Review : Diablo 3

The Good

• Powerful abilities and tight controls make combat enjoyable
• Flexible, customizable character classes
• Endless, alluring loot
• Varied locations that cry out to be explored
• Harder difficulty levels change up the game significantly.

The Bad

• Online connection requirement can cause some serious frustrations
• Weapon system flies in the face of traditional RPG logic.

Once upon a time, the Diablo series defined the hack-and-slash action role-playing game, setting the standard by which all games in the genre were measured. Now, Diablo III feels more familiar than genre-defining, relying on refining the same hooks that have always made this series so compelling. But what a refinement it is. The controls are responsive and pleasurable; the diversity of character classes and skill customization options is impressive; and the constant stream of gold and treasure you earn is irresistible. Blizzard has the recipe for crafting a habit-forming loot-driven action RPG down to a science, and in Diablo III, the results of that recipe are more exciting and more addictive than they've ever been.

You begin your quest just after what appears to be a flaming star falls from the heavens and crashes into the cathedral in Tristram, the doomed town where the events of Diablo took place. This cosmic occurrence has the unfortunate side effect of reanimating the dead, and the people of New Tristram find themselves besieged by corpses long ago put to rest. Diablo III's story is unremarkable, but it weaves in plenty of references to and appearances by characters from earlier games and enriches the established lore of the series. Fans of Diablo and Diablo II will immediately feel drawn into this world.
You certainly don't need any familiarity with the series to jump right into Diablo III, however. If you've played earlier games, you'll likely get even more out of Diablo III--the music that plays in the New Tristram area may send nostalgic shivers down your spine--but the gameplay is welcoming and easy to grasp for vets and newcomers alike. You choose one of five character classes, and though they become quite distinct at later levels, they all start with nothing but basic offensive skills that are performed with clicks of the mouse.

Let no barrel survive!

That may sound dull, but in fact the rate at which you acquire new skills is part of what makes Diablo III so hard to pull yourself away from. You very quickly open up slots for new types of abilities; if you're playing as a demon hunter, for instance, you begin with a basic archery attack, but you can soon supplement this with resource-draining skills like a rapid fire ability, enemy-slowing caltrops, acrobatic somersaults that can get you away from enemies, and other techniques.
These skills are divided into distinct categories--primary, secondary, defensive, and so on--and by default, you can have only one skill from each category equipped at a time. This is a sensible restriction if you're a novice player, because it helps ensure that your character is well rounded, with a complementary assortment of abilities. However, if you prefer a greater level of character customization, you can turn on what's called elective mode. With this on, you can opt to equip whichever skills you want in your available slots, rather than being limited to choosing one from each category. But if you do this, be mindful of your character's resource pool. If you select two monk skills that cost spirit (the monk's resource) and no skills that generate spirit, you're going to have some trouble slaughtering the legions of hell spawn you encounter.

Maybe his life would have turned out differently if his parents hadn't named him Tyrant.

Choosing one skill always means not choosing another, since your number of available key bindings is always equal to the number of active skill categories you've unlocked. (Once you've unlocked all six skill categories for your class, for instance, you have just six bindings to which you can link skills.) But you can change your selected skills at any time, giving you free rein to tinker with your abilities until you find a combination you're happy with.
You never sink points into skills to make them more effective, so you never have to worry that you're not making the best choices. Rather, as you level up, you unlock both new skills and new runes you can apply to existing skills. From level 13 on, for instance, witch doctors can apply the numbing dart rune to their poison dart attack, which adds a slowing effect to this offensive ability. You can eventually unlock a total of six runes for each active ability, though you can have only one rune at a time activated on any ability. This system prevents you from squandering your character's growth by sinking points into skills that leave you ill-equipped for challenges to come, and lets you customize your abilities on the fly to better tackle the challenges you're currently facing.


It's not all about unlocking skills, however. It's about employing those skills to slaughter the monsters you encounter as you travel the world, and collecting the loot the fiends drop. This is where Diablo III's habit-forming pleasures lie. The randomly generated environments encourage exploration; you never know what treasure (or what powerful foe) you might find down each cathedral hallway or desert trail. Enticing art design draws you into these realms. In and around New Tristram, a foreboding mist hangs in the air, and ancient ruins crumble as you visit places long undisturbed. In the lands around the elegant city of Caldeum, you traverse stark landscapes of cracked earth and bone.

You explore ornate, musty manors and spider-infested caves. You make your way through rat-infested sewers and emerge into a dusky, teeming oasis. And though the inspiration it draws from The Lord of the Rings is a bit obvious, a setting in the game's fourth act effectively makes you feel like part of a desperate, large-scale war between humanity and the forces of hell. Just when you've had your fill of one region, it's time to move on to another, and each location is so different from the one that preceded it that you feel as if your quest to rid the land of evil is taking you across a vast and varied land.
As diverse as these locations are, they all have one thing in common: they're crawling with monsters. In the early stages of your quest, most monsters fall to your attacks without putting up much of a fight, though if you get swarmed, you might still need to keep an eye on your health. (Unlike in Diablo II, you can't spam health potions to immediately counter any damage you suffer; potions have a cooldown timer, requiring you to play a bit more cautiously.) Your attacks look mighty and effective, which makes the simple act of unleashing them feel empowering. The demon hunter's huge chakrams weave through the air, blades spinning; the barbarian's hard-hitting attacks can send foes flying.

After your time in gloomy New Tristram, the city of Caldeum is bright and inviting.

Without fail, you're rewarded for mowing down monsters with gold and gear. This is typical of the series and the genre, but it's handled here as well as it's ever been. You never feel like you're being showered with riches and items you haven't earned, nor that you're having to slog through too many foes to earn anything significant. Loot is doled out at a pace that makes your victories fulfilling and makes fighting the next group of foes lurking in the shadows ahead nigh irresistible.
The way your rewards emerge into the world is rewarding in itself; slay an elite monster, and coins and items pour onto the ground, making you feel like you've just won a jackpot in Vegas. Sometimes, the gear is junk so low in value that it's not even worth picking up. But you never know when you're going to stumble on a weapon or piece of armor that's superior to your current equipment, making you more capable of facing the coming hordes. Even if something isn't worth using, it's often worth grabbing, either to sell or to have it salvaged by the blacksmith in town for materials that can be used to craft other items.
Weapons function in Diablo III a bit oddly, though, and that may take some getting used to. Often, you may elect to have your primary skill be something that isn't weapon-based. You may choose the demon hunter's grenade attack, for instance, or the wizard's magic missile spell. Although these skills don't involve your characters actually using whatever weapons they're holding in their hands, the damage of your equipped weapon still comes into play. In other words, all other things being equal, a wizard's magic missile spell does more damage if she's holding a club that does 12 damage than if she's holding a dagger that does 10 damage. It's a system that makes more gear useful to more classes, but that usefulness comes at the expense of typical fantasy RPG logic.

