I feel like I've been at war all week. Not the real thing (thank god), but the videogame kind. It started earlier this week with the Vietnam-themed Men of Valor, and now I've shifted back another 20 years for the World War II-themed Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault. The latest in EA's WWII series looks like it has come a long way since the demo that was released in early September, and we've been happily working our way through the game since a preview build arrived at GameSpy HQ earlier today. Even in the early going, it appears the game's aiming a lot higher than it's predecessor, the highly acclaimed Allied Assault.
The game starts off with your character -- Tommy Conlin -- on a boat in the Pacific at the Tarawa Atoll in 1944. You're headed straight into a huge battle, and an explosion throws everything into chaos -- you're thrown into the ocean, your vision blurs, and you desperately try to reach the shore as bullets fly everywhere. You reach the beachhead, duck under a pier where the rest of your squad is, and attempt to fight off wave after wave of enemies assaulting your position. Eventually, you're overwhelmed, and... you flashback to 1942, to your character's beginnings back in boot camp.
After this exciting opening, a sweeping orchestral score kicks in and you're suddenly dropped into what's essentially the beginning of a WWII action film. Back in boot camp, you're given a long speech by your hard-as-nails drill instructor, who holds his station in high regard ("On the 8th day, God created a divine creature: the Marine"). During this boot camp, you'll befriend several other soldiers who you'll fight with throughout the game (although you'll be separated from them on occasion). More so than in 2003's Call of Duty, there's an effort to provide some background on your fellow soldiers, so they feel more like supporting actors in a movie than your run-of-the-mill in-game buddy.
Your run through boot camp also serves as a tutorial, and aside from the humor of your drill instructor constantly barking at you, you find Pacific Assault has a few conventions not seen in many other war shooters. Sure, there's your typical movement, leaning and crawling around, but you'll occasionally need to bandage your wounds, carry wounded soldiers to get medical attention or call for help yourself. There's also a simple command system in place for when you're fighting alongside your squad -- you can tell them to advance, retreat, assemble or provide cover fire. It's not so complex to be overwhelming, but adds an extra dimension to the action that we haven't seen often in similar shooters.
MOH:AA was perhaps best remembered for over-the-top set pieces like the classic "Omaha Beach" level, and the early missions of Pacific Assault look like they're deliver in that regard. After boot camp, you're shipped off to Hawaii, where you're given a tour by jeep of your base at Pearl Harbor. There's a lot of time to enjoy the ride and soak in the surroundings, assuming that the level will end at some point before you're called into battle. Not so fast. As your tour nears the end, the base is attacked by the Japanese and it's all-out mayhem as you follow your fellow officer out to the docks, ducking gunfire from Japanese fighters all the way.
When your character reaches the dock, you're greeted with one of the rail-sequences that have become standard for the genre. This time, you're in a small gunboat fighting a sky filled with an endless supply of Japanese fighter plans, and it's all you can do to keep your boat from being blown up as it weaves its way through sinking battleships. Eventually, you make your way into one of the remaining battleships, where you need to reach the deck to help fight off the attack. Before you can do that, however, it's a race against time as you try and locate a drainage valve that will help right the ship before it lists and flops over. Your race through the fiery interior of the ship is aided with an axe, which you're able to use to break down doors, in between picking up wounded officers and carrying them out of harm's way. Finally, on the deck of the ship, you jump into an anti-aircraft gun to try and protect the ship from going down until the attack is repelled. In all, the opening Pearl Harbor sequence is four long missions strung together, creating a fairly epic opening to the game.
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After this exciting opening, a sweeping orchestral score kicks in and you're suddenly dropped into what's essentially the beginning of a WWII action film. Back in boot camp, you're given a long speech by your hard-as-nails drill instructor, who holds his station in high regard ("On the 8th day, God created a divine creature: the Marine"). During this boot camp, you'll befriend several other soldiers who you'll fight with throughout the game (although you'll be separated from them on occasion). More so than in 2003's Call of Duty, there's an effort to provide some background on your fellow soldiers, so they feel more like supporting actors in a movie than your run-of-the-mill in-game buddy.
Your run through boot camp also serves as a tutorial, and aside from the humor of your drill instructor constantly barking at you, you find Pacific Assault has a few conventions not seen in many other war shooters. Sure, there's your typical movement, leaning and crawling around, but you'll occasionally need to bandage your wounds, carry wounded soldiers to get medical attention or call for help yourself. There's also a simple command system in place for when you're fighting alongside your squad -- you can tell them to advance, retreat, assemble or provide cover fire. It's not so complex to be overwhelming, but adds an extra dimension to the action that we haven't seen often in similar shooters.
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| |
MOH:AA was perhaps best remembered for over-the-top set pieces like the classic "Omaha Beach" level, and the early missions of Pacific Assault look like they're deliver in that regard. After boot camp, you're shipped off to Hawaii, where you're given a tour by jeep of your base at Pearl Harbor. There's a lot of time to enjoy the ride and soak in the surroundings, assuming that the level will end at some point before you're called into battle. Not so fast. As your tour nears the end, the base is attacked by the Japanese and it's all-out mayhem as you follow your fellow officer out to the docks, ducking gunfire from Japanese fighters all the way.
When your character reaches the dock, you're greeted with one of the rail-sequences that have become standard for the genre. This time, you're in a small gunboat fighting a sky filled with an endless supply of Japanese fighter plans, and it's all you can do to keep your boat from being blown up as it weaves its way through sinking battleships. Eventually, you make your way into one of the remaining battleships, where you need to reach the deck to help fight off the attack. Before you can do that, however, it's a race against time as you try and locate a drainage valve that will help right the ship before it lists and flops over. Your race through the fiery interior of the ship is aided with an axe, which you're able to use to break down doors, in between picking up wounded officers and carrying them out of harm's way. Finally, on the deck of the ship, you jump into an anti-aircraft gun to try and protect the ship from going down until the attack is repelled. In all, the opening Pearl Harbor sequence is four long missions strung together, creating a fairly epic opening to the game.
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