Alliedassault - Will SpearHead work on my comp?

Medal Of Honor Allied Assault: Spearhead Hands-on Preview

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault was the first game from the Medal of Honor series to hit the PC, which was released in January of 2002. The game instantly took gamers over as they played through the extraordinary levels featured in the game, especially the prominent D-Day scene, in which gamers rushed up the beach with their fellow soldiers.

British Troops & Mills Grenade

Battle of the Bulge Mission

Not too long after its release, rumors started to spread of an expansion pack. Details were very imprecise at first, but after a while a few title names started appearing, such as Team Assault and Reload. These names were just a few of what EA had in mind. However, a few months later PlanetMedalOfHonor was the first to break that the new title was indeed neither of the two, but rather, Spearhead.

In cooperating with Steve Groll and Lincoln Hershberger from Electronic Arts, I received a preview build of Medal Of Honor Allied Assault: Spearhead, which was the entire game, just not the final build. Let's just say that, I was nothing less than astonished by the game-play.

Medal of Honor Allied Assault: Spearhead contains nine new missions and puts you in the boots of Sgt. Jack Barnes, as opposed to Lt. Mike Powell from Allied Assault. The very first mission starts off with you and the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment getting ready to jump and parachute out into France, before the D-Day beach assault begins. All the soldiers hook up, check the chutes, and then leap from the plane, and that's when all the action starts. On your descent, you'll see spotlights, machine gun fire, planes exploding, and soldiers falling. Words really can't describe it. When you crash land in a barn, you'll meet up with a British squad of soldiers, and fight with them through the next few missions, where you'll have to annihilate tanks using artillery and assassinate a Nazi general.

The next mission is in the Ardennes Forest, Belgium on Christmas Eve, what a great way to spend it, right? This mission is very action-intense, the main objective being to hold the line. The mission opens with you (Sgt. Jack Barnes) talking with fellow soldiers. However, the conversation's cut off quickly as a mortar explodes in the middle of the gathering. You'll be fighting hordes of Nazi foot soldiers, tanks, and even a half-track. Also, the weaponry is quite expansive, requiring use of mortars, a Panzerschreck, and the StG44 Sturmgewehr machine gun.

The D-Day Assault

The Lee-Enfield Rifle

If this wasn't enough, you will have to operate an Anti-Tank launcher on the back of a half-track as a British Soldier drives. The main intention is to safely escort a truck full of soldiers to the rendezvous point at the end. Masses of Nazis and a good four to five Tiger Tanks along with other vehicles will be attacking from all directions.

The third and final mission takes you to Berlin, where you'll be fighting along side Russian troops and using their weaponry. The first segment of this mission requires Barnes to reclaim some previously stolen documents by the Nazis. Once found within a safe, you'll have to commandeer a Russian T34 tank and will be able to switch between the turret and machine gun to eliminate the enemies. When the level is completed, another actual historic video will play and the game is over, or is it?

The fact is, the game continues and progresses strongly using the multiplayer function, which has been redone. The previous multiplayer modes will remain, however a new mode has been added; Tug of War. This is similar to Day of Defeat in which the Axis and Allies have to fight to control a number of points/flags on the map, which adds a more strategic feature to the usual run around and shoot people technique. Also, use of all the new weapons will be featured in the expansion, as well as the multiplayer-only weapon; the portable machine gun, which can be picked up and deployed at will.

I was extremely impressed with Medal Of Honor Allied Assault: Spearhead. Surprisingly, the build of the game played almost flawlessly, except for some frame rate issues, which will hopefully be investigated and fixed for the retail release. Medal of Honor Allied Assault: Spearhead will be in stores on November 12th of this year and is expected to spearhead its competition.

Previewer's System Specifications:
Dell Dimension 8100 - Pentium 4, 2.0 GHz, 384MB RDRAM, GeForce4 Ti 4200, Creative SB Live!, Microsoft Optical Intellimouse.

By Matthew Pruitt
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