Scrolls of Town Portal are gone, replaced by a spell you can cast at any time.

If you haven't yet found the perfect helm, boots, or crossbow for your character, you may opt to have the blacksmith craft you items. As with the stuff you find in the wild, the magic properties on gear he crafts are random, so there's often no guarantee that something he creates for you will suit you better than your current equipment, but odds are that sometimes he'll craft something that's ideal for you.
Unfortunately, you need to spend a good deal of gold on training him to level him up so that he can craft higher-level gear for you, and early on, it can feel as if you're sinking all your gold into this and reaping little reward. The rewards do come eventually, though, and all your characters in a given mode share the same craftsmen (the blacksmith and, later, a jeweler), so once the money is spent on training, you don't need to worry about spending it again.


The cycle of combat and loot and more combat is addictive, but without peril, it would eventually become unfulfilling. Thankfully, the hosts of hell become increasingly dangerous over time. Boss fights are numerous and frequent, and those that bring each act to a close can be challenging. They also offer more traditional action-game mechanics than the series has seen before. An early boss charges into walls, for example, leaving him stunned and giving you a chance to attack safely.

After you complete the game on the normal difficulty setting, you can continue on to nightmare, which is much more than just playing the same game again against more resilient foes. Nightmare changes things up by giving enemies powerful new abilities and placing challenging enemies in places where they didn't previously appear. Conquer nightmare and yet another, even more challenging difficulty becomes available. Whether you want a relatively easy, rewarding experience that you can pleasantly click your way through or an incredibly stiff challenge, Diablo III has what you're looking for. And for that added element of risk, you can play in Hardcore mode, where death is permanent.
Each class has the offensive capabilities to take on the forces of darkness alone, and the three AI companions you can choose from offer a helping hand and a sense of camaraderie to solo adventurers. But joining with up to three other players makes for a far more interesting dynamic. Freezing enemies in place when you're playing solo as a wizard is useful, but when doing so aids a team of players who are working together, it's much more fulfilling. Similarly, activating a mantra of healing as a monk just when your party is in dire need of a health boost is far more rewarding than just using this ability to save yourself.

Witch doctors can summon packs of zombie dogs. This is useful in battle and for scaring friends at parties.

It's extremely easy to invite friends to your game or to jump into their games, or to text chat with friends who are going about their own adventures in their own realms. But be warned: as players join your game, the forces of evil become more powerful, and if you don't stay close to each other and work together, you might find that enemies who were previously pushovers are suddenly quite dangerous. This added challenge encourages teamwork; a friend who joins your game and then runs ahead to take on monsters alone is no friend at all. For all its focus on teaming up with friends, though, it's odd that Diablo III doesn't have built-in support for voice chat. Speaking to your friends to coordinate tactics on the fly is helpful, but you'll need to resort to third-party software in order to do it.
Unfortunately, though Diablo III often feels like a well-oiled machine of adventure and reward, it does occasionally sputter. You're required to be online at all times, even if you're playing solo, so if you don't have a reliable internet connection, you simply cannot play Diablo III. The servers go down periodically for maintenance, so you might find the game unavailable to play at times that you want to play it. Additionally, even when the game is up and running, you may experience the rare bout of knockback lag. When enemies and attacks fill the screen (as they often do), you may encounter some severe slowdown. And for all its refinement, there's the occasional rough edge to the action. The monk can teleport to enemies and attack them, for instance, but this effect is abrupt and jarring.

There is unrest in the forest. There is trouble with the trees.

But these problems and frustrations are dwarfed by the pleasures Diablo III offers. There's a good chance you've played games a lot like Diablo III before, and at no point does it dare to surprise you by tinkering with its tried-and-true formula. But it creates such an enticing world and offers up such enjoyable abilities that it makes that formula feel fresh again. You may ultimately be victorious at vanquishing the forces of hell, but if their true mission is to give you a compelling reason to sacrifice sleep as you keep clicking your mouse into the wee hours of the night, then they have won a decisive victory.

Review : Assassin's Creed Revelations

The Good

• New movement options keep the platforming joyful
• Brotherhood recruitment has been nicely fleshed out
• Gorgeous, vibrant world with a lot to do
• Fantastic soundtrack
• Emotionally fulfilling ending.

The Bad

• Tower defense isn't fun
• Desmond sections aren't fun
• Disappointing main story.

Even the greatest heroes can't live forever. And so it goes for Ezio Auditore di Firenze, who finally steps aside to make room for new champions in Assassin's Creed: Revelations. This is another quality entry in a quality series, and it unleashes you in a visually stunning re-creation of 16th-century Constantinople. Additions to the movement mechanics make exploring the city a joyous exercise in high-flying parkour, with you as Ezio leaping across rooftops and flinging yourself up exterior walls like a Renaissance superhero. Like many sequels, Revelations giveth, and Revelations taketh away, so you lose certain elements (horses) in favor of a slew of new ones (bomb crafting). Lots and lots of new ones. Assassin's Creed: Revelations is sometimes a lumpy Frankenstein's monster of a game, half-formed appendages stitched into place regardless of whether they belong there or not. Thankfully, when Revelations remembers to be an Assassin's Creed game, it soars into the Turkish skies, reminding fans why they fell in love with this freewheeling series.

Expectedly, Revelations isn't all Ezio's story. It's also Desmond's. You remember Desmond, the bartender-cum-assassin whose mind is probed to discover truths that could potentially prevent the earth's destruction. Desmond looks different than you might remember: faces have been redesigned, features elongated, making your old comrades-in-conspiracy feel a bit unfamiliar, as if they have had plastic surgery since you saw them last. In any case, Desmond's mind is a prisoner within the Animus, the machine that allows his associates to tap into his ancestral memories. This computerized sanctuary is presented as an island, where shimmering doors leading to who-knows-where punctuate a virtual seaside. Here, Desmond and the enigmatic Subject Sixteen explore the bartender's memories and regrets in long conversations that illuminate Desmond's former life. In Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Desmond was becoming a full-fledged assassin, and you guided him through dank caves and across rooftops as a sort of Ezio-lite. The character arc matched the gameplay arc: Desmond was gaining confidence, and this was reflected in his ever-improving abilities. Revelations tries a more thoughtful approach but falls short. Subject 16 starts as a mystery and remains one, making for an unsatisfactory replacement for the team with which Desmond has typically interacted. Meanwhile, Desmond passes through those shining portals and into his own memories. These memory levels are made of gray columns and tiled floors that glisten and undulate like digital rivers. You move through them in first-person view while Desmond talks himself through the pain of his past. This synthetic cyberspace makes for an effective backdrop, but the accompanying gameplay is anything but fun. You create blocks and ramps out of thin air to pass through these levels, but moving across them feels flat, and jumping is inexact. The flatness turns to frustration as you encounter gusts that move the blocks you create, and deal with energy fields that cause them to dissipate. These levels are one of Revelations' many attempts to force elements into a game that doesn't benefit from them.

