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Great Game...Great Tribute

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 27, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I am not the biggest game video player but enjoy them now and then. Having said that, I absolutely love this game. I bought the regular version and then the Director's Edition. The Director's Edition has some great extras, to include a detailed interactive time-line, a video of the Marine Silent Drill Team, and interviews with some USMC veterans, which drew emotion from me at the end of the interviews. The game was historically accurate and even contained the Marine Raider assault on Makin, which is not that widely known about. (Read the book "Carlson's Raid" for a great book on that subject.) This game was not only engaging, but was a tribute to the WW II Marine. God bless them all.

A good experience with a nod toward realism....

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 21, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault is the type of game that I've been waiting for play for a long time. It seems that all WWII first person shooters were always staged in Europe and none covered the Pacific theatre. In my opinion, this game covers that extremely well. This game is very different, however, from the standard WWII shooters that most of us are used to in Call of Duty and the others in the MoH series. And while I feel that these changes are definitely welcome and make for a great and interesting experience, I'm glad that the other games haven't adopted them.
Pros:
- This game attempts to create a much more realistic type of game play than other WWII shooters. One way it does this is that it seems to take into account weapon ease of use and weight. Reloading some weapons and pulling them up to your shoulder to aim seems to be a bit slower for some than others. An example is the BAR. I found that while this weapon is extremely powerful at long and short range and can kill the enemy in one well placed shot, it took longer to reload or even pull up to your shoulder to aim down the site. This is presumably because this particular weapon is much larger than a standard automatic rifle such as the Thompson. I think changes like this make the game play much more interesting and make you actually think about which weapons you actually choose to use. It causes you take into consideration ease of use as well as deadly efficiency. In CoD, the BAR was almost always my first choice, but not so here. It depended on the situation. I like that.
Another aspect of attempted realism is the introduction of the medic rather than relying on med packs. While the med packs have not been completed abolished, you rely most heavily on your medic. When you're hurt, you back away from the engagement and call him over to patch you up, or in the more difficult stages, you can actually bandage yourself up in order to stop the "bleeding" and allow your medic a chance to come over and heal you up. I think it was a nice touch.
- The camaraderie of your squad that the game attempts to create is also pretty interesting, although I have to say that after finishing the game, the only name I remember in my squad was the name of my medic...go figure ;o). The squad mentality is really pretty cool here. This feature allows you to command your squad to pull back, advance, lay down cover fire, or assemble. It definitely added to the quality of the game to be able to command your squad to lay down covering fire while you dart from behind a safe rock in order to gain a better position on the enemy.
- The AI is really pretty impressive as well. When the enemy begins to lose a firefight, they charge. They hide behind trees, rocks, and other objects. They even do strafing runs while darting from one cover to the other.
- The graphics are top notch and the jungle scenes are equally impressive. Environmental effects, such as sunlight, mist, fog, smoke and explosions are all great.
- The music is excellent. This is especially apparent during some of the jungle scenes. It does a good job of helping to create the mood and take in the environment.
- Voice over's were excellent.

Cons:
- Load times are very long. Much longer than any other game that I've played, although, in my opinion, they did not really detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.
- Quite often you'll have an enemy in your site, and very visible, though it seems that you can never hit them. An example is that you can clearly see their head over a barrel, or clearly see them hiding behind a beam and you've got them zeroed in, but you can't hit them. You have to move a bit more or change spots before the game allows you to score a hit. This became a bit frustrating, but again didn't really detract from the overall enjoyment of the game.
- The one thing that became far more frustrating than the above cons, was the behavior of your squad toward the end of the game. When trying to navigate through tight quarters, which is pretty much what you're doing for the last stages of the game, you often get stuck behind your squad mates. Or you may have found a good spot and are laying it on the enemy when suddenly your guy's jump right in front you. It seems to become a struggle for positioning in this part of the game. There were countless times where I got stuck behind someone, couldn't get to an objective, or got cut down by a machine gun nest because one of my guy's was blocking my path and there's no way to get him to move. At one point I got so frustrated I unloaded a clip into one guy and started butting him with my rifle just to get him out of my way so I could get out of the line of fire of a bunker. I suppose this could be part of the realism being that positioning may have been a bit of a problem in tight quarters in live combat, but I'm hard pressed to believe that anyone is stupid enough to jump in front of a firing gun or to simply stand there when you're trying to get by.
- Some of the sound effects for some of the weapons didn't quite cut it for me.

