Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

This twin pack contains Medal of Honor and Medal of Honor: Underground, two seminal World War II shooters that set the standard for the genre in the late 1990s. Both titles deliver a mission-based structure where the player steps into the boots of Allied operatives tackling high-stakes objectives behind enemy lines. From beach landings to sabotage runs in occupied Europe, each scenario feels carefully crafted to evoke the tension and heroism of real wartime operations.

Medal of Honor’s original campaign casts you as Lieutenant Jimmy Patterson, guiding him through daring raids across France, Norway, and North Africa. The missions offer a balanced mix of stealth sections, open firefights, and scripted set-pieces. You’ll find yourself crawling through trenches, navigating dark bunkers, and racing against the clock to disable artillery or rescue prisoners. Weapon handling feels weighty and deliberate, emphasizing accurate shots over run-and-gun chaos.

Medal of Honor: Underground shifts perspective to Manon Batiste, a member of the French Resistance. Her storyline introduces tighter, more intimate maps—think cramped Parisian sewers, elegant châteaus, and secret railway depots. The emphasis here is on stealth and sabotage, with a handful of pulse-pounding firefights woven throughout. Underground’s pacing is brisk, and checkpoints are generous enough to keep frustration low without removing the sense of peril.

Graphics

For its time, the original Medal of Honor impressed with gritty, realistic environments rendered in the confines of late-’90s hardware. Sand, snow, and stone textures may appear blocky by today’s standards, but they carry a drab authenticity that reinforces the wartime atmosphere. Lighting effects—gun muzzle flashes, flickering searchlights, and torchlit corridors—elevate key moments and lend the game a cinematic sheen.

Underground refines this foundation with improved textures and model detail. Character faces have slightly smoother edges and uniforms bear more precise insignia. Interiors in Underground are particularly memorable, with richly decorated rooms, stained-glass windows, and flickering chandeliers contrasting sharply against dimly lit catacombs.

Both games run smoothly on modern hardware with upscaling patches or source ports, ensuring frame rates stay locked even during intense firefights. While these titles can’t compete visually with contemporary shooters, they retain an old–world charm and clear design language—enemies are easy to spot, objectives are well signposted, and landmark architecture helps you navigate sprawling levels without frustration.

Story

Medal of Honor kicks off with a charging landing craft at Normandy and never lets up. Each mission is introduced by a brief cinematic narration (courtesy of Steven Spielberg’s executive production), setting the scene and providing historical context. Though dialogue is sparse during gameplay, mission briefings and radio chatter paint a vivid picture of the stakes at hand. You experience the monotony of trench warfare, the chaos of Tempête du Désert in North Africa, and the suspense of coastal sabotage—all through the eyes of Lieutenant Patterson.

Underground offers a fresh narrative hook by centering on Manon Batiste, whose personal stake in liberating her homeland adds emotional weight. She infiltrates high–security mansions, sneaks past Gestapo patrols, and races to blow up supply trains. Small touches—like finding a letter from a fallen comrade or overhearing enemy officers discuss occupation plans—give her missions a human element that complements the broader war story.

Neither game delves into deep character development, but both succeed at delivering a straightforward, mission-driven plot that keeps you motivated. The scripted events—church collapses, surprise tank assaults, or last-second demolitions—are timed to maximize drama. If you’re looking for a sprawling narrative or branching choices, you won’t find them here, but the strong sense of place and historical authenticity more than make up for the linear storytelling.

Overall Experience

Playing through this twin pack is like stepping into a time capsule of early first-person shooters. Medal of Honor and its Underground expansion remain tightly designed, mission-focused adventures that reward patience, planning, and precision. The combined runtime hovers around 12–15 hours, making it a manageable weekend project for history buffs and shooter enthusiasts alike.

Controls feel solid, with responsive aiming and a satisfying sense of weapon heft. Enemy AI can be predictable at times, but well-placed snipers and ambushes still catch you off guard. Audio design—crackling gunfire, barking orders, and a stirring orchestral score by Michael Giacchino—keeps you immersed and heightens every encounter.

If you own a modern system, community patches and source ports ensure compatibility and even add widescreen support. While you’ll miss the multiplayer modes of later shooters, the single-player campaigns stand on their own as foundational works in the genre. Affordable, authentic, and historically flavored, this twin pack is a must-own for any fan of World War II games or anyone curious about where today’s first-person shooters got their start.