Medal of Honor: European Assault

Last updated
Medal of Honor: European Assault
Medal of Honor - European Assault Coverart.jpg
Developer(s) EA Los Angeles
Publisher(s) EA Games
Composer(s) Christopher Lennertz
Series Medal of Honor
Platform(s) GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox
Release
  • NA: June 7, 2005
  • EU: June 17, 2005
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Single-player, multiplayer

Medal of Honor: European Assault is a first-person shooter video game, the eighth installment in the Medal of Honor series. European Assault was released for GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox on June 7, 2005. The game's story was written by John Milius. The plot is based on Lieutenant William Holt, an operative in the Office of Strategic Services, and follows his deployments to allied forces in France, North Africa, the Soviet Union and Belgium.

Contents

The game received generally positive reviews.

Gameplay

Gameplay of European Assault is similar to that of its predecessor, a first-person shooter; however, the weapons and interface have been slightly upgraded to be more player-friendly. Most notably the HUD has been upgraded to indicate primary and secondary target and show other squad members, and ironsights were added. The addition of Adrenaline Mode, activated by killing numerous enemies or scoring headshots, allows the player to be invincible and have unlimited ammo for a short period of time. As with all Medal of Honor games, the player is presented with a wide variety of weapons and stages pertaining to World War II.

Multiplayer

European Assault features an offline splitscreen multiplayer mode. The game contains three different modes of games (Death Match, Axis vs. Allies, Free for All), about a dozen maps, and differing game types in Free for All and Axis vs. Allies (e.g. Survival). It supports 2-4 players and has the option to create custom games with varying options depending on the mode.

Plot

There are four overall areas the player (as Lt. William Holt) is sent to France, North Africa, the Soviet Union and Belgium. Each area has a set of missions for the player to complete. While some objectives will be detailed from the start, exploration of the area will cause Holt to discover more missions. Each mission consists of five elements: a primary objective, secondary objectives, killing a German officer (Nemesis battle in the game), obtaining documents from the officer and escaping. If all are completed, a gold medallion will be given. Missing one or two will gain a silver or bronze.

Most missions involve Holt fighting alongside allied non-player characters and working towards a common objective, often based on historical events during World War II. However, as a member of the OSS, Holt also has secondary objectives for each level, including finding documents and eliminating important German officers, such as henchmen belonging to the antagonist Graf Von Schrader.

St. Nazaire, France

In the beginning of the game, in a wholly fictionalized storyline based on Operation Chariot (as no Americans took part in the original raid), Holt and the British force are heading to the vital submarine pens at German-held St. Nazaire. They approach the port aboard HMS Campbeltown. However, the ship begins to take fire and soon raises the British Union Jack after they lose their cover. Upon landing, Holt is told to meet an officer that has the only radio after their radio officer is killed, at another side of the dock, which is denoted by a green flare. Upon meeting the officer, Holt has to head back to the ship to take cover from the airstrike the officer called, thus finishing the first mission. Then Holt goes with the British commandos on the St. Nazaire Raid, where he destroys a fuel tank and eliminates a German officer named Klaus Mueller. Holt also has the option to destroy a Flakvierling AA gun, and a shore gun. Holt later travels through the docks in order to destroy an electric power plant and a U-boat, shutting off power to the city and eliminating another German officer by the name of Horst Brenner. Early the next morning, Holt and his British comrades receive word that no reinforcements will be coming, forcing them to fight their way through two German Panzers. They must battle officer Erich Koster and his forces throughout the city to escape into the French countryside.

North Africa

Mission 1 in North Africa is to destroy Tiger tank prototypes. One of Holt's optional targets is a Nazi officer named Adabold Brecht. Optional objectives include blowing up a radar dish and taking out a panzer inside a destroyed village. After initial fighting, Holt makes his way inside a German compound and attempts to rescue captured SAS commandos and kill another of Von Schrader's men, Hans Schneider. With their help, Holt manages to get his hands on film which was recorded by Von Schrader, and ends up destroying a prototype V-2 rocket.