Gray areas (not so pros and not so cons)
- The end stages definitely became much more difficult, where you seem to be far easier to hit than in the beginning stages. However, I never really got the impression or feeling that the game was "cheating" as I sometimes do with others. It actually provided a bit more of the realism that it was striving for. In my opinion, it just embodied the desperation that the Japanese experienced during these intense battles. In fact, there were a few spots where it was imperative that I utilize my squad for cover fire, and to advance ahead of me in order to allow me to gain the best position on a machine gun nest so that I could take it out. Squad tactics actually became an integral part of the game rather than simply an added feature.
- At one point, you get to fly an American plane and take on some Japanese zeroes and some other naval units. While I think this stage was actually a good idea, it was only partially enjoyable. The controls definitely need far more work. Maneuvering the plane with your mouse is extremely difficult. Luckily, the creators made this level relatively easy. It seems more like something the makers of the game simply wanted you to experience as part of the overall Pacific theatre rather than providing excellent game play.
- At some points of the game, you were given a clear objective, but seemingly not a very clear description or idea of how to complete it. Often times I had to quick save and reload quite a few times in order to "trial and error" it. But in the end, I found that my objective check list simply had the overall objective listed. Your squad mates were the ones you had to listen to to determine the best course of action in order to obtain that objective. Because the battles would get so intense, I would shut them out and not listen. After a lot of reloads I found that my guy's were giving me the clues all along.

I think this game is definitely one to try out. The features it offers are different from most first person shooters though, so be sure to understand that fact before you go into it. I think understanding the goals of the game before you play it is essential to enjoying it. Personally, I think it was a nice break from the normal routine.

Rising Sun 2.0

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: February 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

The subject matter of EA's disastrous Medal of Honor: Rising Sun on the consoles deserved better treatment. The Pacific Theater of WWII is very much underrepresented in action gaming, at least relative to its european brethren. Fortunately EA decided to give it another whirl with Pacific Assault, and this time made an honest effort.

As other reviewers have mentioned, Pacific Assault requires a good deal more computing power than the box indicates. But if you have a relatively current video card, the game sparkles as one of the most visually stunning WWII first person shooters to date. Nothing in this game looks bad, in fact I felt mesmerized by the world of a war game for the first time since the original Medal of Honor was released. Lighting, character models, particle and smoke effects, everything comes together to create a near reality not seen before in a MOH game. And the jungle missions are utterly stunning. Stalking the lush greenery of the Japanese islands made me understand why my old system chugged so hard trying to render every water ripple, swaying leaf, and startled exotic bird. It's nearly worth the price of admission just to witness the art direction.

Unfortunately...all that beauty comes at the expense of gameplay. While the dense jungle in theory provides cover for stealthy play, in reality it merely hinders achievement. The player's view is blocked by the vegetation, but CPU controlled enemies retain the traditional ability to see through all solid matter. Couple that with the MOH staple of apparently open but actually blocked pathways, and you have a brutal exercise of trial-and-failure gaming. There are occasions where tactical maneuvers pay off enjoyably, but the vast majority of success comes from memorizing enemy locations and behavior right between your last quicksave and untimely death. I consider myself a MOH veteran, but couldn't have finsished the game without jamming on the quicksave feature every 30 seconds (hard difficulty). Don't play it at any difficulty higher than "medium."

Acoustically, Pacific Assault matches its visual grandeur. As expected in this big budget series, sounds effects are utterly realstic with depth and volume in every rifle blast and grenade explosion. The voice work is as good as in any war movie, and the Spielbergian musical score perfectly compliments the action without intruding. In other words, it lives up to our high expectations for Medal of Honor games.

While it was a nice sentiment to include squad-style gameplay, EA may have been better off going with the traditonal Superman-in-trenches method. Not that either is absolutely superior, but the AI of your squadmates is so awful that it nearly wrecks the game. Forget sneaking up on an enemy post; after the first level you'll be searching the manual for an "STFU" command. Your clods-in-arms routinely plop down in front of you as soon as you've established a position and have the enemy in your sights. The command system is horribly broken: not only do they execute idiotically, they sometimes don't respond at all. You'll end up doing the hard labor yourself as these goofers are generally useless in crunch time.

I shouldn't end on that bad a note, so I'll mention that MOH:PA builds one of the most suspenseful story lines of any WWII shooter I've played. Each level seems critically attached to the previous, as EA largely followed the Pacific Theater timeline (unlike the disjointed feel of some Call of Duty games). This Director's Edition version really adds some interesting content. While people just looking to play the game won't care, WWII buffs will appreciate the maps and analysis of various battles, interactive musical scores, and the wartime propaganda speeches by Roosevelt, Churchill, and even Hirohito. Come on, how often do you get to hear an entire Churchill speech actually read *by Churchill*?

The best Medal of Honor yet.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have played all the medal of honors since the first one hit Playstation. Even including the new Airborne i much rather prefer this one. The story and the gameplay both are better, only the graphics in Airborne are better but these aren't that much farther off.

A Game that Deserves the "Medal of Honor"

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 11, 2008
Author: Amazon User

When I first started this game it felt right away like I was playing a next-gen console game(e.g. xbox 360). On the first action scene where you land on a beach "saving private ryan" style and fight first from the boat then on land is a great testament to the game's prowess. It utilizes all of its talents right away with:

Realistic Physics,
Smoke Effects,
Great Sound,
Great Textures and Models,
Good Lighting Effects (actually great),
Guns that eerily feel like the real thing,
And a realistic Fun Factor.

