AVALANCHE – Paestum, Italy

When I think German strongholds in World War 2, I think old Roman ruins…. Well, not really but I have to admit, they make great cover. Avalanche drops you right in the middle of an Archaeological project swarming with Germans who have dug in. Your task is to locate and destroy their fuel depot, communications centre and munitions dump. To add to the excitement, its night time and that makes it hard to spot ninja Germans who flank through the bushes surrounding the ruins. I will say this before I continue, yes I whole heartedly agree that the actual Airborne paratroopers in WW2 were brave but what happens in the plane on the way to Paestum in this game really made me want to puke. You come to acknowledge that pretty much every in-plane sequence culminates in being shot at then jumping out, in Avalanche, one of your buddies gets some shrapnel in the back and someone claims he’ll get to go home instead of jumping. All good, I thought, he can stay for all I care; I do all the work around here anyway. Then came the vomit worthy trademark MOH series trumpet music and a “No! I’m jumping with you guys…”

It’s in Avalanche you first make friends with the German G43 semi-auto rifle, almost every foe you encounter has one and on top of making an awesome sound, it’s highly effective. Making your way through the ruins is a slow and tedious process, especially as you head to the communications centre objective as you’re forced through a semi-underground excavation where Germans, grenades and pain abound. Thankfully the developers saw fit to let you pick up a conveniently placed shotgun as you move through this area. Nothing makes a German officer fly back further than the sweet boom of a shotgun, you’ll be hard pressed not to crack a wry smile when you pull this sucker out.

Completing the main objectives reveals one final objective, assembling with the 5th Army demo to mark a couple of Flak88’s for destruction, fighting off waves of unhappy enemies along the way. I will warn you, it gets tricky in these ruins too and there is one annoying clipping bug. In the screenshots you’ll see a boring picture of a wall and a set of stairs. Don’t take cover behind this wall and peek up the stairs, you’ll soon discover that either the Germans have covered the wall with Tarzan’s Grip or there is some annoying clipping issue. It took me 3 suicides to learn that lesson. Marking the Flak88’s is as easy as shooting the fuel barrels next to them until they explode in to flames. Taking out a nearby AA gun clears the way for a couple of friendly fighter-bombers to do the rest, ending your campaign in Italy.