Review by: Jim Richmond
Published: November 19, 2004

When it comes to World War II games, the Nazis are a great default antagonist, however, the aggression of Japanese forces in the War to End All Wars hasn’t been as thoroughly explored. Hitler and his cronies do make good target practice, but neglecting Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku leaves a lot of untouched acreage that’s rich with stories and dramatic possibilities. In the latest outing of its acclaimed Medal of Honor series, Electronic Arts has started to plow the fertile soil of the WWII Pacific Theater in Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault.

In Pacific Assault, you play a Marine named Tom Conlin who, straight out of boot camp, gets stationed at Pearl Harbor. The base at Pearl seems idyllic until Japanese Zeros come out of nowhere and start a legendary battle. After surviving the surprise attack, Conlin’s unit takes point on an island-clearing crusade and eventually Tom finds himself knee-deep in the attack on the Tarawa Atoll. As you watch the war unfold through Conlin’s eyes, you’ll gain a sense of the courage it took to endure and overcome the Japanese threat of World War II.

Like previous Medal of Honor outings, Pacific Assault puts your virtual fingers around authentic period weaponry. The arsenal includes 15 realistically modeled guns like the M1 Carbine, M55 Reising submachine gun, the Type 100 SMG, and the Model 44 Cavalry Carbine Rifle. Load out is still assigned on a mission-to-mission basis, and new weapons come into your possession periodically, with better hardware becoming available as years pass in the story. As you travel, you’ll also come across usable emplacements with fixed weaponry like heavy machine guns and mortars.

The enemy against whom you’re using all of these weapons didn’t come just for show; they’re fighting to win. The Japanese troops seem to pull out all the stops in an effort to hand you defeat. The enemy uses available cover, tries to flush you out with grenades, and works as a team to move forward on your position. They also employ a disconcerting rush attack, running right at you, bayonet held high and screaming furiously. This last type of attack sounds like suicide, but if there are several enemy troops doing it simultaneously, you can easily be overwhelmed and turned into cube steak. Thankfully your squad mates take their jobs just as seriously as you do. They employ tactics similar to the enemy, but they don’t rush to attack. Your guys will do everything in their power to watch your back, but they want to get home in one piece.

Pacific Assault has added basic team orders to the list of features, so you can coordinate with your squad. You are now able to tell your team to press forward, fall back, reassemble and give cover fire. These commands help in tight spots and can save your bacon if used properly. At one point I was working my way up a jungle river-bed when my squad got ambushed. The enemy was quickly getting the upper hand because we were out in the open while they had decent cover behind rocks and trees. I was able to tell my men to fall back, and by doing that, they were all able to find cover. Eventually, we drew the Japanese fighters to us and we walked out of there while they floated on down the river.