Medal of Honor: Airborne

Although it would be unfair to label this game as awful, its certainly not what we were expecting. The original MOH games defined the genre, yet the franchise is now looking stagnant.

The most infuriating feature (or missing feature) is a player controlled save. The game saves automatically once you achieve certain small aims, but you can't save the game yourself. This makes it difficult to progress, as you have to complete the whole goal in one go, which means you battle your way up the same hill, kill the same enemies only to have to restart at the bottom every time (or parachute to the top and die instantly).
Although the levels are large and well constructed, the game is still quite short. As an average gamer, it took me around 10 hours to complete. Whilst there is an element of replayability, in order to find the secret drops and improve your weapons, it feels more like a chore than a pleasure. Certain games in various genres have you looking for a reason to replay them (Metal Gear Solid, Gran Turismo, Elder Scrolls, all previous games in the MOH franchise) yet the reasons for replaying Airbourne just aren't there.

As far as positive points go, there are some intense moments of fierce combat. the first mission is probably my favourite, with street fighting in an Italian city. Leaning round corners to pick off machine gunners with headshots is quite fulfilling. The weapon enhancement system is good too; the more you use certain weapons, the more unlocks you open for it such as increased accuracy and larger magazines. The parachuting element is a brave idea and does add an extra dimension to gameplay. The parachuting alone doesn't make up for the game's shortcomings and frankly, only really affects a small time in each level. You tend to land where you're supposed to land as that's where the support is and where the game is designed from. Trying to be clever and drop behind enemy lines or in a slightly different place just gets you killed, or you have to battle your way through the enemy just to get back to your own troops to start the level 'properly'.

The bottom line? It's not bad, and I wouldn't be upset if someone gave me a copy. The developers probably believe the parachuting is their 'killer feature' or 'USP' but it doesn't really cut it. Fans of the MOH series will be disappointed as will fans of FPSs. If it were released a year or so ago, it would have been seen as much better, but now the competition is too stiff; there are too many other games which are better.

I'd just finished Call of Duty 4 and was waiting for MoH to be delivered expecting it to be even better. Sadly, it just seemed like more of the same old MoH format with slightly better graphics. Maybe I was being unrealistic expecting the makers of the game to revolutionize a successful format, but some of the levels were virtually identical to scenes from older games (ANOTHER attack on a bridge somewhere in Holland). I did enjoy certain elements of the game, but over all I was left disappointed. The AI was just bizarre at times (enemy failing to die when you've clearly hit them in the head twice!) The final attack on the tower is cool, but as far as I can make out the only relevance of "Airborne" is the novelty of dropping into the game wherever you want. The novelty soon wears off, and you're left feeling that you've seen it all before. CoD4 broke new ground, and if I had £40 to spend today I'd be buying CoD4 and not MoH.

You follow a group of paratroopers on various missions. The levels are partly free roaming and open-world with lots to explore. The action is bloody and intense and is better than most WW2 shooters. The online multiplayer is some of the best I have played with little or no lag whatsoever and someone always online for a game.

A strong WW2 shooter with brilliant multiplayer.