Respawn Entertainment launched the highly-anticipated Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond a couple of months ago and it wasn’t quite the awesome WWII shooter everyone was expecting. Since then the studio has released several updates to improve the experience, the latest adding Skip Narrative and Seated Crouch features plus support for Windows Mixed Reality (WMR) headsets.
The fourth update Respawn Entertainment has released for Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, the new Skip Narrative option does exactly what you’d expect; let you jump through the story sequences. So you can now skip (most) of the campaign’s in-game cinematic story including the mission briefings. The only time you can’t is when you’re interacting with an NPC.
For those who like, or have to play seated, there’s a new crouch option for the single-player (can’t be used in multiplayer). In the Options menu under Accessibility, you can set “Seated Mode Crouch” to “Hold” or “Click.” This can then be activated using the Sprint thumbstick/trackpad button.
Apart from a few smaller tweaks, the other big addition is official Windows Mixed Reality support which includes the recently released HP Reverb G2. The newest addition to the WMR family, you could play Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond using the headset but with official support there shouldn’t be any bugs arising.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond packs a lot in – hence why you need a massive 180GB of space to download it – with a campaign taking you across European battlefields on land, sea and in the air. The multiplayer supports 12-player matches with classic modes like Team Deathmatch and Dominion, to more unique modes like Mad Bomber where everyone runs around planting explosives.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is on the Oculus Store and Steam with both platforms currently offering a 20% discount bringing the price down to £35 GBP until 22nd February. For further updates on the WWII shooter, keep reading VRFocus.
Respawn Entertainment is back with another patch for Medal of Honor: Above And Beyond, this time adding official support for the HP Reverb G2 and Windows VR headsets.
You could already try and play Above and Beyond inside these devices when the game launched on Steam last year, but official implementation should do away with any compatibility bugs. We’ll definitely try and dive back into the game on the Reverb G2, which offers the highest per-eye resolution of any major VR headsets out there right now.
Elsewhere, another big addition is the ability to skip the game’s cinematic story sequences, which many complained broke the flow of the overall campaign. Respawn says that most of these can now be skipped, including mission briefings, by simply holding both triggers down. Scenes with NPC interaction or those where you receive a new item remain mandatory, however.
Moving on, the team has also added a new crouch option for when playing in seated mode and there’s a host of other minor fixes.
We gave Medal of Honor a 3/5 when it launched last year, citing inconsistent pacing as one of the main issues with it. “It’s not quite enough to solidify the experience as a must-play, but there are plenty of bright spots,” we said. “If you’re eager to dive into a VR version of WWII with exciting set piece moments, authentic historical footage, and an addictively fun online multiplayer mode, then you should come away satisfied.”
The game still managed to get onto Steam’s list of top-selling games for December 2020, though. The team is also looking into a possible Oculus Quest version, but won’t commit to a definitive release at this point.
The Facebook-published Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond fought its way onto Steam’s top-selling releases list for December 2020.
Valve’s monthly list of top releases recognizes the 20 games that generated the most revenue in their first two weeks after release, listed in no particular order. Medal of Honor, which can be played on almost any PC VR headset via SteamVR, sits alongside other huge non-VR releases like Cyberpunk 2077 and Dragon Quest XI. Also up there is Project Wingman, the flight combat simulator with optional VR support.
Developed by Titanfall Studio Respawn Entertainment, Medal of Honor made headlines as a big-budget PC VR title that was originally billed as an Oculus Rift exclusive. But, closer towards release, Facebook revealed the game would be coming to Valve’s platform too.
We thought the game was good, peppered with big setpiece moments and great multiplayer. But it also suffered from inconsistent pacing. “Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond can be both frustrating and captivating at the exact same time, but underneath it all is a fun and engaging VR shooter that nails several facets of being a successful AAA game,” we said in our 3/5 review. “It’s not quite enough to solidify the experience as a must-play, but there are plenty of bright spots.”
It’s impressive to see the game ranking on Steam’s December top sellers considering the VR headset requirement, which limits how many people can play. The game currently has just under 1,000 user reviews on Steam, with an average rating of ‘Mixed’.
Since launch, the game has seen several patches improving quality. Facebook also says it’s going to try and bring the title to Quest, but isn’t make any promises just yet.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond didn’t have the smoothest launch with its enormous install size requirement, beefy system requirements, and mixed reception. This latest patch (v1.21.0) piles on lots of adjustments and new fixes.
Overall I don’t think it’s a bad game — I awarded it 3/5 rating in my review — but it certainly faltered in plenty of areas. While none of these updates fundamentally alter the game that much, there are some welcomed additions here. Users can now actually tweak their video settings more precisely to hopefully improve performance and missions should start more quickly with less waiting around.
The patch should auto-update in your client, it installed for me via Oculus Home earlier today. Here is the full list of all changes and updates in the patch notes:
New Option for Controller-Oriented Movement
Added an option to base movement off of the controller’s direction instead of the player’s view direction.
