Most intense WWII gameplay ever...can't wait till release

EWorld War 2 is in fashion lately. Everything had their moment to shine: the (3D) RTS, the Barldur's Gate derivatives, Tetris clones, point & click adventure games. Today, we have games like Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Il-2 Sturmovik, Sudden Strike, Commandos 1&2,... Medal of Honour: Allied Assault is the PC version of the Playstation hit "Allied Assault", a 3D FPS. For all of you who are beginning to grovel back into the earth and murmur "No, have mercy on our souls, not another crappy PS conversion!", I can bring some solace. First of, Medal of Honour: Allied Assault (MOHAA) is an entirely new game with new-built technology and a new storyline. Graphically, the game is powered by iD Software's Quake 3 engine. This engine has been widely distributed over the past 2 years, and has been accepted as the industry standard concerning Direct X 7 (and in a lesser extend, DX8) T&L graphics. The implementation of the engine usually was great, but small differences can be discerned: for instance, you could see an entirely different approach to the Quake 2 engine from Valve (Half-Life) and Raven (Soldier of Fortune). In a same way, that other current Q3 powered game, RTCW, is based on the same WWII backdrop, but still it looks and feels a bit different. First of, MOHAA is a lot heavier on your hardware. There are more graphics options, and the graphics themselves are more complex and detailed, whilst using the same graphics engine. MOHAA is one of the few games (along with Max Payne and Comanche 4) that gave my PIII 1 Ghz/GF2MX difficulties in even the lower resolutions (800x600x16). This is probably caused by increased curve detail (buildings and models) and more detailed vegetatio and dynamic weather effects. The graphics quality of MOHAA though is not the main attraction of this WWII shooter, albeit very impressive, detailed and immersive. It's the intensity and quality of the gameplay that really does the trick for this game. Each and every mission is a dangerous quest, a real thriller, full of scripted events, exciting moments and heartpounding action. Ok, I admit this sounds a bit like a commercial, but the reality of MOHAA is nothing short of it. Not only the missions are very varied, the game always manages to surprise you and always makes you ignore the incessent whining of girlfriend and other loved ones. MOHAA truly is the dream of everyone who saw "Saving Private Ryan". The most famous mission is of course the Omaha Beach mission: it's like "Saving Private Ryan" come to life. Many of your comrades get shot upon disembarkment, grenades will hit and create sandpits in which you can take cover, your fellow private who was bravely fighting beside one moment, may be dead the next, you hear sergeants shouting last commands and trying to boost morale...This mission, demo'ed on E3 2001, is certainly one of the most intense gameplay experiences on the PC ever. But the other missions are also incredible: it delivers the same exhilleration from the Caen level in Day of Defeat, but now in a more intense singleplayer environment. The key to achieve this, is not only to create powerful graphics and carefully scripted and complex levels, but also to provide good AI. Yes, we are all very picky, but after Half-Life, we'd expect nothing less. And the AI, also seems very capable in MOHAA. MOHAA is the first game where you can experience believeble nd intelligent team AI, which will create a powerful teamspirit (for all Belgians and Dutch people: Forgive my accidental referral to Jan Verheyen's movie). Your team members actually are smart: they will take cover, give you advice and even orders, the will enter an abandoned house to take cover for a German sniper, they will move along the bushes to keep as low a profile.. This certainly is the best FPS AI I ever witnessed since the Marine AI in Half-Life. Enemy AI is equally impressive. In MOHAA, your sniper rifle will be your most trusted ally. Locations will be swarming with proficient foes, and picking them off before your group moves in can be extremely vital. MOHAA contains some elements that make it more realistic as an FPS, first introduced by other titles and even mods. If you get hit, you will expereince it by a backlash and red screen flash, and the intensity of this effect is higher when you're hit more lethally (headshot or armshot). Other than for instance Counterstrike, you will not serieously lag when hit. While this might be a realism trade off, it is much more playable because in CS an experienced player could easily eliminate foes while rookies didn't stand a chance: the lag made them a sitting duck. Also in MOHAA, running and standing will decrease your shot accuracy. The best thing to do is to crouch and shoot. Btw, crouching is toggled in MOHAA, so you don't have to keep holding your crouch key. The sound is also gruesomely impressive: of course you have the brilliant atmosphere of the Omaha Beach level. The gunfire, the cries, the sound when bullets hit the sand or water, the impact of a shell...
In total, MOHAA is all about intensity. The game is more realistic and stern than Return to Castle Wolfenstein, it's closest lookalike but also biggest competitor, but not any less enjoyable. MOHAA delivers some of the best gameplay ever and even matches Half-Life, which had about the same characteristics.

Medal of Honour: Allied Assault has gone gold and is available around the world.

(c) 2001 Erwin's Pages
Erwin "Reaper" Husin

Links

> MOH:AA Review

> Official MOHAA Site
> EA
> 2015