the game is beaten once all the levels are completed the first time. There is a split screen multiplayer mode for those with enough friends or 3 at least to huddle around a single TV and undertake some head to head games. There are no bots included and surprisingly no Xbox Live support either which means that once players have beaten the enjoyable single player campaign there really isn’t much incentive to play it again unless you are a perfectionist or simply are bored.

Overall:

I like this game although as far as I am concerned this is not a Medal of Honour game and is more like a spin off title. Yes the action is thick and fast and very cinematic yet the lack of subtlety and arcade elements really stop this game from being a true MOH game in my opinion. This is generally very fun to play and although the themes for each level are different the relentless action makes it very samey overall. Is this another cash cow product? No it’s an enjoyable outing but one that is ultimately short lived and with a little more tweaking could become something much greater. I suggest that you rent this title first and have an enjoyable time with the game. If you then feel it’s a keeper, go out and buy it although in my opinion your money would be better spent elsewhere. A solid title overall.