Medal of Honor Remote-Controlled battle series
Street Price: Originally $30 - $45 US
Manufacturer: Interactive Toy Concepts
Mfgr's recommended min. age: 12+
Our recommended age range: None really
Primary use: Indoors, smooth surfaces
Top speed: n/a
Control: Infrared
Includes:
- Land vehicles include controller, soldier figure, and bunker
- Helicopter includes controller/charger
- ATV or Truck require 5x AAA batteries, plus optional 3x AAA batteries for the bunker
- Tanks require 4x AA batteries plus 3x AAA batteries, plus another optional 3x AAA batteries for the bunker
Overview
For this one review I take a look at the entire Medal of Honor game-inspired RC series from Interactive Toy Concepts. The available sets are:
- Op-For Technical Truck (pickup)
- Coalition Assault ATV
- Op-For Battle Tank
- Coalition Helicopter (Apache AH-64)
- Coalition Infantry Fighting Vehicle
Each of these sets uses wireless infrared remote control and features lights, sounds, and the ability to "shoot" and "destroy" the others via an infrared battle system. Each vehicle has a "health" value that relates to how many "hits" it can sustain. For example, the ATV and Technical Truck can each be destroyed with just two good shots. The Battle Tank and Infantry Fighting Vehicle each have tough armor and need four hits to be disabled.
The land-based vehicles also each come with an independent bunker unit that can act as an auto-firing enemy for solo play, or to add an additional challenge when playing with friends. Bunkers are technically neutral, meaning they'll shoot at anything and anyone, so you can either set them up as defenses for each player's base, or you can place them together and then team up to destroy them.
Test & Review Video
Conclusion
As I explained & showed in the video, each of these Medal of Honor RCs had its own issues. I actually felt the ATV and Technical Truck were the best-performing sets in the series, as on a predictable surface they could be driven around pretty successfully. In addition to the quirks you saw above, though, I had a lot of trouble with "fire" signals getting mixed up and even bouncing off walls & obstacles. In other words, you could get shot & disabled without even being in the line of sight of an enemy. This was especially bad with the automated bunkers, since they take out both Coalition and Op-For units indiscriminately. There's no frustration like starting a game already "dead."
In all, this whole series just doesn't pass muster, and I can't recommend any of these toys. Each does work to some basic degree, so they're not total failures, but in my opinion, they're not much more.