Medal of Honor: Rising Sun (XBox) Reviews

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Medal of Honor: Rising Sun (XBox)
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Specification for Medal of Honor: Rising Sun (XBox)

Main Features
Genre Military
Genre Military

Features:
  • 10 massive gameplay levels spread across 5 major missions
  • Fight off the attack on Pearl Harbor, lead the assault on Guadalcanal, blow up the bridge over the River Kwai, and much more
  • Open environment based gameplay allows players to take multiple paths and approaches to defeat the enemy
  • Featuring an all-new reward system, unlockable extras, and realistic environment rendering
  • For 1 to 4 players
    Platforms:
    Xbox
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    Latest Reviews

    “Oh dear, I've been a fan of the Medal of Honor series...”

    ★☆☆☆☆

    written by theogre on 06/04/2004

    Oh dear, I've been a fan of the Medal of Honor series since the PS1 incarnations but Rising Sun is truly terrible. A staggeringly mediocre game. Linear to the extreme with terrible AI in your enemies, boring levels, terrible graphics and way, way too short. Had I paid 40 pounds for this I think I would have cried. The series has shown next to no progression from the last game (MOH Frontline)and in some respects it seems to have gone backwards. The only redeeming feature of this mess is the music and sound, aside from that this game is a failure on almost every level. The game can be completed in an evening, which is both a relief and a disappointment. I urge you to rent this first. A true stagnation in what could have been a novel experience. Where are the beach landings on guadalcanal? Where are all the residents in Singapore? Compared to almost any other FPS at the moment or even of a year ago this is a huge step backwards, compared to Halo this game is embarrassing.
    Truly Dire.

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    “HIDEOUS ERROR OF JUDGEMENT # 1 ”

    ★★☆☆☆

    written by John Candy RIP on 23/03/2004

    HIDEOUS ERROR OF JUDGEMENT # 1

    The Japanese are in the midst of executing the biggest strategic error in the history of warfare. Squadrons of fighters are deploying wave after wave of explosives upon the Hawaiian U.S. military base Pearl Harbour (drop the 'u's in Harbour if you must) slaughtering over two thousand service men and civilians in the process, and sucking the dormant power of America into WWII. Oops.

    HIDEOUS ERROR OF JUDGEMENT # 2

    I am in the midst of executing the biggest purchasing error in the history of retail. My wallet is deploying note after note upon the GAME counter, slaughtering any chance I might have of meeting my credit card repayments in the process, and sucking the dormant power of HSBC's credit control centre into my personal affairs. Oops again.

    FULL OF EASTERN PROMISE (THOUGH NEITHER IN THE EAST YET, NOR TURKISH)

    It all started so well. As a low ranking member of the American armed forces, you begin below deck on a besieged US Naval Battleship, docked at Pearl Harbour. You leave your quarters under orders and make your way upward, towards the carnage. En route, you traverse twisted and broken shards of steel, battle with raging infernos, and rescue crewmates, simultaneously avoiding explosions and shrapnel. With comrades falling all around in a number of unpleasant ways, you finally emerge on deck to a cacophony of ugly noise. As you tentatively move forwards, a stricken Japanese warplane fragments directly ahead, the blackened debris whistling past. The chaos around you moves into slow motion, giving you time to observe the angry scarlet sky, smeared with swathes of sinister jet-black smoke.

    A senior officer hurls you a weapon, ordering you to snap out of it and join the fight. A vacant machine gun emplacement beckons you over. Suddenly, the action accelerates to its normal level, and you are thrust into a struggle for survival. The droning of engines draws your attention upwards; overhead yet more menacing squadrons circle at high altitude. Gunfire pockmarks the sky in the distance, dispersing into thin plumes of hovering smoke.

    The next five minutes of action rival that of Medal of Honour: Rising Suns' predecessor Frontline, which places you in the middle of the terrifying Normandy Landings. These computerised recreations of war have become renowned for their gritty opening sequences, instilling adrenaline and panic in the participant. I can't really argue against the assertion that these are among the most exciting passages of play in any videogame, full stop. Is this initial inspiration mirrored in the rest of the game?

