MEDAL OF HONOR: RISING SUN

MOH Frontline has been for over a year one of the few video games I actually love. Even after passing it on all three levels, I just keep returning to it again and again for nothing more than the thrill of the gameplay. It was filled with strategy and realism....and it was rather entertaining as well. The Nazis were quite amusing to watch and the sets were also great fun just to walk around in and experience. Even after a full year of playing, I still throw it into my console and have a go whenever I feel the urge.

So I waited and waited for Rising Sun....here I though it would be as good or better than Frontline. Boy was I wrong.

Within 4 hours I had finished the game. 4 hours! I paid fifty bucks for this game to finish it in 4 hours.....and worse....not have any interest at all in going back to unlock any bonus items or to challenge it at the hard level.

Why?

Well because all you do is just shoot people....and believe me, unlike the Nazis these soldiers are plain stupid. You feel like Rambo, simply massacring hundreds of Japanese as if you're invincible. And talk about extra health packs....I may have died a total of 5 or 6 times completing this whole game because for what little I was shot, I was able to gain back full health constantly. I left more than a fair share of health packs behind. In Frontline, conserving those health packs is integral to completing the missions...in Rising Sun they're just there more for decoration it seems.

Speaking of decoration, what happened to the graphics? Frontline's graphics are far better.

There are no outstanding puzzles or strategies to accomplish....no need to use your brain at all as in Frontline. You simply keep on moving forward massacring Japanese soldiers. It just keeps going and going like this.

I found myself wanting to complete the missions more as a chore than a pleasure. I kept hoping I would get to the next mission and the game would take off and start being more fun.

But no....after destroying an aircraft carrier the credits began rolling. My jaw dropped. That was it? Yes it was. That was it. The whole game in about 4 hours....and the only part I mildly enjoyed was shooting down Zeros.

Even the end sequence is lame...you just watch a carrier blow up and then the credits roll. Are they kidding? Completely anti-climactic.

There is only one thing that is new with this game....you get to shoot down aircraft. Oh, and you ride an elephant. Big deal. The weapons are boring as hell, you never get to use too many of them at once. Then they add this "feature" of being able to toss grenades with a seperate button. That seemed good at first, until you realize that unlike in Frontline, where you get to cook the grenade, as well as to vary how long you hold down the fire button in order to determine the distance of your toss, you only have two choices: a short throw and a long throw. And that's it. The grenades in this game are not at all as fun as in Frontline.

And then there's the AI. Or lack thereof. The Japanese soldiers are boring as hell....all they do is shoot at you, and run up at you. At first you think, "Wow, this is so cool! I can't wait to see what else they'll do." But they don't. They just keep doing the same brainless attack. In fact, this whole game is spent waiting for it to get interesting, and then....well then it's over.

Don't waste your money. Rent this game and see what I mean.

If you already have Frontline, then you have no need to buy this waste of DVD space.

And yet...here's the real kicker....this game is only halfway completed: They're planning a sequel for it next year.

Well hats of to EA Games for being able to release a half-length game at a full length price! Don't give them the satisfaction.

The problem was that I finished it in about a week (about 8 hours total).

Some of the other reviewers have mentioned that Frontline is a longer game (19 levels vs 10 here), and I would add also a tougher game.

Rising Sun begins with you aboard a US battleship in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and immediately puts you in the fray (as Frontline did with the storming of the beaches at Normandy). This first level is almost tutorial, giving you a chance to get a feel for the game without really taking any damage. I found the second board visually stunning with the planes swooping down around you, but after that, the other boards are just OK.

While the boards are longer, it felt like there were fewer enemies to fight. I'm not exactly a true "gamer", but I don't remember really having any trouble. In fairness, part of cruising through this game may be due to the fact that there are mid-level saves in Rising Sun, which is a feature new to the MOH series.

Conclusion? It's a game worth playing, but...if you haven't played Medal of Honor Frontline, buy that one first. And if you are a fan of the MOH series and finished Frontline, you may want to just rent Rising Sun.

There are several new features in MoH:RS that ensure to make the game a lot more fun. Co-Op mode is a completely new add-on to the Medal of Honor series. I am happy to see the multiplayer now back on Playstation 2 as well. There is also the addition of the online multiplayer too. The online multiplayer isn't the greatest, compared to titles like SOCOM II. It lacks variety as there are only two game types: Deathmatch and Team deathmatch. From what I have seen the online mode is a little unstable right now and lag is common. The Headset feature is a nice little addon, but fails in comparison to that of SOCOM II and resembles some of the lagged chopiness of SOCOM I. MoH:RS features a nice little library of special features for those who have unlocked them all.

The single player in this game is lackluster. I do have to say, the textures and detail on the weapons was excellent, but the environment was poor. There was hardly any detail put into the plants and most looked like green triangles and things of the sort. The single player is far too short, and hopefully things will be followed up by the release of MoH: Infiltrator (the second part of this 2 part series). The interactivity in the environments has also disappeared as well. You can no longer break plates by shooting them in this game, nor can you send a flood of steam into the room by shooting a pipe as could you in Frontline. The gun variety in this game is also poor, leaving you with the same basic guns for almost the entire game. Only two Japanese weapons are incorporated into this gamed, vs. the 4 or 5 German weapons in Frontline. The levels also lack variety, placing you in the middle of a jungle for most of the game (now this could be argued against because this is in the Pacific). The music score in this game is good, but still does not live up to Frontline (mostly due to the change of composers). However, the single player does offer a good insight into the war of the Pacific, and with the Letters from Home feature you can see what WWII was like on the homefront.

If you are a big MoH fan, I suggest you get this game. It is an ok game for what it's worth, so renting the game first would be my reccomendation. However, if you're looking for a great, in-depth FPS, you came to the wrong side of Chinatown.