| Medal of Honor: Allied Assault | |
|---|---|
 PC cover art | |
| Developer |
|
| Publishers |
|
| Designers | Vince Zampella Jason West |
| Writers | Zied Rieke Steven Spielberg |
| Composer | Michael Giacchino |
| Series | Medal of Honor |
| Engine | id Tech 3 |
| Platforms | Windows,Mac OS X,Linux[4] |
| Release | Windows Mac OS X Linux 2004 |
| Genre | First-person shooter |
| Modes | Single-player,multiplayer |
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault is a 2002first-person shooter video game developed by2015, Inc. and published byElectronic Arts. It was released forWindows,Mac OS X, andLinux.Allied Assault is the third game in theMedal of Honor series. The game uses theid Tech 3 engine, with modifications fromHeavy Metal: F.A.K.K.², to simulate infantry combat in theEuropean andNorth African theaters duringWorld War II.
InAllied Assault, the player takes on the role of Lt. Mike Powell of theUnited States Army Rangers who works for theOffice of Strategic Services.Single-player missions include assaultingNazi bases inAlgiers andNorway, stormingOmaha Beach onD-Day, and rescuing comrades behind enemy lines in occupiedFrance. The game's levels are often compared toSteven Spielberg's 1998 filmSaving Private Ryan; many of the levels are direct quotations of the scenery (or even complete sequences as in the Omaha Beach mission) in the film. Omaha Beach was re-created inMedal of Honor: Frontline for consoles.
Once a game server and type is selected the game starts in spectator mode and the player can choose between joining the allies or the axis then select the set of weapons. The game uses a point system, adding points for the number of kills and rounds, deducting points for suicides and addition of death points for getting killed.
Multiplayer contains four different modes.Deathmatch in which every player has to kill everyone else and get the highest score, Team Deathmatch in which a team has to kill other teams and get the highest score,Round Based which is similar in gameplay to Deathmatch but counts the rounds instead of the score and "Objective" mode where a player must win the most rounds by completing missions.
Lieutenant Mike Powell, the protagonist, is a skilledU.S. Army Ranger and later an agent of theOffice of Strategic Services. Powell and a squad of Rangers are in German-occupiedArzew,Algeria, fighting on theNorth African front. The squad fight their way into the city, but an ambush kills all the team except Powell. Powell continues into a German base, where he rescuesS.A.S. agent Major Jack Grillo and retrieves his equipment. The major and Lt. Powell split up, with Grillo securing transport, while Powell does sabotage in a motor pool. He links back up with Grillo, who has commandeered a jeep with a mounted machinegun. The two drive to a German airfield, where they successfully destroy theFw 190 fighters andStuka dive bombers grounded there. While Grillo distracts the German forces, Powell sneaks into a bunker, cuts off Axis radio contact and fights his way to a coastal lighthouse to signal the Allied fleet to beginOperation Torch, the invasion of North Africa. He escapes with Grillo in a German transport truck.
Following the Allies' success in Africa, Powell and Grillo are sent toGerman-occupied Norway to infiltrate the city ofTrondheim, where aKriegsmarineU-boat is being outfitted with a prototypeNaxos radar detector. Grillo makes it into the base first, but is killed in action by German guards while opening the front gate for Powell. Powell fights his way into the base, where he disguises himself as a German officer and infiltrates the loading dock. He goes to the lab where he destroys the Naxos prototype and gains access to a submarine intended to be fitted with the prototype and blows it up. He fights his way out of the base, where he is extracted by an Allied squad.
Thanks to Powell's efforts, the German U-boat threat is neutralized, clearing the way for the Allied invasion of Europe,Operation Overlord. Powell, as a part of the2nd Ranger Battalion, is sent to Charlie sector ofOmaha Beach under Capt. Ramsay, where he and his fellow Rangers storm the bunkers, despite taking heavy casualties, and secure the beach. He is sent into the countryside beyond the beaches to assist theUS airborne troops in clearing a path for the forces advancing from Omaha beach towardsCarentan. Along the way he calls air support on severalFlak 88 cannons and destroys a battery ofNebelwerfers.
