9-Sep-2003 Everything you ever wanted to know about the sequel to the acclaimed WWII first-person shooter MoH: Allied Assault - and more! We'd already heard rumblings of a Medal of Honor: Allied Assault sequel back in August 2002, EA at the time letting slip that it was already throwing around ideas for number two in the series. Having absolutely adored Allied Assault, we were naturally eager to find out what the full-blown follow-up would have in store. As it turned out, it was to be over half-a-year before we made that discovery.
EA officially announced Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault in March this year. Throwing us into action in the Pacific Theatre of Operations as Marine recruit Tom Conlin, the title is to deliver more World War II-themed FPS action, while boasting significant improvements across the board.
AI and engine updates, a greater emphasis on squad dynamics and greater freedom of choice for the player are just some of the new additions that are in store. We recently caught up with Pacific Assault's lead designer Dave Nash to get the full low-down on what's coming...
In a nutshell, what's Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault all about?
Nash: Pacific Assault puts the player in the shoes of Tommy Conlin, a young U.S. Marine. The game covers the first half of the war in the Pacific Theatre, from Pearl Harbor to the assault on the Tarawa Atoll at the end of 1943.
Why choose the Pacific Theatre for the sequel to Allied Assault?
Nash: We thought it was high time to take the MoH franchise to the Pacific - it offers many compelling stories as well as completely different environments for the player to battle through. Some of the most vicious fighting and bravest acts occurred in the Pacific Theatre, and we want to honour those who fought in that part of the war in the way we know how best - giving gamers a taste of what it was like to fight in the thick jungles of the Pacific.
How much, and what types of, research are you undertaking for the game?
Nash: Our research for this game has been intense and wide-ranging. We've done what you might expect, such as reading autobiographies by the men who fought in the war, watching films and documentaries, and scouring the Internet for pictures, stories and any other pertinent information we could find about the Pacific during World War II.
But we've also had teams of people fly to many of the battle locations, escorted by veterans who were actually there during the fighting. For our boot camp section of the game, we had one of the last remaining World War II drill instructors ("Tiny" Renaker) come in for an afternoon to break down what it was like for the kids entering the war back then.
Last but not least, Captain Dale Dye spent a couple of days with us, first teaching us about some of the differences between Japanese and American battle tactics and then showing us how they actually work in practice by taking the team to a paintball field, splitting us up into squads, and lettings us go at it.
I could continue giving examples, as the list really does go on and on, but I can't recall another project I've been on that did nearly as much research as we have.
We know that the player will be plunged into Pearl Harbour at the beginning and then go into the Pacific Theatre proper. Can you give us a more detailed idea of the particular World War II battles that will be represented?
Nash: The battles that we plan on covering at this point include some of the early conflicts on Bataan, the raid on Makin Island, the first half of the Guadalcanal campaign as well as the assault on the Tarawa Atoll that I mentioned above.
Allied Assault was very much a cinematic-style game, with linear level design and scripted sequences. Can we expect the same from Pacific Assault, or are you aiming for something different with the sequel?
Nash: We are definitely not going to dramatically alter the way the previous MoH PC games played, as we feel (and the gaming public seems to agree) that Allied Assault and the expansion packs are great games. That said, we do intend to cut down on how much of the game is scripted, preferring instead to rely on our AI and physics engine to produce far more dynamic encounters.
The levels will be linear on the whole, but there will also be opportunity for "mini branches" within the levels, where the player will be able to decide from several courses of action (should I shoot down the planes or go after that tank, should I frontally assault that base or find a way through the back, etc.).
We understand that you are enhancing NPC AI, both enemy and friendly. Could you give us some details on your plans or aims in this area?
Nash: One of the big changes to the AI is that it will be morale-based. Groups of enemies will have group leaders who make their decisions based on their morale. So if a battle is going well, the leader may decide to continue advancing, if it's not, they may decide to retreat (or banzai, as the case may be).
Individual soldier morale will further determine how zealously the men will respond to orders, or if they'll respond at all. Chances are that if a Captain tells the last remaining squad mate to flank a fortified position by himself, moments after his buddies were all killed, he may ignore that order and head for cover instead.
The main goal with all of this is variety and replayability. We want each battle to feel different each time you play it.
You're heavily tweaking the Quake III engine for Pacific Theatre, from what we've read to ensure that the game is graphically up to scratch with its contemporaries when it arrives. Could you tell us precisely what you are doing in the engine/graphics area, and how this will impact the visual style of the title?
Nash: Our engineers could more accurately answer this kind of question, but I can quickly tell you that we've updated the engine for full DirectX9.0 compatibility, so players can expect all the bells and whistles associated with that. We've also integrated Havok into the engine, so characters and objects will be fully physics-based (no more canned deaths).
How will such changes affect Pacific Assault's environments?
Nash: The engine upgrades will allow us to do much larger and much more detailed environments. We will be able to do dense jungle scenes, the likes of which have never been seen in a videogame.
Our characters will be incredibly detailed, to the point where the artists are really now getting the freedom to push polygon counts as far as they need to in order to create realistic-looking people.
We truly feel that Pacific Assault is going to take shooters to the next level.
What new firepower are you including in Pacific Assault, and also, do you have plans to include driveable vehicles as well?
Nash: We now have the ability to include driveable vehicles in the game (thanks to our physics engine), but the jury is still out on whether or not we want to spend the time doing so, or concentrate wholly on the squad-based combat that makes up the core of the game.
We will never include something in a MoH game that isn't done to EA's high quality standards, so we certainly don't want to jam driveable vehicles in there just because "we can". More than likely, we'll wait until the next game and take the time to do them right.
At this time, are you able to tell us about plans you have for Pacific Theatre's multiplayer component?
Nash: Currently we're planning on about a dozen levels, half of which will be Tug-Of-War (see Spearhead and Breakthrough) and half of which will be a new mode currently dubbed Invader. The idea behind Invader is one team plays a defensive role and the other offensive. In a nutshell, the invaders have to push the defenders off the map to conquer whatever area they were trying to defend.
What other significant differences can we expect to see between Pacific Theatre and Allied Assault, other than what you've mentioned already?
Nash: There are a bunch of other improvements and additions to speak of, but I'll speak of some of the player-specific changes.
We are giving the player the ability to go prone, as well as to aim his weapon (and yes, we had this in and working well before we saw Call of Duty). The player will have to be more cautious as he makes his way through the levels, since he will now "bleed" when shot. If he's hit, he'll have to take cover long enough to apply a bandage and stave off the bleeding. Then he'll want to call a medic over to help patch him up further, if he's lost enough health.
The player is definitely going to have to take his time to get through the levels - running down Broadway gunning everyone down left and right will be very difficult. Instead, he'll have to rely on covering fire from his squaddies before he makes that mad dash for the enemy.
You've already announced that there'll be a sequel to Pacific Assault. Can you tell us anything about that at this time?
Nash: Nope, not much work has gone into it beyond some large-scale wish list items and possible mission location ideas.
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