Rising Sun, like most other MoH games, is a heroic portrayal of the finest soldiers the WW2-era Allies has to offer. It kicks off with a bombastic but respectful set piece recreation of the Pearl Harbor incident, letting you experience the frantic chaos that occured, while giving you just a tiny sample of the horror and trauma. From there on, it slowly sets up a tale of a skilled soldier selected to thwart a Japanese secret plan, but not before showing you what its like to fight in some of the most pivotal battles of the eastern theatre as a regular joe.
There's a good balance between well known epic battles and the more fantastical infiltration missions, and there's a lot of cool settings to shoot your way through, like the night time Singapore harbor-city (my personal highlight, I can't stress how cool it is to see this era of urban Asia being realized). But I have to admit that there seems to be a slight lack of polish or some sort of lackluster design. There's a handful times where I was confused about what to do or where to go, particularly in the jungle themed levels. There are also some visually ugly sections, where it seems like the models or textures are a bit distracting in their relative downgrade. It's not dangerously frequent, but it happens enough times to worth talking about.
Gunplay-wise it's pretty decent. Usually the game won't just throw a ton of enemies at you at once (except in the last level, which is my least favorite level gameplay-wise), and the restrain is appreciated, especially since there's a good amount of enemies hiding in the trees or in some hidden pothole. The selection of weapons feel somewhat limiting, there's a lot of weapons that are only available in some levels, which adds a bit to the repetitiveness. But I always liked how exaggerated the enemy animations are when you shoot or kill them. It's a part of older MoH games that I'm most fond of, not only because they're fun to watch but also because it supports the "epic but cheesy war film" vibe of the game.
Another part of the presentation that supports the vibe is the orchestral soundtrack. It's a classic war film orchestra through and through, it never fails to support whatever scenario you're in. It's at least enough to balance out the awkwardly timed and animated set pieces, or the previously mentioned flaws in the level design.
Rising Sun can be uneven and rough at times, but there's still a lot to enjoy in its dramatic war tale, especially if you're fond of the exoticness of 1940s Asia.
There's a good balance between well known epic battles and the more fantastical infiltration missions, and there's a lot of cool settings to shoot your way through, like the night time Singapore harbor-city (my personal highlight, I can't stress how cool it is to see this era of urban Asia being realized). But I have to admit that there seems to be a slight lack of polish or some sort of lackluster design. There's a handful times where I was confused about what to do or where to go, particularly in the jungle themed levels. There are also some visually ugly sections, where it seems like the models or textures are a bit distracting in their relative downgrade. It's not dangerously frequent, but it happens enough times to worth talking about.
Gunplay-wise it's pretty decent. Usually the game won't just throw a ton of enemies at you at once (except in the last level, which is my least favorite level gameplay-wise), and the restrain is appreciated, especially since there's a good amount of enemies hiding in the trees or in some hidden pothole. The selection of weapons feel somewhat limiting, there's a lot of weapons that are only available in some levels, which adds a bit to the repetitiveness. But I always liked how exaggerated the enemy animations are when you shoot or kill them. It's a part of older MoH games that I'm most fond of, not only because they're fun to watch but also because it supports the "epic but cheesy war film" vibe of the game.
Another part of the presentation that supports the vibe is the orchestral soundtrack. It's a classic war film orchestra through and through, it never fails to support whatever scenario you're in. It's at least enough to balance out the awkwardly timed and animated set pieces, or the previously mentioned flaws in the level design.
Rising Sun can be uneven and rough at times, but there's still a lot to enjoy in its dramatic war tale, especially if you're fond of the exoticness of 1940s Asia.