Medal of Honor Wiki
Register
Advertisement

Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault is the first game to feature Pvt. Thomas Conlin (though, by the end of the game, he has made it Sgt.). Though the game ends in 1943, and in a cliffhanger ("The road to Tokyo is a long one, and we're only half way there..."-Thomas Conlin at the end of the game), the planned sequel was never released, as other games have been developed since the release of Pacific Assault.

The game used an launcher that automatically detected the game's graphics settings, however due to poorly detecting modern systems, most settings default to their lowest possible options, here is an article on fixing this: Fixing Pacific Assault on Modern Systems


Gameplay[]

Unlike previous Medal of Honor games, Pacific Assault places more emphasis on front-line combat and story. It was the first game to introduce Ironsights, allowing for precision aiming on weapons other than sniper rifles. There is also heavy emphasis on squad combat, with the playable character being able to give basic orders (advance, retreat, regroup, and open fire) to his squad mates, Frank Minoso, Jimmy Sullivan, and Willy Gaines and other, unnamed squad members.

Plot[]

Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault is the second game in the Medal of Honor series to focus upon the Pacific Theater rather than that of Europe, along with Rising Sun. It revolves around a United States Marine, Thomas Conlin, and his squad as they progress through the many major conflicts of the Pacific Theater against Japanese Army, from Pearl Harbor to Tarawa Atoll.

Missions[]

  • Boot Camp is the first full level featuring the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego California in September of 1941 where Thomas Conlin and his future squad mates go through the basic layout of the game, including controls, weapons, and commands. Firstly, They go through the obstacle course to learn how climb ladders, crouch inside wooden tunnels, Prone under deadly barbered wires, run in mud pits, run on balance boards and Doing Rifle melee attack (Hitting with the end of the rifles) by hitting wooden dummies.

    The second portion of the level takes place at the firing range. Here, Conlin learns how to fire several different types of weapons, including the M1903 Springfield Rifle, an M1928A1 Thompson submachine gun (fitted with the 50-round drum magazine) and an M1903-A5 Springfield sniper rifle, the M1919A4 Browning light machine gun, use a Composition B explosive charge, fire mortars, and toss grenades. The final station is a course in squad commands, where Conlin learns to both give orders to the squad and also the procedures related to obtaining aid from the squad's medic, Jimmy Sullivan. In this exercise, Conlin carries squad mate Gaines to Sullivan for treatment as an exercise, and himself must learn how to stop bleeding on himself and call for a corpsman. With the mission over, Conlin's squad's drill sergeant dismisses them to mess.
  • Pearl Harbor focuses on the Japanese aerial attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941. Conlin has been assigned to the battleship USS Arizona and enters the harbor in a jeep, Chief Petty Officer McAffee escorting him to his station on the ship. However, a plane flies low overhead towards the end of the tour. Initially, the sailors and marines believe the plane is an American plane with the Army Air Corps, but that thought is quickly dispelled when one sailor notes the "meatballs" (Red Circles) on the wings. Suddenly, the attack begins, with the air becoming filled with Japanese airplanes, bombing the harbor and strafing the sailors, marines, and civilians nearby.

    Conlin and McAffee are thrown from their jeep by an explosion on their way to the dock, and proceed to move their way up the pier, attempting to both save injured sailors and shoot down Japanese planes, though mostly in vain. The two make their way to a patrol boat at the end of the pier, but as Conlin boards the boat, McAffee is killed. Conlin mans the dual Lewis machine guns mounted on the bow of the patrol boat, and proceeds to shoot down many Japanese airplanes as the patrol boat goes along Battleship Row. Along the way, numerous battleships are destroyed, with the Arizona's destruction being highlighted towards the end of the ride (Tommy was very lucky he didn't board the Arizona). The patrol boat then heads towards the USS West Virginia to aid the crew in keeping the ship from sinking.

