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"Who does the Army trust the most? AIRBORNE!"
— Members of the 82nd Airborne in "The Opening"

Medal of Honor: Airborne is a World War II first-person shooter computer game and the 11th installment of the Medal of Honor series. It was developed by EA Los Angeles and was released worldwide on the PC and Xbox 360 in early September 2007. A PS2 and Wii version was set to be released but was cancelled in 2007. A PlayStation 3 version was released late November 2007. The game takes place in the European theater of World War II, and is the first in the series to focus only on paratrooper activities.

In the single-player mode, the player takes on the role of PFC/CPL Boyd Travers, a fictional paratrooper in the US 82nd Airborne Division. Missions include various insertions into Italy, northern France, the Netherlands and Germany, each one beginning with a jump behind enemy lines, and success requiring completion of given objectives. Airborne also features a multiplayer mode available for online play, where users have the choice of fighting for the Allies and parachuting down to the battlefield, or fighting for the Axis and starting on the ground, defending the position from enemy paratroopers. In February 2023 EA announced the shutdown of Airborne multiplayer server across all platforms, 15 years after the title's launch. [1]

The game uses a massively improved version of Unreal Engine 3. Airborne employs a nonlinear gameplay style whereby the player can start the game anywhere in the map by directing where they land, as opposed to previous linear FPS games where the start point and direction is already laid out, such as Allied Assault.

Plot[]

The plot focuses around Boyd Travers, a U.S. paratrooper, who participates in six different missions. Each one takes place during a different operation, from Operation Husky to bringing down Der Flakturm in Germany. Travers fights alongside the 82nd airborne division and the 17th Airborne, in 'Young Fools' and 'Flying through Hail'.

Missions[]

Medals[]

  • Soldiers Medal - Use every weapon in the game
  • Legion of Merit - Complete any mission without dying
  • WWII Victory Medal - Complete the game on any difficulty
  • Bronze Star - Earn a five star rating on every mission on the casual difficulty
  • Silver Star - Earn a four star rating on every mission on the normal difficulty
  • Distinguished Service Cross - Earn a three star rating on every mission on the expert difficulty

Weapons[]

Unlike other MOH Titles, the player is able to choose which weapons to start a mission with via the Weapon Loadout System.

All weapons have 3 tiers of upgrades, when a weapon is upgraded, the game goes into slow-motion, the player's is temporarily immune to damage and the player during this effect has unlimited ammo and health.

Upgrades can be earned faster by Headshots, Melee Kills, Triple kills or 5 kills in a row.

American[]

Weapon Upgrades
M1911
M1 Garand
M1903/A5 Springfield
Thompson submachine gun
  • Pistol foregrip: Reduced recoil
  • Cutts compensator: Increased accuracy
  • 50-round drum magazine: Larger ammo capacity
Browning Automatic Rifle
  • Compensator: Reduced recoil
  • A2 Adjustable sights: Increased accuracy, variable zoom
  • Dual magazines: Faster reload
MK 2 Grenade N/A
Winchester Model 12 Shotgun
  • Barrel choke: Tighter pellet spread
  • Buckshot rounds: Increased damage
  • Bayonet: Increased melee damage and distance
M18 recoiless rifle
  • Enhanced Scope: Variable zoom
  • Satchel: Ammo Capacity
  • Musette bag: Ammo Capacity

German[]

Weapon Upgrades
C96
  • Rifle stock: Reduces recoil
  • 20-round magazine: Increased magazine capacity
  • 712 Conversion Kit/Automatic fire adapter: Increased rate of fire
Karabiner 98 Kurz
Gewehr 43
MP40
  • Dual Magazines: Faster reload
  • 64-Round Magazine: Doubled magazine capacity
  • Dagger: Increased melee damage and distance
Sturmgewehr 44
  • Blowback reducer: Reduces recoil
  • Dual magazines: Faster reload
  • ZF Tactical Scope: Increased accuracy, variable zoom
Model 24 Stielhandgranate
  • Satchel: Capacity (increased to 10)
  • Bandolier: Capacity (increased to 12)
  • Musette Bag: Capacity (increased to 14)
Panzerschreck
  • Adjustable Iron Sights: Variable zoom
  • Satchel: Larger ammunition capacity
  • Musette Bag: Even larger ammunition capacity
MG42 (fixed) N/A

British[]

Characters[]