    GRAPHICAL TOM BOLA

    Like plunging your arm into a tom bola, the aesthetics are a game of chance, with no real applicable logic to their consistency. Facial and clothing depictions are mainly of acceptable quality, although the same facial models repeat with alarming regularity. The animations, scenery and architecture on the other hand, have been given a real beating with the ugly stick. The PS2 version was a visual abomination; I expected an Xbox incarnation to be tidier. This is nothing but a lazy, insulting port.

    However, given the mainly jungle setting, the scope for impressing on an aesthetic level is limited somewhat. Most environments are restricted to dull palettes of dirty greens and browns. None of the atmospherically misty and deserted streets, as seen in previous incarnations, are present here. This robs the game of its enjoyment, as no palpable sense of tension is generated.

    MUSICAL SCARES

    As an interpretation of war, the aural contribution is pivotal to the experience, and emerges with great credit. Amongst all the whistling of howitzers and exploding grenades, little details add to the atmosphere greatly. I know absolutely no Japanese (except Wasabi!), but it sounds authentic enough to me. Stumble across an imbedded unit of Japanese soldiers, and audible commands are barked between them. EA also seem to have spent a worrying amount of time perfecting the gargling death throes of stricken fighters. Hmmm.

    Possibly the strongest individual area, but if you've seen a war film, you've heard it all before, so I shall bore you no longer.

    TWO'S COMPANY

    Throughout Rising Sun, you will encounter and befriend various accomplices from various allied nations. Regardless of race or gender, they all possess a common bond: incredible stupidity. Whether blighting your view, getting in the way, or more generally impeding your progress, these computer controlled imbeciles will stubbornly refuse to die (I tried to personally end their sorry existences but to no avail).

    IN THE JUN-GLE, THE MINDLESS JUN-GLE

    This instalment sees you fighting the good fight away from mainland Europe, and attempting to curb the Japanese in their efforts to dominate their region. Nine missions await, each with multiple tasks and unique challenges. Having just recovered from the onslaught of Pearl Harbour, the anticlimax begins on a sound footing, with most of the old flaws still present, and blighting its enjoyment.

    One of the major niggles from the previous game was the somewhat hit and miss nature of firing a weapon. You could go toe-to-toe with an adversary, see the whites of his eyes, empty an entire clip of ammunition, and yet somehow fail to finish the job. Here, this is heavily pronounced. However, if faced by a solitary adversary, the best course of action is still to charge directly at him, then circle around shooting manically. That is just plain stupid. Other games can excuse this by bestowing you with some outrageous sci-fi shielding device or other, but working within the confines of history, it makes sense not to charge toward a machine gun brandishing nothing but a puny pistol and a smile. You'd think the programmers would deliberately nullify this tactic, but choosing correct tactical positions and concealing yourself behind scenery generally bears little fruit, and leaves you with the feeling that you're over-complicating for the hell of it.

    Other traditional problems reside in the Artificial Intelligence of your opponents. The previous paragraph also applies to them. Make your presence known in enemy territory and a Benny Hill style chase ensues; I know kamikaze was a Japanese tactic, but I thought that was a last resort? Luring your hapless quarry is a cinch, they'll charge at you like lemmings to a cliff face.

    The last major gripe surrounding game mechanics has to be the level structure. I'm all for challenges, but I'm not a fan of motion sickness. The majority of the game is set in dense foliage and steep hills; you're frequently faced with nothing but drab shades of green and brown in every direction. These sorts of games have a habit of turning my stomach at the best of times, but this takes the biscuit. It's like being in a washing machine at the Lansdowne Road laundry room.

    Some areas are infuriatingly difficult to negotiate, for no other reason than poor level concepts. You'll find yourself wandering aimlessly, impatiently cursing, only to stumble across a concealed passageway amidst all the tedious green. Sigh.