Altair may be older, but his sword still stings.

The good news is that you spend the bulk of your time as Ezio, though he isn't the only historical presence taking center stage. Altair from the original game returns as a playable character, and Revelations makes good use of the parallels between the heroes' lives, and scenes near the conclusion resonate with great emotion. Yes, there is a "holy cow!" moment near the end, as expected for an Assassin's Creed game, and the final shot will have fans--once again--wondering what comes next. But it's the calm before the storm that ties two lives together and thus impresses most; there's a moment when you realize you will miss these assassins of centuries past. As for Ezio's story, well, the man is older and tired, and the story reflects this weariness. It introduces new characters, the best of whom is Sofia, an Italian bookseller who welcomes Ezio's formidable charms. But the main plot, involving political unrest among the sultan and his family members, is merely serviceable, lacking the personal touch that made Assassin's Creed II's narrative so enthralling.
Nevertheless, Revelations is as absorbing as its predecessors, because it's so much fun to move through Constantinople and other key areas. This is due in part to the world's sheer beauty. Deep golds and reds make a stroll through the grand bazaar a feast for the eyes, and famous landmarks like Hagia Sophia cut striking silhouettes against the night sky. Row a boat across a strait, and you marvel at the authentic wake that ripples behind. A mauve haze softens the horizon as day passes into night, and makes you keenly feel the passage of time--a thematically relevant effect, considering how conscious the older Ezio is of his mortality. Of course, previous Assassin's Creed games looked stunning too, but Revelations is no less impressive for it. Not that every detail is perfect: citizens still occasionally pop into existence before your very eyes, and you might spot a guard clipped halfway through a rooftop. But such quibbles hardly matter in a game this visually spectacular.

Ezio doesn't kill for fun. He kills for the good of the people. And for profit.

The other reason exploration is so joyous is that the simple act of moving from place to place is so satisfying. Animations remain superb. Ezio doesn't grab some unseen outcropping as he scales towers: he reaches for actual ledges and outcroppings, which makes his impossible acrobatics feel authentic. Climbing a tower reaching into the heavens, admiring the view, and then making a leap of faith into a hay bale hundreds of feet below is a delight, as it always has been. But Revelations expands the parkour aspect of the game by giving you use of a handheld hook. With this hook, Ezio can scale upward more quickly and glide down ziplines--and even assassinate rooftop guards as he skims past.
The hook also allows you to reach out and grab walls as you fall--walls that would be out of reach in previous Assassin's Creed games. You can also buy parachutes and activate them in midair, which feels free and easy, like wafting downward on a cool breeze. Revelations makes it more fun than ever to stay on the move. In fact, some of its best moments focus on fluid parkour, such as an atmospheric trek through a dank cave and an exhilarating escape from a flaming boat. The best set pieces are those that focus on movement. How unfortunate that other such events are less successful--and that the game leans on the lesser ones so early on. Avoiding rocks as you are dragged behind a careening carriage isn't fun, nor is bashing other carriages as you drive one. Another carriage-focused mission is more entertaining and has you activating a parachute and flying behind the vehicle as a sort of Renaissance-era parasailer. It's nice to have the variety in between long stretches of fighting guards and wandering among crowds, but earlier games simply did such diversions better.

 

 

Not that Revelations doesn't try to mix up the pace; far from it. Like in Brotherhood, you can recruit assassins and send them off on contracts to such cities as Barcelona and Athens. This menu-based minigame works much as it did before, but there are two key improvements that make recruitment much more interesting now. Firstly, the contracts have been given context in the form of a strategic minigame. Completing contracts increases assassin influence and diminishes Templar presence. Your goal is to earn and retain control of those cities, which lends meaning to what used to be abstract busywork without real consequence. Secondly, once an assassin reaches a high enough level, you can assign him or her as a leader of a faction den. Doing so opens up new missions in which you accompany recruits as they tail targets and attempt assassinations. Your newest brothers typically fail their missions on the first attempt but rise above such adversity later on. Before, you knew Ezio was a mentor because you were told he was. Now, you actually feel like you're making a difference.

 

 

 

It's natural that developer Ubisoft Montreal would want to expand the previous game's mechanics, which felt like they belonged because they were pertinent to the story, and to Ezio's leadership role. On the other hand, it's hard to know what to make of the brand-new addition of tower defense to the mix. The Templars take over for Brotherhood's Borgias, controlling key areas and forcing you to kill their commander so that you can light a signal fire and purchase nearby shops. But the Templars can regain control if you don't take the time to assassinate key figures or bribe heralds. (This new twist on the notoriety concept doesn't require you to rip wanted posters off walls.) To preserve control, you participate in a tower defense battle in which you place assassins on the rooftops above a single, short alley and destroy the waves of soldiers that stampede in.You do all this from a single vantage point, earning morale (the minigame's currency) as Templars fall, and using it to place blockades and assassins. Not only does the whole thing seem out of place, but it isn't enjoyable on its own terms. It's nice that you can shoot marauders from above as your fellow assassins take aim with bows or leap onto their targets from rooftops. But your limited view is confining, and the gameplay is too simple to lead to a rewarding victory. To make things even less fun, the camera occasionally zooms in for a close-up of a falling enemy or brother. This cinematic touch was probably meant to add excitement to this unexciting process, but it's just aggravating. All it does is disrupt the flow.

When defending your stronghold, barriers are just as important as archers.

As an infomercial host might say: "But wait--there's more!" Now you can craft bombs out of ingredients that you find in chests and earn for completing contracts. It's a simple process; you just go to a crafting station, select the right ingredients, and voila: bombs. The bombs might spew poison into the air or simply explode as a good bomb should. They're nice toys to have but unnecessary because combat isn't so difficult that you're forced to pull them out of your trick bag. That doesn't mean that combat hasn't seen some changes, and to be fair, it is more challenging than before. Much of that new challenge comes from gunners squirreled away in tiny shelters, where they are out of your blade's reach. Getting shot strips away a good deal of health and knocks you back, though you should always have plenty of health packs if you regularly loot bodies. Nonetheless, it's annoying to be shot by a pair of unseen snipers, especially if you're already engaged. At least you have your own ranged weapons (gun, crossbow, knives, bombs) and can destroy gunners once you find them.
So you get more use out of your gun than before, but battles still focus on swordplay. There's still a nice ebb and flow to the action, which is made more brutal by new, frequent kill animations. You take up arms as both Ezio and Altair, and while Altair doesn't have that many moves at his disposal, his sections are much more linear. You won't do much free-form climbing as the Crusades-era hero; rather, these missions are focused much more on narrative. It's a nostaligic joy to return to Musyaf and see how it has changed in the years since Altair's original adventures. Besides, the change in scenery is welcome. Previous games let you gallop around on horseback outside of city walls. Constantinople doesn't offer much in the way of wide-open spaces, and in fact, there are no horses to ride there. But Ezio does make a detour late in the game, though the change in scenery is accompanied by a decline in free-form parkour.