In the Options menu, choose the “VR Comfort” section, and set “Movement Orientation” to “Controller.”
New Video Options
You’ll find these in the Options menu, in the “Audio/Video” section.
Texture Streaming: 400MB, 700MB, 1000MB, 2000MB, or Auto.
Texture Filtering Level: Anisotropic 1x, 2x, 4x, or 8x • Anti-Aliasing Mode: MSAA 2x, MSAA 4x, Temporal AA, or Off.
Anti-Aliasing Quality: Low, Medium, High, or Default Even More Streamlined Gameflow.
We removed the need to pull the trigger at the start of every campaign segment.
Levels now start playing as soon as the title card comes up.
Star Ranks Off by Default for New Players
The stars that draw over enemy heads in the Campaign are now Off by default for new players.
Existing players will keep whatever setting they last used.
As always, star ranks are in the Options menu. Choose the “Campaign” section, and setting “Enemy Rank” to “Disabled” or “Enabled.”
Arm Sleeves Now Hide When Close to Player Eyes
The sleeves on the player’s arms no longer show when brought close to the eyes.
This fixes the issue of looking down the sights with an eye opposite to the player’s dominant hand, e.g. aiming with the left eye when right-hand dominant.
Other Changes:
NPC eye logic improved.
Improved server performance in multiplayer matches.
Lowered grip sensitivity when using Valve Index controllers.
Fixed zoom controls on scoped weapons when launching the game through Steam.
Fixed a glitch when re-opening the Multiplayer in-game menu.
Fixed a rare crash that could trigger from switching party leaders in Multiplayer.
Fixed a “Connection to server timed out” issue when trying to play Mad Bomber.
Various updates and fixes for localized text.
Additional under the hood fixes and optimizations.
Do you feel like this has made a difference for you? Let us know down in the comments below!
A few days after launch, VR-exclusive Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond has got its first patch.
Update 1.19 for the game is live now and introduces a number of quick fixes to some of the major gripes players have had so far. Headlining the patch is the ability to use smooth turning; previously the game only supported blink turning, meaning the screen would fade out when you flicked the joystick left or right.
Medal of Honor Update Live Now
Elsewhere this update includes a raft of smaller tweaks to issues with the overall experience. Developer Respawn has removed the Victory screens from level progression and made it easier to pick up weapons in the quartermaster area. Plus the M1 has been made louder and all of the gallery content is now unlocked from the start.
Finally, the team has ironed out issues with respawning and collision in some levels and made a range of “under the hood fixes and optimizations”.
The patch comes after a somewhat rough launch for the PC VR game, which saw initial user reviews on Steam reach a ‘Mostly Negative’ label. As of today, however, the game has fought its way up to a ‘Mixed’ rating with just under 500 reviews. The game’s fairing better on the Oculus Store, with a rating just shy of four stars after just over 130 reviews.
Indeed, we had some big issues with the game in our review. “If you’re eager to dive into a VR version of WWII with exciting set piece moments, authentic historical footage, and an addictively fun online multiplayer mode, then you should come away satisfied,” we wrote. “But if you were looking for an immersive narrative wrapped up in a cutting-edge evolution of VR game design with expert pacing — don’t hold your breath.”
In the post announcing the update, Facebook’s Mike Doran said to expect another update for the game later this week. No details on exactly what’s going into the next patch just yet, though.
Will you be diving back in to check out the Medal of Honor update? Let us know in the comments below!
In the weeks following the launch of Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, Respawn has pushed three updates to the game to address some common gripes.
Update (January 5th, 2021): Added info on the latest patches (now three total) to Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond hasn’t fared too well out of the gate, judging by critic and user reviews, but developer Respawn Entertainment has quickly moved to release three patches throughout December to address some common gripes.
Update v1.19 – December 14th
Among the biggest changes in v.1.19 is the addition of smooth-turning to the game, which can now be enabled in the VR Comfort section of the menu. Initially the game only supported snap-turning which is typically the default to ensure comfort, but some players prefer to turn smoothly. The new smooth-turn option also has adjustable rotation speed.
The pace-breaking “Victory!” screens, which would frequently interrupt action sequences, has been removed entirely, except at the very end of each mission.
The ‘Gallery’ section of the game (featuring the impressively produced WWII mini-documentaries) is now fully unlocked by default rather than being unlocked based on campaign completion.
This patch includes a handful of other tweaks, check out the full v1.19 release notes here:
By popular demand, you can now choose Smooth Turning as an alternative to the default Flick Turning.
Try it out by going to the Options menu, clicking on the “VR Comfort” section, and setting “Turn Style” to “SMOOTH”.
You can further adjust the “Smooth Turn Speed” value here (default 50%) to find what works best for you. This only has an effect when smooth turning is enabled.
Streamlined Mission Progression
We removed all the “Victory!” screens from level progression.
You now only get a completion screen when you beat one of the six missions.
