Even if you only own a GameCube and love FPS games, don't buy this under any circumstances unless you're desperate.
+Campaign is fun for a little bit
+Sound effects are second to none (for its time)
+WWII fanatics will appreciate the guns and historical accuracy
+Good musical score
The Bad:
-Level design isn't very solid
-A.I. bots are barely smarter than a pear rolling down a ramp
-Multiplayer is slow-paced and boring
-Only two modes, and one is a variant of the other
-Graphics are muddy for everything but the guns
-All multiplayer maps are locations from the campaign
As far as first-person shooters go, the GameCube doesn't get a whole lot of them. In fact, there are so little, even a gamer with a life can figure out exactly how many are available for it. There are about 25 of them, counting sequels; and if you do count sequels, there's probably about 11. And out of those 11, only about 9 are good, and 6 being great, maybe. So, in other words, there are some great classic-style shooters for Cube owners to enjoy, and others that should be avoided at all costs. Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, a lackluster WWII game by EA, is one of those games.
The original Medal of Honor was revolutionary on the PS1 for being the first ever WWII-based shooter ever made. It had great sound, awesome gameplay, and an impressive two-player mode. Unfortunately, since then, the subject of WWII has been used in more video games than I can count. Some great WWII games, like Call of Duty 3 for Xbox, Xbox 360, PS3, and PS2, Call of Duty: World at War for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC, and Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 for PS2 and Xbox have come out, but the majority of WWII games have been recycled formulas that we're all tired of seeing. And Rising Sun shows that.
Rising Sun makes a rather good first impression. The single player campaign opens up with you waking up on a ship being attacked, and you and your crew struggle to make it upstairs to stop the bombers. At this point, dramatic music plays, you get your gun out, and then you start shooting the hell out of some Japanese planes. The next mission puts you into a boat fighting off more Japanese forces with a turret emplacement. It's like a shooting gallery, but fun. Your third mission puts you on foot in the Philippenes, with standard WWII weapons fighting off some more soldiers. Sounds fun so far, doesn't it? Well, it is for a bit, but after these levels, the formula grows tired and feels really bland.
Rising Sun's one-player campaign will probably take you about eight or nine hours to beat on Normal, if you have the incentive to get that far. Once you beat it, there's no use going back except to unlock 'Skeleton Keys' which unlock skins for the multiplayer (more on that later), though it is pretty much a useless attempt to bring back players. You can also play the campaign with a friend, but it isn't good enough to play through with another.
The mission objectives are basic and the level design is linear, as most shooters are, so that isn't the problem. The problem with Rising Sun's campaign is that the feel and pace is off by a few notches. Combat is slow, and isn't very intense, which just hampers the gunplay. Plus, the pacing of the levels is slow as well, so that doesn't help either. The level design for the game is linear, as a shooter should be (as stated earlier), but the environments are dull and colorless. Which brings me to the next issue.
The graphics for Rising Sun aren't bad, but they aren't anything to get excited over, even for GameCube. The guns look good, but everything else is hit-or-miss (mostly miss). The character models are blurry, the textures are bland, and the coloring isn't very interesting to look at. It doesn't make the game any worse, but it certainly seems like it matters more because everything else isn't crafted good enough (yeah, I know I've said that a lot). The A.I. is dumb as heck also; all they do is run a little and shoot you. They don't run for cover or establish strategic positions to get you; they just mindlessly run to their death. Well, almost mindlessly; they sometimes run at you with swords, but they move so slow that you can just shoot them before they stab you.
Last but not least, the multiplayer. The multiplayer in Rising Sun is just barely shy of mediocre. It would be decent with more modes, but sadly, there are only two modes; Team Deathmatch and Deathmatch. You can play with 3 friends and up to 7 bots, but the bots are dumb as the in-game enemies, so screw it. Playing is fun for a little bit, but then you realize that there are better multiplayer games available (yes, even for GameCube, Sony/Microsoft fanboys). The games are slow paced, far too easy to win, and boring. Plus, all the maps, though there are a decent amount, are locations from the campaign. What a bummer.
BOTTOM LINE: Rising Sun isn't a terrible game, but it's easily one of the worst in the series. If it weren't for the overused concept, dumb A.I., and awful multiplayer, it could have been a good game. But instead, it is a barely decent one that isn't worth a purchase (even for 8 bucks), or even a play. It is mostly the terrible competitive play that brings this game down. Even if you only own a GameCube and love FPS games, don't buy this under any circumstances unless you're desperate. It really is that unremarkable.
Graphics- 6.0: Bland textures and muddy characters outweigh the decent looking guns.
Sound- 8.5: Here's what saves the game from total failure. The guns sound good and the music is great. EA won't fail here, ever.
Gameplay- 5.0: It's a straightforward shooter....that is slow paced and isn't much fun. 'Nuff said.
Replay Value- 3.5: The campaign is so boring that picky gamers will quit before they even finish it. And with only two multiplayer modes (Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch are alike, so it's more like 1.5 modes) with lackluster maps, you won't stay in this war for long.
Overall: 5.7/10 (not an average)