Who does not remember the landing of June 6, 1944 transcribed with incredible realism? Acclaimed by the press and then acclaimed by the public, the series of MoH could not stop on such a good path. Exit Jimmy Patterson, here you are in the shoes of Joseph Griffin, a young American Marines who will have to escape the attacks of the Japanese at Pearl Harbor but also venture into the hostile jungles of Asia. One thing is certain, after having lived through these moments of anthology, you will no longer see FPS in the same way. The bombing of Pearl Harbor, for those who have not yet learned about it in history class or those who have missed the feature film Michael Bay, pushed the United States to suddenly return to the doldrums of the Second World War. . On this date, the United States realized that it was far from being invulnerable to external attacks, a kind of preamble to September 11, 2001.
It was December 7, 1941
It all starts in the dormitories of an American military ship. Your character is dozing quietly dreaming of heavenly horizons when suddenly an explosion causes panic on board. The sirens begin to howl, your brothers in arms collapse all around you, the cries and the explosions are more and more intensive, in short it is the most total chaos. You advance blindly trying to rescue one then the other. A fire extinguisher to control the flames to rescue your comrades and hop here you are on the deck of the boat where a Japanese kamikaze plane comes crashing down before your eyes. The action suddenly freezes then gives way to a slow motion with a most poignant blur effect to underline the dramaturgy of the action. They equip you with a gun and that's the atrocity of war. You must not only shoot down the Japanese squads, but also detonate the torpedoes that are coming your way. After trying in vain to defend your homeland, you find yourself on a craft at the controls of cannons with the aim of making these soldiers of the skies bite the dust. The planes arise from all sides, the explosions are legion, the smoke is as thick as it is blinding and the sound environment strongly supports this immersion. This first scene has the simple objective of giving a show, just to put the dots on the "i" and to show the technical potential of the PS2. Challenge passed hands down and I can assure you that we will not come out of this experience unscathed.
too artificial intelligence
In addition to surviving the bombardment of Pearl Harbor, you will have to go through 9 missions divided into several sub-levels with objectives to achieve. Here is a small list, just to put you in the mouth (protection, diversion, sabotage, infiltration and so on). As many objectives to achieve as there are enemies to stumble upon. Let's talk about these enemies. The animations of the latter are numerous and of a realism to send shivers down your spine. It is enough to cross their glance when one has just placed a bastos in their head. We feel a little guilty but it remains a video game even if this Medal of Honor: Rising Sun faithfully transcribes the atrocities of war. One of the weak points of the game really lies in the almost absent AI. As static as XIII's, enemies sometimes take too long to react before they pull the trigger, giving us time to add some lead in their blood. And to overcome this defect, the developers have seen fit to make them more resistant to bullets. Indeed, the management of bullet impact zones is completely to be reviewed and it is not uncommon to see an enemy get up when you have just emptied your burst of Thompson at close range. It even sometimes takes two or even three bullets in the head for the enemies to collapse definitively on the ground. Inevitably, this weakness results in a shortened lifespan, but the backup system will force the player to restart the mission according to the checkpoints (few) in the event of premature death, making the exercise a little more difficult. Another criticism already noted in the previous episode is the handling of the two analog sticks. Aiming is imprecise and hazardous maneuverability. Not to mention the use of the sniper, which in zoom mode, is a real ordeal in the movement to locate an enemy. Nothing very dramatic (because you get used to it) but not always practical when you find yourself under heavy enemy fire.
It's time to change the engine guys
The Pearl Harbor bombing scene is technically stunning and will certainly go down in history. Note, however, drops in frame-rate that we forgive without problem. No, the main criticism that can be made of this Sunrise is the unequal quality of the graphics displayed by the software. The 3D engine, although offering maps twice as large as the first MoH, begins to show the weight of the years. The developers have opted for textures in (very) low resolutions (to be able to display the many elements of the decor) and the colors are completely bland. The software remains much too vague compared to other tenors of the genre and by dint of wanting to make profitable an engine already obsolete at the time of the MoH: On the Front Line, the game becomes unspeakably ugly at times! Only the attack on Pearl Harbor impresses and we have the feeling that the engineers have staked everything in this scene. But don't be scared, the rest of the game offers still efficient gameplay and expect to experience other intense moments. On the arsenal side, the many weapons are realistic and correspond to what was used during the Great War of 1939-1945. So don't expect boring at the Quake, here the weapons have a rather slow cadence and the ammunition is limited or even precious. Especially since it is impossible (unlike Call of Duty, to name a few) to recover weapons from enemies.
Just Honorable Medal
Medal of Honor: Rising Sun therefore remains quite classic as a whole with fairly marked routes and rather scripted actions. The immersive character is the tour de force of this title which impresses with its realism and a spectacle worthy of certain Hollywood productions. Added to this is music that has benefited from special care since it was composed by a symphony orchestra, a real one. Patriotic, heroic or bravery themes accompany the action perfectly with sound effects that increase the intensity of the game, which is only lacking in its average lifespan and outdated graphics. Note that lucky owners of a broadband connection will be able to compete online with up to 8 players in Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch. A little light compared to XIII which offers twice as many game modes. We won't be choosy because online FPS are quite rare and the fun is always there during these frenzied games.
