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The first Medal of Honor is easily one of my favorite first-person shooters on PlayStation and fifth-generation consoles in general. The gameplay is fun, it’s action-packed, it comes with solid controls, and I feel it’s one of the more immersive World War II shooters out there. Medal of Honor tells a fictional tale with fictional characters but takes the topic of World War II seriously and covers some actual events of the war. It also marked the beginning of a trend of World War II first-person shooters that would go on for years. The game proved to be a success and spawned a sequel, Medal of Honor: Underground, which was my gateway to the series as a kid and I think the first console first-person shooter I ever owned and played. And I played it a lot so I’ve been looking forward to jumping back into it. Developed by DreamWorks Interactive and published by Electronic Arts, Medal of Honor: Underground was released for PlayStation in October, 2000 and was ported to Game Boy Advance in 2002. For this review, I played the PlayStation version.
Medal of Honor: Underground is structured much like its predecessor. The story plays out in missions with multiple levels per mission. You are put in the shoes of a woman in the French Resistance, Manon Batiste, who is recruited by the Office of Strategic Services (O.S.S.) and sent on missions throughout North Africa and Europe to thwart the Nazi war effort. She is also a character in the previous game, briefing Lt. Jimmy Patterson during his many missions. Just like the first game, the mission briefings are accompanied by voice acting along with a mix of images and videos of World War II and level briefings are in text form. Underground is another game that provides information on actual events of World War II while telling a fictional tale. It does retain the cinematic and immersive qualities of its predecessor in terms of the audiovisual presentation and never feels over-the-top or hammy. The bonus mission is certainly bizarre and strays from the seriousness a bit but Manon’s story is taken seriously.
I’m going to start with what might be considered a negative and that is the gameplay doesn’t do anything new. It’s basically Medal of Honor with new levels, enemies, and weapons. The mechanics are identical. Enemy behavior is also carried over which means they can do some interesting things you don’t even see in modern games like tossing or kicking your grenades back to you. Underground is another first-person shooter for PlayStation that feels very comfortable to play in today’s world. Underground does support the Dual Analog Controller and retains the more, let’s call it “modern” controller configuration of its predecessor. That means you can move and strafe with the left stick, turn with the right stick, shoot with R2, and aim with L2. Furthermore, Underground allows you to enable a permanent crosshair. I didn’t really mess with the controls or options as a kid so I had no idea about any of this. But in hindsight, I wasn’t aware of any kind of standardized control scheme for first-person shooters on consoles, let alone one that would be similar to what’s used in the future, so I played with the default controls back in the day.
Medal of Honor: Underground is another game that tries to immerse you into the war and time period. Everything from the menus to the gameplay. Underground showcases another excellent main menu. Similar to the War Room main menu of the first game, Underground’s main menu is set in what looks like an underground room and different parts of the room take you to different sub-menus and you can see people in the room doing various things. It’s very cool and I think this menu along with the menu from the previous game are some of the best in the video game world.
Despite the fact the gameplay is identical to that of its predecessor, Underground does introduce some new stuff. For one thing, there are new weapons including a crossbow, enemy types, and I feel the gameplay is more challenging overall. There are difficulty levels here which determine how much health you start with at the beginning of each level. The actual challenge ramps up as you progress and the later levels can be quite tough. Underground will not only pit you against German soldiers but also tanks, half-tracks, enemies on motorcycles, and Germans in knight armor that carry a sword and shield, I call them Nazi Knights. The levels are mostly linear but some do offer multiple routes to a destination. Once again there are no checkpoints so death means you have to restart the level from the beginning.
Medal of Honor: Underground does bring back the stealth or subterfuge elements from the first game. There are levels where Manon will pose as a photographer and will have to show papers to get passed certain enemies undetected. You are given the option to shoot your way through these levels but it is fun trying to maintain your disguise. Enemies will even pose for pictures which can be comical. Just like the previous game, if enemies detect you, they will typically run to an alarm and set it off and I found these levels fascinating as a kid and would replay them often, trying to get through them undetected while silently dropping foes with the silenced pistol. These levels do make for a nice and interesting change of pace in an otherwise action-packed first-person shooter.
