Medal of Honor: Frontline Review

One of the more entertaining gameplay mechanics in the game although, is the melee attacks. Pretty much with all your standard weapons, save the rocket launcher and such for obviously reasons, you can hit your enemies with them just like in Halo! This can actually be incredibly useful at times if you’re either that close to an enemy soldier or have run out of ammo and options for other killing methods. It is a shame that you don’t have any kind of knife to do this with as well, but it’s definitely a plus to be able to hit the Axis soldiers with your weapons. You may choose never to use it, or use it frequently. But you have to be careful though, as your enemies won’t be afraid to do it right back to you. However, you can actually take advantage of their doing it sometimes because when they try it, there is a small delay in their finishing the melee maneuver and getting back to firing again. This is your “window of opportunity” to strike them without fear of being attacked.

Frontline also features a multiplayer mode, but just like European Assault, there are no computer bots available to involve. But it’s not like it would’ve mattered anyway, because the whole mode is rather uninspired and more seemingly just “thrown together” just so the game could have a multiplayer element. You can have four people play in standard deathmatches, and that’s just about it. You can’t even pick different character avatars to use in the mode because they are preset to each controller port. You can change your name, team color and various game control options. Then when you get into the battle setup, you have to choose from a number of preset weapon sets which can feature a couple weapons to a good five at once. Then you choose an arena which is taken right from the actual game, and in a nice little twist, the music you will hear during such as well. But unfortunately, while there are entertaining moments during matches, they just don’t have much to them. You run around the arena, with already given weaponry and go after your friends. With the gameplay somewhat lacking like it is, the fun just isn’t really there for the most part. You can do various tweaks to the weapon set and such to make things more interesting, but when it comes down, you’re better off playing the single player mission as they have much more merit.

Overall the gameplay maintains the traditional elements of a FPS, which is a good thing, but doesn’t capitalize on them enough to make it feel like a really good shooting game. Your movement and aiming just feels too restricted to make it fun all the time, even though there are a number of entertaining moments in the game. But this is a WW II-based game, that was a time of desperation, and the gameplay just simply wasn’t there enough to help you get that feeling.

The end of this game, which is more or less the last mission, is a real doozy. You will find yourself pitted against a rather cumbersome looking force of Axis soldiers, because what you’re trying to do in the mission is something critical to their cause. So obviously they are going to do everything in their power to stop you right? This will certainly make for some interesting strategy on your part, because there really isn’t one moment in the mission when you’re not being bombarded or pursued by enemy forces. It is definitely an adrenaline rushing mission simply because you are fighting for one last stint of survival, and it will NOT be easy by any stretch of the imagination. You are there not only to sabotage a critical Axis war vehicle, but also to finally take out an established officer you are pursuing for a good majority of the game. It is a shame that only the beginning and ending of Frontline are the most appealing parts of the game, but hey, it’s something at least. It is rather enjoyable to see what you get to do at the end of the mission though, even if you can’t control it.

Medal Of Honor: Frontline actually has some great replay value, but only if you are motivated enough to go through what the game offers. If you manage to achieve gold medals in the game’s many missions, you are bound to unlock some nice goodies. Some of the missions are absolute cakewalks in achieving those golds, but some present a very good challenge. There are a couple missions in which it might seem rather impossible because of how brutal they actually are, but if you’re willing to go through with it, some nice things await you.

The multiplayer is also there, but in all honesty, you probably won’t want to be involved much in it simply because it’s not very exciting. Which will obviously in turn make you want to go back to the single player missions, which is where indeed the replay value lies. Plus the story you’re briefed through in the actual missions is rather intriguing, as you’re being depended upon so much which can allow you to really feel like an important part of the game. So it’s really up to you, the player, to determine whether or not you’ll actually go after those medals. It’s all dependent upon your accuracy, the time you take to complete the mission and how well you maintain your health. You can also gain war-based medals from the missions too, which is also a cool concept!

Medal Of Honor: Frontline was very much a valiant effort on EA LA’s part in creating a WW II-based videogame that really captured the whole atmosphere of that war-torn era. They brought in a great composer to deliver an awesome musical atmosphere to help you feel like you might be in a war-based movie, but everything else was rather underdone to make this feel like a really great experience. The graphics aren’t bad, but they certainly aren’t great, with suffering due to lack of detail and overall diversity. The gameplay doesn’t help either, with having core mechanics, but lacking elaboration making you feel rather restricted with some of the more important aspects of firing a gun. At least the replay value is there, because there can be a good amount of motivation to go after those medals and unlock all the game’s secrets and goodies, but only if you personally feel the desire to do so. It is actually a solid game, but it’s nothing special or spectacular. It can be entertaining at some points, but rather drab and dull during others. It’s a shame the beginning and end are the best parts of the game. If EA LA had just focused on what made those so great, the meat of the middle would’ve been a lot more enjoyable to bite into.