The way Medal of Honor: Allied Assault introduces a mission and then makes changes on the fly according to events in the game creates a cool spontaneous feeling that helps keep things fresh. That's short for 'intelligence,' for all you non-military folks out there. I sound nice and official there, don't I? :) After training, you'll enter your first mission, a drop into the African theatre to rescue an agent, help him execute his mission and escape with critical intel. Not many of the advanced maneuvers are covered, but they are introduced gradually through the game, according to your mission parameters. At the very beginning of the game, a good training mode will walk you through the critical controls and bring you up to speed on everything from moving around to using weapons and objects. And don't worry, you get to mow some folks down. Unlike some of the shoot-em-up FPS games you might have played (and nothing knocking those, 'cause they're awesome), Allied Assault is as much about strategy, following orders and executing a plan as it is about mowing down the enemy under machine-gun fire. One of the areas where Medal of Honor has always excelled is in story and creative gameplay. Aspyr did a great job of aiming this game squarely at a middle-of-the-road crowd in terms of the end users, but put in enough candy to give high-end gamers a lot to love. But, even with a system that is arguably growing older like mine, the performance was excellent and the graphics could be dialed up until a performance hit was noticed. With a strong system that has a newer video card, plenty of memory and a strong processor, you'll be able to appreciate the full beauty of Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. And, the sound of everything from cars and trucks moving around to the rumble of tanks and the shouting of soldiers or crackling of machine-gun fire brings another level of realism to the game.

So, the images of Germany and Europe in the 1940's that you're familiar with from TV and movies are mapped onto the game to create a really nice, immersive environment. Think 'Saving Private Ryan' and you're very much on the right track. What might be exciting, if you've never seen the game or heard about it before, is that it takes World War II as a backdrop and paints a very realistic picture of the action. The subsequent games have been a hit, and this latest version, now available for Macintosh, is no exception.

The excellent graphics, immersive scenarios and attention to historical detail have been a staple of the game since it arrived on PlayStation several years ago. Medal of Honor may need little to no introduction, since it really has won some serious accolades on every system it's come out for.

Medal of honor allied assault mac