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Before the first-person shooter genre was littered with forgettable World War II games, a surprisingly high profile figure helped lay the groundwork for an early influential title. After watching his son play Goldeneye 007, filmmaker Steven Spielberg expressed interest in creating a similar style of game that takes place during WWII. After negotiations with developer DreamWorks Interactive, the team began work on Medal of Honor, published by Electronic Arts and released in 1999 for the Sony Playstation.
Playing as Jimmy Patterson, a fictional Lieutenant with a piloting history and a knack for lone wolf operations, levels are cleared by completing a set of objectives while eliminating enemies. Missions have the Jimmy destroying enemy craft, retrieving documents, or even searching for stolen art. Some will have the him go undercover, helping to even the pace of the 8 hour campaign. Weapons include rifles, machine guns, grenades, and bazookas, ensuring there’s a variety of ways to kill Nazis. A local multi-player mode is also offered, where players compete in split-screen deathmatches.
As with many console-based FPS games of the time, controls can feel clunky by today’s standards. For instance, in order to aim a weapon, the player must be at a complete standstill. Fortunately, the game was made with this limitation in mind, and while certain spots can be frustrating, it’s quite beatable. If you’re going into it for the first time, I personally suggest browsing the control options. A setting can be found that maps the controls very similarly to how modern-day shooters play.
A number of sequels arrived in the wake of Medal of Honor‘s success, directly tying in to the birth of the Call of Duty franchise. In 2009, it was re-released under the PS1 Classics line for both PS3 and PSP. The franchise was rebooted in 2010, sadly to lukewarm reception. After laying dormant since 2012, the series returned in 2020 with a VR experience for Windows entitled Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond.