You might miss horses, but at least there are boats--not to mention, a quick travel option.

Brotherhood introduced an unusual multiplayer component to the series, and it returns in Revelations. There are new characters with new special abilities, maps, modes, and other changes, but the core mechanics remain the same. In many cases, you are assigned a target and must identify him as he slinks through the crowds, trying to remain unseen. The map gives you only a rough idea of the target's location, so you need to keep your senses keen. Of course, you also need to refrain from giving yourself away to your assigned assassin, slinking through crowds and standing near identical crowd members. Some new modes take a different tack. In Deathmatch, the proximity radar is gone, as are the clones that make it easier to stay hidden. That mode is entertaining but simple, and it doesn't result in the kind of tension boasted in other modes. The new Artifact Assault mode produces tension, albeit of a different kind. This capture-the-flag variant gives you more chances to sprint at top speeds as you deliver the enemy's flag to your home base, hoping to escape a hotfooted pursuer.
As enjoyable as Revelations' multiplayer modes are, it's the single-player adventure that elicits the strongest reactions. The enhanced acrobatics make the simple act of moving from one place to the next an enormous delight. The improved recruitment mechanics communicate that there are, in fact, high stakes in this underground war between Templars and assassins. Not everything that's new represents an improvement, however. First-person puzzling and tower defense are bewildering, unenjoyable additions to a game that didn't need them. On the bright side, the game usually sticks to what it does best. And what Revelations does best is to set you free in a magnificent city, where you skyrocket across the rooftops, letting the gorgeous sights and evocative music transport you to another life and another century.

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Review : Battlefield 3

The Good

• Deep and varied multiplayer competition
• Awesome array of vehicles
• Many attractive environments
• Rewards teamwork handsomely.

The Bad

• Campaign is disappointing and dull
• Only six cooperative missions
• No way to practice jet flight outside of multiplayer.

When it comes to virtual battlefields, nobody does it quite like the Battlefield series. It has a long history of creating sprawling conflict zones where players have an exhilarating range of ways to make powerful contributions to the war effort. Yet it wasn't until the Bad Company games were released that Battlefield really made a splash on consoles. As you might expect, the PC version of Battlefield 3 still boasts better visuals and larger matches than its console counterparts, but competitive multiplayer on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is incredibly addictive, immersive, and exciting. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the single-player campaign, which fails to capitalize on the series' strengths and ends up feeling like an off-brand imitation. The six cooperative missions fare better and offer a tougher challenge, but only the competitive multiplayer provides a compelling reason to buy Battlefield 3. With online battles this excellent, though, that reason is all you need.

 

 

There are many factors that combine to make these battlefields as good as they are, most of which will be familiar to series veterans. Nine great maps set the stage for up to 24 players to fight it out in a variety of urban, industrial, and military locations. These places all look great, though the grassy hills and blue skies of the Caspian Border are naturally more appealing than the drab urban corridors of the Grand Bazaar. The maps vary widely in size and offer diverse environmental elements, including claustrophobic tunnels, coastal roads, desert plains, and a variety of multistory buildings. Many man-made structures can be damaged or destroyed by the explosive tools at your disposal, creating new infiltration routes or removing cover positions. The maps are designed to create opportunities for combat at all ranges, and the element of destruction lets you manipulate the environment to create even more.

Combat is not just about where you are, but also about how you get there, and the variety of vehicles is one of the things that makes Battlefield so uniquely engaging. Small maps might only have a Humvee or a light armored vehicle, while larger ones boast buggies, tanks, amphibious transports, helicopters, and jets. There are a few variations within each class of vehicle that make them better suited for troop transport, anti-infantry, antiair, or anti-vehicle combat, and learning how to get the most out of each one is a blast, even if you're sometimes the one getting blown up. Whether you're piloting, gunning, or just going along for the ride, vehicles offer a key tactical element that can change the tide of battle when used by a savvy squad. Using a vehicle well can earn you powerful upgrades and bonus weapons, but it can be tough to get the hang of the flight mechanics for helicopters and jets. It's a shame there's no way to practice flying them outside of active multiplayer matches (with one exception), though you can take comfort in knowing that you are at least entertaining your fellow players when your jet nose-dives into a mountain.

The suppression effect won't keep you from drilling an enemy at this range.

The maps and vehicles allow for a great degree of strategic freedom, but choosing your class and loadout is the first and most important decision you make before spawning into combat. Abilities and weapons have shuffled around a bit since Battlefield: Bad Company 2, so now the assault class slings health packs and totes defibrillators, while the support class carries light machine guns and ammunition boxes. Engineers still thrive on vehicle support/destruction, and recon delivers long-range death. New gadgets like robots that can arm charges (engineer) and mark targets (recon) give players more to look out for on the battlefield, and claymores and mortars (support) ensure that the engineer class isn't the only one packing an explosive punch. Unlockables include class-specific weapons and gadgets, gun-specific sights and attachments, and specializations that can make you tougher and deadlier. Focusing on one class to unlock higher level gear has its advantages, but so does spreading around your progress in an effort to be more adaptable to the ebb and flow of combat.

Regardless of what loadout you choose, there are a lot of ways to earn points for your actions. In addition to kills and kill assists, you can now earn points for suppressing enemies who are subsequently killed by your teammates. When a player is suppressed by enemy fire, they suffer from blurred vision and decreased accuracy.

 

 

 

 This disorienting tactic can help you mitigate the effectiveness of enemies who are peppering you from a prone position, which returns in Battlefield 3 after being left out of the Bad Company games. Battlefield 3 may be a successor in name to Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, but in spirit, the competitive multiplayer is a refined version of that offered in Bad Company 2. Nevertheless, it will be immediately familiar to veteran players of either game, though fans of Bad Company 2 will encounter a few other small but notable differences. Buildings are not easily destroyed in Battlefield 3 and underslung grenade launchers are, as of now, far less prevalent. Furthermore, you can't just run up to someone and stab him in the face for an instant kill; you need to get in two swipes or sneak up from behind. Nor can you simply rely on explosives to destroy M-COM stations in Rush mode because arming and detonating the charge is now the only way to progress.

