You will play as Boyd Travers a member of 82nd Airborne and later a member of 17th Airborne Division. Boyd will fight on many fronts, from Italy to northern France, Netherlands and Germany. The game starts with Operation Husky (part of the Sicily invasion), and continues with Operation Avalanche (invasion of the Italy's mainland), Operation Overlord in France(in which you will take part in a "behind the enemy lines" mission), Operation Market Garden in Netherlands (in which you have to secure the route to a bridge over the Waal River), Operation Varsity in Germany (in which you take part in the single largest military airdrop in WWII history as member of 17th Airborne Division), and The Flak Tower mission (a fictional mission in which you have to take out a flak tower). Let's not forget the training mission called Operation Torch which takes place in Tunisia.
Parachuting
Being a paratrooper you will start each mission by parachuting from a C-47. In the air you can handle your parachute to land almost everywhere on the map.
This ability allows the player to complete the mission objectives in every order he wants. This means no loading times or pre-planned objectives. Depending on how good you land, you will be ready to fight. If you make a botched landing, Boyd will need a couple of seconds to get equipped. Otherwise he will take the gun in his hands almost instantly. You are no more Rambo because along with you 4 to 6 comrades will land. They will help you complete the nearest objective from their landing position. If you decide you want to go to another objective position, you will encounter other comrades along your way.
Parachuting gives multiple tactical solutions to the gameplay as you can land almost anywhere: on the roof-tops (suitable for sniper approach), in safe spots (2-4 in a mission), in the middle of a gun-fight (if you still want to be Rambo) or behind the enemy lines.
Arcade elements
The health regeneration system is slightly changed. The health bar is now divided into four quarters. If you were hit and you didn't lose a whole quarter, the health will regenerate automatically while you stay in a cover position and rest for a few seconds. Otherwise you have to find and take a health kit in order to replenish the lost quarter. This system gives more chances of survival to a casual player on low difficulty settings. Airborne has a feeling of arcade. Besides this new health regeneration system, the game also shows you the position of every grenade which was thrown at your nearest position. Similar to a compass, the system indicates the direction of the grenade and the distance by changing the intensity of the indicator's color.
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Arsenal
Weapons are a very important feature in a fps game, and Airborne makes no exception. The player can carry three weapons and grenades. A side-arm (pistol), a primary weapon (ex. Thompson) and a secondary one (ex. M12 Shotgun).
The good news is that every weapon can be upgraded in three stages. For example the Thompson gains a pistol grip (which stabilizes the gun), a Cutts compensator (which ejects the muzzle gas out), and finally a larger magazine (increases the number of bullets per clip from 30 to 50). Every upgrade is received after you fill the bar of the gun which is displayed in the low-right corner. This bar is filled based on reward points obtained by every headshot, number of kills in rapid succession, or a melee kill.
Physics
Physics are very well represented in the gameplay. Each bullet that hits you will make the camera to shake, and every grenade that explodes near your will blur your vision and even throw you to the ground. The rag-doll effect is at its best proving again that the havoc engine can make wonders if it is used properly. A grenade thrown in the right spot can release "body fireworks".
A.I.
The enemy A.I. is 100% scripted, and in some situations really dump. Either he shoots from a fix position, either he runs like a madman from one cover position to another and in the end in the front of your gun.
The difficulty stays in their average number and in their tactical respawning positions. On every map there are several important positions which the enemy has to defend. If you die you get parachuted again. In this time you have to assume that the enemy has won the position you just attacked so although you have cleared half of your path, the enemy will be back in the same numbers.
As you have already figured out, most of the missions (except "The Flak Tower") are based on historical events. That's because the development team was helped by a historical advisor to ensure historical accuracy. The team really went far away with this idea recording real sounds from WWII weapons, vehicles and even the sound of a real C-47.
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Gameplay: 82
The single campaign is very short, and when you thought you just began to enjoy it, the game is already over. Parachuting brings a new level of tactical approach to the franchise and increases the playability. Features like upgrading the weapons and landing in special positions to get the goldwings makes you play it again, as you cannot test or achieve all these features from a single crossing of the gameplay. In my opinion the single campaign is just there to teach you the maps and the mechanics of the game for the multiplayer mode which will be again a hit in the Medal of Honor community. The story has no substance, although the game is based on historical accuracy.
Graphics: 90
The graphical engine is based on a modified version of Unreal 3 engine. In some levels the game looks great while in the others due to repeated use of structure buildings, the view gets boring. The PC version looks best due to high quality textures and additional lighting effects.
That gray atmosphere characteristic to Medal of Honor franchise was also kept. But the problem comes with the enemy soldiers which are based on the same set of textures and can hardly be recognized from the allied soldiers. There wouldn't have been any tactical approach of the gameplay without a good environmental design. Therefore Airborne has a very good one. There are spots where you can take cover, spots where you can attack the enemy unseen, tactical spots where you can change the flow of the battle in your favor.
Multiplayer: 95
Multiplayer mode is the core of Airborne. Based on online play, you play either on Allies side or on the Axis side on six maps. Three of them are already known from the single player mode: Operation Husky, Operation Avalanche, and Operation Neptune. The remaining three maps are copies from the previous Medal Honor Allied Assault title. These maps are basic the same with the original, but are much larger and have new routes and points of access included. At the moment there are three gamemodes: airborne teammatch, regular teammatch, and one similar to capture the flag.
Airborne teammatch: the Axis must defend against the Allies who are dropping from the sky.
Regular teammatch: the Allies troops spawn on the ground instead of parachuting.
Third gametype: is an object-based mode where you have to capture three neutral flags. The winning team will be the one who manages to control the most flags on the map.
Medal of Honor community was directly implied in the development process, especially in the multiplayer mode. Unfortunately some of their requests were not respected, so EA already received some criticism. However additional maps and gametypes will be available to download in near future, so in the end the community will be pleased.
Sound: 91
Real sounds from WWII were recorded in order to increase the excitement of the player and the credibility of the game. Some say that even the sounds of the boots stepping were recorded. Weapons sound amazing each type of gun having its unique tone.
Hardware: 85
The game runs smoothly without exception in single player and without major lags in multiplayer. Still the game suffers from some bugs such as the weird animation of the enemy, which in some cases are almost impossible to hit because of the instantly direction change. The game does not support 64-bit versions of Windows or NVIDIA SLI or ATI Crossfire. Some of us are spending amounts of money to purchase the latest technology, while some publishers hits us with unexpected requirements. Where is the so-called next-gen element?