Enter Medal of Honor Allied Assault: Breakthrough. This second expansion to the PC version of Medal of Honor retains the wonderful cinematic touches that have defined the series and help set it apart from the rest of the pack. Taking the action to new areas with new weapons and new objectives, Breakthrough offers more of the same gameplay that we've come to expect from the team. But, as with Spearhead, Breakthrough's fun is over far too soon.
Featuring eleven missions, Breakthrough covers three new areas of the Mediterranean side of World War II. Starting with Allied attacks in the deserts of Tunisia, the player will eventually make their way through the fighting in Sicily and Italy before the journey is over. Though you'll complete the game in about six hours, the action has been so refined and focused that it feels like a bigger game. It hits the high points of the original game by offering them up sooner and in more concentrated form. You get to drive a tank pretty much from the start, and you get to disguise yourself as a German and infiltrate a shipyard soon after. Escorting other units through enemy areas and demolishing large weapons are also part of the game pretty much right from the start.
The real strength of the franchise has always been a sense of heroic action. I hesitate to call it a Hollywood approach, simply because the developers intend the title to be more realistic than most shooters. But the use of cutscenes, great dialogue well acted and event triggers really help to add to the sense of drama when playing through the levels. Meeting up with contact, grabbing some disguises and infiltrating a German ship is just part of the story. There are plenty of other moments just as compelling. Still, even though the individual missions themselves are quite good, the lack of connection between the missions (another hallmark feature of the franchise) keeps you from becoming as involved with the character as you should.
But the action is still fantastic. Gone are the eagle-eyed snipers that so frustrated gamers in the first game's Sniper Town. And while the enemies are still uncannily accurate, they don't seem unfairly so. Rather the high challenge level stems from smart level design that emphasizes attacks on prepared and otherwise fortified positions. But even in the open areas the enemies provide a real challenge. Rush ahead too recklessly and you could find yourself overwhelmed by enemies. Even a trio of troopers is enough to cause serious grief thanks in part to the disorienting stutter that you experience when hit. But you can take advantage of this effect and effectively juggle enemies yourself. Hit one guy a few times and he'll be unable to fire back at you for a second or two. That's usually long enough to hit another enemy and keep him off your back while you finish off the first guy. Nice touch, that.
But as with Medal of Honor, there are some small arbitrary inconsistencies in the game. For instance, though you can easily kill troops in the back of a truck, you can't kill guys riding on motorcycles. Instead you have to aim for the motorcycles and blow them up instead. Sure this adds a bit more challenge to fighting them off as they chase you down the road, but it seems unrealistic enough to remind you that you're simply playing a game and not living an experience. While it's ultimately a small matter, the overall approach of Medal of Honor is one of complete immersion and these small problems are thrown in to sharper relief as a result. Now how's that for a back-handed compliment?
A few other issues tend to frustrate the experience. I'm long past complaining about enemies appearing behind you, spawning from areas you thought you already cleared but the fact that enemies will sometimes clip right through doors completely kills the illusion. Beyond these small frustrations, the game seems to have a few graphical bugs. A slight fog effect and draw-in can make some levels take shape before your eyes and the variable level of detail will have you shooting at indistinct grey forms at long ranges. Thankfully the game seems to run a bit better than Spearhead did but our review systems have been upgraded since then as well. We only experienced one instance of aggravating slow-down when a large group of enemies wound up sharing the same space.
But otherwise, the game looks as good as Medal of Honor did back in the day. Realistic character animations and largely natural environments draw you in to the game. The new haze effect in North Africa is quite well done and you'll actually find yourself wishing for a pair of goggles and a face mask to keep the sand out. As you can see from the screenshots all the exteriors on those levels are viewed through a tan layer of gauze that's really effective (and good at hiding the draw-in). Explosions still seem a bit canned but are still effective. Bullet impacts on most surfaces (including people) reveal some interesting particle effects as well.
As always, the sound is fantastic. Weapon sounds are probably the biggest stars here with distinct and utterly accurate sounds for each weapon. Voice-acting takes a close second with a range of actors bringing a real sense of life to each part. As always music scores big in the series, with a great epic, film-like score that fits the action perfectly. But even the less impactful sounds, like those of the vehicles, are still done quite well.
The game's nine new multiplayer levels are as well conceived as those of the previous games, but the real story on the multiplayer side is the inclusion of a new Liberation mode. Designed to make death more significant, Liberation mode places all dead players in a prison camp. Other members of your team must find the camp and release the prisoners before they can join the action again. While it makes for some tense moments (and some shorter games in many cases), it still falls prey to a small bit of aggravation as players wait impatiently for someone to come allow them to join the game again.
Verdict
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault is still one of my favorite action games. And while Breakthrough is a bit more ambitious than last year's Spearhead, it still feels like little more than a change of locale for the series. Sure, that's the bare minimum you'd expect from an expansion pack. That it preserves Medal of Honor's engaging cinematic approach, the occasional squad support sequences and the overall polish the series is known for makes it a sure thing for fans of the first game.
Still, it doesn't add that much to the series beyond a dozen extra missions. For hardcore Medal of Honor fans like myself, this will suffice. Those of you who are merely casual fans of the game may find the new multiplayer elements to be a sufficient draw, but they hardly advance the title beyond what we experienced in Spearhead.
