Immersive and atmospheric WWII FPS with awesome graphics and innovative elements.
There are many WWII games out there, each with its very own style and key element: Call of Duty 2 with its epic story, Brothers in Arms with its tactical element, etc. That said each new WWII game is carefully scrutinized and weighed and measured - and its safe to say that MOH:A adds a new great title to the top 3 WWII FPS games out there.
The game is not your typical gung-ho american super soldiers, but rather a very "Band of Brothers"-like storyline that displays what war is like: brutal, merciless and nothing for lone wolves.
Gameplay 10/10
The game is divided into missions, each starting out with a ingame graphics scene of the troops sitting in a briefing tent. An officer briefs the troops using intel, photographs and map displaying the landing zone and pointing out safe landing zones. These zones are places where the larger part of the troops will land, but of course you are free to land anywhere you like. After the briefing you will pick your gear and start the mission sitting aboard a troop carrier with your comrades chattering and commenting the situation below. As soon as the green light comes on you and your fellow comrades go for the jump. This is all in ingame graphics and very immersive. As soon as you exit the plane the reason for the briefing becomes obvious: you can pick your landing spot and basically land anywhere on the map. Of course landing in the thick of a german garrison might not work too well as you can think. Another element is the landing - you have to pick a spot that you can land on safely - if your parachute gets caught in a tree, if you botch your landing by tripping over wire, if you land on a roof and fall off it, if you don't land perfectly - you will need a moment to gather yourself, exposing yourself to enemy fire.
As soon as you hit the ground though, everything becomes familiar - the controls are easy to learn, the difficulty is well set. You and your squad have a set of objectives to fulfill, but the order you achieve these in is your own to choose. The enemies range from italian mercenaries to german elite troops - each fighting with a different set of skills - the italians shooting sloppy and fleeing quickly, the elite troops shooting precise, using grenades and never retreating.
One thing to note is the customizing of weaponry - this does not mean that you can customize your weapons in any way you like - the more you use a weapon the higher your skill with it gets and if you hit a certain skill level you will receive a custom stock (for less recoil), a custom barrel (for better precision) or a similar piece of equipment. These customizations can also be seen ingame and make this feature not only an intelligent way of "experience" gathering, but also add to the atmosphere by making your character a hardened veteran who modifies the weapons for his use over time.
You usually fight with intelligent comrades, shooting and fighting along with you. What makes this special is that these soldiers work intelligently, using cover, throwing grenades and generally really supporting you. You usually also fight over medium range, sometimes going for long range kills with a sniper rifle and sometimes battling it out in close quarters combat using your buttstock and fists. This makes combat very different as the maps are very versatile in general - houses can be entered and many houses have pathways/rooms stacked with detailed furniture that are not directly needed (ie. a cellars, back rooms,...) for the storyline but add a great deal to the believability of the surroundings.
Graphics 10/10 The graphics are quite outstanding in this game: be it the realistic surfaces, the great models, the textures, the realistic lighting, the smoke effects or the character design - everything in this game is top notch.
Noteworthy are special effects similar to movies - if a grenade goes off near you your screen turns red and your view gets a bit hazy. If you botch your landing you can see your hands come up to support your fall. If you aim via ironsights the focus is clear the rest is blurry simulating a depth of field. If you sprint your view expands and blurs at the edges - in addition to the shaking view simulating your run this is a great experience.
Overall the graphics are very well done, nothing out of the ordinary, but very high-end and great looking. Sound 9/10 The sound is pretty much standard WWII sound with weapon sounds and voices being well done. What is notable is that each nationality can be identified by language - and the germans aren't continueously yelling "Heil Hitler" but instead really doing battle chatter, screaming about tanks and informing each other about enemy positions.
Overall the sound is nothing special, but very well done and greatly supporting the action and atmosphere.
Value 10/10 The value you get for your money is very high - a lot of highly exciting missions, a pretty well done storyline and awesome effects and graphics - all included in one of the best WWII games out there at the moment.
Reviewer's Tilt 10/10
Personally being a huge WWII game fan this one was quite easy to rate for reviewers tilt - a 10 out of 10 was the only possible result.
If you like WWII games - go get this one and start jumping out of planes.