Soviet Union

There are 2 missions in the Soviet Union. The first mission is On the Road to Stalingrad. Holt's main objective is to destroy a rail gun on the other side of a river that runs through a small town. Holt also has an option to destroy 3 Panzers. The final part of the mission is to secure and then defend a fortified Church on the edge of town, and eliminate Walter Neumann. The second, and final, Soviet mission is Climbing Mamayev Hill. Holt, along with his squad and a Soviet battalion, lead a charge through a small village, driving the Germans back across a river. Holt must then follow them across the river and signal a rocket strike to clear the path. Once the area is secure, Holt's allies set themselves up around the entrance to a fort, on top of the hill. Once Holt blows the doors open, there is a fierce firefight. After destroying three artillery guns, Holt must eliminate Franz Greubner, and then Transmit Virus House Intel to the OSS (the Main Objective), before finally destroying the documents.

Belgium

The final mission of the game involves the Battle of the Bulge. Holt is sent in with the 101st Airborne Division, surrounded within the Ardennes forest in Belgium and participates in the battle to liberate the Bastogne Pocket. The Mission starts with an intense German offensive. Holt, with the help of paratroopers from the 101st Airborne manages to stop the initial assault by killing Folker Kappelhorf and blows up a strategically important bridge. Then Holt is sent to a Belgian farm to rescue Manon Batiste, a female OSS operative and the main character of Medal of Honor: Underground (although renamed to Manon Du Champs in European Assault), who was captured by Von Schrader's most loyal man, Freder Engel. After defeating Engel, he has to defend a farmhouse from a massive German assault until reinforcements arrive. Holt frees the operative. In the final mission, Holt, accompanied with a platoon of US soldiers, makes the critical assault on Von Schrader's Virus House. With one final suicide battle, Holt eliminates Von Schrader and destroys the dirty bomb by dropping it into the underground bunker at the last moment and escaping with some minor wounds.

Reception

Medal of Honor: European Assault received "average" reviews, according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. [1] [2] [3]

Maxim gave the game a score of eight out of ten, stating that "It may not appease the history buffs, but it will delight the trigger-happy." [1] [2] [3] Detroit Free Press gave the Xbox version a score of three stars out of four and stated, "It was maddening to nearly finish a mission, then die and have to start over. There are no checkpoints, but that's part of this game's challenge." [20] The Sydney Morning Herald , however, gave the PS2 version a score of three-and-a-half stars out of five, saying that "Long-term appeal is doubtful with only 11 missions available and a lack of online support for multiplayer action." [21]

Related Research Articles

<i>Medal of Honor: Allied Assault</i> 2002 First-Person Shooter Video Game

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault is a 2002 first-person shooter video game developed by 2015, Inc. and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Allied Assault is the third game in the Medal of Honor series. The game uses the id Tech 3 engine, with modifications from Heavy Metal: F.A.K.K.², to simulate infantry combat in the European and North African theaters during World War II.

<i>Call of Duty</i> (video game) 2003 video game

Call of Duty is a 2003 first-person shooter game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. It is the first installment in the Call of Duty franchise, released on October 29, 2003, for Microsoft Windows. The game simulates infantry and combined arms warfare of World War II using a modified version of the id Tech 3 engine. Much of its theme and gameplay is similar to the Medal of Honor series; however, Call of Duty showcases multiple viewpoints staged in the American, British, and Soviet campaigns of World War II in Europe.

<i>Medal of Honor</i> (video game series) Video game series

Medal of Honor is a series of first-person shooter video games created by American film director and producer Steven Spielberg. The first game was developed by DreamWorks Interactive and published by Electronic Arts for the PlayStation in 1999. Medal of Honor spawned a series of follow-up games including multiple expansions spanning various console platforms and personal computers.

<i>Medal of Honor: Rising Sun</i> 2003 video game

Medal of Honor: Rising Sun is a first-person shooter video game, the fifth installment of the Medal of Honor series, released by EA Games in November 2003. Rising Sun is set in World War II, during the Pacific War. It features single-player and multiplayer capabilities, with multiplayer terminated as of 2007. In single-player mode, the player assumes the role of Joseph Griffin of the United States Marine Corps.

<i>Medal of Honor: Frontline</i> 2002 video game

Medal of Honor: Frontline is a first-person shooter video game, in the Medal of Honor series, and was published by Electronic Arts. The player character is Lt. Jimmy Patterson, from the American Office of Strategic Services. Frontline takes place during the events of the first game and chronicles Patterson's journey as he fights his way across Europe into Nazi Germany during World War II. Frontline was released in North America for the PlayStation 2 on May 29, 2002 and for the GameCube and Xbox consoles on November 7, 2002.

