System Requirements OS: Windows XP/ME/2000/98/95 CPU: 450 MHz RAM: 128MB Video: 16MB DirectX 8.0

\'Spearhead\' is an expansion for the WWII hit, \'Medal of Honor\'. This game continues with the same action-packed gameplay, heroic music, and feeling of \'being there\' in the action. This time, you are Sgt. Barnes, paratrooper. Once again you will have similar missions as before (steal papers, ride a tank, blow up bridges), but it\'s all done with new weapons, and completely new environments. If you want an extra little something out of \'Allied Assault\', this is just the expansion for you.

Gameplay

If you are reading this review, I assume you have already played \'Allied Assault\' and are familiar with the gameplay. If not, read our review here. http://www.ccgr.org/article_read.asp?id=358 The gameplay is just the same as in \'Allied Assault\', but perhaps even a bit more intense. There are several missions where you have an onslaught of enemy coming at you. It\'s not an impossible situation though. It makes for a powerful adrenaline rush as you fight your way through. You have some help from your friendly computer buddies as well. One high point for me was the Battle of Bastogne. You need to run between the right and left flanks to defend a swarm of Germans crossing your line. There is some serious fighting during these scenes. To crank things up, you also need to deal with a tank and a half-track, while at the same time, helping to defend with the other British soldiers. The friendly AI is an integral part of this game. In fact, it seems a great percentage of the game has you teaming up with allies to accomplish your goals. This is one of the things fans wanted more of, and Electronic Arts has listened. Your allies will talk with you, shout commands, and fight along side of you. Weapon-wise, there are numerous items from both Britain and Russia. These each have their individual strengths and weaknesses and are different from what was already in \'Allied Assault\'. The Russian weapons were especially interesting. Their look was definitely unique. I really like the Russian machine gun. It holds the largest clip/cartridge out of any weapon, but its reload time is long. Multi-player adds several new maps and a new map type, but is not really any different from the previous games. The strong point of Medal of Honor has been, and remains, the single-player experience.

Sound

The sound is, once again, fantastic. Unfortunately, there is no new music.

Graphics

The graphics remain quite enjoyable and add a lot of feeling to the game. From the opening scene parachuting down, to the final scenes in bombed-out Berlin, the graphics add another touch of creativity to the game. The artists have continued to add enough character and feeling to the scenes to help you feel as if you are there. There were some really nice sun and moon scenes.

Appropriateness

Once again, you are armed with a variety of weapons (pistols, rifles, grenades, machine guns, bazooka, etc). The intent is, of course, to kill the enemy. There is still no blood in the game. I was quite impressed how \'Allied Assault\' used a minimal amount of bad language. \'Spearhead\' stays with \'D\' and \'H\', but you will hear them a little bit more this time. Although the missions themselves are fake, they are based on true battles and scenarios. You have another opportunity to learn about WWII and some of the battles. The D-Day scene from \'Allied Assault\' is certainly very well known, but this time you will get to see a different side of D-Day. You will get to be a paratrooper who went behind lines to help cut off the Germans from Normandy. I really enjoyed being able to see the faces of the men who fought in the battles. This was especially moving after having completed the battle at Bastogne. This was a tough part of the game which required you to bring supplies to the allies. It included an intense fight to stop Germans from crossing into passed your line. After completing the level, they showed pictures of the battle at Bastogne and pictures of the men who fought in it.

Stability

The game was completely stable on Windows XP (Service Pack 1). I had no problems throughout the entire game.

Conclusion

This game is exactly why I am a big fan of of the \'Medal of Honor\' series. It has some of the best action and excitement in a single-player game. With nice environmental sounds, beautiful graphics, and the very powerful soundtrack, this is a great addition to the series. Ahhh, but there is one issue. The game is rather short. The game should take between 3-5 hours to complete. But double that because you\'ll want to play this one twice!