Respawn Entertainment's Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond isn't breaking as much new ground in the world of virtual reality FPS games as it could, but it is still a solid shooter that provides an interesting look at what actually happened in some of World War 2's most important battles. Despite Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond's worst qualities (pacing, optimization, and immersion hiccups) there is still a lot to enjoy in EA's new VR title, especially for history fanatics.
The original Medal of Honor game was designed to teach players about the realities of war as well as entertain them with a FPS experience, and Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond definitely follows suit in this regard. Players will listen to their AI companions trade war stories and backgrounds on trucks, sit quietly with them on ominous boat rides to historic battle locations, and infrequently direct them in strategic scenarios like ambushing a truck in the French countryside. These actions, especially in VR, go a long way in helping players form attachments to these characters, and makes it all the more tragic when the realities of war come into sharp focus.
Also returning to Medal of Honor is the Gallery, a mode in Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond which allows players to learn about the real events that occurred in the game's fictional battlefields. These videos (shot with a VR camera) provide an in-depth look at some of the most interesting moments in Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond's story, and are likely the main reason why the game has such a massive file size.
It's rather shocking that Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond requires 170GB of storage on PC, especially when looking at the game in action. The graphics, while not terrible, are nowhere near the level of VR games like Half-Life: Alyx, which only required 67GB of storage at launch. There aren't nearly as many physics models present in Medal of Honor's environments either, and although players can pick up and throw an impressively large amount of melee weapons and random objects, these items only appear to have in-game collision turned on when they are being used as weapons, not when they are simply existing in Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond's levels. This means that players can run their hands in, around, and through all kinds of objects in Medal of Honor's environment as if someone had turned on a "noclip" cheat - a visual which does nothing to help immersion.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond's enemy AI is nothing special, but they are smart enough to give players a good fight in battles. While healing syringes are usually located in plentiful amounts throughout Medal of Honor's levels, the damage the player receives with each stray bullet is strong enough to make them think twice before running blindly into a Nazi's line of fire, resulting in gunfights that are both strategically satisfying as well as adrenaline-inducing. These moments, when Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond really opens up and allows players to shoot or sneak their way through dangerous situations behind enemy lines, are some of the game's best.
Despite some early-game issues with pacing, Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond's longer battle scenes are the highlight of the VR experience and possibly the entire Medal of Honor franchise. Without wishing to spoil any of the more enjoyable late-game set pieces, moments like blowing up a train full of German soldiers only to have sections of the train fly up, at, and over the player's head is as heart-pounding as it is exhilarating, and FPS tricks that feel so bland when performed on a normal console with a keyboard or a controller - such as leaning around a corner, blind firing a weapon, or lying prone on the ground to avoid being spotted by patrolling guards - are just as enjoyable here as they are in other VR shooters. Mounted gun and on-rail vehicle segments are also much more entertaining here, likely due to the amount of concentration and environmental awareness VR as a medium both requires and offers.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is asking a lot of players. It's asking them to already own a VR headset, something which continues to be an expensive purchase for many, and it's asking them to give up roughly 2.5 Half-Life: Alyx's worth of storage space on their computer. The recommended specs for Medal of Honor aren't ideal, either, and many players with older, lower-end gaming PCs might have trouble getting the best performance. However, if players give Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond some time to build up to the really good stuff, they will find a title that's not only educational, but, at times, incredibly endearing. For fans of the series with access to a VR headset and plenty of hard drive space, this is a no-brainer.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond releases on December 11th for PC and Oculus. An Oculus Rift S and Oculus Store code were provided to Screen Rant for the purposes of this review.