Video Game / Medal of Honor: Underground

Ultimate Sacrifice. Ultimate Victory.

"The First World War. Victory had been ours but we would soon fail at the peace that followed. Our leaders appeased the growing evil instead of fighting it, sacrificing our future. We vainly reinforced our borders with concrete while we evacuated our children from the cities. There was something terrible brewing with our old enemy. And no one seemed able to stop it. The world was about to find out what happens when an entire nation is swept by madness. What would you do? Surrender? Collaborate? Or resist?"

— Manon Batiste, Opening Narration

Medal of Honor: Underground is the second entry in the Medal of Honor series. Much like it's predecessor, it was developed by Dreamworks Interactive and released on October 25, 2000. This game serves as both a Prequel and P.O.V. Sequel to the events of the first game. Rather than playing as Lt. Jimmy Patterson, players are thrust into the perspective of Manon Batiste, the French Resistance member, Rebel Leader, and field contact from the first game, showcasing the actions she took before Patterson's recruitment into the OSS.

Once again, Steven Spielberg was involved with the game's development, serving as part of the writing and production.

Followed two years later by Medal of Honor: Allied Assault, where Manon briefly acts as Lt. Mike Powell's Mission Control during the latter's deployment in France, and Medal of Honor: Frontline, which further chronicles Lt. Jimmy Patterson's actions during and after D-Day up until around Operation Market-Garden.

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This game contains examples of:

• All Germans Are Nazis: Averted. Sonntag, a German officer working as The Mole for the Allies, is Manon's ally and getaway driver. It's thanks to his help that she escapes from Mitterlwerk.
• Anachronism Stew: Quite a few units and weapons appear much sooner than they did in Real Life.
  • The Milice are shown operating in early 1942, when in fact the unit itself wasn't formed until January 1943.
  • The Panzerfaust appears in a level set in early 1942. The weapon wasn't mass produced and issued until around mid to late 1943.
  • The German MP 3008, a copy of the British Sten Submachine Gun, is shown being used by enemy soldiers as early as 1942, when in reality it wasn't developed and used until 1945.
• Ancient Tomb: The second level is set in the Parisian catacombs. Appropriately enough, said level is titled "Among the Dead".
• And Now for Someone Completely Different: The "Panzerknacker Unleashed" Secret Level has the player in the boots of Lt. Jimmy Patterson rather than Manon Batiste, though the latter is mentioned by Col. Hargrove as being the next that they'll send to investigate should Patterson be reported as killed or missing in action.
• Anti-Vehicle: Introduced in this game is the German Panzerfaust anti-tank rocket launcher, which can take out enemy vehicles both armored and soft-skinned with one to two rocket hits.
• Artistic License – History: "Last Rites at Monte Cassino" is listed to be taking place on June 15, 1944. In reality, the Battle of Monte Cassino took place between January to May of 1944. What's more, the Abbey was bombed between January and February of that same year, leaving mostly rubble and ruin where the Abbey once stood. And finally, the airmen that Manon are tasked with rescuing are said to be from the 8th Air Force (who operated exclusively over Western Europe), when in reality, it was the 15th Air Force that operated over Italy and the Mediterranean.
• Assist Character: Plenty in Underground.
  • Right in the first level, your heroine, Manon, is tasked to rendezvous with your brother, Jacques, who can expertly take down Milice officers for you. Unfortunately Jacques dies rather quickly at the end of the level, in an inescapable cutscene.
  • Another level have you liberating POWs in the Alps, where you're assisted by an American Captain who takes plenty of names with a pistol.
  • In the first level of "A Mittelwerk Saboteur", Manon has to meet up with the Double Agent, disguised as a mountaineer, in order to aquire the plans for the factory. Following this, he accompanies you in taking down the Germans.
  • La Résistance officers backs you up in the last few levels, on Men of Sherwood levels — perfectly capable of taking down several Germans without your help.
  • "Panzerknacker Unleashed!" gives players access to the Panzerknacker Prototype, who can soak a ton of damage, is very proficient with small arms, and can even teleport when needed.
• Awesome Personnel Carrier: The Germans have the Sdkfz 251, an armored half-track that doubles as a mobile machine gun platform, and is as tough to take down as a Panzer IV.
• BFG: The Stg 44 Assault Rifle, which serves as the German counterpart to the US Browning Automatic Rifle. Compared to every other automatic weapon in the main story, this weapon is much larger, packs a more powerful punch, and has a comparable rate of fire to contemporary submachine guns.
• Bookends: The main campaign in Underground begins and ends in occupied France, specifically during the German Occupation of Paris and it's liberation two years later.
• Brutal Bonus Level: "Panzerknacker Unleashed" is noticeably much more difficult than the main campaign, due to the fact that the enemies encountered in this level are very agile, can deal tons of damage with their weapons, and are much more durable than regular German soldiers.
• Close-Range Combatant: The Valhallan Knights are heavily armored and run towards Manon to hit her with their swords or axes.
• Cool Sidecar: "Sidecar Shootout" sees Manon and an ally, Sonntag, taking on Germans in a motorcycle, with Manon operating a Gatling gun from the sidecar. Expect plenty of Car Fu with mooks getting run over repeatedly.
• Desert Warfare: "Hunting the Desert Fox" takes place in Morocco, North Africa just before Operation Torch is about to commence. Manon herself is forced to fight the infantry and Panzers of the Afrika Korps, all the while having to signal in the Allied invasion fleet and then make her escape.
• Doomed by Canon: During the events of Medal of Honor (1999), Manon mentions to Patterson that her older brother Jacques was killed during the German occupation of France. In this game, once he appears in person, you know it's only a matter of time until he bites it, which in this case happens during the very first level.
• Downer Beginning: The first mission ends with Manon's older brother Jacques killed in action, with Manon herself forced to flee from Paris empty-handed.
• Easter Egg: The second stage, "Amongst the Dead!" has a nifty one (called the "Ghost Milice" by fans) in the Catacombes de Paris where one of the mooks runs off and disappears into thin air the moment he appears. Shooting at him won't produce any results besides wasting bullets, and there's no trace of the mook despite being in an alcove with nowhere he could've run to (seen here). It's not a glitch, but a reference to the French Catacombs being haunted in real life.
• Evil Knockoff: In "Panzerknacker Unleashed", the mass produced Nazi Panzerknackers, distinguished by their dark blue uniforms, are noticeably much less durable and much easier to take down than the one that Patterson constructs.
• Evil Versus Evil: "Getting the Story", the first part of "Undercover in Crete", has the local German garrison in the island coming into conflict with a group of local Privateers.
• Feminist Fantasy: A prominent Central Theme of the game is Manon's femininity and her place as a young woman living and fighting through the deadliest conflict in human history, and the missions are designed to reflect that (and interviews with the development team support this was very much their intention). She is the sister of a French Resistance cell leader. More than once she poses as a female journalist to perform a spy mission, using her charm and taking pictures of the German soldiers to lower their guard and let her through checkpoints. So even though Manon never so much as speaks a single word outside of the intro and post-mission bonus films (her only vocalizations in-game being pain grunts and death cries when she is shot), she has an incredibly strong feminine presence as a character.
• Foregone Conclusion: Given that this is a Prequel to the first game featuring a major supporting character, it's inevitable that Manon would survive the events of the game.
• I Surrender, Suckers: Should Manon hold up a German archaeologist at gunpoint during "Undercover in Crete", they'll initially put their hands up, only to pull out handguns when the player isn't looking.
• La Résistance: Manon and Jacques are part of the Trope Namer, serving as the leaders of the respective resistance cell. During the first mission, Manon is forced to replace Jacques as leader following his death via ambush in Paris. As such, she helps her fellow resistance members flee, and buys time for them by taking out a German Panzer column attacking their village headquarters. During the seventh level, Manon and several other resistance members organize an uprising in Paris against the German garrison there.
• Les Collaborateurs: The Vichy French Milice, who are are an anti-partisan organization composed of willing French collaborators working closely with the Gestapo. They serve as enemies during the first and seventh levels, and are distinguished by their blue uniforms and berets.
  • The informant you meet up with in Paris during the Liberation is actually working for the occupiers, and is just luring Manon into an ambush. Get close and talk to him and he'll shout "LONG LIVE GERMANY!" and then try to kill you along with two tanks and an entire platoon of elite troopers. They really wanted to make sure she didn't make it out of there.
• Mecha-Mooks: Enemy Panzerknackers are this, being mass produced versions of the Robot Soldier prototype that Lt. Jimmy Patterson reassembles.
• Mêlée à Trois: One level set in Germany-occupied Crete have Manon going undercover, while the area is simultaneously besieged by local privateers. The Germans and privateers will constantly be shooting at each other, but you're free to ditch your cover, draw a gun and become the third party in a three-way shootout.
• Mission Control: Jacques Batiste, Manon's older brother, serves as this for the first mission. Following his death and Manon making contact with the OSS, Col. Stanley Hargrove acts as this for her during briefings, with Captain Ted Aubrick acting her as field contact for most of the game.
• Molotov Cocktail: A new grenade introduced in this game. In contrast to the US Mk. 2 and German Stielhandgranate, which explode after being thrown,
• Mook Mobile: The Sdkfz 251, which is an armored half-track used by German infantrymen as a mobile machine gun platform. They're also rather common enemies in the later stages of the game, and are at one point objectives that need to be destroyed.
• Mountain Warfare: The fifth and sixth levels take place in the mountains of Italy and France, respectively. In the former, Manon Batiste is tasked with raiding the German-held monastery atop Monte Cassino, in order to save a number of captured US airmen and destroy a number of German supply dumps. The latter, meanwhile, has Manon forced to infiltrate into a ski resort converted by the Germans into a V-1 Flying Bomb production facility. Notably, in the latter mission, Manon has to fight German mountain troops trained specifically to fight in this kind of environment.
• Nazi Zombies: In the second level of "Panzerknacker Unleashed", "Rotten to the Corps", Patterson encounters and has to fight through a horde of submachine gun wielding Nazi Zombies, who explode upon being killed. On occasion, they attack Patterson with BMW R75 motorcycles.
• Occupiers Out of Our Country: Zigzagged Trope. Initially, the French Resistance, of which Jacques and Manon are a part of, are motivated to simply resist and give the Nazis a difficult time enforcing their rule over France. Following the former's death, however, Manon ends up recruited into the OSS, and decides to help them sabotage various German operations in other parts of Europe, with Manon herself spending long periods of time away from France. By the final level, however, Manon, alongside the other French Resistance forces, finally have the resources and backing from the Allies to launch an uprising in Paris intent on forcing the German garrison based in the city to surrender.
• Our Zombies Are Different: Aside from being Nazi Zombies, the zombies encountered by Patterson in "Rotten to the Corps" can effectively wield small arms such as submachine guns, mounted machine guns, and hand grenades much like regular German soldiers, can effectively drive crewed military vehicles like motorcycles, and explode upon their deaths.
• Patrolling Mook: The German spies in Casablanca, those guys clad in white and wearing a red fez. They're very lightly armed (their sole weapon is a dinky little pistol) and have pathetic health, but when they see you they will run off to warn nearby German troops of your presence.
• Prequel: The game's first to fifth levels take place before Patterson is recruited into the OSS, showcasing Manon's actions in her fight against the German war machine.
• Previous Player-Character Cameo: Lt. Jimmy Patterson appears twice in the campaign, first as Manon's getaway pilot in North Africa. Later in the game, he's mentioned again by Col. Hargrove as a potential recruit into the OSS following Patterson's actions on D-Day.
• Purposefully Overpowered: Much like the Browning Automatic Rifle from the first game, the StG44 assault rifle is the most powerful automatic weapon in the game, and very much capable of taking out all enemies with a single burst of fire from virtually any range. It's also only issued to the player in late-game levels where the Germans are also using assault rifles of their own. And given the abundance of these enemies in the final level, the player is definitely going to need this to progress.
• Retcon: The original Medal of Honor said that Jacques died saving children from a school trapped with explosives that was part of a plan to draw out the Maquis while Underground retcons it to being an empty school at night when trying obtain an ammunition truck that was an ambush.
• Robot Soldier: The Nazi Panzerknackers are these, being automatons developed by a Nazi scientist to fight for the Third Reich. Unfortunately, an SS officer releases them while they're still the testing phase, causing them to go rogue and attack anyone regardless if they're Allied or Axis.
• Secret Weapon: "A Mittelwerk Saboteur" has Manon go after a V1 Flying Bomb production facility in the town of the same name. The V1 Flying Bomb itself was a brand-new advanced guided missile design being launched from bases around Western Europe, with the bombs themselves often being aimed towards London and launched en masse.
• Shout-Out:
  • The second stage has Manon being sent to German-occupied Casablanca to rendezvous with the allies.
  • There's another level set in the Greek Isles of Navarone, where you'll need to destroy some huge guns deployed by the Germans.
  • A later mission which has Manon infiltrating Himmler's creepy castle estate deep in the brooding forests of Germany and facing down occultist SS troopers and Nazi knights in its halls is one for Wolfenstein.
  • The secret mission where you fight andromorphic canines (!!!) titled "Where Beagles Dare". Said movie was one of it's creator Steven Spielberg's all-time favorite war films.
• Stupid Jetpack Hitler:
  • Downplayed Trope in the main campaign. Secret Weapons like the V1 Flying Bomb are noted to be rather advanced weapon designs when compared to similar Allied developments. Both Col. Stanley Hargrove and Manon herself note that the Western Allies desired to get their hands on the missiles and their designers following the end of hostilities in Europe. Which they ultimately do, and end up using the captured scientists, research, and captured missiles to create their own missile designs postwar.
  • "Panzerknacker Unleashed" plays this straight, with an SS scientist coming up with a Robot Soldier design known as the titular Panzerknacker, somehow creating Nazi Zombies as guards of the castle, and training German Shepherds to dance, wield submachine guns and rockets launchers, and even crew military vehicles like the Sdkfz 251 Half-Track.
• Sniper Rifle: The Gewehr 43 semi-automatic sniper rifle is the only sniper rifle in the game, picked up by Manon from a German sniper in "Wewelsburg: Dark Camelot", and is later her starting weapon during "Liberation!".
• Super Prototype: The Panzerknacker assembled by Lt. Jimmy Patterson in "I, Panzerknacker" is this, being much more durable and far more proficient with firearms than its mass produced siblings fighting for the Nazis.
• Trapped Behind Enemy Lines: Much like the first game, virtually all of the levels present in-game have the player as Manon operate deep within German-occupied territory.
• Unique Enemy: This game has quite a lot of enemies that only appear a handful of times.
  • The Vichy French Milice are only fought during the entirety of the first and the first parts of the final level, by which point they're entirely replaced by Waffen-SS soldiers as the opposition in Paris.
  • Gestapo officers and agents show up only in the Paris catacombs in the second level, as well as during the final section of "A Mittelwerk Saboteur".
  • German spies (mooks in white wearing a red fez) make their only appearances in two of the Casablanca levels.
  • Greek Privateers are only fought in "Getting the Story", and never appear again afterward.
  • German archaeologists are only encountered a handful of times in "Undercover in Crete", and never appear again afterward.
  • Knights, of which a few dozen are fought, are encountered exclusively during "Wewelsburg: Dark Camelot" in the main campaign, and during the second part of "Panzerknacker Unleashed".
  • Mountaineers are only fought in "A Mittelwerk Saboteur", where they serve as the enemy opposition during the first and third sections.
  • Attack Dogs, much like in the first game, only appear in one level, in this case during the "Where Beagles Dare" section of "Panzerknacker Unleashed", coming in three variants: standard attack dog, submachine gunner, and Panzerfaust user.
  • Nazi Zombies only appear in "Rotten to the Corps". While they act mostly the same as standard German soldiers, their skin is green, sickly and rotten, they all wear motorcycle goggles, and explode upon death.
  • "Liberation" is the only level where the Panzer II Light Tank is fought (of which around a half dozen are encountered and destroyed), with every other German tank in every other level being the Panzer IV.
• Unusable Enemy Equipment: Much like in the first game, the German Karabiner 98 bolt-action rifles cannot be used by the player, with them only serving as ammunition pickups. The same also applies to the MAS-36 bolt-action rifles wielded by the Vichy French Milice.
• Urban Warfare: Most of the game's levels, and thus its combat, take place in various types of urban environments, from the streets and catacombs of Paris, to Moroccan city of Casablanca, and, at one point, in and around a mountain village deep within Germany.
• We Hardly Knew Ye: Jacques Batiste, Manon's older brother and French Resistance leader, is killed in the first and only level he appears in during the start of the game. We only learn more about him thanks to Col. Hargrove's and Manon's accounts of his actions both in this game and the previous one.
• Where It All Began: Manon's story begins in German-occupied Paris in late 1942, where an armory raid gone wrong forces her to flee the city empty-handed. After some time trotting around Europe on spy missions, the main campaign ends with Manon going back to her home city just in time to take part in the Liberation in August 1944. Then things get weird.
• You Are in Command Now: Manon is forced to take up Jacques' place as head of their respective French Resistance cell following his untimely demise during the first mission.