 

 

As with the previous Battlefield games, the focus is on teamwork. Diverse loadouts encourage you and your squad to make complementary choices, and point bonuses reward you for working together. Every vehicle is better with teammates in it, and even the simple act of spotting enemies is an effective way to contribute to your team's efforts. Teamwork is woven throughout the fabric of Battlefield 3's multiplayer action, and when your team is working well together, it's one of the most gratifying experiences you can have in a game.Battlefield 3 also has six cooperative missions that require teamwork on a smaller scale. These stand-alone sorties have a narrative connection to the campaign, but they are tougher to complete than most campaign missions and you can unlock some nice weapons for use in the multiplayer. Chatting with your teammate is helpful here, especially in the stealthy sections, because the spotting mechanic doesn't sufficiently differentiate enemies at long distances. Your foes are fairly tough, even on normal difficulty, though some unexpected quick-time events can also catch you off guard. The most notable mission here puts you in the cockpit of a helicopter, which provides the only chance outside of multiplayer to practice your flying skills. Earning all of the weapon unlocks requires repeat playthroughs of these missions, so it's a shame there aren't more of them to keep you busy.
Finally, there's the campaign. Battlefield 3's single-player adventure tells a harrowing tale of a fictional modern conflict. It follows a familiar formula by delivering a short campaign with diverse combat scenarios and dramatic set pieces. The story is solid and has some good acting, but the "Now tell us about this mission" interrogation mechanic makes the structure feel stale (having made a notable appearance in last year's Call of Duty: Black Ops). The focus on realism makes the unrealistic elements like the heavy-handed linearity, quick-time events, and reckless foes even more noticeable, but most disappointing of all is the campaign's utter failure to capitalize on any of the series' strengths. The lively personality of the Bad Company games is nowhere to be found, nor is the operational freedom on which the series has thrived. When you climb into the cockpit of a fighter jet, you are merely the gunner in an on-rails sequence rather than the hotshot pilot. There are some beautiful environments and a few exciting sequences, but these are outweighed by the overly familiar cityscapes and set pieces that were clearly inspired by other shooter campaigns from the past few years. This contributes to the pervasive sense that this campaign is not only outdated, but also outclassed.

You can't outrun shotgun rounds.

Fortunately, Battlefield 3's competitive multiplayer is among the best in its class, providing immensely rich and immersive combat zones. Though there are still some intermittent server issues that might cause you to lose your connection or put you in an unpopulated game, these are infrequent occurrences that aren't likely to keep you from having a blast online. Battlefield 3 may not offer much beyond the multiplayer, but there are so many ways to contribute and feel like a powerful soldier that after hours and hours of playing, all you'll want to do is play more

Review : Crysis 2

The Good

• Nanosuit and big levels offer plenty of flexibility
• Powerful depiction of a devastated city
• The second half is stuffed with awesome, memorable battles
• Good-sized campaign and full-featured multiplayer offer lots of lasting value
• Outstanding soundtrack.

The Bad

• Poor AI detracts from the excitement
• Some online troubles
• The first few hours drag.

 

 

 

 

Crysis 2 has to live up to a high standard. Not only did the original Crysis pack a lot of high-quality action into its good-sized campaign, but its stunningly authentic rendering of lush jungle vistas set the graphical standard by which all modern shooters are judged. Fortunately, this sequel does an admirable job of living up to the original's reputation of sheer technical prowess. It doesn't feature all the visual bells and whistles you might expect in a game from a developer known for pushing the limits of modern hardware. But, this sequel still looks amazing, and it plays that way too. The jungle is now of the urban variety--New York City to be precise. You make your way through office buildings, across crumbling bridges, and around broad city squares, where robotic aliens infest hallways and swarm across rooftops. Large environments give you room to maneuver and grant you freedom to approach battle in a number of ways, which makes Crysis 2 a great alternative to the plethora of first-person shooters that usher you down corridors on your way to the next action movie set piece.

Crysis 2 does an excellent job of portraying a city under siege without indulging in constant action-film cutaways. There is still plenty of cinematic excess here, though it's delivered organically. Yes, there are a few scripted moments in which you are more of an observer than a participant; and, yes, you might be able to hold a key to peer at the imposing alien structure towering in the distance. But rather than wrest control away from you to highlight every falling skyscraper, collapsing passageway, and hovering alien ship, Crysis 2 allows these events to simply happen. And, because they are often so momentous, your attention is drawn to them. The few occasions when the game stops to consider how the average citizen might be affected by an alien invasion lend humanity to your militaristic actions. Familiar landmarks are defaced, lay in ruin, or explode as you watch. There's an eerie contrast between the untouched trees of Central Park swaying in the wind and the rubble stretching behind them. The visual design eschews artistic flair in favor of authenticity, and it mostly succeeds at providing a frightening real-world backdrop for large-scale shoot-outs.
If you appreciated Crysis as a technical benchmark, as well as an excellent shooter, you might be surprised by Crysis 2's more modest menu options. There are a few preset graphics options (high, very high, and extreme), but the menu doesn't allow you to tweak antialiasing settings and such, as you would expect in the sequel to the highly customizable Crysis. (You can adjust these settings by entering certain console commands, but that is not an acceptable alternative to built-in menu options.) Furthermore, the game does not support DirectX 11, so you won't see the advanced lighting techniques here that you see in games like Metro 2033 and Dirt 2. But to pick these nits with much vigor would be unfair to one of the best-looking games in recent times. Crysis 2 looks stunning, runs smoothly on even modest systems, and suffers from few obvious bugs and glitches.

Armor mode offers extra protection when you need it most.

Perhaps the game's most astounding technical feat is that it displays so much on the screen at once and that distant objects are rendered with more detail than you would typically expect. Look closely and you begin to appreciate the details. Birds strut on the pavement and then fly off as you approach. Alien dropships cast ominous shadows on pockmarked concrete and abandoned taxicabs. There are multiple stunning sights, such as a nighttime vista of the burning metropolis from a famed island in the East River. Such scenes are elevated by a rousing and varied orchestral soundtrack that underscores the visual juxtaposition of the picturesque and the profane. Consider, for example, a creepy minor-key track that contrasts dark, throbbing cellos with the busy fiddling of violins many octaves higher. Or an undulating melody through which electronic vibrations weave in and out.
You play as a marine known as Alcatraz, and like Nomad in the original game, you are outfitted with a nanosuit. This suit makes you the soldier of the future; it allows you to jump to great heights, temporarily cloak yourself, and scan your environment. You can also activate a mode that boosts your armor. You receive this suit in dramatic fashion from the original game's Prophet, and the nature of this technology figures heavily into the story. Someone wants that suit. Thus, you aren't just fighting off an alien invasion, but you're also fighting ground troops that would be happy to see you dead. You won't find much of interest in the characters, and the meandering plot takes a while to find its rhythm. But once it does, it carries you along properly, delivers a few twists, and comes to an intriguing conclusion that you won't see coming. How refreshing it is for a game to set up a sequel without resorting to cheap cliches.

Creepy scenes like this one go a long way towards establishing the fearsome atmosphere.

