November Best Bets
November's a big month for first-person shooter fans, with Halo 2, Half-Life 2, Killzone, and a new Medal of Honor expansion pack hitting the store shelves. With so many choices and only so much time, what's a gamer to do? Here are our recommendations for FPS-ing in November.Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault
PC
Developer: EA Los Angeles
Publisher: EA Games
Release Date: Now
The sea chokes on capsizing ships as the sky fills with flak bursts and planes, massive formations like flocks of menacing birds. You'd think Pearl Harbor, the first stop in EA's first-person war in the Pacific, would be its best. Not so -- despite the sneak attack's big- budget bang, its effect isn't all that special. Transparent scripting shepherds you through such specific motions (fix flashing valves, destroy designated planes, etc.) that there's precious little opportunity to feel like you're actually living the moments.
Pacific Assault's finest hours are more personal -- when the enemy's up close, fixing bayonets and charging in the black of night; when you're shot off your feet, half-blinded by pain and mumbling to the medic who's patching you up. You'll find few health packs here. Instead of miracle cures, a corpsman with limited supplies is on hand to help, provided you can to crawl to safety and call him over before bleeding out. It's a damn fine (if long overdue) idea; one that forces you to fight like your life depends on it. Smart foes keep you frosty, too. Go all gung ho, and they'll fall back to fortified positions; play it slow and safe, and they'll flush you out of the bush with grenades and banzai tactics. Each battle's back-and-forth flow mixes things up even if most of your missions are treks down tropical trails.
Unfortunately, your foes are as tough as their tactics. With every SOB standing back up after absorbing bursts from my Browning automatic (likewise when I nailed 'em with shotgun blasts that should've shattered their kneecaps), I started to think I was playing the samurai zombie slash-'em-up Onimusha. Overblown animation and drawn-out death rattles don't help -- guys groan and double over, forcing you to waste more shots on technically dead men when you should be acquiring fresh targets.
Medal of Honor worthy? Maybe not, but the latest in the series does deserve a Distinguished Service decoration.
--Shawn Elliott
Halo 2
Xbox
Developer: Bungie
Publisher: Microsoft
Release Date: November 9
Well, duh. It's only, like, the biggest Xbox game since...well, the first Halo. We'll spill all the juicy details on Halo 2's single-player campaign and 16-player Xbox Live experience next week, and clue you in as to whether Halo 2 was really worth the momentous pile of hype. Is dual-wielding twice as cool as you were expecting? Is there a secret here even greater than the Flood? Keep your eyes on this space, marine!
Half Life 2
PC
Developer: Valve
Publisher: VU Games
Release Date: November 15
What game have we been waiting for longer than Halo 2? Why, Half-Life 2, of course! It's kind of surreal and strangely numbing that Valve's magnum opus is nearly upon us -- does anyone actually have any excitement for this game -- but we guarantee the flood of anticipation will bowl you over once you've got the game in your hands. We've got to keep a lid on our feelings on the final game for now, but we'll be able to tell you all about Gordon Freeman's latest first-person experience before you know it. Check back in a bit, won't you?
Also Consider:Killzone, GoldenEye: Rogue Agent
Keep Your Eye On: Mech Assault2, Project Snowblind
