Medal of Honor Multiplayer Beta Impressions
We’ve had Call of Duty’s Modern Warfare 2 (and we await Black Ops with interest), and Battlefield’s Bad Company 2, but the latest entrant into the popular and profitable, real-world theatre-of-war FPS market comes with an equally long and proud history (thank you so much Mr Spielberg!). Yes, Medal of Honor is back!
Many rumours, concerns, whispers, hopes & fears have been voiced, but where is the title now? What do we know about the game and where it’s headed before its release in October?
Well I’m happy to tell you that your reviewer has played the multiplayer beta for more than a couple of hours, levelling each of the three classes to Level 7 and learning both available beta maps like the back of his hand, and is keen to report back in from the beta front.
As ever, I will keep this brief and to the point.
You will love the MoH multiplayer beta if:
- You’re a fan of shooters with frenetic pace, and I mean frenetic. (Think Serious Sam / Doom with real guns!)
- Environmental extras do it for you. (Paper blowing in the breeze, small fires in oil barrels, dust devils, great external sounds & dramatic flyovers).
- You think Snipers should earn their stripes. (VERY poor initial weapon load out for snipers, improves greatly at higher levels).
- Complex weapon stats / options distract you from the game experience. (At this time weapon selection is VERY restricted).
- You want ALL weapons to work effectively at medium to long range. (Yup, all 3 classes can snipe in MoH!)
- In your opinion grenades are over powered in most FPSs. (Grenades are currently frankly pitifully puny in MoH)
- You believe more skilled players should get more rewards (Score chains / kill streaks are the only way to access tactical elements such as air strikes and health boosts etc)
- Short “rounds” help break up monotony and add pace from your perspective.
You will want to look elsewhere for your multiplayer FPS beta action if:
- Destructible environments are vital to your enjoyment. (VERY limited destructibility, building fabric never affected)
- Planning is a key part of your FPS play style. (Spawn, shoot. Or sometimes, spawn, sprint 10m and shoot).
- Medics provide you with an important, strategic element, to your play experience. (No medics and no strategic healing element)
- Equipment load out options that encourage diversity help you tailor your playing style and add variety. (Apparently this may change with the release of the full game, but very limited at the moment)
- Expansive environments with travel time and ample opportunity for concealment / surprise are important to you.
- You think you might ever want to take all classes to top level / “Tier 1″ / Level 8.
- You don’t like being spawn killed.
- You need absolutely cutting edge graphics.
In summary, Medal of Honor is currently far more Modern Warfare than Battlefield Bad Company. It has just about enough of Battlefield to be considered a hybrid, but also improves on the “manic” Modern Warfare gameplay experience to a considerable degree across the board. All-in-all, an excellent adrenaline FPS that may not replace BFBC2 for those who love their vehicles, building destruction, medics, grenades and more realistic range effects on weapon accuracy. This will certainly be a hit for those who just want some fast, frenetic, pick-up-and-play, FPS action. I will certainly be playing it again whenever I don’t have the time, or concentration, required for BFBC2′s 20+ minute rounds!
See you on the front soldiers!
Over & out.
- Rax
Related posts:
- EA Announces ‘Medal of Honor’ Revamp
- Preview: Battlefield Bad Company 2
- Left 4 Dead DLC Impressions
- Multiplayer Preview: Command & Conquer 4: Tiberium Twilight
- Preview: Modnation Racers (Beta)
sounds like everything i hate about FPS’s,
I think it’s certainly going to polarise people.
It does feel very MW2, but better in my opinion.
Having said that they have been clear that changes are coming for release.
We’ll see. We’ll also keep you posted on changes and additions if we get a big update in beta or if it all changes for launch.
Back to BFBC2 for me now!