It's a shame that it takes an hour or two of nondescript FPS action before you get to see the spectacular devastation. In fact, if you haven't played the original Crysis, the first stretch of the sequel might make you wonder why it is so beloved. You spend the early going pitted against relatively dumb human enemies who run past you towards some distant cover spot but fail to shoot, stand around staring straight ahead, and otherwise act as if they don't know you are pumping them full of lead. Later on, you catch friendlies and aliens standing around together, looking like they might be enjoying each other's company. Aliens and humans alike crash into objects and then just run in place rather than go around them or leap over. Other times, the invading ETs get confused when trying to leap to higher vantage points and make it easy to turn them to alien goo. The AI simply isn't good, and its mediocrity stands out all the more against the otherwise convincing climate.
Fortunately, the AI is an infrequent concern once the invasion is in full swing and you're surrounded by dozens of foes roaming the maps and surrounding you. The aliens come in a few varieties. Some armored creatures might pounce on you and knock you off your feet or fire energy bolts at you. Many of them hop onto ledges and rooftops to gain higher ground. Miniboss types pummel you with rockets and are tough to bring down without a C4 charge or a few rockets. Crysis 2 offers a nice challenge, particularly in its second half; some of those aliens soak up a lot of bullets before going down. You get an array of military-grade weapons, and you can tailor them with different sights (reflex sights, for example) and other enhancements (say, a silencer). You also collect the glitter that dead aliens leave behind (called nano catalyst) and use it to upgrade your nanosuit. For example, you can improve your suit's energy regeneration, or you can unlock a fun ground-pound ability. The suit works a bit differently than it did in the original Crysis. For instance, you no longer activate power mode to jump to higher levels; you just hold down the jump key. Rather than activate speed mode, you sprint.



The maps aren't as spacious as those in the original Crysis or in Far Cry 2, which may disappoint fans of the original seeking a healthy dose of sandbox gameplay. Compared to most shooters, however, Crysis 2 still offers plenty of room to maneuver. As you enter the larger areas--often from a rooftop above--the game encourages you to use your suit to scan the environment. Doing so allows you to tag enemies for assault or avoidance, and it shows you where all-important ammo and weapon stashes are located. How you approach battle is then up to you. You can activate armor mode and go in guns blazing, though Crysis 2 is not a bunny-hopping, run-and-gun shooter; the heavier your weapon, the slower your movement. Carelessness does not bring good results. Sometimes, you can avoid battle entirely by cloaking yourself and sneaking around. More often than not, you employ variations on these themes: cloaking yourself long enough to flank the enemy and then unleashing a barrage; popping a turret gunner in the head; or performing a satisfying stealth kill on a chattering alien from behind. Or perhaps you might use the verticality of the levels to your benefit, leaping to a ledge above and rushing to a better vantage point.


The resulting firefights are exceptional and unpredictable. Crysis 2's variety comes not from one on-rails sequence after another, but from busy, open maps that constantly break up your line of sight and give you a reason to use both short- and long-ranged weaponry. There are a few on-rails/turret sequences, but Crysis 2 is longer than most modern shooters--10 hours or so--and individual levels span multiple fronts. As a result, such orchestrated events don't overstay their welcome, and the game feels more like one extended experience than a series of bite-sized chunks sewn together. What makes Crysis 2 fun is that you author your own destiny by getting in an armored vehicle and squashing a few grunts under your wheels or ripping off the same vehicle's turret gun and wasting enemies.
Such diversity leads to superb shoot-outs in the final two-thirds of the campaign. It's unfortunate that the first few levels lack momentum; the story doesn't go anywhere, the environments only hint at the upcoming havoc, and the baffling AI drains excitement away. Once you finish the campaign, though, it isn't the early down moments you remember most but the thrills that erupted as you approached Grand Central Station or blasted your way through extraterrestrial hordes in a nail-biting sequence near the game's finale. Fending off leaping aliens with your comrades in a large city square is a blast: robotic hulks lumber on the ground level while agile foes skitter across ledges and fire from windows. In another momentous mission, the lights go out and you engage foes while activating your suit's heat-sensing mode.
The multiplayer part of Crysis 2 is superficially similar to that of other modern shooters, and it does a good job of keeping you engaged once you get past some technical hiccups. Crysis 2 rewards you with experience and levels as you play, but unlike the console versions of the game, you get access to all six modes from the get-go. These include standards like Instant Action (Deathmatch); Team Instant Action; a king-of-the hill mode called Crash Site; and a capture-the-flag variant. Rounding out the online options are two assault-and-defend modes: Assault and Extraction.

You can equip your weapons with a number of different scopes.

These game types all grant a good dose of action, though it is much different from the expansive Power Struggle matches that defined the original. Nevertheless, Crysis 2 differentiates itself from other shooters with the same nanosuit abilities as in the single-player campaign. You can cloak yourself for short periods of time and take your opponents by surprise; escape a sticky situation by leaping to higher ground; and improve your defenses by activating armor mode. The diverse maps give you plenty of opportunity to employ these skills. On the vertical Skyline map, for example, jumping to higher ground is a great way to gain an advantage over a pursuing enemy. On the atmospheric Sanctuary, stealthy players will appreciate the many archways and gravestones that shield them from view when they need to recharge their energy. It's all solid fun, and given the nature of the nanosuit powers, it's unpredictable enough to keep you invested for the long term.
PC players will be happy to note that they can join up with others using a traditional server browser, as well as the matchmaking feature, though few players seem to be using said matchmaking. That's not the only drawback affecting online play, either. Joining a dedicated server doesn't get you into a game; all you get is a pre-match room full of people wondering why the match won't start. Unranked servers seem to function just fine, however. According to the game, only playing in ranked servers is supposed to earn you experience and other rewards, but as of this review, playing unranked games has earned us experience points. For now, you can still join others and have a blast while advancing--just not in the way apparently intended.

The multiplayer maps are great to look at; too bad there are a few online troubles holding players back.

Gaining experience is important because it forms the core of Crysis 2's elaborate system of unlocks. While you can choose from one of a few premade classes, the game allows you (in most modes) to create your own class by selecting from a variety of weapons and suit modules. These modules are many and may allow for faster firing rate, automatic warning when enemies come near, radar scrambling, and more. Some unlocks are earned by meeting the necessary skill requirement; others are tied to particular milestones. For example, you might earn a module upgrade by killing 150 enemies while in armor mode. There are many such upgrades and many ways to customize your character.
Crysis was a superb game, and it wasn't so just because of the astounding technology that brought it to life. Crysis 2 doesn't make as strong of a mark, but it comes close, and in a sea of me-too shooters, it feels unique and offers an exciting journey that's as much your own making as that of the developer. The wow factor is undercut by some AI and multiplayer oddities. But while the lows are inescapable, the highs are intense, and the more you play, the more extraordinary they become. If you give this sequel a little patience, it will bombard you with the thrills you came seeking.


