Rarely have I played a game with such a feeling of immersion that each mission leaves me feeling sapped of energy from sheer concentration. Medal of Honour delivers what most other games can only hope to – an almost authentic experience of war and a harsh reminder of your own mortality.
From the opening mission, scurrying around the beach head on D-Day with shells raining from the sky and fallen comrades all around, EA set their stall out for one of the best titles available at the moment for the PS2.
Play this game on a large size tv with surround sound… and you’re no longer playing a game; You’re there, ducking from the rain of bullets, flinching with each shower of shrapnel and fighting for your life with the rest of the poor souls experiencing Hell on Earth.
The only things to really remind you that this is a game are the sometimes unwieldy Dual Shock controls and the occasional frame-out when the action gets hot. Joy pads will never really catch up with mouse and keyboard as the control method of choice for first person shooteres. And although EA have done an admirable job in making the Dual Shock work well, it can sometimes be a little too sensitive when you’re fighting up close.
It is worth persevering with, though – soon you’ll be wandering round Nazi docklands, submarines and war torn city scapes with relative ease – darting from cover to cover, peeking out only to snipe a happless enemy target.
With Medal of Honour and from what I’ve heard and seen of TimeSplitters 2 – first person shooters on consoles may be coming of age.