Video Game / Medal of Honor Retro Remake

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Medal of Honor Retro Remake is a Fan Remake of the very first Medal of Honor title, released on February 26, 2026 for Microsoft Windows. It was developed by a lone Ukrainian programmer named Elber, aka Alex Pachenko. It was made on Unreal Engine 4.0, and uses weapon animations and certain assets from Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. Being a faithful remake, it doesn't diverge much from the original, maintaining the same level layout, enemy layout, cutscenes, weapon arsenal, and weapon sounds. What remade content it does introduce are updated weapon models, vehicle models, and enemy soldier models, all of which have been recreated using the Unreal Engine 4's superior graphics.

An Updated Re-release, version 1.11, was released on May 31, 2026, which included numerous graphical and gameplay overhauls and improvements, as well as restoring the Castle Colditz level that had been cut from the original game.

This game provides examples of:

• Adaptational Attractiveness:
  • All German soldiers, sailors, officers, and scientists look much more pleasing to the eye than in the original, now looking like actual people rather than scarecrows. This is thanks in large part to the Unreal Engine 4's more powerful graphics.
  • Similarly, the G3 Officer and the Allied staff officers in the main menu all now look like officers in the US and British militaries, rather than ragdolls wearing clothes.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Downplayed. In the 1.0 version, German scientists in this version will still resort to dirty tricks like fake surrenders when held at gunpoint, but they do so far less often than in the base game. In about 3/4th of encounters with them, they will instead attempt to gun down the player outright. In addition, thanks to the Germans using the AI system from Allied Assault, the aforementioned scientists are also now depicted as being much more competent in a firefight, able to gun down Patterson as good as a regular Heer soldier.
  • German machine gunners are now able to fire much more accurately as well as respond to threats much faster, allowing them to shred the player even in one or two bursts.
  • German soldiers in general, who would flinch when shot in the legs or feet, are now immune to Agony of the Feet and Knee-capping when shot in the leg or foot, and thus cannot be incapacitated whatsoever.
• Adaptational Costume Change: Kriegsmarine sailors in the original game wore sailor's caps. In this game, they instead wear Stahlhelms like their Heer and Waffen-SS counterparts, albeit painted in navy blue to match the color of their uniforms.
• Adaptation Expansion: As the Castle Colditz mission was Dummied Out from Medal of Honor (1999), the developer decided to create a brand new, reinterpreted story based on what little details the scrapped missions had.
  • The date for the mission is set in early February 1945, just a few weeks before the Mission 5 "Capture the Secret German Treasure".
  • The mission itself involves rescuing a captive OSS agent from the Colditz Castle, a P.O.W. Camp intended for high-ranking Allied officers and VIPs, as well as performing an Assassination Attempt on the ruthless camp commandant Schmidt.
  • The Germans fought in the final part of the mission are revealed to be Waffen-SS members from some of the most elite Waffen-SS Divisions, having been deployed in the area to rest and recuperate.
• Adaptational Intelligence:
  • Thanks to using Allied Assault's enemy AI system, German sentries are much more difficult to fool when presented with Identification Papers, and will immediately resort to gunning down the player when they see through the player's disguise.
  • Additionally, should the player use a silenced pistol to kill unsuspecting German guards, other guards will immediately react to seeing their dead comrades, become suspicious of their surroundings, and assume combat stances. This is in stark contrast to the original, where thanks to no corpses being left behind, the Germans never reacted at all to their comrades being killed right next to them.
• Adapted Out: The two Allied staff officers in the main menu screen of the original have been removed in the remake's respective main menu screen. Justified, due to this game using Allied Assault's version of the main menu, which also lacked any Allied staff officers. Subverted in the 1.11 release, which brings both of the Allied staff officers back into the main menu, complete with brand new character models.
• Adaptational Weapon Swap:
  • The Germans in the original used an out-of-place M2 Browning as their machine gun emplacement of choice. In the remake, the Germans now use the much more appropriate MG42 in its light machine gun configuration.
  • Rather than using the M1A1 Thompson from the original game, Patterson instead uses the older M1928A1 variant of the Thompson, which is distinguished by the presence of a Cutts Compensator and a vertical charging handle.
• Artificial Brilliance: Much like the original game, enemy soldiers can and will kick or throw back any grenades that the player throws near them.
• Balance Buff: Quite a few were done in the 1.11 Updated Re-release, allowing guns that were subpar in the original release to perform much better.
  • The accuracy of the M1 Garand rifle has been buffed significantly, allowing it to be effective even at long ranges. And even moreso with the addition of a revamped zoom mode, which allows it snipe enemies from afar.
  • The M1897 Trench Gun, similarly, has had its mid to long range accuracy improved, allowing it to avert the issue of it being a Short-Range Shotgun. Zoom mode even allows it to snipe enemies from up to long range when used correctly.
• Bald of Evil: In the 1.0 version, all German infantry types encountered were revealed to be bald, and still very much willing to ruthlessly kill Patterson. The 1.11 update zig-zags this, with a few German soldiers having shaved heads underneath their helmets and caps, but others having regular haircuts underneath.
• Brutal Bonus Level: The Castle Colditz mission isn't part of the main story, and is unlocked upon completion of the main campaign. It also happens to be the hardest overall mission in the remake, thanks to fighting dozens of heavily-armed Waffen-SS soldiers and their German Shepherd guard dogs.
