Pacific Assault isn't a bad game by any means, but it's far from the ultra perfect World War II extravaganza I'd hoped it'd be. I wouldn't even place it at the top of the Medal of Honor series at this point, however that's not to say it isn't still worth getting.
| Medal of Honor hits the Pacific theatre on PCs at last |
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If Allied Assault was Saving Private Ryan the video game, and Call of Duty was Enemy At the Gates, then Pacific Assault is Pearl Harbor. Far from the best film of the bunch, but one could argue the one with the most spectacular of battle sequences - faithfully recreated here of course.
Before you get to all that though, the game begins on the island of Tarawa, a good way into the war in the Pacific. You play the part of American soldier Tommy Conlin, and in very much a poor man's recreation of the Omaha landing in Allied Assault, you charge the beachhead in full force - only to be wounded almost immediately, rendering you unconscious. The game then goes back in time to the day you joined the marines, and thus Tommy's story begins.
Cinemania
| The squad medic checks out some 1940s hardcore titty action |
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This is just one example of how Pacific Assault, perhaps more than any other game yet, takes a solid good stab at creating a movie like experience. As well as flashbacks, there's in-game cut-scenes, extensive voice-overs, well developed characters, tons of scripted dialogue, and sweet full motion video segments culled from real WWII footage. It's more the way these various elements are structured and used together that give it that film like quality though, and through each of these tools, you start to get to know and even respect your fellow soldiers, giving the whole game something of a Band of Brothers vibe.
After an extensive training section, the Pearl Harbour level kicks off, without doubt one of the more memorable video game battles of recent times. Shamelessly scripted, naturally, it more than overcomes this through sheer horror and rushes of adrenaline.
| The attack at Pearl goes down as another classic set-piece for the franchise |
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The best part for me, was boarding one of the damaged ships and saving comrades trapped onboard - it's an original and affecting subplot, and emphasises how there's other sides to war than just mindless killing. The way the game ties in real life landmark moments such as the bombing of the USS Arizona is also both respectful and incredibly powerful.
If anything, it's all let down by the two loading screens that pop up mid-mission, but it's somewhat understandable given the epic size of the encounter. On the whole, it's such a brilliantly realised sequence that you'll probably find yourself dodging incoming flak and covering your face from explosions from the comfort of your chair.
The Calm After the Storm
If the game could have kept up this same level of thrill and terror for the rest of the campaign, it would have been something very special indeed. Sadly, it tends to go thoroughly downhill from then on. There are moments of surprise and brilliance here and there, but it's also plagued with tons of minor annoyances and a huge dollop of repetition. The endless jungle patrols that make up the bulk of the game from here on out just don't vary enough to remain memorable.
The first real downer is the horrible performance though, unless you happen to be playing on a top of the range rig. The graphics are very hard to rate for that reason, as although they're technically stunning, the below average frame-rate means you have to subsequently turn most settings down to low in order to get it running at anything vaguely playable - at this point it more resembles Operation Flashpoint than a cutting edge next-gen game. Heck, even the EA logo stutters when I boot it up, which not only tells you something, but also remains oddly symbolic.
| Night time, day time...it's still endless jungle either way |
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Its biggest problem is mouse lag though, where your movement and firing doesn't quite register immediately on screen, and it makes it a complete nightmare to hit any moving targets whatsoever. I found that this can be reduced hugely by switching to 1.1 pixel shaders over the default 2.0, but again you're sacrificing image quality in return. It'll soon start looking like Pong at this rate.
Also somewhat disappointing are the weapons. Such a great part of the previous MOH games, now we rarely get to see the old classics like the Thompson or the M1 Garand, and are instead stuck with (albeit historically accurate) bolt action rifles for the most part, ones that are sadly a right old pain to shoot. That laggy feeling to the mouse control further adds to this negativity, and it ultimately results in a first person shooter which slightly falls apart when it comes to, well, the shooting parts.
Not All Bad News
Never the less, after some extensive tweaking it is indeed possible to find a sweet spot between pleasing visuals and playability, and at this point it's possible to enjoy the game somewhat. Something you really have to prepare yourself for though, is that Pacific Assault isn't your typical first person shooter. It plays more like a 'Nam game than the traditional inter-city style we usually get. Jungle games are a completely different beast, there's no charging down corridors mowing down enemies, you now have to stick to cover, plan your route, and watch for muzzle flashes. Its a fair bit slower, more methodical, and more realistic style of play, and admittedly isn't for everyone.
One pleasing aspect I noticed though was how the entire campaign feels a lot less scripted and pre-ordained that many similar games. While levels are linear for the most part, your actions can affect how they play out hugely.