Quartermaster Area Changes
It is now much easier to pick up weapons from the tables and weapon racks.
Health Packs now respawn after a short duration.
All Videos in the Gallery are Unlocked from the Start
All of the Gallery content — every location, interview, and 360-degree panorama — is now unlocked from the very beginning.
Originally they would unlock as you played through the campaign, but now you can watch them in any order.
Louder M1 Garand “Ping” Sound
Louder. We made it louder. You asked for it, we’re more than happy to oblige.
Other Changes:
No longer need to choose “Equip” when selecting a multiplayer avatar.
In Multiplayer menus, fixed an issue with the party invite Accept and Decline buttons being difficult to press.
When launching the game for the first time, the initial Options menu now displays correct localized text.
Fixed a respawn issue with the landmines in the the Mission 2 Live Fire Gauntlet.
Fixed an issue with truck collision in the Avalanche level.
Various under the hood fixes and optimizations
Update v1.21 – December 17th
Update v1.21 to Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond adds some much needed video options to the game, allowing players to adjust Texture Streaming memory allocation, Texture Filtering levels, Anti-aliasing modes, and Anti-aliasing quality.
While smooth-turning was added in the prior patch, v1.21 now adds a controller-oriented movement option which directs the game to use the controller direction as the ‘forward’ direction for movement, rather than the player’s head direction.
To improve immersion, v.1.21 further reduces the clunky pacing between missions by removing the need to pull the trigger to start each mission. This comes in addition to the removal of the bothersome ‘Victory!’ screens which were removed in the prior patch.
By default, the game now disables the ‘Star Ranks’ setting which would draw star icons over higher level enemies to indicate their difficulty. This patch also automatically hides the player’s arms when they come close to the eyes, in order to avoid situations where the arms might block the player’s view.
This patch includes a handful of other tweaks, check out the full v1.21 release notes with additional details here:
Added an option to base movement off of the controller’s direction instead of the player’s view direction.
In the Options menu, choose the “VR Comfort” section, and set “Movement Orientation” to “Controller.”
New Video Options
You’ll find these in the Options menu, in the “Audio/Video” section.
Texture Streaming: 400MB, 700MB, 1000MB, 2000MB, or Auto
Texture Filtering Level: Anisotropic 1x, 2x, 4x, or 8x
Anti-Aliasing Mode: MSAA 2x, MSAA 4x, Temporal AA, or Off
Anti-Aliasing Quality: Low, Medium, High, or Default
Even More Streamlined Gameflow
We removed the need to pull the trigger at the start of every campaign segment.
Levels now start playing as soon as the title card comes up.
Star Ranks Off by Default for New Players
The stars that draw over enemy heads in the Campaign are now Off by default for new players.
Existing players will keep whatever setting they last used.
As always, star ranks are in the Options menu. Choose the “Campaign” section, and setting “Enemy Rank” to “Disabled” or “Enabled.”
Arm Sleeves Now Hide When Close to Player Eyes
The sleeves on the player’s arms no longer show when brought close to the eyes.
This fixes the issue of looking down the sights with an eye opposite to the player’s dominant hand, e.g. aiming with the left eye when right-hand dominant.
Other Changes:
NPC eye logic improved.
Improved server performance in multiplayer matches.
Lowered grip sensitivity when using Valve Index controllers.
Fixed zoom controls on scoped weapons when launching the game through Steam.
Fixed a glitch when re-opening the Multiplayer in-game menu.
Fixed a rare crash that could trigger from switching party leaders in Multiplayer.
Fixed a “Connection to server timed out” issue when trying to play Mad Bomber.
Various updates and fixes for localized text.
Additional under the hood fixes and optimizations.
Update v1.24 – December 21st
Update v1.24 to Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond delivers a highly requested changed to sniper scopes—while sniper scopes in the game would originally take over the player’s entire view, a new option has been added to render the scope view directly into the gun’s scope. To enable this, go to Options → Gameplay → Scope Type → Realistic.
Given optimizations in the prior patch and expanded video options, with patch v1.24 Respawn has lowered the game’s minimum hardware specification to a GTX 1080 GPU, though the studio still suggests the RTX 2080 as the recommended spec.
For Oculus Rift and Quest users who bought the game through Steam, v1.24 now offers the option to launch the Oculus native version of Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, which bypasses SteamVR and may lead to performance improvements. It’s worth noting that this approach would mean the player will no longer be able to join Steam friends in the game’s multiplayer modes because direct invites between Oculus and Steam are not supported.
This patch includes a handful of other tweaks, check out the full v1.24 release notes with additional details here:
You can now choose to hide the in-game representations of your torso, your sleeve cuffs, or both.
Under Options, choose the “Gameplay” section, and set “Body Visibility” or “Cuff Visibility” to “Disabled.”
New Full-View Sniper Scopes
Added an option to render the sniper view directly in the scope.
To enable, go to Options, choose the “Gameplay” section, and set “Scope Type” to “Realistic.”