Powell is assigned to go behind enemy lines and acquire intelligence on German troop movements. After rescuing a shot downAmerican reconnaissance pilot Joe Baylor, Powell meets up withFrench Resistance member Manon Batiste (the protagonist ofMedal of Honor: Underground). She sends him out to conduct various acts of sabotage against the German war effort. He raids amanor house being used as a command post where he secures important enemy documents, including the blueprints for the newKing Tiger tank. Powell escapes the manor house with Manon's aid.
Powell's next mission involves hijacking aKing Tiger tank and using it to secure a vital bridge at the city ofBrest. After navigating through the sniper-infested ruins, he meets up with the American tank crew chosen for the mission. Powell and the tank crew capture the King Tiger and use it to fight their way through the countryside. Upon reaching Brest, Powell provides cover for the King Tiger to protect the bridge, until reinforcements come to secure it.
Powell's final mission sends him to Fort Schmerzen, a Germanmustard gas-producing facility along theSiegfried Line that was previously raided by Lieutenant James Patterson (the main protagonist ofMedal of Honor as well asMedal of Honor: Frontline), but has since been restored to operation, supposedly as aprisoner-of-war camp, but is being used to produce mustard gas. Powell is parachuted into the woods, where he destroys someFlak guns that are shooting Allied planes. Disguised as a German officer, he infiltrates a weapons depot, and destroys a stockpile ofStG 44 assault rifles. He destroys afterwards a German communications outpost in a nearby town, cutting off Fort Schmerzen's communications. Powell hijacks a freight train and along with a squad of US Rangers, uses it to reach Schmerzen. Upon arriving at Schmerzen, Powell and his fellow Rangers storm the fort and release all the prisoners. Powell fights his way into the lower levels of Schmerzen, where he discovers that the fort's mustard gas production facilities are still operational. He plants explosives on the gas facilities, and escapes just before Fort Schmerzen is destroyed.
Following the success ofMedal of Honor: Underground, its publisher Electronic Arts contacted the Mesquite, Texas-based developer ofWolfenstein 3D andDoom,id Software about making another installment to the series. As they were already busy with developing Doom 3, id Software referred EA to 2015, Inc. as a potential developer.[5] Initially, EA wanted 2015, Inc. to port the still-in-developmentMedal of Honor: Frontline byEA LA from the PlayStation 2 to PC, but 2015 eventually convinced EA to instead let them make a new original installment exclusive to the PC.[6] The game's development consisted of a small tight-knit team of 22 developers led by Vince Zampella.[7] Development spanned from 2000 to late 2001 and used id Software'sid Tech 3 engine with modifications fromHeavy Metal: F.A.K.K.².
Vince Zampella and Jason West left2015, Inc. to later formInfinity Ward withActivision to develop theCall of Duty series, with thefirst installment taking inspiration from bothReturn to Castle Wolfenstein andAllied Assault.
The first expansion pack forMedal of Honor: Allied Assault. It re-enacts three majorEuropean Theater battles through the eyes of Sgt. Jack Barnes (voiced byGary Oldman), a paratrooper of the501st Parachute Infantry Regiment,101st Airborne Division. Barnes lands behind theAtlantic Wall onD-Day inNormandy, holds the line nearBastogne in theArdennes during theBattle of the Bulge and infiltratesBerlin before theSovietRed Army beginstheir attack. The expansion has several new weapons added to the player's arsenal in Spearhead including the RussianPPSh-41 and the BritishLee–Enfield.
Spearhead received a "Silver" sales award from theEntertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[8] indicating sales of at least 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[9] It was nominated forGameSpot's annual "Best Expansion Pack on PC" award.[10]
Breakthrough, the second expansion pack forMedal of Honor: Allied Assault, puts the player in the role of Sgt. John Baker of theUS 34th Infantry Division. The campaign covers theBattle of Kasserine Pass,the fall of Bizerte, theAllied invasion of Sicily in 1943, the bloodyBattle of Monte Cassino, followed by the amphibious landings and defense of the beachhead atAnzio, Italy (Operation Shingle) and the battle ofMonte Battaglia in September 1944. It adds the Spearhead weapons and some Italian weapons like theMAB 38 submachine gun as well as newer British weapons such as theDe Lisle carbine and thePIAT anti-tank weapon.
