Medal of Honor: open beta impressions

I've only played the beta for about an hour and a half, so take this with a grain of salt:

On the one hand, I've been waiting for a game like this. I can dispense with all the customization BS and just get down to killing virtual people. The HUD isn't cluttered with superfluous nonsense, the unlock system is focused mostly on sensible weapon attachments, and the class system doesn't try to force you into a particular role to the extent BC2's did. Also, I think DICE did a better job syncing up the movements of the crosshair and the mouse since the first beta, which improves the feel a bit. It may just be that the "weapon movement" is faster now -- I'm not sure -- but it definitely felt easier to track a moving target this time around.

On the other hand, the collision detection between avatar and terrain still leaves a lot to be desired. I'm still getting stuck on shit that's just a few centimeters high. Movement overall still feels kinda chunky, especially since you can't strafe while you're sprinting. It's like you're a robot that was engineered with no ball joints: you just get a single axis of rotation for all your moving parts (that's called a cylindrical joint, BTW). 

Kunar Base is a pretty fun map. If you make use of the flanking routes and check your corners, you'll end up with a very respectable KDR. I like CQC maps myself, so if that's your preference, MoH has one thing that BC2 was sorely missing. That's where the game feels more like CoD4.

Shahikot Mountains probably would have been fun if it wasn't infested with snipers. It needs more cover, but you get dropped so easily and so often by people you can't see that I'm not sure more cover would matter. Combat mission is basically BC2's Rush Mode in tighter quarters, which means that the attacking team is going to get choked into scope more often. I expect that gametype is going to be intolerable in pubs. Since we're only getting eight maps on release, that could prove very limiting.

Overall, MoH is a merely competent game. The little things DICE could have done to improve the core combat mechanics -- lean, prone, ball joints, first-person spectate, etc. -- could have made this a proper "old school" infantry game, for those that prefer fighting over character advancement. As-is, I can play it, but I won't love it the way I did United Offensive.