 

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Review : The Amazing Spider Man - The Game

The Good

• It's a blast to swing about the city
• Clever, laid-back sense of humor
• Some boss fights look very exciting
• Nice mix of combat and stealth.

The Bad

• Indoor missions aren't as fun as outdoor ones
• Combat and boss fights are too easy.

In The Amazing Spider-Man, the webslinger dispenses quick wit almost as fast as he dispenses justice. More importantly, he gets room to show off his high-flying acrobatics with a freedom his last two outings were lacking. This time, Spidey has the whole of Manhattan as his playground. As you fling yourself above the city, swinging past skyscrapers and vaulting from towers, you get a dizzying sense of what it would be like to slip into the famous red and blue costume.

 

It's a joy when The Amazing Spider-Man thrusts you into this wide-open world. By holding down a single trigger, you propel webbing from your wrists, swinging in whichever direction you choose. Expectedly, you don't necessarily see the webbing attach to anything nearby, which is fine: the joyous locomotion is all in the name of fun. Yet the game does a great job of providing the illusion that the laws of physics still vaguely apply. When you swish through a park that isn't near tall buildings, you stay near the ground, practically brushing the grass underneath you. When surrounded by stately superstructures, you rise toward the heavens, from where you can look upon the entire city and admire its vibrancy. Out here in the concrete wilds, The Amazing Spider-Man is at its best, simply because moving around is so much fun. Hundreds of collectible comic pages twinkle on rooftops and flutter in the air. They are simple but nice rewards for the act of locomotion. Come near a page, and you hear and see its telltale glimmer, and note the button prompt inviting you to fling toward it. These signs are enough to have you scanning the screen, searching for the elusive paper. But there's more to the game than webswinging, of course: most of the story-based missions take you off the streets and send you into the sewers and other such interiors. Out in Manhattan, most tasks are optional and involve picking up asylum escapees and returning them to their institution, beating up muggers, and so forth.

Spidey prepares for his yoga lesson.

With a couple of exceptions, most of these tasks don't evolve in any way, and they become stale if you focus on them for too long. One minigame has you hovering a circle over Spidey as he flies through the air automatically; you're meant to keep him in view of the video camera that follows him. It isn't very challenging or fun, and in fact, on medium (Hero) difficulty, The Amazing Spider-Man is rarely challenging. Other tasks--rescuing sickly citizens and rushing them to a nearby makeshift hospital--are more enjoyable, in part because of the banter between Spider-Man and his poor passengers. ("No drooling on the suit, please!") But eventually, the voice samples repeat, and playing paramedic loses some of its appeal. Nevertheless, there are enough things to do that you'll be thrilled to have the chance to zoom through the air at top speed.
The missions that lead you through the story aren't as delightful as the open-world hijinks, though the story itself is as wonderfully absurd as any Spidey tale to come before it. The game begins (apparently) after the events of the upcoming The Amazing Spider-Man film, with a tour of the Oscorp facility, where the corporation is winding down some unusual experiments. Well, not everything is on the up-and-up, and soon a viral outbreak has the city in turmoil. Peter/Spider-Man's response? Break out an asylum inmate who holds the key to a cure. With so many variables, it's no wonder that Spidey's plans don't follow their intended script, though he stays pretty upbeat throughout. Spider-Man is as funny here as he's ever been, cracking wise in even the most stressful situations. The dialogue is a good mix of seriousness and ridiculousness, making it easy to stick with the plot even when it goes so far over the top it spills into bizarre territory.

Why do all the punching yourself, when there's a nice heavy statue nearby?

Story-driven chapters are notably more confining than the free-form gameplay that surrounds them. You investigate dull-looking sewers, where you notice technical drawbacks like heavy aliasing that go overlooked in Manhattan, which is saturated with color and personality. In the indoor spaces, you confront hazards like steam valves (clog them up with your web shots!) and pools of acid (navigate around them!). You must take a more cautious approach, holding down a button to slow down time, choosing a proper perch, and then releasing the button to leap to that spot. You can tap the button should you prefer a more fluid pace, but you risk zipping into the wrong position if you aren't careful.



That same button, when used on a guard, a robot, or some other meanie, has you rushing in to initiate combat. The influence of Batman: Arkham City is keenly felt when you bash on baddies, though Spidey's game isn't as fluid as Batman's. Nevertheless, the basics are similar: you tap attack buttons to pound on your foes, and when the right visual prompt appears, you press the dodge button to somersault out of the way. And like Bats, Spidey is particularly vulnerable to bullets, though you have a one-button escape move that allows you to quickly flee danger. You can even web-grab objects like vending machines and dumpsters and smash them on the ground, stunning nearby foes and allowing you to easily blanket them with webbing.

The similarities to that other superhero game are obvious in sections that encourage stealth. You can hover above an enemy or slink from behind and perform a sneak attack. Dropping from a beam, tapping a guard's shoulder, and then wrapping him up and sticking him to the ceiling is a hoot. The AI is mechanical, and not too keen--it's usually simple to zip out of danger and resume your predation.
The guards aren't imbeciles, though, and shine their flashlights about when they are aware of your presence, potentially giving you away if a beam lands on you. Another great touch: you aren't limited to roosting in predetermined areas. Though you can't necessarily stick to every surface, you can usually flit to the wall right over your target's head and wrap him up from there. It's a nice, flexible system.

This boss fight tests your ability to press a button when the game tells you to.

These gameplay basics are fine, but the interior missions are much less compelling than events that occur in the open city. A lengthy section toward the end of the game is even more limiting than many of the missions that come before, losing most of the fun in favor of providing narrative tension. But even before this, avoiding alarm lasers and acid puddles isn't as enjoyable as most aboveground missions, and there are few opportunities to swing with abandon. While the combat is entertaining enough to watch, it is entirely too easy most of the time. There's a simple upgrade system in place in which you spend experience points on new moves and other improvements. But there's no real sense that you are getting more powerful. Battles are easy from beginning to end, and never feel radically different or require more finesse just because you level up your skills.
That's even true of most of the boss fights, which rarely require more than a single attempt. Fighting half-man, half-beast abominations isn't that compelling due to the ease of combat. Robot battles in the streets of Manhattan, on the other hand, make up for their lack of challenge with an incredible sense of speed and the illusion of public danger. Imagine any given scene in a superhero movie in which the superstar faces a menacing rival in the midst of a bustling metropolis. The Amazing Spider-Man deftly re-creates that brand of visual rush when you race after marauding machines and glide about gigantic automatons. The skill required often comes down to hitting the right button when prompted, but when the excellent movement mechanics collide with the urgency of a boss battle, the game is explosive.

Even Spider-Man appreciates a nice stroll in the park from time to time.

