Saving Ryan's Privates... err, Private Ryan (TGS W/O)

War is hell, kid. The life of a soldier is never pretty. But somehow, Electronic Arts always seems to make it appear glamorous at its best in their ongoing Medal of Honor franchise: a tradition since the franchise first launched on the PlayStation in 1999. Medal of Honor: Frontline is the second sequel in the franchise to appear on a Sony system, and by far, it is the best yet of what you will ever experience in the backdrop of World War II's historical outlook.

June 6, 1944: D-Day - a date to remember, and the point in time where you'll actually begin Frontline's campaign, in the invasion on Omaha beach. Your mission from here on out is to survive, soldier. You cannot hesitate to fire at will. You must provide service for those comrades in need of support. And above all, you cannot lose! This is the greatest and most talked about war of them all: World War II. Frontline isn't just a boring history book; it's the movie that you'd rather see with you starring in it. Through thick and thin, you'll defeat the action of Hitler's rise to ultimate power, survive the pain and suffering of enemy resistance, and become the hero known as Lieutenant James Patterson.

Through three difficulty settings (Easy, Normal, or Hard), you'll zip straight into action to conquer the day, or die a soldier's death in battle. The great thing about Medal of Honor: Frontline is that it never seems to slow down. You'll always be on the move, from a different number of varied gameplay missions (a total of 19). Amongst which, you'll get the chance to infiltrate Nazi bunkers, disarm bombs, dismantle large enemy weapons, diminish the count of resistance forces, locate and board moving vehicles, sneak into heavily guarded enemy stations, swipe private documents, and even join forces with allies to unarm battalions of erratic enemy movements. There's so much to do in the latest Medal of Honor that it's almost too overbearing at times.

Moving up the ranks, and positioning yourself in the line of fire, the controls of your character start out a little difficult at first, but soon you'll feel right at home with them. As a soldier, you have all the essentials at your aid for surviving shootout, after raid, after getaway. The action to fire, run, duck and crawl, look, aim, reload, jump, and strafe is all at your command. At first you may feel a little uncomfortable with the control settings, since the targeting works with the right stick, and has no lock-on function. However, there is different control settings, which you can choose from to set to your preferred likings toward.

What I found to be the most irritating aspect of controlling your character is that whenever you encounter a ladder, which you will often do throughout the gameplay, is that ladders are like magnets. Nearing one zaps you to it, and the only way to break off is to press the jump button. Once you reach the top of the platform, it's also a nuisance to have to actually direct your view of the surroundings toward the ground that you're about to board before you're able to detach yourself from the ladder. Because, when you start ascending to the top, it's best to be looking up, rather than in any other perspective. Hence, enemies will fire at you before you're able to jump off, making issues like this a constant concern.

Expecting the big guns is the right direction that you're headed in. James is able to take hold of a wide array of both allied and enemyfied assault devices to eradicate the infestation of Nazi insects. Your fly swatters consist of a pistol (both regular and silenced), a shotgun (both regular and sniper), machineguns, grenades, and even a rocket launcher (or known as the Panzerschreck back in those days). Hell, you can walk right up to a machinegun turret and fire at will... or Fred, if you prefer.

Don't shoot until you see the whites of their eyes. Like any of the earlier Medal of Honor games, Frontline is everything but ugly. Sure, war isn't pretty, but Electronic Arts knows what they're doing when they release a new game in their acclaimed World War II series. From enemy bunkers, a speeding train, war-torn city streets, a Dutch field, a Nazi submarine, and even an underground mine cart shaft, you'll have the pleasure of wonderfully rendered World War II era sights. And in every direction that you gaze upon, there's bound to be some great effects to add to the mix. Whether it is the well-blended mixture from both lighting and shadow effects that are cast through each level to add depth toward the feel in the grungy and luxurious environments, or the explosions set off from topnotch gun fire streaming out of your machinegun that's toting straight at an exploding barrel, the intensity never seems to settle. Here you'll always find the experience of this war more tense than you might have previously pictured.