Note that I didn't mention any story elements. That does not mean the game doesn't have a good story. It's just that the story is somewhat separate from the action and unfolds in a somewhat "Pearl Harbor (the movie)" fashion. It also seems as if Steven Spielberg has some influence on this game, albeit from past games. That said, the game has the feel of a motion picture that is actually well done.

After the first level and boot camp, in the game, you fend off enemy zeros at pearl harbor, rescue fallen sailors in war tattered ships, and have an all around good blasting, you then make your way to directly attack the new enemy "The Empire of Japan".

You travel to some Islands in the South Pacific where the Japanese are stationed; to give em' hell. The Intense fights there are fairly consistent to what you would find in most Medal of Honor games.(except with better graphics and AI) Which is, good action combined with relatively simple objectives.

There is much more to this game and more levels, but I'll leave that up to you to find out when you play it.

But from playing it myself, I consider it the best Medal of Honor game so far, and one of the best historical FPS games I've ever played. Its right up there with Call of Duty 2 which was and is it's competition. So don't feel any anxiety about buying this one, especially at the price. Its a sure bet.

-Sir Josh

nice graphics runs fine on my system

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Okay, so I waited until this was a bargain-priced game. I'm not one to spend a ton of money getting the very best hardware so I can be on the bleeding edge. Anyway, it runs fine on my HP laptop which I bought January 2007 which comes with pretty good nvidia graphics for a laptop and a wide screen. Load time is significantly faster than Call of Duty 2, another bargain game I picked up about a month ago, so I'm not sure what people are expecting. Yeah, I'm pretty new to these WWII games, so I don't claim to be an expert.

At least one reviewer did not like the Pearl Harbor sequence because he wanted to get straight to the killing. Unfortunately, we got our butts kicked at Pearl Harbor, so that doesn't provide much of a killing opportunity unless you want to play the Japanese side. I actually enjoyed the Pearl Harbor scenes. My Dad was stationed at Pearl Harbor after the war, so I even liked the jeep ride around the base. I was impressed with all the little details, like guys standing around tossing around a baseball or reading a book while some other guys were working on a roof. Everything is so peaceful until suddenly these planes fly over and start attacking. I think that must be exactly how it happened, and I think that's the point of the Pearl Harbor mission, to show how unprepared we were. It was just an intro.

As I just played through most of Call of Duty 2, which takes place in Europe and Africa, I am enjoying playing a game that takes place in the Pacific. Otherwise, the games are very similar.

Disappointing

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 1
Date: September 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I loved Medal of Honor on the Xbox/PS2, so I thought I would give this a chance. As an experienced gamer, I had high expectations for this game. Big mistake. Took forever to install, and the load times are horrendous. I start playing the game, and I get to a part where I need to rescue a wounded soldier. I can't even get through the doors below deck because of the fires, and everytime I attempted it, the guy I was trying to rescue was burned to death.

This game is terrible, not what I expected. I uninstalled it and got rid of it. I do not recommend this game to anyone except diehard military fans.

Lag and poor hit detection ruin game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 18, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I am a huge fan of the original MOH series, loved Allied Assault and Spearhead. I played the MP exclusively for years and still do once in a while. But even for a hardcore fan like me, Pacific Assault was a huge disappointment. I just reinstalled and replayed it recently because I thought well the hardware nowadays should be more than enough for the system requirements, I remember the game ran like crap back when it was released even on high end hardware. It starts off decent enough from Pearl Harbor (load times were much faster) but everything went downhill once you hit the jungle. The biggest thing that bothered me was the mouse lag, lag when you zoom in and out with ironsights and lag when a shot is fired. Also the AI of your squad is for lack of a better word retarded. They seem to love running into my line of fire or when I throw a grenade, either that or they'll just keep bunching up and getting me stuck in a certain area on the map. The enemy AI is decent but annoying at times ie. bonzai charges. But again lag is the main problem. I shoot and I hit but the game says otherwise. Looking at the mouse lag just in single player, I made up my mind and didnt even bother with the MP. Not like it got great reviews either.

Good game but costly

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is overall a great WWII game but very costly. first you have to buy the game but then i had to update my graphics card because the game won't run with out it!

As real as real can get and then some...

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: July 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game is so friggin unbelievable... I downloaded the free demo from EA Games and I just love this. I have to buy the director's edition when I get money. Historically very accurate as to what the battles were really like in the pacific back in the 40's. My grandpa fought against the japs and after playing this game, I have so much more respect for him now than I ever did before not only for what he did for our country with protecting our way of life but also for the intensity and willpower to survive something so brutal and awful. This game has probably close to 50 different weapons. BAR, the M1A1, .50 caliber machine guns, grenades, and so much more...

After seeing what my grandpa went through in the pacific, this game was a very shocking reality about how violent and graphic warfare really is. When the japs came at my character across the airfield with about 50 guys drawing samurai swords, and bayonets attached to their rifles I was like, "oh f***"! I jumped on the .50 caliber and took them all out. If you buy this game, or even just like to play first person shooter games, you will not be disappointed at all... It is worth every penny spent

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