'Medal of Honor' puts you on the beach

Medal of Honor: Frontline
Rating: T for Teen
,i>For: PS2 by Electronic Arts There's no lack of games on the PS2 that have stunning graphics -- but Medal of Honor: Frontline takes the game to a level beyond stunning graphics. It's stunning experience. You'll almost forget you're playing a game, and think you're watching scenes from "Saving Private Ryan." You begin the game with an assault on Normandy Beach, and the D-Day environment is sweeping and intense -- you're rudely thrown from your landing boat into machine gun fire, with planes flying overhead and mortars dropping on all sides. From there, missions will take you from serene Dutch pastures to a German U-Boat factory. There's tank warfare, anti-aircraft guns and firefights and snipers on Nijmegen Bridge. What makes the different action sequences even more of an experience is Medal of Honor's stunning soundtrack. A recording session of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra certainly wasn't wasted on this game. Sneak around a German mansion in a disguise and the music will be a suspenseful backdrop. Let a German soldier raise the alarm, and the music will switch to an up-tempo melody, much like "Star Wars" or "Indiana Jones." Adding equally to the cinematic experience are the sounds of the game. Mortars, bullets, planes, tanks, Germans and every other sound in the game make you feel like you're really there. Having surround sound makes it even better. The aggressive AI for the German soldiers is almost human-like -- some will shoot around corners, while others will charge straight at you. Shoot them in the foot, and they'll hop around for a minute. Shoot them in the head, and, well, they're dead. The game has three difficulty levels, which suit serious or casual gamers well. The first levels to the game are a cinch on easy. There's plenty of health to be had, and the German soldiers shoot like they're still in training. The game does get harder as it progresses. Try infiltrating a German train yard full of soldiers with the difficulty on hard, and you'll see how accurate and aggressive the Germans can be. The only gripe about the AI is one that's common among games. Often, the German soldier that is standing right next to the guy you take down with the sniper rifle doesn't react. The game also lacks a multiplayer mode likes its predecessor had, but after playing through this stunning, cinematic game, you won't care.