 | | The jungle graphics are impressive on PC, but absolutely horrible on the Xbox |
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Having played the Xbox single player demo for Men of Valor, the phrase "bitterly disappointing" sprung to mind. Remember the guys behind this are 2015 - the original developers of Medal of Honor, at least those who didn't get swallowed up by EA and Infinity Ward. I was just expecting so much more from it.
That first demo failed to impress me pretty much across the board. The look of the thing is apalling even for a console title, coming off as incredibly cartoony and jagged - a far cry (no pun intended) from all the other fantastically detailed jungle games we've seen in recent times.
From what I saw, playability wise it also seemed to add absolutely nothing new as a single player game. Just ploughing through that one demo level was an absolute chore - made all the more tougher as it broke my heart more and more with each passing moment.
Charlie Don't Surf
 | | Street battles are suitably tense online |
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As with many games of this type though, the PC was always gonna be the more ideal platform for this one, and with that in mind I'm a lot more impressed with the new multiplayer PC demo. It's not perfect yet, but there's a heck of a lot more going for it here.
The multiplayer demo comes with two maps; the obligatory jungle setting, and a much more interesting city map. Playing modes include standard deathmatch, team deathmatch, and the best of the bunch, a territorial warfare mode. I haven't come across any round based modes at this point though, which since Counter Strike exploded, has always been my style of choice. The realism and tension is just elevated hugely when you can't respawn after every death, and it's the way all good clan games should be played in my opinion. Whether Men of Valor includes such a mode on launch or not though, we'll have to wait and see.
Really there's nothing we haven't seen here before. You pick your class and you run around shooting the other team, pretty much as you've always done. Much like Allied Assault however, it just has such a pleasing feel to the controls and the weapons that makes it such a breeze to play, and subsequently it's damn hard to put down.
Technicalities
 | | Player models fail to impress |
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Graphics are a mixed bag. The foliage and architecture are simply brilliant and oh so exquisitely detailed. The player models however, feel terribly cheap in comparison, and a little out of place against such solid backdrops.
Sound is a little flaky in places, with a few of the guns lacking the punch needed to bring them to life.
There's also some interface problems; I detest the overly large console style text which feels oddly juxtaposed against the pin sharp precision of a PC game. Not to mention the on-screen attacking waypoint which is horribly large and intrusive, as well as impractical in that it gives away the position of your attackers immediately.
You Climb Obstacles Like Old People Fuck
Never the less, I don't mean to rip on this one as much as I am - at the end of the day the game's fun to play and a huge improvement over that first Xbox demo.
I remember back when Vietcong came out, a game I was incredibly entertained by, it was proclaimed average by the rest of the world. Indeed many spoke out how we'd be waiting for Men of Valor in order to finally get a decent Vietnam game. I hope these people are ready to eat those words, because as a single player experience, Vietcong truly urinates all over this from what little I've seen.
I only hope that by the time the final game rolls around it delivers a much more gritty and cinematic experience than what was hinted at in the single player demo, and that my ill will towards it was more to do with a sloppy Xbox port as opposed to the quality of the game itself.
Either way, as a multiplayer game, Valor has some decent potential. It's enjoyable enough at this stage, but the real question might be whether there's any more room for yet another standard online shooter in the market which brings very little new to the genre.
Men of Valor Multiplayer Demo
This review/report was created by the great team at TPSreport.co.uk:
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