Medal Of Honor: Frontline - The BEST First Person PS2 game. Period.

The only way I could possibly begin this review is to say that this game is absolutely legendary...A marvel and a milestone in the PS2 world. Before I get started, If you take anything from this review take this: If you own a Playstation 2, you MUST, MUST, MUST buy this game!

Medal of Honor; Frontline (MOHF) is the most lifelike realistic and incredibly stunning masterpiece I've yet to see for the Playstation 2. Adhering very close to true history in regards to WWII and the surrounding events concerning the Germans, Dwight D. Eisenhower and general WWII history, the game is a moving portrait of what life must have been for our brave forefathers (and grandfathers and great-grandfathers etc etc) who fought for America in World War II. From the very first mission, you'll notice the game looks strikingly familiar to the opening war scene in Saving Private Ryan... No doubt it will shock you. Graphics, Intensity and espeically SOUND will rock you throughout this entire game and keep you on the edge of your seat as you crouch and crawl and bum-rush through the French and German towns trying to accomplish your mission, listen to your commander, and especially SURVIVE.

The graphics on this game combined with the gameplay are phenomenal. The still frames before missions are vivid and telling - very meaningful and indicative of what you're about to get into. The Cinematics (or at least a good portion) are actual black and white films - footage from actual documentary-style WWII history- films of Eisenhower, pictures of the Hitler Assasination attempt...many other historical and real pieces of our history are presented and narrated just like you'd see on the History Channel. Even some of the speaches are real - such as Eisenhower's address to the U.S. citizens at the time of the war, radio braodcasts and other such chronicles. As a precursor to some intense search-and-destory, evade-and-survive type missions, the game is just incredibly real and lifelike- and when you make it through a mission you'll be on the edge of your seat and short of breath -- IT really gives you some kind of feel or slight idea for what our soldiers must have gone through during this terrible war. Game graphics are remarkable - the details of vehicles, jeeps, bodily movement...The only criticism I could cite is certain details renderings (for instance the water as you are approaching Normandy) could be richer in texture - however the game is just SOOOooo long- and the disc is PACKED with information, so it would be very tough to try and squeeze more in- especially taxing super-texture backgrounds such as this....nevertheless it would be nice!

Although the game is inherently violent, I can't even try to criticize it (nor would I anyhow) but since it is so historical and accurate, I have to say it is therefore less generally "violent" than some of the blood-and-guts style games out there (without naming names). Do bear in mind I don't criticize those either -- My point is that this game is special because it fills a very historical niche that no other game, to date, has filled.

SOund wise, this game is incredible. Right from the first mission - the Beach at Normandy, you'll discover that either you begin to trust your ears and learn to listen to what direction voices and commands are coming from, or you will die. It is amazing, you start by having to find your commander on the beach and then rescuse 4 soldiers, meaning find them and provide the cover fire they ask for... It can be very tough to find these guys, so as you're running by the point where they are, you may not notice them, but you have to listen to determine where to run! Suround is incredible, and you need to utilize the sound of bullets whizzing by to cover your butt and stay alive! SOund is an integral piece of gameplay and is truly special -I just wish everything was in 5.1 format to make it even more realistic, but the game still puts you right in the middle f the battlefield and forces you to rely on your ears as much as your sight or aim.

It's all the deatils Baby!! - Everything down to the accurate operatrion of your Garand (standard US GI M1 rifle) like the fact that you just don't reload this baby at any time - you have to run out of ammo and then pop that relatively small 8 round magazine. You must learn to conserve amm, pick up and scour for every last surgical pack and bullet and grenade you can find...but nonetheless, learn to waste the last 1 or 2 rounds just to reload if you are walking into an ambush or a situation where you need a full magazine. Details such as sthe strength you use to toss a hand grenade - time related based on how long you hold the "fire" button.

Many people have criticized the controls, however I think they are very easy to learn and the most efficient use of all the buttons on the controller. The only recomendation I can make is REVERSE THE Y AXIS!!! You've probably grown up using a reversed y-axis controller, just like on an airplane- pullnig back is UP and pushing forward is DOWN... To me having a reversed Y is much more natural... The right analog stick is for where you look at/aim - to me I couldn't even play the game without having the controls reversed - however this is not a criticism OF the controls, merely a recomendation or tip that I think you should follow to get used to the controls more quickly.

Saving/Accesing your progress is very easy and you also get statistical readouts of your performance (shot accuracy, # shots etc- the standard analytics) and based on better performance you get certain merits- so TAKE THAT HEAD SHOT when you have it for sure!!! Be especially careful when usnig the machine gun - all those rounds- you will kill your accuracy so use the machine gun pods sparingly, but effectively! Always follow your commanding officer and press start to both pause AND get your current mission objectives (the are progressive, so keep track of them by pausing, sometimes it is difficult to hear everything your CO says because the bomds and gunshots and ambient noise programmed into the game (nice touch)) and especially learn to use the SELECT button for hints - like where to go, where to look etc - this will help you protect yourself. Most importantly learn the controls and learn to workings of your rifle and pistol - because without knowing them you'll get dead!

This game is an absolute BLAST to play and in my opinion, the hands down BEST 1st person historical action game you can buy - unreal graphics, incredible sound and lifelike-ness - you just have to have this game. Excellent job EQ on such an incredible game. A true classic.