Finely tuned, fit, and ready to fight: every one of the character models proceed to catch your attention with their amazingly lifelike animations, and almost flawless appearances. Some of the Yankee Americans look like they haven't shaved in a few days, while others seem as if they fell into a pile of dirt with a disheveled appearance... all the while maintaining a perfect-as-can-be 3D model of a human being. Combine that fact with Nazi forces suited with historically correct and tidier uniforms, and you've got a very believable and great looking view on each situation. Literally taking aim at any part of an enemy's anatomy, they'll react accordingly to your actions. If you shoot them in the groin, they'll bend forward and moan. If you shoot them in the arm, they'll yelp and keel over. If you shoot them in the head, their headgear will drop off right along with them. Characteristics in the game can be so realistic that if you were to take out a guard positioned behind a turret, the remaining enemy forces will notice their disposition, and will promote themselves to continue eliminating you from any advancement onward.

But when the going gets tough, the tough get dealt with. Anything that the eye can see looks very real. Bullets will fly from a machinegun's drum into an enemy's body; explosions will light the air in all of their glory; snipers will drop down from the roof as you make them your mark; the ground will also blow away as bomb fire cruises around you. Shadow and light affects everything as well, as you can pass through one lit area to a darkened one seamlessly, and realistically. The only part about the visuals that degrade them from shining to their fullest is that each and every game locale has objects lying around, such as pictures hanging on the wall, desks scattered with documents, amongst other things, that if you were to peer at them a little closer, they won't pop out and dazzle you in the least.

Now, listen up soldier: You need to pay very close attention to your environments. Knowing your surroundings well with both eyes and ears is your priority. In Frontline, what the eyes can see, they can hear just as well, and sometimes better. Again, Electronic Arts's sound quality is the finest that you can ever get in a war franchise. Orchestrated music lulls you through peaceful locales and gets heavier within the more chaotic portions. The soundtrack is never wrong in its placement of action, giving you the initiative to always move on and continue the fight. Just as well, hearing the war is as real as believing it's there in front of your eyes. From each of the various weapons with a noise that pertains to each - canisters igniting after bullet fire, rubble breaking away as a tank heads through it, and the sound of your footsteps as you make your way across a number of enemy terrains - the noises are all excellent and really provide more depth into the Frontline experience. You can even differentiate sounds through the distance. For instance, if you were to use the sniper rifle against an enemy positioned on top of a roof, you'll notice his dying screaming as he moves closer towards his demise is softer than it would be at a closer range.

Plus, the voice work is yet another function in the game that never fails to be king. Realizing that this is no meager war history has seen, Electronic Arts has always, and continues to provide true-to-life dialogue everywhere that the mission takes you. With excellent voice work all around, you can hear Nazis chattering to one another throughout every level that you'll embrace. And even though the Nazi soldiers talk English, I'd rather not have it any other way. How else can you decipher their words while you're trying to put a bullet through masses of them; subtitle distractions? Equaled to, if not better, the American soldiers really do sound as if they're there fighting the war with dialogue so accurate to their characters that it's unbelievable.

You want a war? Electronic Arts has given you a war! Medal of Honor: Frontline is easily the best of the best when it comes down to not only the most entertaining title in its franchise, but also the most enjoyable in virtual World War II engagements. And even if you're worried about your teenager wanting to give Frontline a whirl - don't. Medal of Honor: Frontline is without any blood or gore, as it stands at a respectable Teen rating for anyone 13 and older to get a real kick out of learning about how the past was made, and how hectic the ugliness of war actually was.

This has been a presentation of Gthomp1's "The Great Sequel Write-Off." In this Write-Off, we were handed orders to infiltrate the great database of all games made that had secondary replicas in a series of release. I, Colonel ChromeKiller of the Red Team, had spotted the perfect decoy that I could use to make my way into Gthomp's secret base hidden deep underground. For the list of other soldiers who partook in this Write-Off, check the official list of allies below:

ChromeKiller (Shoots first, and doesn't ask questions later... because everyone's already dead by then)
Gthomp1 (Chief of Operations, and one hell of a sushi chef)
netnut746
StarSoldier1