• Easter Egg: The Castle Colditz mission has one, found in a Secret Room via Bookcase Passage. It houses an updated model of the German Panzerknacker, complete with a StG 44... the latter of which Patterson can use for himself to mow down the Elite Mooks going after him and the OSS agent.
• Game Mod: The game notably uses several assets from Medal of Honor: Allied Assault. This includes but is not limited to: weapon reload animations, enemy AI behavior, vehicle models, and even the main menu screen, the last of which is lifted directly without any changes.
• I Surrender, Suckers!: German scientists, when held at gunpoint by Patterson, will feign surrender by lifting their arms...Only for them to either let their German soldier allies gun down Patterson or pull out pistols to kill Patterson themselves. This is especially more apparent in the 1.11 release, where they'll immediately hold their arms up in Patterson's presence.
• Jumping on a Grenade: On occasion, enemy soldiers will jump on grenades thrown by the player in order to protect their comrades.
• Mythology Gag:
  • From Medal of Honor: Underground:
    • The Gewehr 43, one of the new weapons from that game, appears here as the standard Sniper Rifle for the Germans. The StG 44, also introduced in that game, is also available as an Easter Egg, where it's as powerful as the Browning Automatic Rifle while also more accurate and having a bigger magazine.
    • The Castle Colditz mission introduces an NPC ally, first introduced in Underground (as the original game didn't feature allied NPCs), in the form of an OSS agent that Patterson must rescue from the titular P.O.W. Camp.
    • In the Castle Colditz mission's first level, a German Sd Kfz 251 Half-Track can be seen parked in the castle's courtyard, in exactly the same spot one is fought in Underground. Except in this version, it's manned by a regular Waffen-SS soldier rather than a sentient German Shepherd.
    • The final level of the Castle Colditz mission has Patterson fight a horde of German Shepherds, which is a blatant reference to "Where Beagles Dare", the first level of "Panzerknacker Unleashed", where all of the enemies present were German Shepherds.
    • Opening a Secret Room in the final level of the Castle Colditz mission reveals an updated model of the German Panzerknacker that appears as an enemy unit in "Die Panzerknacker", the final level of "Panzerknacker Unleashed". Said model is holding an StG 44, the same weapon that those enemies use. Interacting with the model holding the weapon reveals that Patterson can wield the assault rifle for himself, to make fighting the Elite Mook Waffen-SS soldiers guarding the castle easier. For bonus points, the Panzerknacker model even spouts it's Catchphrase when interacted with.
    • The music that plays during the final level of Colditz Castle is "Panzer Blockade", a track from Underground which also played during "Where Beagles Dare", the first mission of "Panzerknacker Unleashed".
• Nerf: The 1.11 update nerfs the effective range of German machine gunners to 3/4th of their original sightlines, allowing players to snipe them before the machine gunners can zero in on them.
• No Name Given: The name of the OSS Agent that Patterson must rescue in the Castle Colditz mission is never revealed.
• Only Six Faces: In the 1.0 version, thanks in large part to being created and derived from low-polygon character models from the original Playstation, all German soldiers, sailors, scientists, and officers have identical faces, are bald, and lack facial hair. Thankfully, the 1.11 version fixes this issue, with the German soldiers, officers, sailors, and scientists now using graphically updated versions of their character models from Allied Assault.
• Prison Level: The "Infiltrate Castle Colditz" bonus level has Patterson break into the Castle Colditz P.O.W. Camp, break out an OSS agent that was facing execution, kill the ruthless commandant of the place, and break out of the facility with the agent.
• Reused Character Design:
  • In the 1.11 version, the German soldiers, officers, sailors, and scientists use updated versions of their character models from Allied Assault.
  • The German Shepherds that appear late in Mission 1 "Rescue the G3 Officer" and in the Castle Colditz Secret Level, much like their handlers, are updated character models ported from Allied Assault.
  • The Springfield sniper rifle's weapon model is directly lifted from Allied Assault, with zero changes to its reload, firing sound, and firing animations.
  • The Panzerschreck uses the American M9 Bazooka's 3rd person model rather than its Allied Assault model, due to the original game using the Bazooka's 3rd person model for the Panzerschreck as well.
• Secret Level: Completing the main story campaign unlocks the Colditz Castle level, a level that was Dummied Out in the original game, but is now restored, reinterpreted based on the developer's own ideas, and made rather difficult.
• Short-Range Shotgun: Averted. The M1897 Trench Gun, when used in zoom mode, is able to reliably hit and kill targets from up to several feet away.
• Shot-for-Shot Remake: The game faithfully recreates the original PlayStation 1 game shot-to-shot: entire levels, loading screens, cutscenes, weapon loadouts, and even enemy numbers and layouts. Even the original voicelines from both your allies and enemies are retained. Of course, this also comes with the addition of certain quality-of-life changes, most notably updated controls, more sophisticated graphics and audio tweaks, improved enemy AI, and upgraded gameplay mechanics (including the ability to aim and shoot on the move).
• Sniper Rifle:
  • Much like in the original game, the scoped M1903 Springfield returns as the only available sniper rifle for Patterson to use.
  • The Colditz Castle bonus mission adds the scoped Gewehr 43 as the Germans' standard sniper rifle.
• Updated Re-release: Version 1.11, released in May 2026, includes graphical, gameplay, AI, and HUD overhauls to the game.
• Wardens Are Evil: Max Schmidt, the commandant of the Colditz Castle P.O.W. Camp, is noted to be a Bad Boss to his Waffen-SS subordinates and is ruthless towards the Allied prisoners under his watch, tormenting both groups with psychological torture via the playing of music over loudspeakers constantly. And that's not getting into the fact that Schmidt is a high-ranking Nazi officer responsible for a number of war crimes under his belt already.