<i>Call of Duty: Finest Hour</i> 2004 video game

Call of Duty: Finest Hour is a first-person shooter video game developed by Spark Unlimited and published by Activision for GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. It is the first console installment of Call of Duty.

<i>Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30</i> 2005 video game

Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Gearbox Software and published by Ubisoft for Xbox, Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 2. It is the first game in the Brothers in Arms series. The game takes place during World War II and focuses on tactics. It was ported to the Wii in 2008, as part of the Brothers in Arms: Double Time compilation.

<i>Tom Clancys Ghost Recon 2</i> 2004 video game

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 2 is a tactical shooter video game developed by Red Storm Entertainment and published by Ubisoft for Xbox, PlayStation 2 and GameCube. A Microsoft Windows version was planned but cancelled in April 2005 in favor of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. It is a direct sequel to the 2001 video game Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon.

<i>Star Wars: Battlefront II</i> (2005 video game) 2005 action shooter video game

Star Wars: Battlefront II is a 2005 first and third-person shooter video game based on the Star Wars film franchise. Developed by Pandemic Studios and published by LucasArts, it is a sequel to 2004's Star Wars: Battlefront and the second installment in the Star Wars: Battlefront series. The game was released in PAL regions on October 28, 2005, on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable (PSP), Microsoft Windows, and Xbox platforms, and in North America on November 1 of the same year. It was released on the PlayStation Store on October 20, 2009, for download on the PSP. The PSP version was developed by Savage Entertainment.

<i>Medal of Honor: Airborne</i> 2007 video game

Medal of Honor: Airborne is a first-person shooter video game, developed by EA Los Angeles, and released worldwide on mobile phones in August 2007, on Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in September 2007, and on PlayStation 3 in November 2007. It is the 11th installment of the Medal of Honor series, and uses a modified version of Unreal Engine 3, In the game's single-player mode, players assume the role of an American paratrooper in the US 82nd Airborne Division who is airdropped with his squadrons and fights against hostile forces across six large missions that take place during the latter half of the European theater of World War II, while in its online multiplayer mode, players can choose to fight as Allied soldiers that parachute into the battlefield, or as Axis soldiers who defend on the ground.

<i>Delta Force: Black Hawk Down</i> 2003 video game

Delta Force: Black Hawk Down is a first-person shooter video game developed by NovaLogic. It was released for Microsoft Windows on March 25, 2003; for Mac OS X in July 2004; and for PlayStation 2 and Xbox on July 26, 2005. It is the 6th game of the Delta Force series. It is set in the early 1990s, during the Unified Task Force peacekeeping operation in Somalia. The missions take place primarily in the southern Jubba Valley and the capital Mogadishu. The game also features a mission editor with which players can make custom missions. The game is based on the book of the same name, not the Sony film.

<i>Secret Weapons Over Normandy</i> 2003 video game

Secret Weapons Over Normandy is a World War II-based arcade video game. Published by LucasArts and developed by Totally Games, the game is composed of 15 objective-based missions set in 1940s European, North African, and the Pacific theatres of war. The story was written by Derek Chester. The music was composed by Michael Giacchino.

<i>Sniper Elite</i> (video game) 2005 video game

Sniper Elite is a 2005 third-person tactical shooter stealth video game developed by Rebellion Developments and published by MC2 France in Europe and by Namco Hometek in North America, in 2005. In 2012, to coincide with the release of Sniper Elite V2, it was re-issued through Steam by Rebellion itself.

<i>SpyHunter</i> 2001 video game

SpyHunter is a vehicular combat game. It is a remake and sequel of the 1983 arcade game of the same name first released for PlayStation 2 in 2001. It has since been ported to GameCube, Xbox, Game Boy Advance, Windows, Mac OS X, and Tapwave Zodiac. In the game, the player drives the G-6155 Interceptor, an advanced, weaponized spy vehicle. Unlike the original's top-down view, the remake is played with a chase camera, similar to a racing game.

<i>NHL 07</i> 2006 video game

NHL 07 is an ice hockey video game, which was released in 2006. The game improved the series' gameplay with more realistic features, such as stickhandling and a wider variety of controller schemes. As NHL 07 was released on the Xbox 360, this is the first game in the NHL series to be released on a seventh generation console. It was also the last NHL game to be released on the Xbox and the only installment to be released on the PlayStation Portable.

