Even after 23 years, I maintain that Medal of Honor Allied Assault is one of the greatest WW2 shooters ever released on PC. Battlefield V, Hell Let Loose, and Company of Heroes all put their respective spins on the genre, but MoH – not just Allied Assault, but the entire original series – feels like a great, high-spirited adventure. You have the big battles, but it's also a stealth game, a spy thriller, and, once you reach the dreaded sniper town, a punishing test of skill and patience. As it stands, the MoH series is missing in action, but one intrepid developer has reimagined and rebuilt a classic Allied Assault level in Unreal Engine 5, and even the original designer thinks it looks good.
The introductory missions in North Africa are exactly what you'd expect from a Medal of Honor Allied Assault shifts gears. Like its 1999 progenitor, and the equally excellent sequels Underground and Frontline, it drops you deep behind enemy lines where you have to masquerade as a German officer, taking an inspection tour of a submarine pen. It's the heartstopping moment that every MoH player re most starkly, when you round a corner and two MP40-wielding guards bark at you to show your identification papers. Take too long or fumble your inventory and they'll run for the alarm.
Ultimately, your goal is to get on board the submarine and scuttle it with a bundle of dynamite. This is Allied Assault at its varied best. After the slow, cerebral build up of the initial infiltration, you hit the detonator and unleash hell, ditching the silenced pistol and phoney ID card for a Springfield rifle and sack of stick grenades. Now, Jos Van Laar, a level designer whose credits include Far Cry 6 and Hunt Showdown, has released a new concept video, showing what the iconic mission would look like if it were remade using Unreal Engine 5.
And it's gotten a noteworthy response. Nathan Silvers is a tools engineer and world builder who helped create Allied Assault and worked specifically on the submarine level. Commenting on Van Laar's concept video, Silvers offers their praise.
"This is amazing," Silvers, who also helped create the first Call of Duty game, and has worked on the series since, replies. "This was one of the very first missions I created in my entire career. So happy and honored to have a fan remake of this quality. Great job and thank you so much."
As for the future of Medal of Honor, unfortunately, it looks uncertain. Back in 2020, Respawn (founded by former of Infinity Ward, itself founded by the team that created Allied Assault), released the VR-only Above and Beyond. Before that, the most recent game in the shooter series had been Warfighter, from 2012. If the WW2 genre has a resurgence, maybe MoH could come back. Until then, we can still enjoy the classics.
You might also want to try some of the other best old games that you can still run today, if you're feeling nostalgic.
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