    JUSTIFICATION FOR SAID ANNOYANCES

    Nowadays, most shooting games come packaged with a multiplayer and co-operative mode. It's the new norm, like power steering in cars. Medal of Honor: Frontline sorely lacked these features, and consequently was marked down. EA's riposte is to add both in Rising Sun. The multiplayer is a godsend, if not the best example of its kind. All the levels are available for some competitive blasting, and extra features are unlocked via progress in the main game.

    The co-operative mode is little better than average. It follows an almost identical path to the single player version, albeit with a few of the mission facets stripped away. You can take separate paths, although stray too far in the wrong direction, and you'll be reunited with your more appropriately placed partner. The main problem resides in the implementation. EA have attempted to enforce teamwork, such as the necessity to have both present to open heavy doors etc, but this is a superficial and bland feature.

    Xbox Halo had a perfect balance for two players, ramping up the difficulty, and engendering an appreciation of your accomplice, without total dependence. It also only allowed your partner to return to the action once it was safe to do so. If the solitary player succumbed before this happened, the game was over. Here, five seconds waiting will see you reunited, irrespective of the situation. This takes all pressure off the surviving player; simply run and hide until you're a duo once more.

    As a result, the co-operative mode is staggeringly easy. Like a cat with nine lives, you can happily charge into danger safe in the knowledge that, in the words of Arnie, you'll be back. Again and again. I played this version with my girlfriend first off, and we had it cracked on Normal difficulty in less than four hours. In disbelief, I scrutinised the instructions as the credits rolled: -

    "[Turns page] That can't be it, can it? [Turns page] Nahhh."

    Unfortunately, that was the case. The final mission of the co-operative mode - Destroying the Bridge over the River Kwai, provided the foundations for my utter disbelief. It was so bland, so non-eventful, and so painfully easy. Disconsolate, I played though the single player game, to no avail. I'd seen the best of what was on offer, and rather than feeling gorged on the spoils of a great overall experience, I felt starved and cheated. However, I suspect there's a good reason for this.

    EA games are all about mass appeal. Given the choice between offering specialised and fine-tuned productions, or middle of the road 'all things to all men' games, the latter would emerge victorious every time. Many people eat beef, but do the majority eat Aberdeen Angus, or Tesco's blue stripe economy burgers? For a start, what's easier to cook, quicker to eat, and can be easily shoehorned into a busy life? EA games are the convenience food of the gaming industry. With that in mind, dissipating the core playability, in order to cram the extra features in, is really a no-brainer for those pretentiously self-proclaimed artists of electronics. That's what they do, forge a brand name in the psyche of consumers, then feed off the remains like a leech. Cynical maybe, but true.

    NOT MUCH TO WRITE HOME ABOUT

    Levels are interspersed with relevant war footage, accompanied by solemn commentary. These are interesting to watch once, but what then? You don't want them; they just consume a little more disk space unnecessarily. Why not use text? Does the fact I spend my spare time playing games make me illiterate?

    Other features include 'letters from home'- narrated pieces informing you of your young family and their lives back home without you. This is a bit sentimental and redundant for my liking, and doesn't add the intended level of realism and empathy toward your character at all.

    CONCLUSION

    In rounding the overall experience of Medal of Honor, sacrifices have been made in the game proper. Gone are the sprawling, maddeningly tough sections of before, replaced by lukewarm, almost skeletal offerings. The previous version just needed fine tuning, not a complete overhaul. The resultant bug ridden muddle on show here is a let down for those who bought this in the vain hope that it provides a continuation of past improvements to structure and playability.

    As a standalone game, it's average at best. As an addition to the series, it is nothing short of woeful. Do not buy this; lining the already heaving pockets of Electronic Arts will only encourage more indolence in future.

    I returned this to the shop within a week of purchase. The slogan of EA is 'Challenge Everything'. Apply this to patience, enjoyment and personal cash flow, and that would ring true. I should have known better.

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    Erp Guy's Response to John Candy RIP's Review

    Written on: 31/03/2006

    John Candy RIP's review of Medal of Honor: Rising Sun is spot on and I enjoyed reading this small blockbuster.

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