Overview of the beta version of 'Medal of Honor 2010'

Slowpoke’s adventures in Wonderland

Have you ever been to a shooting range? If so, you must remember one fact. Weapons, whether pneumatic or firearms, have recoil. This is when the barrel is pushed back or upwards upon firing.

Perhaps you’ve had the chance to shoot a shotgun at the range? Try to imagine that from a long – very long – distance you managed to hit an abstract target with a shotgun as accurately as possible. Unlikely, right?

The laws of gravity act on everyone equally. But why then is the M21 sniper rifle significantly less accurate at long distances than…

Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself, so let's start from the beginning.

Sorry

Déjà vu

A couple of days ago, the multiplayer beta test for the much-anticipated game Medal of Honor began. Why much-anticipated? Well, it’s being developed by such people (DICE, EA), and the previous glory of the series was also making itself known.

And so, happy preorder customers download the client from the official site and log into the game. They could only access the beta test through official means, not counting journalists and others who need it for work. These preorder customers must have felt like total idiots the Chosen Ones…

the market, indeed, of Kabul

What did the game bring to them?

Visually, “Medal” looks too much like Bad Company 2. Not even in terms of technology – animations for weapon reloading, shooting, and pretty much everything. They are literally similar in everything, except so far, the new game from DICE looks more derivative and duller than their previous project.

See for yourself. The mode “Onslaught”. There are two teams, one of which has to complete a series of assigned tasks, while the other has to prevent these tasks from being completed. The first team has a limited number of “tickets.” Each “ticket” is a soldier's life. When a fighter is killed, the “ticket” is spent on their resurrection in camp or on the front line. Does this idea remind you of anything? But there is a qualitative deterioration. Take, for example, the only currently available map in this mode, “Hellmand Valley.”

On one hand, it is quite large and spacious, but on the other hand, there are strong restrictions on movement across the map during the execution of specific tasks. The result is gunfights that resemble Modern Warfare 2 more in localization and dynamics. Is this bad? Yes. But, in fact, if the fights were conducted at longer distances, it would also be bad for a simple reason – ballistics.

The machine gunner shoots into the distance. He won’t miss.

Do you like to play as a sniper? Be prepared for gravity to regularly remind you of itself, and you will need to lead your shots and all that. Especially with a large-caliber rifle, because each shot for it is “for gold.”

Don’t like to play as a sniper? Forget about ballistics. The ancient AK-47, made on the knee by some random Arab trader, shoots at long distances with astonishing accuracy. Half a kilometer? A kilometer? It doesn't matter; if you aimed for the head – you will hit it. And the recoil will not bother you – it simply doesn't exist. Never.

And again, we recall the architecture of the map. It is the Valley! There are plenty of open spaces. So how do you cross it, tell me? If on that side there are plenty of snipers with AK-74u and TOZ (the local shotgun sometimes does better than the sniper rifle, decapitating at distances of 100 meters), and cover is non-existent.

No, even in a BTR you won’t get to enemy positions. The local landscape is too bumpy for the “Badger,” and too many adversaries with grenade launchers.

Minus.

A dance with sabers

He will hit as well.

Now the second of the two available beta maps, “Ruins of Kabul.” Team deathmatch. Two teams. “Score more points.” This also lacks originality. And why mock the classics?

Again, the architecture of the map astonishes with its magnificence. It totally impresses. Numerous angles and dark alleys are made for campers who are too lazy to run around; they can just sit in the ruins of a local abandoned building and wait – wait. Some small windows are suitable for psychos with RPGs who play it like Quake, not “Medal.” Long alleys with no hiding spots are left for snipers, who rage against their previous defeats. The distances are small; ballistics no longer matters. “Bang-bang-swoosh” - off you go to respawn. And while you notice that nasty person with an SVD in hand, you’ll definitely die at least thrice.

So you have to sneak like a ninja around corners, only to find yourself facing a bunch of angry opponents, charge at them with a knife and… oh. I forgot to mention the knife. Those gentlemen with M16 and M4A1 had no chance against a determined warrior wrapped in rags with a dagger.

Details.

Everything else about Medal of Honor was already known before the beta. That’s why I won’t talk about the excellent weapon sound design – it’s inappropriate. What matters is something else. Now the new Dice project looks dry and derivative; it lacks the qualities that were characteristic of the previous “Medals.” It feels more like a corrupted Bad Company 2 with different maps.

Maybe they shouldn’t have changed the setting from World War II to Afghanistan? Maybe they shouldn’t have touched the practically moribund series at all?..

p.s. 899 rubles. :0

p.p.s. A message to those already playing.

Comrades.

If you are playing Onslaught, please focus on completing the task objectives, and don’t wander around the edges of the map doing who knows what. Sometimes players who do god knows what annoy others much more than the crooked map design and lack of ballistics combined.