    After saving numerous members of the ship's crew, including its executive officer, Conlin proceeds topside to help defend Pearl Harbor using, hat first, an M2 Browning heavy machine gun, and then a Quad-Mounted 1.1" Anti Aircraft gun. He helps keep the West Virginia from taking more damage, and then aids battleship Nevada in escaping Pearl Harbor.
  • Makin Atoll Raid: After the Pearl Harbor attack, Conlin is reassigned to the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion and is reunited with his boot camp friends Gaines, Minoso and Sullivan. The Makin Atoll Mission begins with the Marine Raiders scouting and sabotaging the island. After a recon plane is shot down, the squad quickly finishes up their original mission, and rushes to rescue the downed pilot, destroying many other Japanese installations and assets along the way. They evacuate the pilot to the beach where they arrived onshore at, and then wait for their submarine to arrive. In the meantime, they have to defend themselves from a Japanese attack, with Conlin killing several Japanese mortar teams. Following that, the 2 submarines that had brought them to the Atoll arrives, and the Marines pile onto their rafts. However, it is discovered that the unit sniper Willy had gone missing, and Conlin must go and find him, then bring him back to the raft while defending both of them from Japanese attackers. On the boat ride back to the submarines, Japanese A6M Zeroes attack, trying to both kill the Raiders and destroy the submarines. Conlin shoots down the Zeroes with Minoso's BAR, and then proceeds to defend the Nautilus from a torpedo attack run using a mounted .50 caliber machine gun. The Submarines then escape with the now-safe raiders on board.
  • Guadalcanal: After the Makin Atoll raid, Minoso is promoted to Gunnery Sergeant and now commands Conlin, Willy and Sullivan. The squad is reassigned to the 1st Marine Raider Battalion under Colonel Edson and deployed to Guadalcanal. They are first deployed to defend Henderson Field and the surrounding area against a Japanese attack, cleaning out Japanese artillery emplacements and blunting several attacks and culminating in a push to re-take the Airfield Here, the Japanese nearly succeeding but are eventually driven off.

    After securing Henderson Airfield, the squad participates in the massive Battle of Bloody Ridge, where they defend a strategically placed hill near the Airfield from a Japanese surprise attack at night. After the battle, Conlin earns the Silver Star from an impressed Edson and is promoted to Corporal.

    After The Battle of Bloody Ridge, Conlin and his squad scout the Lunga River and the swamps, coming across and wiping out Japanese patrols scouting the area.

    After the Lunga River battles, Conlin and his squad embark on a mission to Kokumbona Village and the surrounding area, to destroy the Japanese Artillery shelling Henderson Airfield and to finally end the struggle for Guadalcanal.
  • Tarawa: When Tommy and his squad reach the American Fleet, they are sent to the sandy island known as Betio in Tarawa Atoll. This would be the beginning of the end of the war in the Pacific. Conlin and the squad play instrumental roles in taking the island from the Japanese forces stationed on the island.

    From the landing day, Conlin and the unit fight in several parts of the island, taking out many artillery emplacements and capturing an enemy command bunker and eventually leads the way on the final assault on the last Japanese stronghold on the island.

Weapons[]

Allied[]

Japanese[]

Multiplayer[]

Classes[]

Maps[]

  • Airfield
  • Bataan
  • Bridge
  • Bougainville
  • Corregidor
  • Gavutu
  • Gifu
  • Matanikau
  • Wake Island

Game Mode[]

  • Free For All
  • Team Deathmatch D
  • Round-Based Match
  • Invader

Reception[]

Compared to the last Pacific-themed installment, Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, Pacific Assault fared much better with game critics. The game was praised for cinematic single player, stunning graphics, well-made soundtrack and deep multiplayer. But the game was not without its faults, being criticized for its bugs, glitches, gameplay problems and long loading times. On Metacritic, the game has a score of 80 out of 100.

Trivia[]

  • Most Marine allies in the game are armed with M1 Carbines as their primary weapons. This is incorrect as the M1 was usually reserved to officers, non-commissioned officers and servicemen. Although some regular troops would have carbines, the main weapon should be the M1903 Springfield or, from late 1942 onwards, M1 Garand rifles.
  • This is the first installment in the series to feature blood, as the previous games did not.
  • This game is the first in the series to use the "thin red line" logo that was used up to Medal of Honor: Heroes 2.
    • However, the game originally was going to use the original logo design that previous games used, as seen in early trailers and advertisements for the game.
  • Unlike other PC MOH titles, Pacific Assault sets the graphics setting automatically after detecting the player's hardware, unfortunately this means many graphics settings are unusable nowadays as the game won't detect modern graphics cards properly.
  • Pacific Assault is the only Medal of Honor game to increase enemy damage as the game goes on (This means getting shot with a rifle will do significantly more damage in the final levels compared to the first level).

Gallery[]

External Links[]

Advertisement