Medal of Honor: Allied Assault

Medal of Honor: Allied Assault is a World War II first-person shooter by 2015, Inc. and published by Electronic Arts, first released in January 2002 for PC. It is the third installment in the Medal of Honor series, and the first game to be released for computers. It also serves as a spiritual predecessor to the Call of Duty series due to the fact that this game's developers went on to found Infinity Ward.

The game would be ported to macOS in August, 2002 and Linux in 2004, and receive two expansion packs, Spearhead and Breakthrough, which were made by different companies.

Allied Assault
Lieutenant Mike Powell is a U.S. Army Ranger and OSS agent who is deployed in missions behind enemy lines against the German war machine.

Spearhead
101st Airborne paratrooper Sergeant Jack Barnes is separated from his squad while dropping in Normandy and is rescued by three British commandos. After assisting them, he would fight alongside his fellow paratroopers during the Battle of the Bulge, and later, the Soviets during the Battle of Berlin.

Breakthrough
Sergeant John Baker is a soldier in the 34th Infantry Division who takes part in multiple battles in the North African and Mediterranean theatres of the war, not only on the frontlines, but also behind them.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Lots of improvements from the first two games, such as quicksave and autosave features. Not only that, the game features more friendly AI this time around.
 * 2) Michael Giacchino's soundtrack is as impressive as always.
 * 3) Graphics are greatly improved from the previous games.
 * 4) Challenging gameplay.
 * 5) You can carry up to 6 weapons at a time; a pistol, a rifle, a submachine gun, a machine gun/assault rifle, grenades, and a heavy weapon (either a rocket launcher or a shotgun).
 * 6) Even bigger combat with awesome levels; one level notably puts you right in Omaha Beach and another puts you in command of a King Tiger tank and giving the German war machine a taste of their own medicine.
 * 7) Awesome multiplayer that lasted over 12 years, until GameSpy was shutdown sadly (LAN is still in the game though, lots of people still play it with their friends).
 * 8) The expansion packs add even more content to the game, such as new weapons, playable vehicles, and even factions such as the Soviet Union or Fascist Italy.
 * 9) Great mod support. You'll find lots of mods for both single-player and multiplayer.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Cheat codes are limited only to console commands unlike the first two games, where they are unlockable.
 * 2) Some levels from both the original game and expansion packs are too hard, most notoriously "Sniper's Last Stand".

Reception
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault was met with universal acclaim from critics, players, and fans alike, with a rating of 3.98 in GameFAQs, not to mention a Metascore of 91/100 and a user score of 8.6 in Metacritic. The game was even ranked in the latter site as the #4 Best PC Game of 2002 and #7 Most Discussed PC Game of 2002.

The expansion packs on the other hand, were met with slightly less, but still positive reception; Spearhead has a rating of 3.72 in GameFAQs, a Metascore of 74/100, and a user score of 7.5 with Breakthrough being the worst reviewed, earning a 3.70 rating in GameFAQs, a Metascore of 72/100, and a user score of 6.8.