@cystic:
thanks for the post. I had been thinking of getting Brothers in Arms. How did it compare (for you) to Medal of Honor?
Compared to Medal of Honor, the story is much better. I think the main character’s waxing intellectual is boring and melodramatic, but I’m kind of thick skinned about things like that. One thing about Medal of Honor was the 40’s movie-esque way you took on the entire German Army yourself. Now those were great for the kids and may have raised morale in the states, but the Germans laughed at them, and upon returning, they made the Veterans sick. The VAs in BiA are very, very good. Best I’ve heard in a wargame really. MoH’s were cheesy. Medal of Honor was also heavily ‘on rails,’ meaning you didn’t have a free roaming environment. IMO, that’s what made the greats like Doom what they were. BiA is kind of on rails, but you can choose your avenue of approach and the deep gameplay makes up for it. MoH is great cinematically, but great games are not interactive movies (except Kessen perhaps….but that is touted as one). One other thing about MoH: The reloading system has always sucked. Even if the gun is reloaded, you have a delay until it actually registers it, so you are screwed over a lot.
Interestingly, the upcoming MoH Airborne is supposed to have all kinds of free roaming, even allowing you the choice of where you land.
The agent/soldier thing is a great idea, but works best with Metal Gear Solid. If they made one of those about a British or American or even a free French agent in WW2, that would be king. MGS spinoffs generally suck though, and it’s just because of gameplay.
The thought of a massive battlefield game with BiA gameplay makes me want to clean my guns and turn up some music. That would be the greatest. I liked BF1942 a lot, but it’s still like a war between a bunch of commandos and NPCs. If there were all kinds of squad leaders with an actual in game command structure (based on victories and experience) where players are the officers and commanders, that would be the ultimate online game.
Call of Duty, despite what it’s touted as, is actually almost the same as MoH in all the ways I’ve discussed. The enemies are deadly but still to easy. Lifebars really don’t have a place in shooters anymore…not with the technology we have today. CoD is still a very good game like MoH, but I resent that you can play as the Soviets but not the Wermacht. I am hoping they branch out in to the Pacific and even into the Sino-Japanese war perhaps. It’s a fun game but once you’ve done it, you’ve done it. AI is probably the weakest in CoD.
A rundown of the AI in each game:
MoH: The enemy waits in his designated place for you to do what you are supposed to do. If you shoot a machine gunner in the head, expect them to line up like sheep to the slaughter for more headshots.
CoD: Same as above, but the enemy really doesn’t want to live. Defending a point can be difficult, but why are the Germans doing Stalin Marches? :?
BiA: Cover system is very strong in this one. Troops follow your commands well (Ghost Recon…take some notes). The enemy makes attacks that cause you to think as well as use your trigger finger. Enemies defend positions as well as attack yours, and you have the occasional enemy who charges like he’s at Verdun. Close fighting is deadly and decisive. The conscrips fight like conscripts and the veterans fight like real Gold Badges.