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Publisher:
EA

Developer:
Dreamworks

Genre:
FPS

# of Players:
1

Medal of Honor Frontline
By: Matt C. on June 5, 2002

Much like the last two games, Medal of Honor Frontline will blow you away with its superior presentation. The very first mission (which is based on the Allied invasion of Normandy), will have you hooked faster than a fly on a steaming pile of poop. The Normandy mission is so overwhelmingly amazing, that it sets the standard for the rest of the game. Normally, this would be bad game design to put the very best mission in the beginning, but Dreamworks obviously had to keep the game consistent with past events. As a result, missions after the D-Day invasion aren't quite as impressive. However, Frontline still manages to deliver throughout the entire game.

Unfortunately, some missions do get bogged down by linear gameplay. There are some parts were you can stray slightly from the main path, but it's nothing close to other FPS titles like Deus Ex. To make up for the linear gameplay, Frontline does feature many scripted events during most of the missions. You'll see things such as an Allied soldier's body fly through the air after being hit with an artillery shell, Nazi soldiers joyfully singing together in a pub -- you'll even witness a humorous bar fight near the end of one mission.

In addition to the linear gameplay, some of Frontline's missions are a bit too long. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather have missions that are too long than too short, but if you mess up near the end (i.e. accidentally blowing yourself up with a grenade), you have to start all over.

As for the visuals, they aren't quite as good as I had hoped -- considering that MOH Frontline isn't a first generation title. Fortunately, to make up for it, Frontline does have a habit of showing off realistic environments. Omaha Beach, cities reduced to rubble, German U-boats and other locales all look very convincing. For the most part, character animations also look convincing. Sometimes movements by other soldiers look a little awkward during certain situations, but it's nothing major.

Sadly, despite the visual and sound enhancements made to Frontline over its predecessors -- the enemy AI is still a little wonky. Let me explain: most Nazi soldiers you encounter in the game still take cover behind objects, go prone to make themselves more difficult to hit, and kick back grenades -- but there are always a handful of retarded soldiers who will ran at you in the open, stand still as a grenade cooks next to them, or they will just blindly shoot at you..... from behind a solid wall. Hmm. Once, I threw a grenade into a small room before I entered it just to make sure it wasn't full of pesky Nazis, and nothing happened. I entered the room assuming that it was empty and low and behold, a solider who was standing there finally noticed me after I entered the room. Apparently he didn't notice the grenade that I threw in just seconds before.

Despite its shortcomings, Medal of Honor Frontline is by far one of the most impressive games to come out for the PlayStation 2 this year. Aside for the new melee attacks, there isn't much innovation over MOH: Underground in terms of gameplay, but who cares? The award winning formula from the last game has been kept in tact and that's all that matters. In my opinion, Frontline is well worth a purchase.

Graphics: 8 Sound: 10 Music: 7 Replay Value: 7
Overall Score: 9.0

Best Features (+) Worst Features (-)
Excellent Sound FXs Linear Gameplay
Nice Visuals Silly AI
Realistic Environments No 2-player Mode
The D-Day Level Minor Slowdown
' No Mouse or Keyboard Support

Want a second opinion? Click here to read Rory's review of MOH: Frontline.

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