Enemy Front is a blast from the past. The trailer’s out this week and the FPS reminds me of the first Medal of Honor game on PlayStation fifteen years ago. There are different moves like holding an enemy soldier hostage, but the play is essentially the same as other WW2 FPSs that have come before.
The main selling point is the open-ended levels, but the trailer doesn’t convey this feature very well. Like the first Ghost Recon, there’s a map, and different ways to accomplish the objective. But watching the trailer makes me think it’s just a linear shooter. In one scene, the protagonist, Robert Hawkins, shoots a tire on a truck, which rolls down a hill and explodes in a ball of fire. Things like that are compulsory tasks. Even if you don’t have to do it to finish the mission, you will do it because it probably makes the job easier. It’s also too cool to pass up.
It’s also cool to have a rear-kicking war correspondent do the dirty work. I’m sure journalists and photojournalists have wanted to jump into the fray once in a while. Some, like Kevin Carter, suffered from depression when witnessing, but not assisting, helpless victims. So it’s awesome to see a correspondent mow down Nazis.