Main Characters[]

Secondary Characters[]

  • Private First Class Rossum (Possibly KIA)
  • Private Harding (KIA)
  • Unknown Radio Operator (Alive)
  • Harding Spotter (MIA)
  • Colonel Scott Webb (Alive)
  • Corporal Kish (Alive/ KIA, depending on player's actions)
  • Corporal Towne
  • Captain Campana (MIA)
  • Jimmy (Alive)

Gameplay[]

This game focuses on non-linear gameplay. The player is able to choose what weapons to take into battle, where to land, and what objectives to complete first. In addition, the player is able to upgrade weapons and grenades, upgrades which carry over from mission to mission. The A.I. is an entirely different design from previous Medal of Honor games, due to the non-linear style of gameplay.

Because of the non-linear gameplay style of Airborne, the developers had to build an entirely new artificial intelligence system to deal with the many ways the player can interact with or approach the computer-controlled allied and enemy soldiers (NPCs), and for them to react to the situation accordingly. With "Affordance A.I.", the characters have an awareness of enemy approach patterns, and also features of the terrain and urban infrastructure that provide a tactical advantage, such as cover, high ground and open doorways. This allows AI characters to take intelligent combat actions based on their surroundings, as opposed to the scripted movements of previous linear FPS games.

Airborne uses two systems to guide the physical and emotional reactions of the AI characters to what is happening around them. "E-cap" (emotion capture) is used to create more human-like emotions on the characters' faces by blending textures to give the appearance of facial expressions, wrinkles, and tension. A "procedural awareness system" gives every character an emotional state such as defensive, nervous, hysterical, etc., and also an awareness of their surroundings and other NPCs. For example, an AI soldier that started to move forward would jump back for cover if an ally next to him was shot.

Airborne uses a heavily modified Unreal 3 engine. The game's core development was started with EA's acquired Renderware engine, but it made the switch to the Unreal 3 engine in early 2006 which delayed the game by over a year. The engine was specifically designed for DirectX 9 and 10 PCs, PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, and supports many rendering techniques utilized within the graphics capabilities of Airborne, including HDRR, per-pixel lighting and dynamic shadows.

Music[]

The Soundtrack was composed by Michael Giacchino for the first time since Medal of Honor: Frontline. The official Soundtrack Album was released on the 31st of July 2007, with the following tracklist:

  1. Medal of Honor - Airborne (Main Theme) - 3:48
  2. Operation Husky - 3:27
  3. Back Alleys - 2:24
  4. In the Trenches - 2:34
  5. Restoration Temple - 2:46
  6. Gunfight in the Ruins - 5:24
  7. Operation Neptune - 2:34
  8. Following the Demolition Wires - 1:06
  9. Room by Room - 2:23
  10. Unblocking Utah - 2:43
  11. Operation Varsity - 3:38
  12. Sniper Showdown - 3:18
  13. Das Flakturm - 2:36
  14. Destroying the Fuel Reserves - 2:29
  15. Dropping into Nijmegen - 3:00
  16. Wreckage of Nijmegen - 7:04
  17. Defusing the Charges - 2:37
  18. Taking out the sighting Tower - 2:30
  19. Paestum Landing - 2:50
  20. Medal of Honor - Airborne (End Credits) - 4:14

iTunes Bonus Tracks:

  1. Multiplayer Allies - 0:31
  2. Multiplayer Axis - 0:34

In Addition to the Scores released in the Album the game also reuses a considerible amount of Scores from previous games. Here is an overview:

