WW2 #10: Medal of Honor: European Assault
It could be worse
This review was originally posted to Twitter on September 13, 2018
Initial release: June 7, 2005
Platform: PlayStation 2, XBox, Gamecube
Developer: EA Los Angeles
After the death march that was Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault, one would be forgiven in thinking that European Assault, the next game in the uneven Medal of Honor franchise, would be equally dire, but you’d be wrong — this is an unexpected high point for Medal of Honor. Much like Medal of Honor: Rising Sun — for all its faults — heralded a more cinematic experience for the series, European Assault marks a major change in gameplay. Gone is the strictly linear advancement through the levels; you now have a number of objectives to achieve, with fairly open maps to do them in.
In terms of the actual gameplay mechanics, it’s clear that they’ve been taking cues from Call of Duty. Ammo is not strictly universal, but sorted by type. Not the first time Medal of Honor has done this, but still. You’ll also be joined by a number of NPC buddies. Also not the first time, but it’s a lot better than before. Typically, amidst the squad you’re working with will be up to three individuals who will stick with you and have health pools of their own. You can collect medkits to heal yourself or your allies on command; there’s also single-use health items dropped by enemies.
Probably the single biggest issue with the game is the controls. Being a PlayStation 2 game, aiming is… not easy. Fortunately there’s a robust autoaim that will even stick on an enemy as you move from side to side. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing.
Two things strike me though. One is how short the game is — there’s only 11 levels, and most of them can be gotten through in maybe 10–20 minutes. The other is the difficulty ramps up very quickly in the final chapter to the point where I had to watch the very ending on Youtube. The difficulty spike is one of the game’s bigger weak points. While most of the special named enemies (optional objectives of assassination targets) are significantly tougher than their troops for some reason, the final boss requires no less than 2–3 bazooka blasts to the face.
In spite of its shortcomings, however, Medal of Honor: European Assault is one of the better games in this franchise, easily deserving a place alongside Underground, Allied Assault and Rising Sun.
