Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (PC)
by Dan Ackerman

War, they say, is hell. And of course it's one of the most popular topics in all of popular culture. And no theater of war has been more popular than World War II. From The Longest Day to Saving Private Ryan, macho army guys have plowed through untold numbers of axis goons in pursuit of truth, justice and the American way.

So it's no surprise that WWII should be a frequent topic of video games. From the original Castle Wolfenstein to the new Castle Wolfenstein, gamers have had plenty of chances to have their "finest hour." Of course, all this is incredibly male-dominated, as the US army wasn't exactly coed in the '40s. But for the game gals out there who want to relive their favorite History Channel moments, there's a great new game that mixes old-fashioned combat with welcome realism and storytelling.

The Medal of Honor series has always gotten high marks for its subdued realism and attention to detail. While still slightly on the run 'n' gun side, compared to the zombie-shooting aspects of Wolfenstein, the Medal of Honor series is downright educational.

The latest Medal of Honor incarnation is a PC game subtitled Allied Assault. Like the earlier PSone games, you take US soldiers through various first-person-shooting adventures in occupied Europe. Blood and guts are kept to minimum, and like real life, a few shots will kill you.

Allied Assault is divided into several campaigns, with numerous submissions for each. Some of the missions fall into the overdone "infiltrate the underground bunker" category, with non-descript grey walls and lots of wooden crates. The more interesting levels occur in war-ravaged French towns or other outdoor locations. The most interesting level is the D-Day assault on Normandy, which is great, but way too short.

Gameplay is standard FPS style, perhaps with slightly more realistic physics. Even though the game is based on the Quake III engine, there are no jump-turn-shoot acrobatics here. Graphically, the game looks great, but you'll need a high-end system to see all the details. Voice acting is movie-quality, and the storyline, while rote, is presented in a cool newsreel format.

One major bug is that the game doesn't support Voodoo graphics cards. You'll be able to play, but the menus will be hard to read, and you won't be able to see the opening movie.

The feature we liked most about Allied Assault was the cooperative play element. You'll often have a squad of fellow soldiers with you, who are essential to completing your mission. Their AI is generally pretty good, but they have an unfortunate habit of walking into sniper fire.

You'll find yourself reloading over and over again to try and got more of your team through a tough section alive. Unfortunately, after you do, you often find them killed later on anyway--it's part of the storyline, and there's nothing you can do about it.

Our other complaint is that the levels are fairly linear. In a bombed-our French town, don't you think there might be more than one way through the buildings? Especially since Nazis are usually waiting around the next corner?

We loved playing Allied Assault--it's one of the few games in recent that kept us up all night for a few weeks. Some levels are ridiculously hard, but that's why they have quick-save. It's an all-boys kind of thing, except for the clichéd female French resistance fighter, but if you can get past that, you'll have a good time on the front lines.

SCORE: 9.0