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Gameplay
Sound
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Graphics
Value
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Reader Reviews
35 reviews. Average Rating: 3.83
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Publisher:  Genre: Action Expansion For:
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Mac OS X: Any Version Mac OS Classic: Mac OS 9.2.2
CPU: G3 @ 450 MHz RAM: 192 MB |
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Medal of Honor: Spearhead
September 30, 2003 | Tom Burns |
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Graphics
As I said before, the graphics are absolutely amazing in single-player mode. You will be stunned in the first scene, as you watch planes being shot down around you while you descend into the chaos below. Tracers and anti-aircraft fire are abundant, and you will quickly be enveloped by the detailed setting.
There is, however, trouble in paradise. If you are on an older system (read: a system lacking a GeForce 4 or better graphics card), this game will leave you with plenty of time to gawk at the scenery as it passes by at about two frames per second. The game is very demanding, and absolutely killed my poor little eMac even on medium graphics settings. The game was playable on the lowest settings, but who wants to do that?
In its defense, the game performed well with medium settings while playing multiplayer games, and lag because of graphics was never an issue. This is probably where you will spend most of your time with the game anyway, so I really couldn’t discount the graphics score too much.
Sound
The sound in this expansion is simply lackluster. I found that many sound effects were cut off, and my JBL Creatures only helped to bring out the volume flaws and grainy background music. While on par with Allied Assault’s sound, the game has simply failed to take advantage of modern audio technologies, and fails to deliver what you would expect from a game of this caliber.
These flaws are far from ruining the environment of the game, however. The sound is adequate, and still manages to aid the overall feeling of the battles. While the sound is reminiscent of the effects that might be heard in an older game, they are all original, and very few sounds seem to be recycled from Allied Assault. This brings me to my next point: There is very little that could be done that would improve the sound effects quality over that of the original game. I noticed about three times the variation of weapon sounds, and even the simple things like ricochet and footsteps sound better.
Conclusion
Spearhead is clearly an expansion. While the content would be lackluster as a standalone game, it is as an addition to the solid core of Allied Assault. If you are looking for something to breathe life back into the rather stagnant Mac multiplayer FPS scene, this is what you have been waiting for.
Pros:
-Excellent new weapons and multiplayer value
-Graphics are superb
-Maintains the reputation of the franchise
Cons:
-Lackluster performance on the average Mac
-Sound failed to improve over the original
-New campaign levels only offer a small amount of game play
35 Reader Reviews submitted. Average Rating: 3.83
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