Added a new “Scope Resolution” option. Bumping this down can improve performance on some systems.
Sniper Rifle Zoom Button
The button to adjust zoom levels on sniper rifles is now assigned to whichever hand is dominant, instead of always being set to the right hand. (Vive controllers keep the button on the right hand.)
Tip: this button also adjusts the firing rate on the M1918 automatic rifle when equipped.
Multiplayer “Quick Match” Playlist Now Cycles All Maps and Modes
Choosing “Quick Match” now cycles between maps AND modes.
Without leaving your session you could play Team Deathmatch in the Sub Pen, Domination in Streets of Dubuisson, then Mad Bomber in the Rockets of Peenemünde.
Oculus Native Mode Support On Steam
When launching the game through Steam, Oculus users now have the option to launch directly to the Oculus native environment.
Lower Min-Spec NVIDIA GTX 1080
The recommended spec stays the same.
However, with the expanded video options and optimizations from the last patch, plus feedback from the player community, the min spec has been lowered to an NVIDIA GTX 1080 or equivalent.
Other Changes and Additions:
Smoother fade-in when returning to the OSS hub from a level.
Objectives now show on the user’s left wrist when the left hand is set as dominant.
New floating label for the Live Fire Gauntlet doors in the Quartermaster area. (Check these play areas out for some classic Respawn gauntlet challenges.)
Fixed some grab issues with the MG42 and M1918 mounted weapons.
Fixed issue where enabling Seated Mode in certain conditions could leave the player’s view high off the ground.
Fixed grab guide visuals being offset for the right hand when using HTC Vive wand controllers.
On the OSS Room typewriter, type “Open Sesame” and hit the carriage return to unlock a chest of Respawn Easter Eggs.
Additional under the hood fixes and optimizations.
Respawn was quick to deliver three patches in the small window between the game’s launch and the December holiday period. Since then we haven’t seen teases of additional patches, but with many of the initial complaints addressed to far, we’d love to see the studio take their time on a more substantial update.
For today’s livestream we’re playing Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond specifically the multiplayer mode online wirelessly with Oculus Quest 2 via Virtual Desktop! If you’re curious about how we livestream the way we do then look no further than this handy guide for general tips and this guide specific to our Oculus Quest setup.
Today, we’re playing Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, the latest entry in the long-running iconic series. This is a return to roots for Medal of Honor as it goes back to World War II for the setting with a 10+ hour long campaign, full multiplayer offering, survival mode, and intricate gallery of historical footage. For this stream, we’ll specifically be playing the online multiplayer modes.
We’re going live with our Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond multiplayer livestream at about 2:00 PM PT today and will last for around an hour or so, give or take. We’ll be hitting just our YouTubeand we’ll be streaming from an Oculus Quest 2 wirelessly while playing inside Virtual Desktop. I’ll do my best to try and check chat every now and then to stay up to date.
[Livestream] Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond Multiplayer Live Gameplay @2PM PT on 12/11
You can see lots of our past archived streams over in our YouTube playlist or even all livestreams here on UploadVR and various other gameplay highlights. There’s lots of good stuff there so make sure and subscribe to us on YouTube to stay up-to-date on gameplay videos, video reviews, live talk shows, interviews, and more original content!
And please let us know which games or discussions you want us to livestream next! We have lots of VR games in the queue that we would love to show off more completely. Let’s get ready to go!
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is an exciting and often epic VR shooter that brings the thrilling set pieces of WWII to VR, but suffers from inconsistent pacing and a lack of depth. Read and watch our full Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond review here.
Medal of Honor: Above And Beyond Review – Campaign
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond – The Facts
What is it?: First-person WWII shooter with a 10+ hour campaign, online multiplayer, wave-based survival mode, and hours of archival Gallery footage Platforms: SteamVR (specifically Rift/Quest, Vive, and Index) and Oculus Home for PC Release Date: December 11th Price: $59.99
Medal of Honor has always been about war, obviously. Most notably, World War II, dating all the way back to the first game taking heavy inspiration from Saving Private Ryan before debuting on the original PlayStation. But even beyond that, it’s a franchise that is often at war with itself.
Over the years Medal of Honor has fallen out of the spotlight and has sat, covered in dust, on EA’s shelf for over eight years now following the lackluster launch of 2012’s Medal of Honor: Warfighter. Now, Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond aims to bring the series back once again, this time exclusively in VR, but it’s such a mixed bag it’s hard to reconcile what exactly Respawn was going for here.
On the one hand, Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond packs a 10+ hour campaign full of thrilling set pieces, iconic locations, and glorious attention to detail. It doesn’t take long to realize why it requires nearly 200GB of space on your PC after a full installation is completed. But then on the other hand, it’s abundantly clear this is Respawn’s first VR game. From ugly floating rectangle menus, frequent tedious load screens, and an utter lack of cohesiveness between the game’s 54 “scenes” it comes off as more of a montage of moments than an actual narrative.
