Medal of Honor: Frontline

Written by Chris Reiter on January 23, 2002

First Impressions: If you can't come to the war, the war will come to you.

Tracking back to one of the most popular games to ever grace the sights of the home console, the Sony PlayStation, publisher Electronic Arts and developer DreamWorks Interactive are now taking the next step in a sequel to the rising and very popular series of Medal Of Honor. Medal of Honor: Frontline, coming this June to the PlayStation 2, will have gamers live the experience of World War II now on a new home console, with more features, better graphics, and an all new storyline that'll give the true war fans the excitement of gunning down as many Nazis as they can hit.

Frontline's storyline takes the game back to Lieutenant James Patterson, the playable soldier from the first title in the series. Patterson, working along with the OSS department, has been hired to steal a secret weapon, which could change the way the overall outcome of the war transforms into. The HO-IX flying wing is an experimental device, that when used, could devastate any effort of offensive attacks against it. And now, through missions of stealth, shooting, and planned attacks, as James Patterson, you will serve your duty to reach that device at whatever cost.

Interesting enough, while Medal of Honor: Frontline is in the First Person Shooter category, Frontline aids the player now with a new feature that turns the game into more of an action oriented strategic title. This time around, you, as Patterson, will get to give commands to a squadron throughout various levels. With the team of soldiers, you will be able to setup your members to snipe the enemy from a distance, organize a team effort to attack certain individuals within the enemy forces, or even order your entire platoon to eliminate the enemy threat charging in head first with guns blazing. Of course, you can always take on the opposition the old fashion way, and pick off soldiers one at a time by your lonesome. But, with the new ability to piece together a victory with your brain, Frontline will indeed be a very interesting game to play.

Rather than killing enemies throughout the expanded levels, sometimes you'll have to focus your efforts on sneaking around unnoticed, posing as a Nazi soldier, like which was done in the first two games. Sometimes the missions will also involve major strategies, such as disarming bombs, taking out an entire Nazi base, and even helping out your fellow OSS comrades through the struggles of war. If and when you will have to kill, the game will present all sorts of different types of classic weaponry from which to pick. From grenades, to the deadly Panzerschreck, to even a MG42-mounted machine gun, Medal of Honor: Frontline will exploit the past with all sorts of heavy artillery through what looks to be 15 different levels of Nazi death. With all of the different types of elements in the gameplay, Frontline is turning out to be the best edition in the Medal of Honor series yet.

Quite the looker, prepare to feast your funny bones on well detailed environments that are very reminiscent looking to how the world might've appeared through the eyes of a solider, if he were in World War II. Shadow affects darkened spots, light beams from the sky, and lively blood stains your enemy's chest. Through textured town areas of barricades, past nazi troops, amongst hefty tanks, and in broken down war structures, you can imagine how well the transition between the original PlayStation versions and the conversion into PlayStation 2 might seem.

Also reminiscent of the PlayStation titles, the new Medal of Honor will boast in great music and sound effects. The way enemy chatter fills the echoes of the air, the true to life gun fire between you and the target ahead, and even the orchestra of music -- created from the award-winning Michael Giacchino -- will heighten the momentum of Frontline's gory gameplay, and push the player forward into more enemy territory and beyond.