Such moments are the exception rather than the rule in The Amazing Spider-Man. The game spends too much time in drab drains and boring science facilities, where its best assets are sidelined in favor of easy combat scenarios. But when developer Beenox gives Spidey room to soar, you get caught up in the pure elation of swinging through a spirited city, where helicopters hover overhead and well-wishers call out to you in the streets. And that elation is the best reason to don the suit once more and remind yourself that with great power comes good fun.
 

Review : Medal of Honor Airborne

The Good

• Lots of intense action
• Strong online multiplayer
• Levels aren't strictly linear.

The Bad

• First half of game isn't very interesting
• Weapons can be tough to aim thanks to excessive recoil
• Lots of little flaws detract from the overall experience.

It seems you can't read a preview or review of a World War II-based FPS without hearing about how many games there are in the genre. With good reason, too--it's a crowded one. But just because there are a lot of them doesn't mean there can't be some good ones. Medal of Honor: Airborne is one such game. It starts off really slow, and the whole parachuting hook is little more than a gimmick; but later on the game realizes its potential and gets good.
There's not much of a story to Airborne. It's WWII; Nazis need killing and the world needs saving. You're in the Airborne division, so you'll be jumping out of planes and doing your part to swing the war in the Allies' favor. Before each mission you're given a brief rundown on what's going on and list of objectives to accomplish. Rather than spawning on the battlefield you'll arrive in style by parachuting out of a plane. As you fall to the ground you'll want to maneuver toward green smoke, which indicates a safe landing zone. In theory, parachuting into the level is supposed to open up a whole new style of play. You're free to land wherever you want, but invisible walls prevent you from getting too clever, and nine times out of 10, when you do land somewhere other than the safe zone you'll end up dead in a matter of seconds. There are some special landing zones to discover, and sometimes these areas will provide you with an advantageous starting point. But because you find most of these locations when you're already on the ground, they're of little use.

Might as well jump.

Once on the ground you'll take on waves of Axis soldiers over the course of the game's six levels. Six levels might not sound like a lot, but each generally takes an hour or more to complete, so it'll probably take most people around eight hours to finish the game. Your objectives are shown on your radar and you're free to tackle them in whatever order you choose. Between choosing your starting location and being able to pick what to take on first it might sound like there's a lot of freedom here, but there's really not--you can't start from many different places, and you have to do the same tasks regardless of the order you start them. Mission objectives range from blowing up AA guns to clearing buildings of enemy soldiers, taking out tanks, and detonating lots of explosives. On their own these tasks aren't anything unique, but because the levels are so long and feature so many objectives you often feel as though you're performing monumental feats rather than routine tasks.
The first three levels aren't very interesting. They're fairly linear, take place in unexciting settings, and don't play to the game's strengths. Starting with the fourth level the game picks up since you're given more freedom as to how you want to tackle the levels. You might decide to climb towers to take out snipers (their position is given away by a reflection off their scope), clear the area of ground troops, and then make your way into a building, while a different player might head to the building first, clear the ground troops second, and hide from the snipers rather than kill them. The game's artificial intelligence isn't very good, but at least it's aggressive. You can pick off guys as they peek around corners, but they won't just take it lying down. They'll spray bullets in your direction without looking, and they're rather fond of blindly tossing grenades over their backs. If you get too close or they get some reinforcements, enemy soldiers will charge right at you and inflict serious damage until you can fend them off with your weak melee attacks.

You can pick where you land, but straying outside the safe zone typically means death.

The controls are pretty standard for a first-person shooter. A sprint button comes in quite handy when trying to dash from one bit of cover to the next. Once you're behind that cover, the ability to lean and fire is extremely useful, as is the ability to raise your weapon and aim using its sights. As you progress through the game you'll be able to upgrade your weapons, earning bigger clips, faster reloads, and secondary firing abilities. You can carry two weapons at a time as well as a pistol, which isn't very powerful but has unlimited ammo. Grenades are often tough to come by, but ammunition is plentiful, as are health packs, which are scattered throughout the levels. It's a good thing, too, because once you start getting hit your health depletes in a hurry.
While most of Airborne is good, it does have its share of problems. Many of the automatic weapons have too much recoil, making them extremely difficult to aim--a problem not shared by the CPU, who is more than capable of hitting you from across the level regardless of the gun. Your fellow soldiers are sometimes quite useful, but other times they don't do anything at all--or worse, they stand right in front of you and block your shot. We also fell out of the level a few times, though this was usually when we parachuted someplace the game probably didn't want us to. When all of these problems come together the game can be extremely frustrating, as you're forced to try the same part of a level over and over again in an attempt to find the best way to circumvent the game's sometimes cheap tactics. One way in which the PS3 version has seen improvement over the Xbox 360 and PC versions is that it seems to take far fewer bullets to take down an enemy soldier on the PS3. It was really frustrating to empty a clip into someone only to have them shake it off like the Terminator, so it's good that this issue is fixed here.
Unlike the last Medal of Honor, MOH: Airborne has a solid online component. Up to 8 people can hop online and play ranked and unranked matches on half a dozen maps and a few different game types. The action's always fast-paced and for us, at least, lag-free. Interestingly enough, multiplayer is the one area where choosing where you want to parachute into a level actually lives up to the hype. As you descend you can see both friends and foes and, if you're quick enough, can land in areas that are quite advantageous--like right behind that jerk camping on a rooftop with a sniper rifle.

There are lots of different weapons, and they can be upgraded too.

Airborne isn't a great-looking game, but except for a frequently terrible frame rate, the visuals don't hamper the experience. The frame rate wasn't an issue on the PC or Xbox 360, but the PS3 version will often come to a near standstill when the action gets hectic. Outside of a few nice-looking buildings, most structures are simple and look pretty much the same--not only to one another, but to every other WWII game out there. There are only a few different types of soldiers and while they aren't very detailed, you can tell one type from the next easily. At least, you can if you're up close. It's tough to tell the good guys from the bad guys when you're far apart, and it's even harder to hit them thanks to a lack of transition animation, meaning they might instantly jump from one position to the next. Weapons look great, but explosions look embarrassingly last-gen. Not only do weapons look nice, but they sound great, too. The rest of the game sounds pretty good as well. You'll hear the familiar orchestral theme from previous MOH games, and there's lots of chatter from both Axis and Allied soldiers.
Medal of Honor: Airborne is a game that rewards those who are patient enough to stick with it. The first half of the game is dull and just rehashes the same sort of gameplay you've seen countless times before. But about halfway through, things pick up and gradually get better and better until the last two levels, which are quite intense and a lot of fun to play. The multiplayer isn't anything groundbreaking, but it's quite good and adds some value to an otherwise short game. If you're tired of the genre, Airborne won't do anything to change your mind, but if you're looking to fight for the Allied cause yet again, it's a worthy tour of duty.