Lech mir an meinem Americanischen Arsch! (Kiss my American ass!)

There are two groups of people who can't seem to forget the Second World War, for two entirely different reasons: the Germans and the Americans. The first time I visited Berlin, I was struck by the fact that you cannot walk ten steps without bumping into a memorial - and I mean, for a tourist, that's great, but it makes for one depressing city once you realize what exactly all those concrete pillars are memorializing. Here's a hint: It's not for their stunning contributions to the world of accordion playing.

The last time I was in Germany I had photographed plenty of sites. From left: The Jewish memorial, the Jewish Museum.

Now, I'm not going to go into detail about the sheer number of WWII games out on the market, because I think that everyone's heard the whole spiel related to them at least once, or twice, or two dozen times already: There are a slew of these games glutting our gaming libraries, and by that I mean that every third game bookended on store shelves features a level where you're required to trudge up the shores of Normandy. And hey, that can get a bit old a bit fast. But then you think of what other, more recent wars the United States has engaged in, and I'm not even going to touch upon what kind of controversy would stir if the patriotic fanfare, featured in key moment in Medal of Honor: Airborne, were blasted while you were running around spraying Agent Orange in nearby trees, or whatever. Here's another hint: It would bring a lot of controversy, and for good reason.

So the eighth game in the MoH series hit the street approximately two months ago, and I'm originally left wondering, Who cares? And finally I break down and give it a try, if only to give my German vocabulary a workout, and despite the trite, jingoist vibe I get while sniping Central Europeans with my Springfield, I still have a fun time mowing down my adversaries. Now this is saying a lot seeing as I haven't really sat down with an anti-Nazi game since I blew away soldiers in Return to Castle Wolfenstein, and half of that game's appeal came from the displeasure it stirred with my German exchange student.

There is a slight annoyance that I encountered while playing Airborne and that annoyance came in the form of the difficulty setting in the game. Now, I understand that snipers get a good shot or two on you when they line your head up in their crosshairs, but turret guns? The enemy soldiers are amazing shots, to the point where they can sometime shoot through heavy objects like cars, which can lead to some frustrating moments as you're forced to parachute back to your flared safe areas time and time again. Another grenade explosion or pistol whip to your helmet head and boom - you're descending back to earth once again.

I'm not going to get carried away on details; after all, that's what reviews are for and I'm too busy trying to pull mine on Assassin's Creed together to write a few paragraphs on our Boyd Travers, the unfortunate soldier stuck with two last names. But I will say this: Medal of Honor: Airborne might be frustrating, and it might be short with AI that hinders you as much as helps you out, but the game was fun, and fich dich (honestly, you should be able to grasp the meaning of this one) if you don't agree.