Medal of Honor Retro Remake

The developer recreated the 1999 first-person shooter from the ground up in Unreal Engine. The game originally launched as a PlayStation 1 exclusive. The goal of the project is not a commercial remaster, but a love letter to the DreamWorks Interactive original: the gameplay logic was rewritten from scratch, and the visuals were updated while keeping the spirit of the classic intact.

The textures were reworked with the help of neural networks and became much cleaner and more detailed — especially on water, soldiers’ uniforms, faces, fire, and explosions. Building textures were updated more modestly, and the limited draw distance with fog was intentionally preserved to maintain the original’s dark atmosphere. Lighting remains a debatable point: in some levels, especially underground bunkers and on the ship, it can be too dark.

Full mouse support and widescreen monitor support drastically change the experience: aiming, turning, and precise headshots are much more comfortable than in the console original. At the same time, automatic weapons suffer from heavy spread, and long-range precision shooting raises questions even with the sniper rifle. There is no quick save or checkpoint system in the current version, which makes the game noticeably harder.

Ragdoll physics were added for explosions, along with blood splashes during melee hits — elements that were originally planned for the 1999 game but cut for a teen rating.

Enemy models and behavior were taken from Medal of Honor: Allied Assault (2002), which helped avoid the low-polygon characters of the original. However, enemy behavior remains simple: they do not react to limb hits, rarely use cover intelligently, and cannot throw grenades. Machine gunners are a particular challenge, since they can kill the player almost instantly.

The mission at the mustard gas factory in Fort Schmerzen stands out in particular: the view through the gas mask and the protagonist’s heavy breathing create an oppressive atmosphere that the original did not have. Michael Giacchino’s original soundtrack has been fully preserved and still works extremely well in setting the mood.

Medal of Honor: Retro Remake is clearly worth the attention of anyone who values the original — especially since there are practically no realistic official chances of EA bringing the series back. The remake is still being updated, and even now it is a solid way to experience the 1999 classic on modern hardware.