The entire game is made up of loosely connected scenes that are each bookended by often lengthy loading screens. For example, you may find yourself standing around a table listening to a group of French resistance fighters discussing their plan to derail a German train, followed by a fade to black, an awkward “Victory!” poster and little jingle sound effect, and eventually a loading screen. Then your vision has returned and you’re in the back of a jeep getting transported to a battlefield. After a few more minutes of conversation, fade to black again, and then you’re about to ambush a group of soldiers. Rinse and repeat.
The “Victory!” posters are inexplicably peppered into the loading screen after every single level segment even if it was just an NPC conversation. It makes no sense.
The entire game is just like this. You act out short bursts of content, wait for it to load, and are then transported somewhere else. It’s a bit like you took a typical mission from a game such as Call of Duty, chopped it up into pieces, and spaced it out with load screens. Part of this problem is fixed eventually — as the game goes on the level segments tend to get longer and more complex, such as intense dogfights in the air or infiltrating bases through multiple corridors — but the problem is still there lingering along.
It’s honestly frustrating because at times Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond exhibits an unrivaled mastery of delivering hyper-concentrated moments of sheer excitement in a way that only a massive AAA game can. Clearly, the talent is here, just not the execution.
For example, I absolutely love the pump-action combat shotgun in Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond. Respawn struck an excellent balance between accessibility and realism with most of the weapons and the shotgun is a great example. After each shot you pump your non-dominant hand down to rack a new shell, aim, fire, and repeat. It feels fantastic and the kickback is just enough to really make it seem like you’re firing a real weapon — or at least as much as current VR haptics will allow.
The clever thing they’ve done here is instead of requiring you to reload individual shells, the shells just automatically reload for you, as if by magic. At first it’s a bit immersion breaking to see the shells floating from your belt into the shotgun, but the trade-off is so worth it. I can focus on the cool part (aiming, shooting, and pumping) without fiddling with the part that is never as easy as it should be given occasional controller tracking and occlusion woes.
The same goes for most of the other weapons as well. The MP40 magazine drops right out at the push of the A button, I grab a new one from my belt, slam it in, pull back to load the chamber, and I’m good to go. Everything is carefully considered in this way for the right balance between realistic immersion and streamlined accessibility. Which makes the dissonance in its pacing and segmentation all the more confounding.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond – Comfort
Comfort options in Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond are actually quite extensive. Not only can you adjust your snap rotation speed, there is a seated mode too, as well as the ability to turn on or off screen shake effects for things like damage and explosives. There is no teleport options or smooth turn option at the time of this writing. Personally, I played on Quest 2 using Virtual Desktop primarily so I was fully wireless and just turned my body physically. If you’re sensitive to smooth movement games though, this one does tend to get pretty intense at times so take it slow if you can.
If you’re able, Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond really soars as an active VR game. I always had the most fun when I did more than just stand in one spot and flick the sticks to move around.
Crouching down behind a window, ducking in cover, poking my head out to take shots around corners, etc really helped enhance the experience. It’s not technically a cover shooter, but it can be played like one and it makes the firefights a lot more intense.
I just wish the NPC AI was consistent. Sometimes my allies would literally just stand there, in the open field, and get shot without moving at all. Occasionally enemies would just, stand up, pause, and then start shooting at me as if to give me a chance to kill them first.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond – Hardware Requirements and Performance
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond has absolutely crazy hardware requirements. The game necessitates at least about 200GB of free space, mentions an SSD is preferred, and then the recommended spec asks for an “RTX 2080 or higher” with an i9-9700k. That’s extremely high-end, even for VR, and is a bit unreasonable in my opinion. My i5-9600k with an RTX 2060 Super isn’t the absolute cutting-edge, but it should allow me to play new games in 2020 without variable resolution and stuttering frames. Medal of Honor defaults to ‘variable’ resolution which knocks it down to pixelized quality if your system is struggling, but the criteria for when that happens is arbitrary. Instead, I set it to high and just dealt with ocassional stutters. It’s fine, but something is off here and it seems less optimized than expected.
But then I’d have the other times that, a group of Nazis 100 yards away on the other side of a field behind a rock are lasering me like crazy, landing every shot, making it impossible for me to move. More than once I found enemies in prime position to immediately murder me as soon as I respawned back into a level after dying. It’s definitely frustrating.
Eventually things get more interesting though. The bright side of seeing so many load screens chunking the game into so many segments is that each and every scene truly is unique. I don’t think very many assets are re-used, if at all, in this game and many of the levels feel and look quite open. Not many VR games of this scope take place outside in real world environments and the amount of work that went into recreating locations is absolutely commendable. It just didn’t add up to a well-paced game with a cohesive narrative at the end of the day.
