Medal Of Honor

Release Date: November 10, 1999

"Ducking round corners in the sewers triggers eerie tunes, anticipating the Nazi guards..."

The delights of the one-shot kill. Line up a tin-pot helmet in the cross hairs, gently squeeze the trigger and another Nazi’s no more. Set at the tail end of World War II, Medal Of Honour takes you on a jaunt round Europe as a field agent for the Office Of Strategic Services. Standard first-person shooting stuff, you might think, but this title goes way deeper than that.

Tracking across seven missions, each one related to the war effort in Germany, Medal Of Honour gives a fascinating insight into what might have been expected from a special agent. Sabotaging German bomb plants, blowing up chemical warfare sites and infiltrating technology labs were all in the line of duty As was the probability of death round every corner.

One mission in particular, gives you the task of scuttling a massive U-Boat the Germans are developing in a secret dock. Blow the fin controls, send it into a dive, then escape the doomed sub. Great. In a lesser game that would constitute a mission on its own. But what makes Medal Of Honour vastly superior to any other game of its type is this - the mission actually begins with you stowed away on a merchant ship bound for the secret U-boat dock. By disguising yourself as different members of the crew you wander around causing maximum damage to the boat before making your way to the dockside.

Leap across the warehouse rooftops, walk tightrope across ducting pipes, blow up trucks so the seamen can’t escape and locate the entrance to the production facility. Battle through the submarine building bays, pick up blueprints for the ship, delivery orders and technical specs, destroy the bay doors and get access to the super sub. Only then does the latter part of the mission kick in. If that isn’t totally immersive then what is?

There’s a huge arsenal of weapons for you to collect. Polish your skills with the lowliest Colt 45, then move to a prototype bazooka, via sniper rifles and hand grenades. Use a Dual Shock Controller and the thing rattles away as if it were actually a recoiling Thompson machine gun. While the shots don’t demand pinpoint accuracy to begin with, you’ll soon find the Al of the enemy in the later levels demands some super¬ sharp shooting. The Nazis gradually get much quicker in their movements, speeding up their reflexes to the point when they can actually pick up one of your lobbed grenades and toss it back in your face.

Graphically, Medal Of Honours almost flawless, no tearing, occasional hot spots and minor glitching, but nothing to detract from the way you play the game. It also succeeds in creating a palpable sense of suspense and tension through evocative use of music. Perhaps not genuine World War II music, but suitably filmic nevertheless. Ducking round corners in the sewers triggers eerie tunes, anticipating the Nazi guards you might meet on the next. Scenes in which you’re swamped with soldiers bearing down on you from every passageway are scored with a gung-ho Dirty Dozen-esque track that actually has you imagining you’re chomping down on a stogie. Eastwood at your side.

Still want more? There’s a Multiplayer Mode too, offering you the chance to chase your mate through half-a-dozen levels based on places you’ve visited in the game. Tool up, don your uniform and charge round lobbing grenades into the darkness. Superb.

The single criticism that can be levelled at the game is that it’s a little short, probably the same size as Metal Gear Solid without the nuances that make Kojima’s classic so exceptional. However, for the time you play, it never fails to be a nerve-jangling experience and perfectly generates that holy grail of gaming, “Just one more damn go...” The longest day, indeed.