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As we all know and heard from E3 this year, EA has released a multiplayer beta for the PC, PS3, and the Xbox 360. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the beta for the PS3, and honestly I was quite impressed on what I’ve played. After 4 hours or so of play time, I am ready to give my impressions of EA’s Medal of Honor, which could be its last chance to redeem itself.
As soon as I started my first match, I said to myself this reminds me a lot like Battlefield Bad Company. Well that should come as no surprise considering DICE is doing the multiplayer aspect of the game, while EA LA works on the singleplayer. It was obvious EA wanted to get potentially the best of the best when they went after DICE for the online, as I’m sure they know as well that they have to keep up with the big boys this holiday season.
 The game starts off with you as a Level 1 Regular. As you progress through the game you will level up and unlock different weapons, attachments, and armored piercing bullets, among other things. You have the option before each match to pick from a list of three classes. Rifleman, Special Ops, or a Sniper, and will either be selected as the Coalition (good guys) or the Insurgents (bad guys). Each side has a different setup of weapons that you can select in the gear section before each game. It is a good enough mix between the weapons and unlockables in each class that you might want to experiment a little and feel out which class is best for you.
The most important part obviously is the gameplay. You can have 100 classes and 200 weapons but without solid gameplay does any of that matter? I am a pretty hardcore Call of Duty player so a lot of times when I go into new shooters I have a certain expectation of what that game should give me. The gameplay is very different then most shooters and you will pick that up pretty quick after being gun down a number of times before you have to stop and realize whats going on. Only a few shots will put you down for the count, so I must say that there is a pretty high learning curve in the beginning. You really do not want to stand or camp in one place for too long, but you also don’t want to run and gun like a Halo, or a Call of Duty style match. So basically what I am saying is the game is not very forgiving.
Each game mode has its own map. With Team Assault (team deathmatch) placing you on the Kubel City Ruins map. This map takes place in a broken down war torn area with a lot of high ground to take out enemies from below. The map has a very c0ol look to it and has a pretty good amount of detail that adds to the feeling of being in a war. It’s not a huge map but its a nice size to accommodate the 12 on 12 matches. Combat Mission is your objective game mode on the Helmand Valley map. Combat Mission is your typical attack and defend this area depending on what group you are, the Coalition or the Insurgents. I didn’t play this game type as much considering there really weren’t many people playing it at first, but it’s similar to Battlefield Bad Company’s Rush mode. Helmand Valley however is a pretty impressive map which is more open then Kubel City Ruins with not as many places to take cover except for some trees and rocks. Both maps I was very happy about and I look forward to the others that the game will bring upon release.
Some other gameplay elements introduced to Medal of Honor are killstreaks. These work a little bit different than your Call of Duty style killstreaks considering they are not really based upon how many kills you get but how many points you earn for doing different things. Kills, assists, and earning ribbons (challenges) will all give you points towards your killstreaks. I have only had the pleasure of using Mortar Strikes and UAV’s but from I know there are a ton of different things you can use that will help your team succeed.
All these elements of the game I mentioned are great, but that doesn’t mean the game in any way is perfect. The most annoying thing is before you die, there’s quite a big of lag in between you getting shot and right before you die. It happens really quick and might not be bothersome at first, but after some time it can get frustrating. Also respawn points is something they need to work on, I’ve been in a lot of games where I would get spawn killed right away and vice versa. It would be nice if they gave you an option where to spawn like in Killzone or if its possible to spawn on a player that your in a party with. That I’am not sure of considering I always played alone. One last thing I would like to see is some kind of killcam or a quick camera view of where you got shot from before you die. Sometimes everything is happening so fast and you can get gunned down pretty quickly. Without any knowledge or idea where those bullets come from on top of the bad spawn points can get tiresome. Again this is just a beta so it’s going to have its problems. I have confidence that DICE will fix these small problems before the release date.
With all that said, I was very happy with my experience with the Medal of Honor beta. The question is will it have the long lasting appeal of a Call of Duty multiplayer? It’s good that there are releasing the game in October which would be a month before Black Ops and I think the game definitely has potential to hang around to form a good online community. It’s gameplay is different enough if you want to take a break from other shooters and can even be more challenging and rewarding at times than other games. I know it will be a day one purchase for me.
Medal of Honor will be in stores October 12th 2010 for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.
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XRYSTAL 