The first compilation pack included theMedal of Honor: Allied Assault main game, theMedal of Honor: Allied Assault Spearhead expansion pack, two strategy guides, a music CD soundtrack fromMedal of Honor: Allied Assault and a preview ofMedal of Honor: Pacific Assault.[citation needed]
The second compilation pack included theMedal of Honor: Allied Assault main game and theMedal of Honor: Allied Assault Spearhead andMedal of Honor: Allied Assault Breakthrough expansion packs.[citation needed]
Allied Assault and its expansion packs are included in theMedal of Honor: 10th Anniversary Bundle, along with a CD containing some of the game's soundtrack, as well as the inclusion of the director's cut ofMedal of Honor: Pacific Assault,andMedal of Honor: Airborne.[11]
| Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (EA Games Soundtrack) | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | |
| Released | August 30, 2005 (2005-08-30)(Digital) |
| Genre | Video game soundtrack |
| Length | 17:36 |
| Label | E.A.R.S. |
| Producer | Michael Giacchino |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Game Music Online | 8/10[12] |
The music forAllied Assault was composed byMichael Giacchino. The soundtrack was released on August 30, 2005, on iTunes and Amazon. The soundtrack consists of 5 tracks. In addition,Allied Assault reused various soundtracks from the originalMedal of Honor andMedal of Honor: Underground, which were also composed by Giacchino. For the expansion packs, music tracks fromMedal of Honor: Frontline were reused as well.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "MoH: Allied Assault (Main Theme)" | Michael Giacchino | 4:04 |
| 2. | "North Africa" | Michael Giacchino | 3:19 |
| 3. | "Schmerzen" | Michael Giacchino | 3:37 |
| 4. | "Sniper Town" | Michael Giacchino | 3:20 |
| 5. | "Tiger Tank" | Michael Giacchino | 3:23 |
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| GameRankings | 91.05%[14] |
| Metacritic | 91/100[13] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Computer Gaming World |   [15] |
| GameRevolution | [16] |
| GameSpot | 9/10[17] |
| GameSpy | [18] |
| IGN | 9.3/10[19] |
| Publication | Award |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | #4 Best PC Game of 2002[13] |
| Metacritic | #7 Most Discussed PC Game of 2002[13] |
In the United States,Medal of Honor: Allied Assault sold 900,000 copies and earned $34.2 million by August 2006, after its release in January 2002. It was the country's ninth best-selling computer game between January 2000 and August 2006. Combined sales of allMedal of Honor computer games released between January 2000 and August 2006, includingAllied Assault, had reached 1.9 million units in the United States by the latter date.[20] It received a "Gold" sales award from theEntertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[21] indicating sales of at least 200,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[9] ItsWarchest release earned a "Silver" award from ELSPA,[8] indicating sales of at least 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[9]
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault was released to universal acclaim. It received a score of 91.05% onGameRankings[14] and 91/100 onMetacritic.[13]
Allied Assault wonPC Gamer US' "2002 Best Action Game" andComputer Gaming World's "Action Game of the Year" awards.[22][23] The latter magazine's editors hailed it as "the best single-player shooter sinceHalf-Life."[22] It also wonGameSpot's annual "Best Sound on PC" award, and was nominated in its "Best Single-Player Action Game on PC" and "Best Multiplayer Action Game on PC" categories.[10] During the6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, theAcademy of Interactive Arts & Sciences awardedAllied Assault for "Computer First-Person Action Game of the Year"; it also received nominations for "Computer Game of the Year" and "Innovation in Computer Gaming".[24]
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault was the first PC game in the U.S. to be sold in new standard-sized packages recommended byIDSA, already standardized in console video game and DVD packaging.[25][26][27][28][29]
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