The graphics in Medal of Honor: Underground are very well done and have a good amount of detail. As Manon, member of the French Resistance, you’ll travel across Europe and North Africa, sneaking through richly detailed monasteries and castles, brightly colored hotels and dark, lush forests. I found myself staring blankly at the decorative paintings and tapestries in the monastery, forgetting my mission for the beauty all around me. The colorful Moroccan houses in the North African levels felt like they were ripped straight from a scene in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Steven Spielberg, your touch is readily apparent. I enjoyed the fact that the levels took place in more exotic locales this time around, as it kept each area fresh and exciting. In the original Medal of Honor, I was wowed by its ability to thrust the player literally into the game. Every sight and sound made your environment come more alive, and once again, Medal of Honor: Underground comes through. The smallest touches such as the ambient background noises of the Safe House in the Menu screen make Medal of Honor: Underground the superb game that it is.

The sound effects and voice-overs are excellent as well. Weapons and explosions sound and “feel” just right. The thunk of the Big Joe crossbow and the dull pop of the silenced pistol, combined with the quiet shudder of the dual shock controller, create the perfect effect. Play for a few minutes and you’ll see what I mean. A dark, yet symphonic soundtrack is the ideal complement for this intense game, and the travel short at the beginning lends a bit of humor. Yes, France is for lovers... and heavy artillery also, apparently.

In Medal of Honor: Underground, you take on the role of Manon, a member of the French Resistance who assisted Jimmy Patterson in the original Medal of Honor. You begin your quest in France and are soon sent all over the world on different missions. Being a female opens up many new opportunities for gameplay as Manon is able to disguise herself as a propaganda photojournalist and slip into Nazi strongholds where any male spy would be instantly noticed. There is a great deal of satisfaction in having a Nazi pose for you to take his photo (“Make us look good!”), and then gleefully pose again, never expecting to be capped in the head. Yes, I’m evil. I know this. Each level has certain objectives that must be met to complete it, and of course, you must also survive the level as well, eliminating as many enemies as you can along the way. When you finish each level, you are given a rank, depending on your accuracy, number of kills, and health level at completion. Also, you are given a title based on which body parts you most frequently hit. There are scads of weapons at Manon’s disposal, but she doesn’t have every weapon for every level. In some levels, she goes armed only with a slent, but she’s deadly with a cross-bow and a few arrows. Here’s where crafty resource management comes into play.

I really enjoyed some of the objectives in Medal of Honor: Underground such as rescuing the Knife of Abraham from the hands of the Nazis. It was a different twist, but personalized things a bit more. Not only are your enemies taking over areas of land, but they’re also defacing and stealing the history and artifacts of other lands and must be stopped. Other objectives such as the destruction of evidence of an underground newspaper or stopping Nazi supply trucks only reinforce the plot more. Good stuff.

Medal of Honor: Underground embodies all of the elements of a truly great game. Sure, it’s a first person shooter, but one with a deep and involving plot, so it also feels like an action adventure. You’ll encounter puzzles at certain points, and you’ll need to use your wits and stealth to survive at other times. This is not a run and gun type of game. You must sneak about, killing in silence at every opportunity. There are enormous levels to explore, and your next move is usually pretty obvious. If you miss a key objective along the way, you will be reminded when you attempt to exit the level. Exploring is rewarded with power-ups such as medicinal canteens and ammo. These goodies can be lying around or hiding in an innocent looking box or decorative piece of pottery, so be sure to investigate.

There is also a nifty multiplayer game with Deathmatch and Capture the Flag modes. You can play as one of a number of characters including Manon and her brother, and more characters and battle theaters can be opened as you progress through the Single Player game. This feature, just as in the original Medal of Honor, seemed to be something just tacked on to add extra playability. But that is exactly what it does. MOHU is no Quake, mind you, but the multiplayer mode is an absolute blast. Sure, the arenas are kind of small, but there is still a great deal of fun to be had standing on a balcony throwing grenades at your opponent. I doubt diehard Quake and Unreal Tournament fans will be too impressed, but it’s still a fun mode and a nice extra.

There are three levels of difficulty in Medal of Honor: Underground: Easy, where you start each level with full health, Medium, where you start with 50% health (or more if you finished with higher than that on the previous level), and Hard, where your health (or lack thereof) carries over each level. Depending on your skill, this can make quite the difference in your ranking at the end of the level. Trying to garner an Excellent rating for every level adds an extra bit of difficulty to the game, so it’s very flexible. As far as enemy A.I. and objectives, the level of difficulty in Medal of Honor: Underground is ideal. Of course, with multiplayer, it depends on your opponents.

The controls in Medal of Honor: Underground are very intuitive and easy to master. You strafe with L1 and R1 button, aim your crosshairs with R2, and use your analog buttons to move about and look around. After a few minutes of playing the game, the controls will become second nature. Dual shock support is excellent, with each weapon having a different feel that perfectly matches it.

Enemy A.I. is pretty good, although it can be tricked at times. I found that I could fire a shot into a room where I knew enemies were lurking, and that would essentially call them out so I could pick them off. Stupid Nazis. I swear I heard them shout “company’s coming,” but I could be wrong.

Gallery mode in also very interesting as you can view actual WWII footage upon completing missions, see the “Making Of” Medal of Honor: Underground and check out the team who created this incredible game. I always find this extra stuff cool and appreciate it when companies put touches like these on already terrific games. It shows they go the extra mile and says a lot about the care and thought that went into a game.

If you enjoy FPS, stealth and history, your library is sorely incomplete without Medal of Honor: Underground. Although I am not a diehard fan of first person shooters, this game is one that snagged me in the beginning and never let go. Play it once and get sucked into the Medal of Honor: Underground world. You won’t be sorry.