Nowadays when someone jumps out of a plane, they’re doing it for the unforgettable thrill. The freedom of movement during this free-falling experience has created a business where people pay to be dropped from several thousand feet. They call this crazy-but-exciting expedition “skydiving.”

In Medal of Honor Airborne, you control one of the world’s first skydivers – a paratrooper. No relation to Koopa Troopas, the menacing shell-covered creatures inhabiting the Mushroom Kingdom, paratroopers jump into the battlefield from the plane’s apparently-safe cargo space. They did this not for excitement but because it was the only way to enter the fray without walking through the front door. History taught us that that wasn’t the smartest thing to do.

This is the premise surrounding Medal of Honor Airborne. Brought to Xbox 360 earlier this fall, the game comes to PlayStation 3 with SIXAXIS support for paratrooper controls (you can glide into each mission by tilting the controller) and sniper evasion (tilt the controller to move your soldier while sniping). These are not the default controls, so you’ll have to turn them before the motions take effect. Other than that – and an unfortunate parachuting glitch – the game isn’t any different from the Xbox 360 edition. But if you haven’t played through the game before, brand-new thrills await those who jump into Airborne.

 
Whoa…that sure is a long way down!

Shoot to Kill

In regards to the controls, gameplay speed, camera work, and mission scenarios, Airborne is at about the same level as its PS2 predecessors. The difference now is that, thanks to next-gen hardware, you have many more enemy soldiers to take out. More are visible on screen simultaneously, and when the first batch is wiped out, another is waiting to rush in (and another, and another…!).

On average, you’ll have to slaughter a good 20 to 30 enemies before completing an area/mission of a level. Not the entire map – just one area! That’s an impressive number and is a huge undertaking for the player, who will want to retaliate with an equal assault of bullets and grenades. But you’ll quickly learn that being gung-ho doesn’t go anywhere in this game.

The weapon list is small but noteworthy: Thompson, M1 Garand, K98k Karashiner Kurtz, Machinepistol 40, M12 Shotgun, STg 44, G43 Gewehr, M1911 Colt 45 Pistol, M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle, and a handful of others. You’ll only be able to carry three weapons simultaneously (one primary, one secondary, and one handgun) but may swap them out with any weapons your dead opponents leave behind. Weapon upgrades – earned through an unspecified amount of kills – lead to the usual (increased firepower, reduced recoil) as well as unusual (shoot grenades off your sniper rifle!) enhancements.

Your Sniper, Your Friend

Stand back. Focus your scope. Tilt your head to avoid a stray bullet. Wrap your finger around the R2 button and fire. Oooh, that knocked his helmet right off! But he’s still standing… Cock that sucker and fire again. The shot goes right into his forehead. He falls to the ground and, just as you’re about to search for your next target, another soldier arrives to replace your latest kill.

Snipering is a crucial part of Airborne, so it’s a good thing that it is also one of the most entertaining gameplay features. While sniping, the scope selectively blurs certain areas to create an excellent depth of field. There are a few scenario glitches. If you’re standing too close to a wall or trying to shoot through a narrow opening, the game will often interpret the shot as hitting the wall. That’s a bit frustrating when your scope is perfectly aligned with an opponent’s head or any available body part. But this is the sniper rifle’s only flaw. In most areas it is very precise.

Don’t Just Stand There, Shoot Him!

Running and gunning is exciting hard work. Enemy soldiers can come from everywhere except the sky, and your allies, though helpful in some cases, are usually a pain, a distraction, or both. Having played through the game on another console, it was easier to deal with them – or rather, to avoid them – than it was when I didn’t know what to expect. Here’s the gist: they may appear to take their own path in each level, but they’ll ultimately end up wherever you go.

This would be good if it weren’t for their lack of proficiency. Allies may block your vision, block your shot, or make it difficult to move forward in a narrow area. Unless you’re playing the “casual” (easy) mode, they won’t be much help when five or more enemies want nothing more than to see you dead. Now more than ever, the player truly is an army of one.

The irony of this flaw is that the game would suck if our allies did everything for us. My recommendation to developers: unless it’s a squad-based shooter, stop including AI-controlled allies. If I can’t influence them in some way, there’s no question that they will eventually get in the way. Realism can’t be an excuse for their inclusion, not when there are times that both allies and enemies do nothing while standing directly in front of each other. Once again, the difficulty changes the outcome: easy mode makes your allies trigger-happy; normal and hard modes make your enemies trigger-happy.

Medal of a Previous Generation

Airborne is an attractive game with some cool effects. Disappointingly, the praise ends there. We can live without mind-blowing graphics so long as the gameplay is great and the frame rate (a key factor in first-person shooters) stays consistent. But the two often go hand-in-hand. Airborne’s paratrooper launch begins so haphazardly that you can barely tell what’s going on. The game doesn’t intentionally jerk the camera for a cool cinematic effect – what you’re looking at is the frame rate gone mad. The Xbox 360 edition was superior in this respect. Prior to and after the jump, the game is exactly the same.

Gameplay: 8.2
Death is painful – players will frequently question, “Where’d that shot come from?” But its ruthless, kill-heavy gameplay is outrageously fun. You’ll have a shotgun-good time getting revenge on those who took you out, and cheer at the prospect of success – and be overjoyed the moment you obtain it.

Graphics: 7.5
Not what they could have been. Airborne’s graphics look good but are nowhere near spectacular. As the months wear on and newer, more attractive games are released (on PS3 as well as the PC and Xbox 360), Airborne looks two years older than it should.

Sound: 9.0
Airborne’s soundtrack is somewhat sneaky, growing more immersive over time. Composed by Michael Giacchino, the man who launched Medal of Honor’s trademark sound when the series began, Airborne isn’t much like his other work (Lost, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, etc.) but has the same level of longevity. You may not even realize its brilliance the first time you hear it. But it will sink deep into your consciousness and resurface at an unexpected time, urging the player to go back to the game for another listen.

Difficulty: Medium
One of the more challenging Medal of Honor games.

Concept: 7.5
Same as the Xbox 360 edition with minor SIXAXIS additions and a slower parachute drop.

Multiplayer: 7.5
Not the game’s best feature. Airborne is an FPS that’s best when played solo with the speakers cranked and the largest TV you can get your hands on.

Overall: 8.0
These flaws are damaging, no question. We could assume that the game just needed a couple more months of polish, but the PS3 version had two extra months, abolishing that theory. Truth be told, Medal of Honor isn’t likely to ever be the most perfectly-polished series. But in spite of the glitches, annoyances, and graphics that are nowhere near PS3’s expectations, Airborne is a tremendously thrilling game.