We always have fun here

The other great thing about Airborne is the level design, which is almost completely open and actively encourages players to explore and to use the environment around them to their advantage.

A lot of the way this is accomplished again through the weapons, which offer an ironsights option which lets Boyd sight along the barrel. It’s a simple thing and one which is hardly new, but it’s also an option which we completely adore. The ironsights view also puts Boyd directly into an aiming mode, which remaps the WASD controls to different actions as long as the zoom button (typically the right mouse button) is held.

That may sound a bit awkward and clumsy at first, but in the game itself it actually makes complete sense; trying to move whilst aiming along the barrel will result in Boyd instead leaning to the left or right. Trying to run forward or backwards with ironsights enabled will instead make him rise up or drop to the floor, which is ideal for taking advantage of cover.

The aspect of being able to parachute into the level at any point has also dictated the level design massively and resulted in levels being fewer, but larger and with multiple paths and objectives to accomplish. Unlike in games like Call of Duty 2, it is no longer a matter of following a single linear route which it lined by hedgerows – Airborne is more about trying to battle through streets and enemy bases one step at a time, cutting through houses and hustling through alleyways.


Airborne doesn’t take this philosophy to its logical extent – it isn’t Far Cry and you can’t just run through every building in your way, but it’s great being able to move around and flank an enemy by cutting across rooftops if you want to.

However, if there were a major flaw in the game design for Medal of Honor: Airborne then it would be the Save system, which is straight from the console version by the look of it. It is not only impossible to Quicksave, but it is also impossible to save at anything other than designated checkpoints.

These checkpoints are well spread out throughout the game, but it can be a major hassle to have to start from the beginning of a level if you don’t quite make it to the checkpoint before dying.

However, Airborne makes up for this pretty well by a nice load system. Instead of just resuming the game from wherever you saved, the game will often allow you to re-deploy from the plane again and thus not have to backtrack through areas of a level which you’ve already cleared of enemies. This system also gives you another chance to nail one of the five skill drops in a level, or go for a different type of landing if that’s your preference.

One thing I have to admit being very glad of was the way that Airborne doesn’t try to capture the personal effect of war, unlike games like Call of Duty 3 which feature dozens of poorly-developed characters who then inevitably get killed off in unskippable cutscenes in a feeble attempt to have an emotional impact.


Everytime I’ve seen that kind of thing in the past I’ve wanted to just skip straight through the boring cutscene, sceaming “It’s war, dammit – I know it was awful! Stop with these shoddy Scottish side characters already!”

Well, it turns out that EA may have been listening to me a little bit because these cutscenes, while still unskippable, are now kept mercifully brief and bereft of pseudo-memorable characters. Fellow troopers will still conjure an image of brotherhood and bravery as they charge into the trenches, but they no longer try to weakly convey the tragedy of war by shedding simulated tears over fallen allies.

It’s yet another reminder that Airborne is a game about blending realism, accuracy and fun – but with a focus on the latter. It doesn’t try to ram war poetry down your throat, it instead mercifully limits itself to a single quote for every mission and the message that, if you want to try and appreciate the bleak reality of war, then you’d be better off looking in a history book.