Medal of Honor: Above And Beyond Review – Multiplayer
Multiplayer in Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is extremely fun. I’m still undecided on which of the big online VR shooters I prefer as my absolute favorite (Firewall Zero Hour, Population: One, Onward, Contractors, Pavlov, Solaris, and a few others are way up there too) but Medal of Honor might be at the top of the pile.
The reasoning here is that the multiplayer offering for Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond has got all of the same excellent gun mechanics from the campaign mode, which feel like an extremely fair balance between accessible and realistic, but since you’re playing online it totally sidesteps all of the concerns regarding pacing, tone, and load times. Once the match begins you might need to wait to respawn for a few seconds, but even then you’re still able to look around and tweak your loadout between lives.
Whereas in the campaign I’d often feel a sense of dissonance between the source material and attention to detail in the setting versus the semi-slapstick dialogue and tone, that feeling is gone when playing multiplayer. It’s so fast and frantic you only have time to appreciate the spurts of blood momentarily before taking cover again and aiming back down the sights.
It’s a shame there isn’t more depth to the online mode, though. There are no progression mechanics in place and other than unlocking character skins in the single-player campaign you don’t earn anything for the time you spend playing. While it’s refreshing to have a shooter that really adheres to that old-school design philosophy of putting entertaining and challenging gameplay first, I really think you can do that while still offering some sort of progression path or reward structure for time spent.
Gun variety leaves a bit to be desired as well. Of the eight weapons two are the same gun, just one has a scope, both SMGs feel very similar, and the lever-action rifle and M1 Garand awfully similar from my perspective as well. Game modes are lacking too — they’re basically just four variations on deathmatch, plus domination tacked on for a fifth option. Blast Radius is fun, as it awards bonus points for getting kills in the designated circle, but ultimately it’s still just deathmatch.
The maps on the other hand are quite superb. All 10 feel distinct and unique with some really impressive environmental effects, like the thin fog on the snowy train crash level or all of the detailed debris surrounding the crashed plane at the Church level. Like modern Call of Duty games, these maps all feature callbacks to key campaign moments, so there is a sense of cohesion there.
Above all else though, multiplayer is just a blast to play. I only got to try out a few matches across a couple of days pre-release before writing this review, but I had a good experience despite feeling like it was a tad shallow. Ultimately the quality of the mechanics and sheer intensity of the fun factor more than makes up for it.
Luckily, you can also queue up solo and just play with bots or invite friends into a private party to play co-op against bots or in smaller team sizes if you’d prefer. The AI isn’t that bright, but it’s better than no bot options at all.
While crossplay is active between the two store fronts you cannot invite people into your party from a different platform. Multiplayer parties are either Oculus Home only or Steam only, whereas the public lobbies themselves will have players from both.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond Review – The Gallery and Survival
The final two pieces of the Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond puzzle are The Gallery, or the real-life footage archive that’s full of hyper-detailed interviews, footage captured on-location, and more that chronicles stories and locales from WWII. It’s one of the best and most authentic digital resources of information regarding WWII.
Honestly, they should spin it off as a free educational release for schools and non-gamers to access, because locking it behind the paywall of a video game seems like a shame. Especially when you consider the tone of the game is far less serious than this footage. Even if you’re not a history buff (I know I’m not) it’s worth checking out; there’s multiple hours’ worth of content in there.
Then there’s the survival mode. It’s exactly what it sounds like. You’ll fight off waves of Nazis as they pour into maps and force you to defend yourself. It’s very basic, but at least gives you a quick and simple way to dive directly into combat without having to plod through a storyline first. Co-op support could have really helped elevate it, though.
Medal of Honor: Above And Beyond Review Final Verdict
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond can be both frustrating and captivating at the exact same time, but underneath it all is a fun and engaging VR shooter that nails several facets of being a successful AAA game. It’s not quite enough to solidify the experience as a must-play, but there are plenty of bright spots. If you’re eager to dive into a VR version of WWII with exciting set piece moments, authentic historical footage, and an addictively fun online multiplayer mode, then you should come away satisfied. But if you were looking for an immersive narrative wrapped up in a cutting-edge evolution of VR game design with expert pacing — don’t hold your breath.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond releases December 11th for PC VR on the Oculus Home PC store and SteamVR with support for Rift/Quest, Vive, and Index at a price of $59.99 on both storefronts.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond has seemingly everything going for it. The backing of Facebook’s VR publishing arm, Oculus Studios, and development by a world-renowned game studio, Respawn Entertainment. Unfortunately, outside of a competent multiplayer component, the game is missing the kind of core gameplay pillars and polish needed to support the bigger picture of a thrilling war adventure in VR.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond Details:
Available On: Oculus PC, SteamVR Release Date: December 11th, 2020 Price: $60 Publisher: Oculus Studios Developer: Respawn Entertainment Reviewed On: Quest 2, Rift S
Gameplay
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is a shooting gallery at heart. With imaginative weapons and interesting enemies, that wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. But the game’s enemies have effective zero variability from one to the next, neither in the way they approach you or the way you approach them. While there’s a large arsenal of weapons on the surface, the only real choice is whether you’re going to use a close range gun or a long range gun. Outside of that, which weapon you choose has almost no impact on gameplay. Point, shoot, rinse, repeat. After you’ve killed one, you’ve killed them all—which makes killing hundreds of them throughout the game a dull affair.