  1. Battlegrounds - 1:30 (originally from Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault)
  2. Er lässt mich niemals allein (OSS Radiobroadcast) - 4:32 (originally from Medal of Honor: Underground)
  3. Shipyards of Lorient - 3:14 (originally from Medal of Honor: Frontline)
  4. Sniper Town - 3:21 (originally from Medal of Honor: Allied Assault)
  5. Passage to Iraklion - 3:40 (originally from Medal of Honor: Underground)
  6. MoH: Allied Assault (Main Theme) - 4:04 (originally from Medal of Honor: Allied Assault)
  7. Emmerich Station - 3:02 (originally from Medal of Honor: Frontline)
  8. Panzer Blockade - 3:20 (originally from Medal of Honor: Underground)
  9. Nijmegen Bridge - 3:22 (originally from Medal of Honor: Frontline)
  10. Beneath the City - 3:09 (originally from Medal of Honor: Underground)
  11. The Road to Tobruk - 3:24 (originally from Medal of Honor: Underground)
  12. Rjuken Sabotage - 4:08 (originally from Medal of Honor)
  13. The Streets of Paris - 3:50 (originally from Medal of Honor: Underground)
  14. Amongst the Dead - 3:17 (originally from Medal of Honor: Underground)
  15. After the Drop - 5:38 (originally from Medal of Honor: Frontline)
  16. Arnhem - 5:51 (originally from Medal of Honor: Frontline)
  17. The Rowhouses - 4:40 (originally from Medal of Honor: Frontline)
  18. Border Town - 3:36 (originally from Medal of Honor: Frontline)
  19. Manor House Rally - 3:48 (originally from Medal of Honor: Frontline)
  20. Last Rites - 3:34 (originally from Medal of Honor: Underground)
  21. The Halftrack Chase - 3:40 (originally from Medal of Honor: Frontline)
  22. Schmerzen - 3:37 (originally from Medal of Honor: Allied Assault)
  23. Rescuing the G3 Officer - 4:09 (originally from Medal of Honor)
  24. Nordhausen - 3:18 (originally from Medal of Honor)
  25. The U-Boat - 4:43 (originally from Medal of Honor)
  26. Stopping the V2 Launch - 4:14 (originally from Medal of Honor)
  27. Merker's Salt Mine - 4:09 (originally from Medal of Honor)
  28. The Radar Train - 3:35 (originally from Medal of Honor)
  29. Approaching the Tarmac - 3:48 (originally from Medal of Honor: Frontline)
  30. Taking out the Railgun - 3:52 (originally from Medal of Honor)
  31. U-4902 - 4:44 (originally from Medal of Honor: Frontline)
  32. Locating Enemy Positions - 4:12 (originally from Medal of Honor)
  33. Thüringer Wald Express - 2:52 (originally from Medal of Honor: Frontline)
  34. Clipping their Wings - 3:27 (originally from Medal of Honor: Frontline)
  35. Escaping Gotha - 7:16 (originally from Medal of Honor: Frontline)

Reception[]

Upon reviewing the game, IGN awarded Airborne a rating of 7.9/10, saying that "Airborne, while not perfect, is definitely the best game in the franchise to come along in quite a while".

GameSpot awarded the game 7.0/10, saying "the single-player campaign doesn't get cooking until the last two levels, but those two levels combined with solid multiplayer make it worth enlisting in Airborne."

Press Start Online stated that Airborne was "a Medal of Honor game that's not only good, it demonstrates a level of imagination and innovation that's becoming increasingly rare in the genre".

As of September 6, 2012, Airborne has received a GameRankings average of 77.53% for the PC, 76% for PlayStation 3 and 74.22% for the Xbox 360 version.

As of the same date, Airborne has received a Metacritic average of 78 for PC, 75 for PlayStation 3 and 73 for Xbox 360.

PlayStation the Official Magazine gave it a 3.5/5, stating "Medal of Honor: Airborne is outrageously beautiful and among the best looking titles on the PS3." Most reviewers praised the music from the games that Medal of Honor, with IGN stating in particular that the title music, which was said to bring back some classic memories from Allied Assault and the starting music for Operation Market Garden for Campaign.

Trivia[]

  • This game featured the return of Michael Giacchino as its composer five years after finishing MOH: Frontline.
  • This is the third game in the series to feature Italian as an enemy faction. However, in Airborne it is somewhat historically inaccurate that Italian military uses German-made small firearms, as opposed to domestic ones like those featured in Medal of Honor: Allied Assault: Breakthrough.
  • Most paratroopers in the missions wear Private First Class insignia regardless of their actual ranks.
  • By the time the player reaches the Operation Varsity mission, most paratroopers will be seen wearing the insignia of a Sergeant.
  • All the Paratroopers in the cutscenes use the Thompson submachine gun.
  • All the Paratroopers are seen carrying the over sized holster for the M1A1 Carbine when in C-47, though the Carbine does not make an appearance in game. The absence of the iconic purpose-designed paratrooper carbine is likely due to balance reasons, that no direct counterpart is available for the Axis.
  • None of the paratroopers have a reserve parachute, which would be worn on the chest.

Video Gallery[]

External Links[]

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