Medal of Honor “2010” Beta became available for Battlefield Bad Company 2 users today. You can download the client right from steam under your game library and have a key provided to you right as you log in. I’ve been in the beta for a few weeks and I’ve tried the maps and different kits enough that I feel like I can talk about the game authoritatively.
Warning: There will be a lot of comparisons drawn between Modern Warfare 2 and Bad Company 2, especially since DICE was behind the latter as well.
MoH’s biggest criticism so far has been that it is a mix between Modern Warfare 2 and Bad Company 2. Okay… so it’s a mix between two amazing games? I can’t understand that criticism so much as the second complaint which is that it really isn’t anything new. Well, that’s true. MoH has yet to show anything new that isn’t available in other shooting games out there. It has the ranking up component, the objective based maps, the kits, all the guns, bells and whistles, etc.
Graphically the game looks great. It doesn’t have the destructibe environments of BFBC2 but to be honest I’ve grown out of those already and it doesn’t make MoH any worse for not having them in my opinion. There are some movable objectives and semi-destructible objects on the maps though. The maps are all beautiful and have great atmosphere. There’s attention to detail and some respectable cover designs and places to set up as a sniper or create ambushes. On the Kabul City map I got a real CoD4 vibe. Performance is exceptional for what is offered graphically. It runs much better than BFBC2 and looks better and runs just about the same as MW2 for me with many more graphical options.
It’s clearly a port though. The prompt to use a killstreak is a D-Pad and the options menu has a setting to adjust your TV. Even though it’s a port, it has dedicated servers AND matchmaking as well as a functioning friends list. The server browser worked near perfect for me and I was even able to sort by the region where the server is hosted to find the best pings for me. There are obvious bugs in this version ranging from the “join game” button not always being responsive and some graphical hiccups during gameplay like flickering textures. I’ve noticed that sometimes servers will seem to disappear from the browser when you scroll down, but scrolling back up makes them appear again.
The actual gameplay itself is definitely a blend between BFBC2 and MW2. In MW2 it’s more about you as an individual and how you are doing whereas in BFBC2 it’s more of a team game and you could have done terribly where your K/D ratio is concerned yet still have contributed to the team. There are two game types at least in MoH that offer both of these styles. The guns feel odd though. There is very little recoil on some of them which is both a wonderful feeling and a little dumbed down at the same time. BFBC2 has terrible hit detection in my opinion yet MoH seems to have generous hit box sizes that feel much more like the older Battlefield games. I like them. Definitely another indication of it being a console port though.
I don’t quite understand the harsh criticism against the game itself. I think it shows a great deal of promise. DICE (who does MoH’s multiplayer) makes great games and when this one is polished up over the next few months and we get to see the entire game and not just a tip of the console ported iceberg it could be really an outstanding addition to this year’s shooters.  It may not bring a whole lot, if anything, new but if that was a prerequisite for something to be “good” or worth playing then we wouldn’t have many good games out there at all. I like it enough to want to play more when there are more maps and polish (to remove console port crap) added. On the consoles, this is probably going to blow BFBC2 and MW2 away.
Below is a quick video of some gameplay footage that I took. The settings are nearly maxed (shadows on medium and HBAO lightning is off) and the game runs at a constant 40fps for me. I have a Nvidia 8800gt 512 and 4gigs of ram on Vista 32bit with a 2.3ghz quad core.
Haha I played this with Keen, think you even hear me say something in there. It’s just like he says nothing new but still all around good. My computer is decent on a good day but runs it almost flawlessly.
Still has wooly aiming and hit detection that BF2BC suffers badly from, There have been times where I clearly hit people and it doesn’t register or vice versa. The bullet flight time mechanics REALLY need adjusting for the close in gun play that Kabul especially offers, I have never, ever seen a game where I come up against an opponent in an alley way and we exchange bullets for both of us to drop dead. It’s most frustrating, I have it happen up to 10 times in a TDM match.
Explosion radius of grenade launchers, grenades and also at4/rpg is pitiful really, you have to almost hit dead onto someone to kill them with it. Which is a real knee jerk from Mw2/BC2 I think. Grenades are supposed to be a clearing method, if someone is hold up inside a building firing out and you can’t get in there, chuck a nade and clear em out. But now unless you bounce it off their freaking head it will do nothing more than tickle them. It’s the same with the vehicles, they are so useless that no one uses them, 3 shots from RPG/At4 they are dead and the explosion radius of the fire is so piss poor they are next to useless. Should just make up their mind whether they want vehicles or not.
It just seems a mishmash of games trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator, how can we dumb down MW2 and Bc2 to the level where it’s so mass market everyone will buy it? But it’s so dumbed down it’s boring, Bc2 was good because it allowed allot of tactical movement (depending on game type) all of squad based play, Mw2 was good because it was fast, furious and had decent weapons and perks to balance it all out… MoH has neither. It’s just a poor imitation of two great games and smacks of jumping on the modern warfare bandwagon. I can just hear them saying “billion dollar opening month you say? I want a piece of that, lets make something really similar and try and cash in”.
Resurrecting this series in the vein of Modern Warfare smacks of the worst of “lets pump out a money maker.” Frankly, the shooter market has gone straight to shit over the last few years. Bad Company 2 is decent, but still doesn’t have the stickiness that has kept me playing shooters that came out 10 years ago for 1000s of hours.
I’m hoping Battlefield 3 will deliver.
I’m hoping for BF3 as well. We need a current shooter that brings back the 1942/BF2 feeling: Big maps, airplanes/heli’s, vehicles, and depth to the gameplay.
Agree with Ghiest. I think if I wanted to play something like this map I would just fire up MW2. If I want vehicles or more team play I start up BC2. MoH doesn’t fit anywhere for me.
Plus with BC2: Vietnam on the way I doubt I would drop any money on this.
MW2 doesn’t have any maps that resemble the MoH maps except for the CoD4 maps included in the map packs. If you bought those for $15 then I’d have to agree with you that it’s probably best to stick with MW2.
The jury is still out on whether or not the rest of the maps will foster team play and more vehicles. Being beta, we just haven’t seen enough to pass judgment yet. The gameplay mode is certainly there for it since it’s very much like Rush.
I think being halfway between bfbc2 and MW2 is a really good thing. Those 2 games are so well done it can never be a bad thing. I always wished the maps on MW2 were just a tiny bit bigger and this looks perfect. Im just praying that i dont experience constant crashes in this like i do in BC2
Does anyone have a clue on how the ranking system is working? Does it matter if I play as a soldier the whole time (considering the other 2 classes upgrades). Im with skil around 1800 and I really have to keep up the good work to get +skill (between 10 and 40) at the end of the map.
Wow been a while since Ive been here but I thought of you when I ran into Syp’s Twitter. Anyways just downloaded the xbox 360 beta and as fun as it seems I was bored after 15min. I guess I am stuck with BFBC2. BTW nice to see the site is still up and running!