It doesn’t help that the enemy AI is draft and their lethality feels highly binary. They always know where you, but either miss you completely, or laser you to death through a tiny crack—leaving little room for tension in combat.
Even with these issues in mind, a game could still be fun as long as it has a dynamic sandbox and supplies the player with interesting combat scenarios. Unfortunately Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond also falters here, as the game constantly—and I mean constantly—resorts to simply spawning enemies around corners and throwing them at you, room after room after room.
The game’s persistent shooting gallery is interspersed with a good number of set-piece sequences designed to deliver epic WWII scenarios like commanding a tank, sinking a submarine, or charging the beach at Normandy.
Unfortunately most of the sequences lack the kind of polish that would make them truly fun or challenging, with many moments relying on aiming turrets with a face-cursor and micro-managing the player’s every move. It feels very much like the sequences in the game were picked not because they specifically supported fun VR gameplay, but because they checked the box of what someone imagined would be ‘cool to do’ in a WWII VR shooter. It certainly doesn’t help that the majority of these sequences ignore best practices for VR comfort (more on that in the comfort section below)—but at least you can skip them if you are sensitive to motion.
To make matters worse, the hand-off between regular boots-on-the-ground combat and the novel action sequences has little sense of pace as the player is constantly interrupted with ‘VICTORY’ screen pop-ups and light fanfare music, eradicating any sense of tension the game managed to build. At one point I was discovered as an undercover spy and the enemies knocked me out and captured me. This was apparently a ‘VICTORY’, despite finding myself tied to a chair in the very next sequence.
To top things off, the game’s writing is usually cheesy and at times cringeworthy. Characters you’re ostensibly supposed to care about feel like nothing more than caricatures. At one point a character which is supposedly friendly takes another character hostage by gunpoint; as they attempt to escape, you are instructed to gun them down with a .50 caliber turret. The scene fades to black. ‘VICTORY’ Later in the game the character which betrayed you, held your friend at gunpoint, and which you shot in recompense, returns as a friendly ally of the group with no acknowledgement that any of this happened. A facepalm moment—if not for my forehead being blocked by the headset.
It took me about eight hours to complete the single-player portion of Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond without seeking a handful of collectibles that can be discovered in each mission.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond’s single-player campaign might feel banal overall, but at least it has a competent multiplayer component. Though not without some jank of its own, there’s fast-paced action to be enjoyed by those who like to play competitively, even if the cut-throat pace might be more frustrating than fun for some.
Since the game wasn’t live at the time of my review, I only got a few hours of multiplayer play under my belt in scheduled play sessions. Granted, it felt like enough time to feel out the game’s multiplayer vibe overall, which you can read more about in my preview here. The only remaining question is whether or not the game’s multiplayer will attract a healthy player population.
There’s one piece of Medal of Honor that really does go above and beyond, and that’s the game’s ‘Gallery’, a set of live-action documentary shorts featuring WWII vets.
While the serious and reverent tone of the Gallery clashes with the cheesy action-movie feeling of the game’s campaign, it’s an honest-to-goodness documentary-quality production that’s moving to see. Most of the Gallery shorts are presented as high-quality flat video within a virtual theater space, though some of the shots switch to immersive (if low quality) 360 footage for extra impact.
The quality of the Gallery makes it a bit of a shame that it’s stuck inside Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond as a sort of ‘extra’. Oculus should really work to liberate this content from the game so everyone has a chance to see it.
Immersion
Image courtesy Respawn Entertainment
While a WWII adventure seems like it would afford many opportunities for immersive gameplay, Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is missing the attention to detail that makes VR immersion shine, starting with iffy object selection.
There’s very little consistency in non-weapon object interactions. In the same room you might find a teacup which you can grab next to another teacup which is cemented in place with no physics. The very same wrench asset that’s grabbable in one scene might not be grabbable in the next. A desk may be filled with objects where half are interactive and the other half inexplicably aren’t.
This lack of consistency hampers the sense of a ‘solid’ world with consistent rules. While teacups, wrenches, and pieces of paper might be minor details which have no impact on gameplay, it’s the parts that spoil your agency that are the most immersion-breaking. For instance, there was one moment where I was assaulting a German bunker and spotted a ladder to the right of the door. I figured I could sneak in with the ladder instead of taking the direct approach. While there were several ladders like this one elsewhere in the game which could be climbed, when I reached for this one my hand simply phased through it. Moments like these can make the player feel foolish for trying to act on their intuition.
