|
 |
|
Calvin Chu
This World War based game is now focusing on the American Vs Japan. You may have seen the film Pearl Harbour but it is not the exact storyline. You are supposedly on a ship in the middle of the Pacific for a few levels and you can take control of mind-blowing weapons that include a Turret and other ground-based weapons ranging from powerful Thompson Machine Guns to Hand-Pistols.
Having owned both the critically acclaimed PSone versions of the series; Medal of Honour and Underground, in which there was intelligent A.I. and great gameplay. It was the same for both. However, when Frontline was released the controls completely changed to match the analogues and mastering the game became difficult. They will keep the same controls as EA have claimed that the graphics are meant to be better than Frontline, with double the polygons being used, but so far the screens do not reinforce this claim. Let’s hope this is wrong.
The main character is Joe Griffin and you can fight along side your brother Donny. On the earlier levels you have to put out any fire problems on your deck. The graphics of the fire effects are very realistic, showing that In-house have been working on their pyrotechnics, as if they almost burn you through the screen! The game has a similar depressing start to Frontline and on the top deck there is great detail in the warships and the Japanese planes, also the realistic looking and sounding explosions tagged along with the zooming bullets all around. The ship you are ‘trying’ to protect is the U.S.S California, heading through the Pacific Ocean to the Philippines. Very reminiscent to Pearl Harbour.
The first level is by far one of the best in the game because you have an unlimited amount of ammo to take down incoming enemy fighter planes, which is very entertaining! But not all of the levels are on a ship; some are in refugee camps, jungles and rivers. In the jungle stealth is the only option! In the camps you are forced to make a decision whether you save the refugees or leave them and finally the rivers see you on a boat working with your allies to take control of enemy bases. This game sees you piloting more vehicles including boats and turrets. This is very amusing but you can also jump onto Elephants backs and the have gun turrets strapped to their backs!
There are a total of 10 missions set in 5 environments which you can play 2-player cooperative in a split-screen. And to use in these extremely detailed levels are a death set of over 20 weapons to annihilate and dish out the pain to your enemies. You can also use the environment to kill your enemies because you can use stealth to hide behind bushes and also you can topple over rocks on your enemies.
There are some bad points to Rising Sun though; the games graphics look very similar to Frontline which isn’t that good because Frontline didn’t exactly have the best graphics engine. There have been slight improvements to the enemies and weapons. Even though there has been a drastic improvement in audio there are no character changes and still no blood to be found in the deaths of the Japanese soldiers.
PSXEvolution PlayTest
Rising Sun was featured at Earl’s Court in the PlayStation Experience Event in late August. Of course the PSXEvolution founder, Calvin, was there, and has brought back with us a playtest…
Medal of Honor: Rising Sun was one of the first few games that I managed to test, thankfully it was near the entrance, and little people were in that area, so I managed to get a well earned play of the latest addition to the Medal of Honor series. The level featured was in a jungle mission, in broad daylight, with stealth as your key to survival and victory. The graphics are very good, with the resolution slightly improved, but I can’t help thinking this is just Frontline’s engine with only minor tweaks, which was quite surprising. Sound was excellent as far as I can tell. All weapons have been recreated spectacularly and the sound of the jungle has never been more realistic, ranging from the insects chirping to your shuffling through the forest. As I said before staying quiet and camouflage is key, and there were certain elements to the game that made it superb, such as you taking cover in some foliage to take out a guard with a sniper rifle, and of course your team-mates ready at your side staying silent, only attacking when necessary. I was very impressed. Controls were solid, identical to Frontline, which is quite standard amongst other shooters on the PlayStation 2. Let’s hope the finished product will be even better!
|
|
 
|
