Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Expansion Pack

Now for the complaint. MOH:AA and this add-on is just too short!!!! I know that this game is designed for multi-players which gives it extra value, but some of us can’t get broadband!!! I finished the first level on easy in about 90 minutes. Is the rest of the game going to be this simple?

If you can afford it and just loved the first game, then BUY SPEARHEAD!! But if your gaming pounds are limited, then I would invest them somewhere else. That’s why I gave it only 4 stars.

Finally, one thing that I enjoyed, although some may just ignore it, is that at the end of the first level and at the start of the second we are treated to a selection of pictures and poems. This is good because it reminds us that this was real, that people really fought, bled and died for freedom. These people were not characters from a video game but were often scared, young men who didn’t really know what was going on, but had courage to do what was required of them.

The single player game comprises of three mini-campaigns featuring a few missions in each. This opens up with a breathtaking parachute drop into Normandy during the early hours of D-Day. This is nicely done and sets the atmosphere well. Early combat is frantic and fast-paced as you fight your way out of the landing zones and on to your objectives. You link up with British paratroopers as you have been separated from your unit and accompany them on their mission to destroy a bridge.

This opening campaign is great as you blow up tanks with anti-tank guns, cross a river in a dinghy, assassinate a Nazi colonel, battle through plenty of German soldiers and finally reach the bridge.

You then jump forward to the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium. This section starts well but then you come across a tedious mission of manning a gun in a half-track as you fight through German lines. This is tricky and takes many attempts to complete. Basically you need to know where every enemy is to complete it, so it's trial and error gameplay - therefore a bit tedious.

You then have to survive an artillery barrage and hold off a German attack in the woods. The latter is poorly implemented and hugely unrealistic, as only one German setting one foot on the other side of your trench means mission failed, even if you kill him milliseconds after. Daft.

After this it's on to Berlin, where you are now inexplicably attached to Russian forces as they enter the city to finally crush the Nazi empire. This involves a lot of sniping, good use of cover and destroying tanks with sticky bombs. Once you have secured a list of friendly spies you then jump into a tank and get to blast your way out and finally hold an important bridge against German counter-attack. Exciting stuff.

Spearhead gives you new weapons to play with, including lots of different grenades (which I didn't really use much), the British Sten gun and Lee Enfield rifle, Russian rifles and SMGs and also the familiar M1 Garand (blam, blam, blam, pling!) and Thompson SMG.

The British and Russian sections are a good play, but the middle Ardennes part is a let-down and can be very frustrating. Lots of credit to EA for trying to balance out the experience by involving other allies though.

Multiplayer-wise, you get new models and maps as well as a new game mode - Tug of War. There aren't too many servers supporting Spearhead at the moment so it can be difficult finding a game in order to try these out. Worth the effort if you can though.

The Spearhead expansion is a worthy purchase and will extend MOHAA a little further until the sequel appears, hopefully in the next 12 months.