What is it with game designers?  You come up with a good concept, which in this case has spawned an impressive game dynasty whose first three games were absolute classics, and then you screw it up.
This game, luckily, doesn't try to be a 1st-person shooter; I haven't found a single good 1st-person shooter on the Game Boy Advance and am convinced that the GBA simply doesn't have the response and accuracy of controls necessary for games like Half-Life, Counter-Strike, No One Lives Forever...or Medal of Honor.  It retains the excellent Michael Giacchino score which had distinguished this game series from the pack.  And the World War II locations and weapons remain accurate.  So what's the problem?  The level design, for one thing.  It made precious little sense to me why they would have two fairly player-friendly missions of low difficulty, allowing you to feel out the game, and then launch you into a multi-tier mission where you have to kill about 30 enemies back to back without being able to save.  Difficulty is a necessary part of any game, but this is just ridiculous -- so you survived an onslaught of 40 enemies?  How about we take away any ammo replenishments and send four bombers your way that can attack you behind barriers and kill on contact?  This game also has a hyper-annoying map system where you could take one step into an area and the game "seals off" your escape route so that you may find yourself suddenly cornered.  It makes no sense realistically speaking, and it certain does nothing except to frustrate your gameplay.
The weapon aiming system is very poor.  Why would they veer your shots to the right?  To be more "realistic" because your soldier is right-handed?  This makes diagonal shots very difficult.  Also, your shots don't go straight -- they spray sideways, maybe in an emulation of gun recoil, but that's like saying to the player:  "You can aim, but not really."  Your enemies don't mind -- they have unlimited ammo, and they come in groups.  Having to charge towards your enemy a step just to shift your aim is already annoying, but this "right-hand bias" is just dumb.  And the minute an enemy shot hits you, you bounce back and lose control of your character...but you remain vulnerable to attack and so can lose your entire life from just one bullet hit.  Ridiculous.
Somehow no Electronic Arts game I've played on the GBA has been without fundamental annoyances like these, and it's getting just tiresome.  I *was* going to give this game two stars, but after having played one level 30 times with the same result of being killed by flights of bombers, I simply said "*&^% this".  I'll bet the ... game developers had a wonderful time devising ways to kill off the player with hordes of enemies.  Well, this is the last Electronic Arts game I guy, and this game is going straight to a second-hand store.
What is it with game designers? You come up with a good concept, which in this case has spawned an impressive game dynasty whose first three games were absolute classics, and then you screw it up. This game, luckily, doesn't try to be a 1st-person shooter; I haven't found a single good 1st-person shooter on the Game Boy Advance and am convinced that the GBA simply doesn't have the response and accuracy of controls necessary for games like Half-Life, Counter-Strike, No One Lives Forever... or Medal of Honor. It retains the excellent Michael Giacchino score which had distinguished this game series from the pack. And the World War II locations and weapons remain accurate. So what's the problem? The level design, for one thing. It made precious little sense to me why they would have two fairly player-friendly missions of low difficulty, allowing you to feel out the game, and then launch you into a multi-tier mission where you have to kill about 30 enemies back to back without being able to save. Difficulty is a necessary part of any game, but this is just ridiculous -- so you survived an onslaught of 40 enemies? How about we take away any ammo replenishments and send four bombers your way that can attack you behind barriers and kill on contact? This game also has a hyper-annoying map system where you could take one step into an area and the game "seals off" your escape route so that you may find yourself suddenly cornered. It makes no sense realistically speaking, and it certain does nothing except to frustrate your gameplay. The weapon aiming system is very poor. Why would they veer your shots to the right? To be more "realistic" because your soldier is right-handed? This makes diagonal shots very difficult. Also, your shots don't go straight -- they spray sideways, maybe in an emulation of gun recoil, but that's like saying to the player:  "You can aim, but not really. "  Your enemies don't mind -- they have unlimited ammo, and they come in groups. Having to charge towards your enemy a step just to shift your aim is already annoying, but this "right-hand bias" is just dumb. And the minute an enemy shot hits you, you bounce back and lose control of your character... but you remain vulnerable to attack and so can lose your entire life from just one bullet hit. Ridiculous. Somehow no Electronic Arts game I've played on the GBA has been without fundamental annoyances like these, and it's getting just tiresome. I *was* going to give this game two stars, but after having played one level 30 times with the same result of being killed by flights of bombers, I simply said "*&^% this". I'll bet the... game developers had a wonderful time devising ways to kill off the player with hordes of enemies. Well, this is the last Electronic Arts game I guy, and this game is going straight to a second-hand store.