<i>Fire Blade</i> (video game) 2002 video game

Fire Blade is a flight simulation video game released in 2002 by Kuju Entertainment. In the game, the player takes control of an advanced helicopter gunship as a part of the Fire Blade task force, which in the arc of the game's story is responsible for fighting terrorism. The enemies of the game are the United Eastern States, who are believed to be building terrorist training camps and factories for weapons of mass destruction.

<i>Medal of Honor: Heroes</i> 2006 video game

Medal of Honor: Heroes is a first-person shooter video game developed by Canadian studio Team Fusion for the PlayStation Portable, and is the ninth installment in the Medal of Honor series. It was released on October 23, 2006, in North America.

<i>Panzer Elite Action: Fields of Glory</i> 2006 video game

Panzer Elite Action: Fields of Glory is a video game developed by ZootFly and published by JoWooD Productions exclusively in Europe in 2006.

<i>Medal of Honor: Vanguard</i> 2007 video game

Medal of Honor: Vanguard is a first-person shooter video game, the tenth installment in the Medal of Honor series. It was developed by EA Los Angeles and Budcat Creations and released for the PlayStation 2 and Wii.

<i>Sniper Elite V2</i> 2012 video game

Sniper Elite V2 is a 2012 third-person tactical shooter stealth video game developed and published by Rebellion Developments. It is the sequel to 2005's Sniper Elite, which takes place in the same timeframe and location—the Battle of Berlin in April and May 1945—but with an altered narrative. The game's story follows an American OSS officer who must eliminate a group of scientists involved in the German V-2 rocket program before the Red Army captures them. A sequel named Sniper Elite III was released in 2014. A remastered version for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One was released on May 14, 2019.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Medal of Honor: European Assault for GameCube Reviews". Metacritic . Retrieved November 2, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 "Medal of Honor: European Assault for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 "Medal of Honor: European Assault for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved November 2, 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 Edge staff (August 2005). "Medal of Honor: European Assault". Edge . No. 152. p. 94.
  5. 1 2 3 EGM staff (August 2005). "Medal of Honor: European Assault". Electronic Gaming Monthly . No. 194. p. 109.
  6. Reed, Kristan (June 14, 2005). "Medal of Honor: European Assault (Xbox)". Eurogamer . Archived from the original on August 30, 2020. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Medal of Honor: European Assault (PS2, Xbox)". Game Informer . No. 147. July 2005. p. 118.
  8. The Man in Black (June 2, 2005). "Medal of Honor European Assault Review for PS2 on GamePro.com". GamePro . Archived from the original on August 28, 2005. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  9. Dodson, Joe (June 30, 2005). "Medal of Honor: European Assault Review (GC)". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  10. 1 2 Dodson, Joe (June 29, 2005). "Medal of Honor: European Assault Review (PS2, Xbox)". Game Revolution. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  11. 1 2 3 Colayco, Bob (June 7, 2005). "Medal of Honor: European Assault Review". GameSpot . Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 Tuttle, Will (June 3, 2005). "GameSpy: Medal of Honor European Assault". GameSpy. Archived from the original on June 6, 2005. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  13. 1 2 3 "Medal of Honor: European Assault Review". GameTrailers. June 17, 2005. Archived from the original on November 6, 2014. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  14. Bedigian, Louis (June 20, 2005). "Medal of Honor European Assault - PS2 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on October 5, 2008. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  15. Valentino, Nick (July 20, 2005). "Medal of Honor European Assault - XB - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on October 6, 2008. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  16. 1 2 3 Perry, Douglass C. (June 6, 2005). "Medal of Honor: European Assault". IGN . Archived from the original on October 3, 2015. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  17. "Medal of Honor: European Assault". Nintendo Power . Vol. 194. August 2005. p. 81.
  18. "Medal of Honor: European Assault". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine . August 2005.
  19. "Medal of Honor: European Assault". Official Xbox Magazine . August 2005. p. 81.
  20. 1 2 Schaefer, Jim (June 26, 2005). "GAME MASTER: Strike fast, strike smart". Detroit Free Press . Archived from the original on September 17, 2005. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  21. 1 2 Hill, Jason (July 21, 2005). "Short-term entertainer". The Sydney Morning Herald . Archived from the original on August 17, 2013. Retrieved September 26, 2015.