In the weeks following the launch of Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, Respawn has pushed three updates to the game to address some common gripes.
Update (January 5th, 2021): Added info on the latest patches (now three total) to Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond hasn’t fared too well out of the gate, judging by critic and user reviews, but developer Respawn Entertainment has quickly moved to release three patches throughout December to address some common gripes.
Update v1.19 – December 14th
Among the biggest changes in v.1.19 is the addition of smooth-turning to the game, which can now be enabled in the VR Comfort section of the menu. Initially the game only supported snap-turning which is typically the default to ensure comfort, but some players prefer to turn smoothly. The new smooth-turn option also has adjustable rotation speed.
The pace-breaking “Victory!” screens, which would frequently interrupt action sequences, has been removed entirely, except at the very end of each mission.
The ‘Gallery’ section of the game (featuring the impressively produced WWII mini-documentaries) is now fully unlocked by default rather than being unlocked based on campaign completion.
This patch includes a handful of other tweaks, check out the full v1.19 release notes here:
New “Smooth Turning” Option
- By popular demand, you can now choose Smooth Turning as an alternative to the default Flick Turning.
- Try it out by going to the Options menu, clicking on the “VR Comfort” section, and setting “Turn Style” to “SMOOTH”.
- You can further adjust the “Smooth Turn Speed” value here (default 50%) to find what works best for you. This only has an effect when smooth turning is enabled.
Streamlined Mission Progression
- We removed all the “Victory!” screens from level progression.
- You now only get a completion screen when you beat one of the six missions.
Quartermaster Area Changes
- It is now much easier to pick up weapons from the tables and weapon racks.
- Health Packs now respawn after a short duration.
All Videos in the Gallery are Unlocked from the Start
- All of the Gallery content — every location, interview, and 360-degree panorama — is now unlocked from the very beginning.
- Originally they would unlock as you played through the campaign, but now you can watch them in any order.
Louder M1 Garand “Ping” Sound
- Louder. We made it louder. You asked for it, we’re more than happy to oblige.
Other Changes:
- No longer need to choose “Equip” when selecting a multiplayer avatar.
- In Multiplayer menus, fixed an issue with the party invite Accept and Decline buttons being difficult to press.
- When launching the game for the first time, the initial Options menu now displays correct localized text.
- Fixed a respawn issue with the landmines in the the Mission 2 Live Fire Gauntlet.
- Fixed an issue with truck collision in the Avalanche level.
- Various under the hood fixes and optimizations
Update v1.21 – December 17th
Update v1.21 to Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond adds some much needed video options to the game, allowing players to adjust Texture Streaming memory allocation, Texture Filtering levels, Anti-aliasing modes, and Anti-aliasing quality.
While smooth-turning was added in the prior patch, v1.21 now adds a controller-oriented movement option which directs the game to use the controller direction as the ‘forward’ direction for movement, rather than the player’s head direction.
To improve immersion, v.1.21 further reduces the clunky pacing between missions by removing the need to pull the trigger to start each mission. This comes in addition to the removal of the bothersome ‘Victory!’ screens which were removed in the prior patch.
By default, the game now disables the ‘Star Ranks’ setting which would draw star icons over higher level enemies to indicate their difficulty. This patch also automatically hides the player’s arms when they come close to the eyes, in order to avoid situations where the arms might block the player’s view.
This patch includes a handful of other tweaks, check out the full v1.21 release notes with additional details here:
New Option for Controller-Oriented Movement
- Added an option to base movement off of the controller’s direction instead of the player’s view direction.
- In the Options menu, choose the “VR Comfort” section, and set “Movement Orientation” to “Controller.”
New Video Options
- You’ll find these in the Options menu, in the “Audio/Video” section.
- Texture Streaming: 400MB, 700MB, 1000MB, 2000MB, or Auto
- Texture Filtering Level: Anisotropic 1x, 2x, 4x, or 8x
- Anti-Aliasing Mode: MSAA 2x, MSAA 4x, Temporal AA, or Off
- Anti-Aliasing Quality: Low, Medium, High, or Default
Even More Streamlined Gameflow
- We removed the need to pull the trigger at the start of every campaign segment.
- Levels now start playing as soon as the title card comes up.
Star Ranks Off by Default for New Players
- The stars that draw over enemy heads in the Campaign are now Off by default for new players.
- Existing players will keep whatever setting they last used.
