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Medal of Honor, Fifa 2000 By Chip and Jonathan Carter Tribune Media Services MEDAL OF HONOR, FOR PLAYSTATION � At last, a title that truly realizes the potential of video games � in fact, it seems almost a slur to call this one a video game. But that's what happens when someone like Steven Spielberg gets involved. This is a first-person shooter set in World War II, brought to you by Spielberg's DreamWorks team and inspired by the movie "Saving Private Ryan." The game makers have brought the same kind of detail and realism to Medal of Honor that made the film an instant classic. You play as an officer in the O.S.S. (the forerunner to the secret service). You accept a series of covert missions that can turn the tide of the war in the Western Theater. There are seven missions, divided into three or four levels each. You may find yourself combing the woods for a downed plane, trying to rescue a fellow agent who was carrying top secret information. Maybe you'll be asked to attack and destroy a Nazi fortification single-handedly. Or maybe you'll be ordered to slip aboard a German ship � in Nazi regalia and carrying forged papers to conceal your identity � and steal classified info. In any event, you'll quickly realize this is one of the most realistic games you've ever played. From the opening level, when you're crouching in the woods at the end of a dusty road, listening to planes drone overhead and hearing footsteps and voices of German soldiers just around the bend, your heart will be in your throat. The action is very much from the Goldeneye/Doom school, but the level of artificial intelligence goes far beyond anything you've ever seen. Sometimes enemy soldiers will spot you and attack. Other times, if you're sneaky enough, you can creep up within yards before taking them out with a machine gun burst or a silenced pistol. You might even toss a grenade into a machine gun nest � but your timing better be just right, or the Nazis will pick it up and toss it right back. The weaponry is all authentic WW II, from Garand and BAR rifles to classic pistols, combat shotguns to bazookas, pineapple hand grenades to those can-on-a-stick German grenades we called potato mashers. And the heavy mounted German machine guns, which you slip behind and ride like a thundering pony, get our vote for the greatest video game weapon ever. Graphically, this one's astonishing, an obvious labor of love. The landscape will be familiar to anyone who's ever seen a war movie, and the indoor settings are as glorious and richly detailed as the outdoor � onboard a ship, for instance, you can actually hear the creaking and groaning of the hull, and see stars when you peer out toward the night sky. The soundtrack is equally amazing, an hour-long period piece that sets the tone for each level, heightening the drama to unbearable levels at points. Medal of Honor is aptly named � it's the first truly classic, honorable offering we've seen. Most video games are weak on plot, strong on action. MOH raises the bar in all areas, and sets a new standard that hopefully all video game makers will aspire to. JONATHAN SAYS : No doubt this is a tremendous game, but to me the makers pulled their punches when they opted not to go for blood and gore. If they really wanted to show the reality of war � like in "Saving Private Ryan" � they should have shown what really happens when you toss a grenade in somebody's lap. Here, the victim simply slumps to the floor, or maybe flies back (and maybe does a somersault if you hit him with something heavy, like a shotgun, which is cool), and then the body disappears. All very neat and tidy ... especially if you're a covert operative who suddenly doesn't have to worry about where to hide the bodies. A+. CHIP SAYS : Jonathan raises a couple of valid points, but I can see where the game makers were coming from: Add in buckets of blood and gore and you get lumped in with all the other video games. But this one's something different; the entertainment industry will really have its eye on Medal of Honor, and I can see where the programmers didn't want to give anybody any ammunition at all to detract from what's easily the best PlayStation title ever. It's my new favorite game, and rivals the Zelda series for the top spot on my all-time list. A+. OVERALL RATING: A+ � BUY IT FOR AGES 12 AND UP. FIFA 2000, FOR PLAYSTATION � Here's the finest soccer game of all-time, and the first one to give the MLS it's due. It's also got the best variety of teams in any soccer game we've ever seen. You get all 12 Major League Soccer teams, with actual rosters. You also get teams from 15 of the world's top leagues. There are also 45 national teams. And best of all, you get 40 of the all-time greatest teams. You can play anything from exhibition games to the MLS schedule, any of the European schedules, the World Cup � or make your own custom leagues and tournaments. It's a great way to see some dream matches that'll never take place in the real world. You can also trade and create players to make your own dream team. The graphics and action, like in every version of FIFA, are a step above last year's edition, which means they're at the very top of the heap. New facial animation and more emphasis on the aerial game add a deeper degree of realism. And this year, the sound gets a boost with play-by-play from TV commentator Phil Schoen and Julie Foudy from the U.S. Women's World Cup champions. The FIFA series has always been the cream of the "futbol" crop. This game simply solidifies that position. JONATHAN SAYS : The eight-player action is awesome. This one's an all-nighter for me and some of my buds from the soccer team. A. CHIP SAYS : I've been a soccer coach for years, and believe it or not, I've learned a whole lot about the game from the FIFA series. This one's especially good because it introduces newbies and players alike to some of history's great teams. I know about the old-time Yankees and Dodgers and Bears and Packers, because I grew up in the United States playing baseball and football. But I never had a chance to learn about soccer's legendary teams. FIFA 2000 is a welcomed educational opportunity. Besides, it's also a heckuva lot of fun. A+. OVERALL RATINGS: A � BUY IT FOR ALL AGES. TIPS AND TRICKS WCW MAYHEM FOR PLAYSTATION AND N64 � Enter these as pay-per-view passwords: All attributes � MKSPRCWS; All wrestlers � PLYHDNGYS; Identical characters � DPLGNGRS; Momentum Print Enable � PRNTMMNTM; Stamina Print Enabled � PRNTSTMN; Testcase 1 � NGGDYNLN; Masked Little Rey � MSKDLTLRY; Quest for the Best � CHT4DBST; Classic Nitro � PLYNTRCLSC; Backstage Rooms � CBCKRMS. Chip & Jonathan Carter are a father/son gaming team who've been twiddling their thumbs professionally since 1990. For more tips, tricks, reviews and news, check us out on-line at http://vgames.webpoint.com/vid/ecol/mainpage . Or e-mail us at [email protected] . Got a question? An inside tip you'd like to share? Write to Chip and Jonathan Carter in care of this newspaper. While they cannot respond individually, they will answer questions of general interest in their column. (C) 1999 TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC. Techno file index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA