Since 2002’s excellent Allied Assault, the Medal of Honor series suffered from classic diminishing-returns syndrome.

Each subsequent game in the series has been slightly less accomplished than the last, while plenty of other World War II first-person shooter (FPS) games, such as Call of Duty and Brothers in Arms, have stepped into the breach to offer a better alternative.

Thankfully, however, Medal of Honor Airborne is something of a return to form. As the title suggests, the focus here is on airborne infantry: as a paratrooper you get to jump into the battlefield by ‘chute, landing wherever you choose. Safe zones are marked out for you, but you can opt to come down elsewhere if you wish - on a rooftop, for example, to give you an advantage over enemy troops below. You’ll use your parachute not only at the beginning of each level but also after each time you die in the game.

In practice, the parachuting element isn’t particularly revolutionary, but it manages to avoid gimmick status by providing an interesting strategic angle to the game. It also means that Airborne is a slightly more open-ended experience than many linear shooters.

We’re not talking Grand Theft Auto levels of freeform adventure here: there are still objectives that need to be accomplished (taking out anti-aircraft guns, for example, or capturing buildings), but you tend to get a little more choice in terms of the order in which you complete your tasks.

Apart from that, Airborne offers up pretty much what might be expected from a game of this type. For the most part, you and your artificially intelligent comrades will find yourselves clearing areas of Nazi scum as you advance on the German heartland and win the war.

Graphics are solid if a little underwhelming. Buildings, weapons and environments all look fairly authentic (as long as you have a relatively good graphics card), but human faces are a little weak by modern standards and the character animations can look a bit awkward. The battlefield sound effects are good, however, and the rousing Medal of Honor theme underpins a lot of the action, lending the game a suitably cinematic sweep.

In addition to a short-ish single-player campaign, Airborne offers online multiplayer action for up to 12 players at a time. There’s little in the way of innovation here: the usual deathmatch and capture the flag-type games are available but the maps are pretty good fun for running around.

Medal of Honor Airborne doesn’t exactly reinvent the first-person WWII game, but it does things differently enough to make it interesting, while dishing up a decent single-player campaign and enjoyable multiplayer options.

Vista compatible: Yes