
	Platform Playstation 3 Genre Shooter Publisher Electronic Arts Developer EA Los Angeles ESRB T (Teen) Released September 4, 2008

- Parachuting element is unique - Some extremely intense moments - Online play provides replay value

- Unstable frame rate - Better first-person shooters already out - WWII is feeling a bit stale

Review: Medal of Honor: Airborne (360) Review: Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (360) Review: Turok (360)
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Medal of Honor: Airborne

Score: 6.5 / 10

Activision’s Call of Duty franchise saw a change in direction last year by moving the game into more of a modern setting. EA’s Medal of Honor series has stayed true to its roots and flushed out some more World War II battles. If you’ve played Call of Duty 4 already, then Medal of Honor: Airborne may feel like a step backwards.

Airborne sees you play a paratrooper during World War II and focus on the European theatre of combat, much like the previous games in the series. If you’ve played previous games in the series, then you’ll feel right at home as many of the levels comprise of both indoor and outdoor environments and you’ll fight alongside a number of AI controlled soldiers.

Your allied soldiers don’t really prove to be very effective overall. Their presence merely increases the atmosphere and "realism" of the game. The AI for the

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enemies proves adequate. The enemies act like they should taking cover and are smart enough to realize the presence of grenades.

The major focus of Airborne has been placed on playing a paratrooper. Each of the mission’s features parachuting into a certain environment. The parachuting is a

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nice touch since it really hasn’t been pursued in other games since it allows the player to choose their point of entry into an environment. The parachuting isn’t just limited to choosing a point of entry but actually landing properly. Depending on how quickly you approach the ground will dictate whether you land successfully or have a botched landing. It’s an interesting element, that’s different from a lot of other games.

The parachuting in Airborne reduces the linear nature of the game’s environments. Another interesting element of the game is how the checkpoints are handled. If you have to restart from a checkpoint your character re-parachutes into the level and you can once again choose your point of entry.

Airborne also features deep online play. The standard modes you’d expect such as team deathmatch and objective based modes are included. The online play is fairly stable and you shouldn’t have any trouble finding people to play with. Much like the single player game, the team playing the Allies parachutes into each map at the beginning of the match and during respawns. The parachuting works great for respawning as you can make your way quickly to the scene of intense firefights.

The visuals are not outstanding. By far the biggest problem with the PS3 version is the unstable frame rate. While the frame rate doesn’t ruin the game, it’s very easily noticeable and can get irritating at times. The character models and the environmental models look mediocre if you’re using Call of Duty as a benchmark. The current crop of first person shooters looks much better than Ariborne.

Airborne proves to be one of the better games in the series with some solid additions. The online play adds some legs to this title, but if you’re in the hunt for a first person shooter then Call of Duty 4 or the Orange Box take top priority over this title. Airborne also feels a bit stale since WWII games have been done to death. Hopefully the next title in the series will shift the fight from the war zones of Western Europe to today’s battlefields.

- Siddharth Masand

(May 5, 2008)