Breathtaking moments followed by extreme repetition and boredom sum up what this game has to offer.
The gameplay is exactly like every other Medal of Honor game, so if you've played those you should know exactly what you're doing. You have 3 or 4 main guns, some grenades, satchels, binoculars, etc., and you must take down your enemies in a grand fashion. The only difference is that this time, you have a squad with you. In the other games, there were moments where you'd have some allies with you, but in this game, they are always there with you. They never leave. SPOILERS. The only problem with this part of the game though is that, if I remember correctly, none of them die. If the developers are trying to get me to feel the emotional feelings that those soldiers undoubtedly did during the war, then they need to create a bond between everybody, which they did, and then proceed to kill some of them off. It would have helped the story out a lot, but it is still a rather good story regardless of that major shortcoming. END SPOILERS.
Instead of Germans, this game's focus is around the Japanese including unforgettable events in our history such as Pearl Harbor. The Pearl Harbor scenario in this game is breathtaking. At the beginning, you are just cruising around in a car with a higher upper telling you how things work around there when all Hell breaks loose. Explosions are everywhere, people are screaming and dying all around you. It's up to you to stop the onslaught of the Japanese with help from your friends. It's amazing and looks great. But like the Gamespot review said, it's very hard to get a stable framerate out of this game. During intense moments such as these (which there are many), the game starts chugging and it completely takes you out of the experience. I wouldn't say it ruins the game, but if this problem didn't exist, this game's score would be much higher all around. Another problem is the extreme repetition. There are moments in this game when you will be running through very long levels in a jungle or a stream and enemies pop up out of nowhere. It usually consists of run, stop, shoot, repeat, but the track shooting missions and squad tactics thankfully help cover this up a little bit. My only other problem that I encountered was a very bad glitch that made me drop my score of the gameplay down to 7. One the last level, or perhaps the one before, you must run your way through trenches while dodging gunners up ahead and go through the door at the end. During this, enemies are supposed to drop down from the left, but it didn't happen and the door doesn't open until after you kill them. I would constantly run back and forth trying to trigger them, but it never worked. I thought maybe I had to kill everybody else so I ran all the way back through the level, but nobody was there. After the 7th or 8th try it worked, but this glitch ruined my perception of the game and made it mediocre instead of another great WWII shooter.
The graphics are rather good, but not as good as they should be. The explosions look gorgeous and the water affects are astounding most of the time. But the character models are blocky and aren't nearly as impressive. I guess to have amazing effects on some things, you must sacrifice the details on others, but there's no denying that there are flaws in the graphics department. One positive aspect is that there is finally some blood in the game. If you nail a good head shot, you may notice a splatter of blood, which helps the realism of the game, which a game of this type desperately needs. There was no blood in the other games and it hurt the overall quality, but still the Medal of Honor series has always looked great, even back on the Playstation, but this game fails to deliver in some cases.
The sound is again absolutely perfect. The Medal of Honor team has always known how to create authentic battle sounds. I've never felt like I've been in a war more than I have in this game. The guns sound fierce, loud, and effective. The explosions are amazing and will make your heart skip a beat every time. It will literally give you a startle when you're walking up a beach and the ship next to you blows up or a mortar goes off in front of you. It's awesome and sounds great. The voice acting is also surprisingly good. The other games haven't had much voice acting besides the pep talk you got before your missions, but this game actually has cutscenes and the voice actors bring their characters to life with astounding proficiency. The cries and death screams in game are also noteworthy and sound great, but also saddening at the same time.
I've said this before a million times, but I'll say it again. Every time I play a Medal of Honor game, I come out of it with a new found respect for the people that died for our country. They were willing to lay down their lives so we could have the freedoms that we have today and I am grateful for that. It's remarkable how when it comes down to it, a person can muster up the courage to participate in something as frightening as war and this game makes sure you know that. Medal of Honor Pacific Assault is a powerful game that makes you appreciate what the soldiers did for us, but without the gameplay leaping forward into something new, this game remains somewhat stale and very repetitive when compared to other shooters. But if you love this series, Medal of Honor Pacific Assault surely will not disappoint.