In
Medal of Honor: Underground, you take on the role of Manon, a member of the French Resistance who assisted Jimmy Patterson in the original
Medal of Honor. You begin your quest in France and are soon sent all over the world on different missions. Being a female opens up many new opportunities for gameplay as Manon is able to disguise herself as a propaganda photojournalist and slip into Nazi strongholds where any male spy would be instantly noticed. There is a great deal of satisfaction in having a Nazi pose for you to take his photo (“Make us look good!”), and then gleefully pose again, never expecting to be capped in the head.
Yes, I’m evil. I know this. Each level has certain objectives that must be met to complete it, and of course, you must also survive the level as well, eliminating as many enemies as you can along the way. When you finish each level, you are given a rank, depending on your accuracy, number of kills, and health level at completion. Also, you are given a title based on which body parts you most frequently hit. There are scads of weapons at Manon’s disposal, but she doesn’t have every weapon for every level. In some levels, she goes armed only with a slent, but she’s deadly with a cross-bow and a few arrows. Here’s where crafty resource management comes into play.
I really enjoyed some of the objectives in Medal of Honor: Underground such as rescuing the Knife of Abraham from the hands of the Nazis. It was a different twist, but personalized things a bit more. Not only are your enemies taking over areas of land, but they’re also defacing and stealing the history and artifacts of other lands and must be stopped. Other objectives such as the destruction of evidence of an underground newspaper or stopping Nazi supply trucks only reinforce the plot more. Good stuff.
Medal of Honor: Underground embodies all of the elements of a truly great game. Sure, it’s a first person shooter, but one with a deep and involving plot, so it also feels like an action adventure. You’ll encounter puzzles at certain points, and you’ll need to use your wits and stealth to survive at other times. This is not a run and gun type of game. You must sneak about, killing in silence at every opportunity. There are enormous levels to explore, and your next move is usually pretty obvious. If you miss a key objective along the way, you will be reminded when you attempt to exit the level. Exploring is rewarded with power-ups such as medicinal canteens and ammo. These goodies can be lying around or hiding in an innocent looking box or decorative piece of pottery, so be sure to investigate.
There is also a nifty multiplayer game with Deathmatch and Capture the Flag modes. You can play as one of a number of characters including Manon and her brother, and more characters and battle theaters can be opened as you progress through the Single Player game. This feature, just as in the original Medal of Honor, seemed to be something just tacked on to add extra playability. But that is exactly what it does. MOHU is no Quake, mind you, but the multiplayer mode is an absolute blast. Sure, the arenas are kind of small, but there is still a great deal of fun to be had standing on a balcony throwing grenades at your opponent. I doubt diehard Quake and Unreal Tournament fans will be too impressed, but it’s still a fun mode and a nice extra.
