Lazygamer Review | Medal of Honor

Multiplayer

So then, the single player campaign proved itself to be pretty entertaining and fun, but what about the multiplayer?

As mentioned earlier, the multiplayer component of Medal of Honor is completely different to the single player campaign. The Multiplayer has been developed by DICE (who you already know for the fantastic Battlefield series) and runs on the Frostbite engine (Bad Company 2).

While many gamers out there may have been looking to DICE to save this Medal of Honor title, I have to sadly admit that their side of things killed the experience for me pretty significantly.

To be quite frank, the multiplayer modes in Medal of Honor feel like Modern Warfare trying to run inside Bad Company 2. The problem is that it doesn’t feel as good as either. The multiplayer doesn’t feel as tight and sharp as Modern Warfare 2 but at the same time doesn’t allow for the freedom and fun that comes with Bad Company 2 either.

The strangest thing I found is that tons of assets have been taken directly from Bad Company 2, including voice and sound effects, which means you will hear the same “sniper, look out” or death noises and it comes across as very sloppy overall.

The great leaning function is also nowhere to be seen and the multiplayer modes themselves were pretty generic overall. The graphics engine isn’t the best looking one out there but in something like Bad Company 2 it’s easily forgiven thanks to the massive maps and destructible terrain, both elements once again, completely missing from the Medal of Honor multiplayer.

Conclusion:

Medal of Honor is a little hit-and-miss. I had a great time playing the campaign mode, pretty much hammering through the whole thing in one sitting. It is however very short and the multiplayer modes are not nearly as appealing as other games already out there.

If you are looking for a solid single player shooter then Medal of Honor will please you to a great degree as long as you aren’t looking for a long campaign. As far as multiplayer is concerned, it’s not bad but I see no reason to stay when I know I can be getting a better, more focussed experience from Bad Company 2, Modern Warfare 2 or even Halo Reach.

Scoring:

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the specific nature of the two separate Medal of Honor modes, I have split scores into two.

Campaign Gameplay: 8.5 / Multiplayer Gameplay: 7.5

Solid with a fun leaning mechanic in single player, not so solid in multiplayer.

Campaign Presentation: 9.0 / Multiplayer Presentation: 8.0

Great use of visual effects and a solid graphics engine keep it looking good in some areas, great in others. Multiplayer on the other hand fails to impress with the Frostbite engine not being used to its full potential.

Campaign Sound: 8.5 / Multiplayer Sound: 8.0

Campaign has some solid voice acting from your squad mates and the soundtrack does well to keep you immersed in the action. Guns sound meaty and powerful. Multiplayer is decent overall but re-uses assets from Bad Company 2.

Campaign Value: 8.0 / Multiplayer Value: 7.0

Campaign is only 5 – 6 hours long at best, but it remains enjoyable enough that I feel tempted to give it another play-through on a harder difficulty level. Multiplayer’s modes feel limited and I can see a ton of the already small-ish community moving back to other games soon or jumping ship when a new multiplayer shooter becomes available.

Campaign Overall: 8.9 / Multiplayer Overall: 7.5

One was really fun, the other wasn’t so much. What more can I say?

Final Score: 8.0 (not an average)

Medal of Honor kind of makes me want EA to strip away the multiplayer and sell the single player as a separate standalone product for half the price. If they did, it would be well worth the money.

[Reviewed on Xbox 360]

Last Updated: October 19, 2010