Most levels offer the typical run and gun first-person shooter gameplay. You are given a list of objectives to complete in each level ranging from neutralizing specific foes to blowing things up to retrieving documents and there are plenty of enemies to shoot along the way. You will fight alongside friendly NPCs in some levels, there’s one where you’ll encounter Nazis and Privateer Outlaws get into firefights, and another has Manon manning the gun on a motorcycle, using it to mow down foes. These situations along with the stealth levels do mix up the gameplay nicely. You are ranked in the form of stars at the end of each level and doing well in all the levels of a mission will result in awards and unlocks.
Underground does feature more diverse locales than those of its predecessor. Manon will aid the resistance in France, sneak into a supply depot in Africa, take out coastal guns in Crete, rescue prisoners in Italy, and investigate a castle in Germany. While many levels are pretty short, it did take me longer to get through this game than the last. The more challenging gameplay added to the time because I died more often in the later levels. Several levels here do feel bigger than those in its predecessor and it’s always wise to enter new areas with caution because a tank or enemy carrying a panzerschreck can drop you quickly if you’re not careful. The short draw distance ensures you can’t see that far ahead so it is possible to enter an area and get overwhelmed if you don’t take things slow, especially in the later levels.
In addition to the single player is a multiplayer mode which I didn’t get the chance to try. I did play it with a friend a few times as a kid, though, and I remember it being okay. Underground also has plenty of codes you can enter to unlock things and activate cheats. Completing all the missions does unlock a bonus mission which puts you in the shoes of the protagonist from the previous game, Jimmy Patterson. These levels are interesting and feature bizarre foes like zombies that explode and dogs, for example. Dogs that carry guns and drive half-tracks. It’s quite ridiculous. These levels are also tough. Tough to the point I found them frustrating.
Medal of Honor: Underground does look like a product of its time but showcases a detailed presentation with nice weapon and enemy models, diverse environments, and excellent animations. The short draw distance is the only real eye sore I can think of but everything else holds up pretty well. Most of the animations seem to be taken directly from the last game and they’re just as cool here. There’s no gore but enemies will react differently depending on where they’re shot, enemies not killed can go down and slowly get back up, you can shoot the helmets off their heads, and it all helps in making the action and gameplay feel both exciting and rewarding. Weapons have great audiovisual feedback, weapons fire sounds powerful, explosions are booming, and just like the last game, it’s the ambient sounds that really drive the atmosphere and create different moods. Plus, the gameplay is backed by a phenomenal soundtrack composed by Michael Giacchino. On the technical side, the game ran pretty well but I did encounter frequent drops in the frame rate when things got really busy. Other than that, no major issues.
I had a great time with Medal of Honor: Underground and it brought back some good memories. I played it a lot as a kid and remember being impressed with the animations and fascinated with the stealth or subterfuge levels. The action is still a lot of fun and its the enemy animations that really help elevate it. Objectively speaking, Underground doesn’t stray too far from what the first game established and is pretty much more of the same. But it does offer a lot of action, more challenging gameplay, and more diverse locales and enemy types. While I have plenty of nostalgia for this game, it’s not my favorite in the franchise but it is a solid entry and I know I had an easier time getting through the missions this time around mainly due to the controls. Just like the first game, it offers what you might consider a modern control scheme so I was able to pick this up and get the hang of things very quickly. Sure, it feels a bit janky now but I can’t say it ever felt uncomfortable or awkward to play. Ultimately, Medal of Honor: Underground is a great World War II first-person shooter that’s still enjoyable today.
I absolutely recommend Medal of Honor: Underground. It’s a great sequel that with more challenging gameplay. I do like it more than the first game because I feel it’s more action-packed and exciting and I think it’s one of the best first-person shooters for PlayStation. It definitely shows its age in some respects but still holds up well. Since it borrows a lot from its predecessor, it may not have the same kind of impact but it still offers a great time. Definitely check it out.