In one instance, me and my squad overran a Japanese radio tower deep in the jungle, only to be shortly bombarded by planes trying to take us down on strafing runs. I died of course, reloaded and tried again...however this time the planes were no where to be seen, and we were assaulted by a foot patrol instead.
| Your squad certainly mix things up...even if their intelligence is lacking |
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In another instance we opened fire on a small Jap patrol, and one enemy soldier took off in a jeep before we could mow him down. Moments later he returned with two full squads of reinforcements - something that wouldn't have happened if we'd been more on the mark. These sorts of moments, although not overly common, are very cool indeed, and add a nice little surprise on replaying through the game.
This concept is further enhanced by the ability to give orders to your team mates, as no longer will every battle play out identically each time. On one attempt you could set your men up to provide covering fire while you sneak forward by yourself and outflank 'em, but the next time you could order a full-on kamikaze charge and send all the boys in at once. The AI is far from perfect, incredibly ropey at times even, but the mere fact their actions aren't all scripted and set in stone does make things a lot more entertaining.
In addition, there's the occasional hidden side mission you can do - minor tangents such as rescuing a wounded comrade. These "Hero Moments" aren't pivotal to completing your objective, but you'll be rewarded with an item for your effort, and they're a nice excuse to explore your surroundings a little bit more than perhaps you normally would.
Dieing is Fun
| Forget canteens, this guy's all that's holding you back from Death's door |
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Another aspect I'm incredibly fond of is the death system. With health packs now incredibly scarce, Pacific Assault brings a much more original and realistic idea to the table; you now have to rely on medics to keep you alive. This dynamic provides some of the best moments in the game as a result. You can call the medic over at will you see, but just like you, he's only human, and needs cover and protection in order to stay alive. He's a great addition to the game, and I even caught him puking up at one point due to the messy nature of his work.
After taking enough damage, you'll eventually find yourself incapacitated. Here all the colour on the screen starts to dissolve, and things become very dark and scary. Sound becomes muffled and distant. The world slowly starts to disappear, and you'll even hear ominous voices from your past before you finally pass away. This whole time it's possible for the medic to run over and bring you back from the verge of death, but whether he does or not depends on the state of the battlefield and his ability to get over to you. If you're out of luck, you may instead look up to see an angry Jap burry his bayonet in your face though. This is really the first time I've seen a slow painful, helpless death handled relatively realistically in a computer game, and it adds genuine depth to the regular old die-and-quickload mechanic we usually see.
| The plane level is an interesting idea, but lacks in execution |
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Lastly, I have to give major props to the sound department. The series seldom lets us down on that score, and here they've outdone themselves yet again. The music, effects and voice acting are all of high quality, and really you couldn't fault it at all in this area.
Pacific Assault certainly is ambitious - maybe too much so. There's so many great little moments, details and ideas, but the execution just isn't tight enough to do them all justice, and overall it feels a little unpolished and unfinished. Right now, it's a solid enough shooter, nothing more. With some tender loving care in the post-release department though, it could become a genuine beauty. For all its faults, this is clearly a labour of love for EA, and I hope they patch it up as much as it deserves.
Extras
Pacific Assault is also available in an expanded "Director's Edition", and it marks the latest in the recent trend of what I call "DVD Gaming" - high profile games that are shipping with bonus content and material traditionally only associated with movies.
There's a "Making of" feature on offer, detailing how the developers got hands-on military training to help with creating the game, there's a behind the scenes look at animating the cinematics, and there's also a couple of proper war documentaries for the history buffs. You can even play the game with pop-up info and factoids, but in practice I can't see too many people going for that.
Joining them is a somewhat complex interactive timeline, and a much more impressive Music of MOH feature. This is something of a greatest hits collection, where you'll find the best tracks from all previous MOH games, and for a long time fan of the series who's played multiple different versions on a wide variety of systems, it brings back a lot of memories. The Arnhem track from MOH Frontline particularly stands-out, and it's always great to hear the Allied Assault theme which holds some major significance for me too. It also includes tracks from Rising Sun, Underground, the very first Medal of Honor game on the Playstation and of course Pacific Assault itself.
I love the idea of bundling bonus material in with games like this. Creating games is such a mammoth undertaking these days - often taking four or more years to complete the larger projects - so getting a glimpse into that process is very much welcome I feel. As with the recent Halo 2 Collector's Edition DVD, here's hoping other developers follow suit in the future.
More Soon
But as this review draws to a close I must apologise for the slight lack of updates recently. Between playing this, Halo 2, Half-life 2, EverQuest II, Bloodlines and the odd blast on San Andreas, I've been too busy umm "researching" to actually sit down and get writing about all these beauties. One could never argue it's a boring time to be a gamer, that's for sure.
Stay tuned for more on all those listed very soon, and I'll also probably do a separate review on the multiplayer portion of Pacific Assault in the future too.