The game’s micromanaging of the player also spoils the sense of agency. You will constantly be told what to do, especially during the set-piece sequences. That’s arguably a good thing—because you’d have little idea what you were doing if the game wasn’t holding your hand—but it winds up feeling like you’re following a set of instructions rather than playing a game. ‘Stand here’. ‘Go there’. ‘Pull the lever’. And yes, even ‘give them a thumbs up to continue’.
Weapon handling is detailed enough to offer some intrigue while staying easy enough to not get in the way of gameplay, but it’s also subject to some interaction inconsistency issues. Weapon reloading requires ejecting a magazine, inserting a new one, and then charging the weapon. But if you forget to charge the weapon you actually can’t grip the gun’s foregrip until you do. In the midst of combat this actually is far more confusing than if I simply attempted to shoot the gun normally and heard a ‘clink’ sound to indicate I had missed one of the steps. Instead (if you forgot to charge the gun) your off-hand will fly confusingly away from the foregrip and to the charging handle. In the head of combat it always took me a moment to put two-and-two together to understand why I couldn’t hold the gun like I was intending to.
Outside of this and some awkward weapon grabbing poses, weapons generally feel pretty good in the game. Although there isn’t enough enemy variety to make your choice of weapon truly matter outside of ‘short range’ or ‘long range’, I did appreciate the few weapons with unique interactions, like the level-action rifle which is cocked with a fun gesture, and the sawed-off shotgun which could be flicked opened and closed for reloading.
One major missed opportunity for building immersion in Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is audio. The graphics aren’t great, but I at least hoped a AAA studio like Respawn would deliver some industry-leading sound design. Alas, the game’s audio is merely passable.
Last but not least, be warned: if you don’t have the necessary 170GB of SSD space and choose to play on an HDD instead, you’ll be in for some painfully long loading screens.
Comfort
Image courtesy Respawn Entertainment
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond relies entirely on smooth locomotion and expects constant stick movement and strafing. While there’s a range of comfort options—like blinders, smooth turn, snap turn, seated, and standing—no teleportation is offered.
Further, many of the game’s set-piece sequences ignore comfort best practices, frequently subjecting the player to tilting horizons, smooth turning, roller-coaster motions, and occasionally craning your neck in uncomfortable ways.
While it’s arguably good that the game warns players that certain sequences will include intense motion and offers the option to skip, it’s a shame than seemingly 10–20% of the game is made up of these sequences, many of which will be nausea-inducing to those which are sensitive to virtual motion. What’s more, skipping the sequences can sometimes mean missing the conclusion of a mission, resulting in an unceremonious return to HQ with no explanation of what happened.
The game also uses a ‘face-scope’ approach to sniper scopes, which blacks out your peripheral vision and draws a zoomed view onto your face. The view through the scope has tons of latency and also poor image quality, making sniper rifles largely a nuisance to use.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is releasing later this week on December 11th for PC VR headsets via SteamVR and the Oculus PC client. You can play the game easily on an Oculus Quest if you’ve got a powerful VR gaming PC, but there’s no firm news on a Quest-native port just yet.
Unedited gameplay footage is not allowed to be shared just yet — the preview and review guidelines were very clear that any footage must be edited into a video preview to be shared. Since the review itself is fast-approaching I’m just focusing my efforts on that video instead.
My entire time with Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond has been on an Oculus Quest 2. I’ve tried it using both Oculus Link and using Virtual Desktop and I can say without a doubt I prefer it with Virtual Desktop.
If you want to play Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond on Quest you have two options: Oculus Link or Virtual Desktop. Oculus Link should have less latency, which means you won’t perceive any delay at all between what you’re doing and what you see in the headset, but you’ve got a cord dangling from your head. Virtual Desktop on the other hand is a fully wireless way of connecting to your PC, however depending on your Wi-Fi signal and router quality you may perceive a small amount of latency.
For me personally, I prefer Virtual Desktop every single time. Guy Godin’s software is incredible and it allows me to access both my SteamVR and Oculus PC Store libraries, at once, without ever needing to connect my Quest to my PC with an actual cord.
To be frank, playing PC VR games wirelessly is extremely liberating. The visual fidelity is far beyond what a standalone headset such as the Quest is capable of, so being able to experience high-end VR, such as Medal of Honor and other PC-exclusive games, from the ease of access found within a wireless standalone device, feels like magic.
After playing games like Onward, Contractors, Solaris, and more on Quest natively, I didn’t want to go back to a wired experience — especially with Medal of Honor VR’s multiplayer — so I simply didn’t and it works great.
Granted, I’ve got a strong home network and a very good connection speed. Things download very quickly for me and that’s a major factor when considering how playable a VR game would be for you over a streamed wireless connection. But if your internet is up to snuff, this is absolutely the best way to enjoy Medal of Honor VR. I did not notice any added latency, at least not that I know of, was able to get in the top 3 of most multiplayer matches, and had no trouble playing through a lot of the campaign as well.
Do you plan on playing Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond and if so, would you do it wirelessly using an Oculus Quest and Virtual Desktop? Let us know down in the comments below!
