Medal of Honour: Allied Assault Breakthrough

Is there no end to EA's WWII series?

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Well, it's certainly been a busy few months for the Medal of Honour series: first we have this new expansion for the PC and then there's the newly released Rising Sun for consoles. Indeed, I think EA have now covered every single theatre of conflict from World War II, including the skirmish my granddad had behind a shed with a cow in early 1944. The powerful brand is, in other words, being used to its fullest extent. Yet, somehow, I keep coming back for more. I am certainly not an FPS aficionado, far from it, but there is something about MoH that drags me back for every version and expansion. I've travelled from Normandy to Russia, to Laos and beyond, so lets hope that Breakthrough can take me to Africa in a similarly exciting fashion.

As I mentioned above, Breakthrough is an expansion pack set during the Africa campaign, meaning that the cold mud of France and Germany has been replaced by the scorching sands of the Sudan and Northern Africa, likewise the grey uniformed Nazis have been replaced by Rommel's beige clad Afrika Corps and their Italian allies. Even with all these changes, it's still classic Medal of Honour game play and graphics, which, it has to be said are looking slightly tired by now, although they still manage to supply the atmosphere that brought the D-Day assault to life in MoH:AA.

The reason why the graphics (which could be described as a tad blocky) still work is due to the careful way that weather effects have been implemented. Granted, the draw distance of this engine is beginning to look a tiny bit shabby compared to the latest titles, but, via clever use of swirling sandstorms and lashing dirt-devils, you never 'see' the draw distance. The game surrounds you in a realistic storm of sand, grit and Nazis, from which you lash out with your M1 rifle. It cleverly deals with the graphics issue, whilst also adding intense claustrophobia, as you are never entirely sure you have got all of the enemies. They could still be lurking just outside of your field of vision...

So, how does the game 'play'? Well, just like the other MoH titles, you run, you shoot, you occasionally steal documents and plant explosives; you run some more. Although this may seem a little predictable, I guarantee that you will enjoy it; MoH titles have always managed to instil a feeling of realism that most titles can only hope to achieve. Everything is accurate, without losing the fun factor. You will find yourself ducking for cover, desperately reloading the Thompson, to jump out and spray the enemy with white load lead as you run for a better position. The missions can certainly be very long winded, with several tasks to fulfil any objective, however, you will soon learn to jump from task to task with surprising speed, as each section is often impossible to miss, being placed right before you (Silly Axis forces, think they'd hide secret plans a bit better). Note for any British players, you will get fed up with the apparent stupidity of our forces in this game. We apparently shout 'what ho!' a lot and tend to run straight into the path of German Machine gunners. Frequently... EA seem to have a slight problem with Allied forces - anyone who isn't American gets killed or runs off. Oh well, its like Saving Private Ryan all over again. Just turn a blind eye lads...

One thing that we have to remember about this title is that is just an expansion pack. If it was sold as a full priced game then I would scream about how short it is, however, priced at £19.99, it's not bad for the 10 or so levels that it offers. I would expect to see a MoH pack released soon including AA, Spearhead and this for around £39.99. Granted, it may soon be time for Medal of Honour to move on; we have had lots of fun out of it, but we are running out of battlefields to utilise, how long before we visit WWI, I wonder?

So then, any real problems with the game? Well, no not really. Aside from a few mission objectives being easy to miss due to sandstorms (you won't get far and have to turn back to find them), there's not much to dislike about this game at all, its well implemented and some of the missions are incredibly fun to perform. If you like MoH games, you'll love this more than worthy expansion, if you don't like MoH, then you won't have the original, therefore you will not be buying this expansion anyway... so why are you still reading this?

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By Ben Jackson