'Medal of Honor: Airborne' is better than average

Platform: Xbox 360

Studio: Electronic Arts

Rating: E-for Everyone

Score: 6.5/10

GAMEPLAY: There aren't many video games where you get to parachute into the field of battle. If there is a game with parachuting I've never played it. So dropping out of a plane into the Nazis' backyard did offer some thrills.

Each battle offers a mission and it's your duty to complete it or die trying. It doesn't take long to get a handle on steering your parachute towards earth and the green marker smoke. If you float too far from your target, you aren't likely to make it out alive.

Once your feet hit the ground, there is no time to think. You'll be blitzing the Nazis with other soldiers. Players are directed by a compass that leads to each objective. Most of the game is laid out before you. There isn't a lot of freedom. There are even some weird cases where you attempt to parachute way out of bounds and can't. Medal of Honor: Airborne pretends to be a completely open adventure — it's not. It's a game that appears non-linear but in reality is very linear.

There are the rare occasions when you have some options to tackle an objective. Even then, it doesn't really matter. Medal of Honor: Airborne fails on too many fronts. As ordinary as the enemies appear, they are also unpredictable. Don't confuse unpredictable with intelligent. The Nazis might as well be a horde of zombies lusting for blood.

At least there are some decent weapons to fend off the bloodthirsty Nazis. Airborne also has some good shooting alignment. With shooters, it's often either feast or famine and Airborne has a few really shining aspects, particularly aiming at your enemy and hitting him. That should seem pretty elementary, right? The bad part is, it might take multiple shots to put an enemy solider down. It makes you wonder what Hitler was feeding his soldiers.

The friendlies aren't too smart, either. The Axis soldiers step in front of you as you are firing. That can't be right — right?

GRAPHICS: The animations are fantastic. The moments before falling out of your plane are very well done. There are some nice explosions, not just the fire effects, but also the dirt flying into the air. All of the effects work well in the realistic environment. As dumb as the soldiers are, they sure move fluidly.

AUDIO: The chatter in the plane, before dropping, does well to create atmosphere. In fact, as with most of the Medal of Honor releases, the chit-chat between soldiers is fantastic. The weapons clack with reality, making you feel like you are in the line of fire or creating the line of fire. And the music continues with the movie-quality soundtrack. At least Airborne sounds like a winner.

THE WRAP-UP