Gameplay: 7.5
Graphics: 6
Sound: 9
Replay: 8
Multiplayer: Yes, Offline and Online (PS2)


Medal of Honor: Frontline, in my humble opinion, was a joke. It was the usual Electronic Arts work of taking a good name, in this case the Medal of Honor name which has earned quite a reputation with PC gamers, and rushing out a game they knew would make them bundles of cash. Now, I am here to review the sequel to that horrible game, Medal of Honor: Rising Sun. Can this game redeem the Medal of Honor series for the consoles?

It's an iffy. I must say it does lay some good groundwork but it still isn't all that great. It is a HUGE improvement over Frontline, but of course, that isn't saying much. First of all, this game has a whole new setting. As the title suggests, the follow-up is set on the Western or Pacific Front against the Japanese (Land of the Rising Sun, for those uneducated people) compared to Frontline which is set on the Eastern Front against the Germans. Frontline was practically a direct port of the game Medal of Honor: Frontline. It did have some slight additions and a couple different levels, but overall it was a very similar game. Rising Sun, however, is reported to be separate from its PC counterpart, Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault, which will be released soon. Of course, since Pacific Assault isn't out yet and knowing EA it is impossible to be sure.

Well, this is your basic first person shooter. Not the best, and thankfully not the worst. In the sequel, the controls have been improved quite considerably. You are now free to customize your controls to the buttons of your choice, which definately helps a lot. Also, the pace of the game is much better than in Frontline. You see, PC to console ports and console to PC ports don't work very well because the paces are different. PC games are designed to be faster paced due to the keyboard and mouse combination. Successful console shooters however require a slightly slower gameplay speed due to having to aim with the analog stick. Frontline had the pace of Allied Assault for the PC and it didn't work well. Rising Sun has been toned down somewhat and that helps the feel of the game. It still could use some improvement, but I am happy EA at least made a slight effort.

There are many problems with the gameplay, however. Especially when it comes to the AI in the game. Really, the computer is incredibly stupid. They rarely use cover. It's funny though sometimes as they will look as if they are trying to press themselves against a wall and aim around, when really they are like a foot off of it and an easy kill. They will even continue the pose even when you move right next to them. But worse than that, when you are running around, especially in the city, the enemy will come running at you like kamikazes. They will stop about ten feet away before taking their shots. Easy kills most of the time. Sometimes they will hold their ground but they don't really duck behind cover.

Guns, what every shooter is based around. With a good variety of them the game simply won't be good. Luckily, this game has a decent amount. Not as many as I'd like to see (and you can't just pick up weapons from every dead enemy, something I like about Allied Assault for the PC), but still a good amount. They look pretty good. My only real problem with the guns is the mounted machine gun. It is pretty ridiculous. First of all, unlike regular guns, with this one you don't actually see it, and you don't get crosshairs. But that's not so bad. It's just that firing it gets to be pretty stupid. Sometimes it feels as if the bullets go right through the enemies without hitting them and also the tracers look absolutely pathetic.

Graphics...EA and graphics...not a very good combination. EA never seems to put much effort at all into making their games look good. They know they will sell no matter what so they don't even bother. Same is true with this game. It does look better than Frontline, not a hard task to accomplish, but it doesn't compare to many other games available. Basically, every enemy looks the exact same. So you will find yourself killing some Japanese guy and 50,000 of his evil demonic twins. Get the idea?

The environments don't look very good. They never do. They just look painted on. There are a lot of jagged edges. Nothing looks smooth. You can't see far into the distance at all so don't expect solid backgrounds. The explosions are downright pathetic. It's like a flash with some sparks and they are incredibly small. I mean, come on. Give me some fire or something.

The sound department is truly where this game shines. I must say I was impressed with it. The guns sound incredibly good, not to mention realistic. Although the explosions don't look good, they do sound alright. For instance, on the first level, Pearl Harbor, there is a lot of gunfire and explosions and it really makes you feel as if you are actually there. With the volume up it sounds as if there are bullets flying by and bombs exploding all around you. The musical score in this game is also quite spectacular. The voiceovers are very solid and match their characters very well.

There is a good deal of replay in this game. The Xbox and Gamecube versions do have multiplayer, a multiplayer that has much more attention put into it compared to Frontline's which just plain sucked, but the Playstation 2 version is really the best. They all have cooperative and deathmatch and others but the Playstation 2 version has online play. The online play is very fun and offers a ton of replay to this game.

If you have friends who like to play FPS games on consoles then this is a definate buy. Especially for the cooperative play. Playstation 2 owners should definately pick this up. However, if you will be playing by yourself then just give it a rental and play through the single player, which doesn't last that long. Either way, thumbs up to EA for actually improving a game.