Some things missed, many things not.
There are maybe 1 or 2 WW2 games released per year in the AAA game market. Even then, such games are still criticized for being part of the "glut of WW2 games." For those who were too young, or out of the gaming loop a few years back, WW2 games of every genre saturated the market, and the biggest instigator of the movement was Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.
It does speak to what the game did well that it spawned so many imitators and profit-seeking opportunists ready to mine the mother lode. So what made this such an important game? Well, for one, up to this time FPSes typically consisted of a pack of separately-designed maps with start and stop points, with illusions of non-linearity. You hunted for keycards, murdered monsters, and worked your way to a final boss. There were exceptions of course. Much like punk rock, modern linear shooters had Half Life playing Iggy Pop proto-punk, but the modern cinematic shooter was really born with the Ramones-comparable Medal of Honor: Allied Assault.
There is of course the game's most notable moment, the Omaha Beach Landing level. This was the level that everyone remembers and cites, and with good reason. The sound design was incredible, and I clearly remember playing it near its release with my teeth grit and heart pounding. Unfortunately, time has not been kind to the level. When your game is about bombast and distracting the player with lots of explosions, you'd better hope you have gameplay to back it up.
There's a reason why nobody talks about AA's other levels. They're either bad or unremarkable compared to the Omaha opening. Most of the time, you're peeking around corners with a sniper rifle equipped, looking for German soldiers firing their hit-scan laser rifles directly into whatever finger or toe of yours just popped out of cover. This received some fixes in the expansion packs, but you'll be surprisingly adept at spotting German helmets poking slightly over cover by the end of the main AA campaign.
The expansions are a mixed bag. They have effective intros as well, but run out of excitement as you solo-force your way through the German lines.
There is clear evidence of a game here with big dreams, but not the tools to realize them. It wanted to be the great war game full of nerve-wracking battles, but when you're not clumsily sniping your way through French towns/fields or Saharan outposts, you're watching your allies getting creamed two seconds into what seem to be intended as massive battles.
So, should you play it? Who can I recommend it to? If you've played it in the past, acknowledge what's aged poorly, and just want to fire it up with no emulator-fussing, grab the chest. If you're a gamer spoiled on modern games that have more atmosphere, more up-to-date cinematics, and refined mechanics, you will not be impressed by this game. If you want a little piece of history, and are not critical of what features have aged poorly, then you'll get an entertaining history lesson.
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