- As always, star ranks are in the Options menu. Choose the “Campaign” section, and setting “Enemy Rank” to “Disabled” or “Enabled.”
Arm Sleeves Now Hide When Close to Player Eyes
- The sleeves on the player’s arms no longer show when brought close to the eyes.
- This fixes the issue of looking down the sights with an eye opposite to the player’s dominant hand, e.g. aiming with the left eye when right-hand dominant.
Other Changes:
- NPC eye logic improved.
- Improved server performance in multiplayer matches.
- Lowered grip sensitivity when using Valve Index controllers.
- Fixed zoom controls on scoped weapons when launching the game through Steam.
- Fixed a glitch when re-opening the Multiplayer in-game menu.
- Fixed a rare crash that could trigger from switching party leaders in Multiplayer.
- Fixed a “Connection to server timed out” issue when trying to play Mad Bomber.
- Various updates and fixes for localized text.
- Additional under the hood fixes and optimizations.
Update v1.24 – December 21st
Update v1.24 to Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond delivers a highly requested changed to sniper scopes—while sniper scopes in the game would originally take over the player’s entire view, a new option has been added to render the scope view directly into the gun’s scope. To enable this, go to Options → Gameplay → Scope Type → Realistic.
Given optimizations in the prior patch and expanded video options, with patch v1.24 Respawn has lowered the game’s minimum hardware specification to a GTX 1080 GPU, though the studio still suggests the RTX 2080 as the recommended spec.
For Oculus Rift and Quest users who bought the game through Steam, v1.24 now offers the option to launch the Oculus native version of Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond, which bypasses SteamVR and may lead to performance improvements. It’s worth noting that this approach would mean the player will no longer be able to join Steam friends in the game’s multiplayer modes because direct invites between Oculus and Steam are not supported.
This patch includes a handful of other tweaks, check out the full v1.24 release notes with additional details here:
New Options to Hide Your Torso and Cuffs
- You can now choose to hide the in-game representations of your torso, your sleeve cuffs, or both.
- Under Options, choose the “Gameplay” section, and set “Body Visibility” or “Cuff Visibility” to “Disabled.”
New Full-View Sniper Scopes
- Added an option to render the sniper view directly in the scope.
- To enable, go to Options, choose the “Gameplay” section, and set “Scope Type” to “Realistic.”
- Added a new “Scope Resolution” option. Bumping this down can improve performance on some systems.
Sniper Rifle Zoom Button
- The button to adjust zoom levels on sniper rifles is now assigned to whichever hand is dominant, instead of always being set to the right hand. (Vive controllers keep the button on the right hand.)
- Tip: this button also adjusts the firing rate on the M1918 automatic rifle when equipped.
Multiplayer “Quick Match” Playlist Now Cycles All Maps and Modes
- Choosing “Quick Match” now cycles between maps AND modes.
- Without leaving your session you could play Team Deathmatch in the Sub Pen, Domination in Streets of Dubuisson, then Mad Bomber in the Rockets of Peenemünde.
Oculus Native Mode Support On Steam
- When launching the game through Steam, Oculus users now have the option to launch directly to the Oculus native environment.
Lower Min-Spec NVIDIA GTX 1080
- The recommended spec stays the same.
- However, with the expanded video options and optimizations from the last patch, plus feedback from the player community, the min spec has been lowered to an NVIDIA GTX 1080 or equivalent.
Other Changes and Additions:
- Smoother fade-in when returning to the OSS hub from a level.
- Objectives now show on the user’s left wrist when the left hand is set as dominant.
- New floating label for the Live Fire Gauntlet doors in the Quartermaster area. (Check these play areas out for some classic Respawn gauntlet challenges.)
- Fixed some grab issues with the MG42 and M1918 mounted weapons.
- Fixed issue where enabling Seated Mode in certain conditions could leave the player’s view high off the ground.
- Fixed grab guide visuals being offset for the right hand when using HTC Vive wand controllers.
- On the OSS Room typewriter, type “Open Sesame” and hit the carriage return to unlock a chest of Respawn Easter Eggs.
- Additional under the hood fixes and optimizations.
Respawn was quick to deliver three patches in the small window between the game’s launch and the December holiday period. Since then we haven’t seen teases of additional patches, but with many of the initial complaints addressed to far, we’d love to see the studio take their time on a more substantial update.