Like many games in the Medal of Honor series, players have a health bar, divided into four units, that begins to deplete when taking damage; if the player avoids taking any damage, the current unit of health being depleted will regenerate in time, but any units lost will require the player to find first aid kits. The HUD allows the player to keep track of what weapon they are using, the amount of ammo they have in it and on hand to reload it with, how many grenades they have, and a compass that keeps track of where allies and enemies are, along with markers indicating which direction a player is being damaged from and where active grenades have landed.
What makes Airborne unique in the series is the ability for players to choose where they land as a paratrooper on the battlefield in both modes. Once a player begins descending onto the map they are fighting on, they can direct where they will begin from, controlling the speed of the descent, thus giving greater flexibility and strategy on how they deal with enemies, with the added ability of being able to kick enemies they land upon.
Single-player
In the game's main campaign, players assume the role of a fictional paratrooper working alongside other members of an American airborne division, to complete a series of objectives within each of the campaign's six mission. The player is given a briefing on each mission's initial objectives, as well as a map of where they will be operating, including the location of heavy enemy concentrations (marked red) and safe landing sites (marked green). In this mode of gameplay, players can equip two main weapons, designated as primary and secondary weapons, and chose what loadout they have before beginning a mission from a selection of Allied and Axis weapons; additional weapons can be unlocked by either taking those dropped by enemy soldiers during a mission or reaching later missions where they become available in. During missions, weapons earn experience from killing enemies, with the amount per kill greatly increased from performing headshots, melee and multiple kills. Once a weapon earns enough experience, it receives an upgrade that improves how effective it is for the player, with upgrades ranging from increased damage, a higher rate of fire, and reduced weapon recoil. Each weapon can be upgraded three times, and has its own set of upgrades; once it is fully upgraded, the weapon's icon on the interface changes to reflects its fully upgraded appearance.
When descending by parachute into a mission's battlefield, the type of landing the player makes affects the speed at which they can begin to fight - "Greased" landings, by moving forward before touching down, allow the player to be ready instantly to fight; "Flared" landings allow the player to land safely, but require a little time to be combat-ready; "Botched" landings, by coming in too hard, cause the player to be more vulnerable to attack as they recover and become combat-ready. The player can also perform a "Skill" drop, by landing safely and in a specific way, at a site designated by a white parachute (i.e. landing through an open doorway); each mission has a set number that the player can find on when on the ground, and which they can attempt at any time when their character is descending down onto a mission's battlefield. Once in a mission, players do not face enemies with randomized appearances and weapons, but rather a predetermined selection of enemy types; while the player faces the weakest kind to begin with, more difficult and challenging opponents are introduced as the game progresses.
Each mission the player undertakes consists of two phases. In the first phase, gameplay is non-linear; in addition to choosing where they wish to land, players can decide the order in which objectives are completed, though they are restricted to landing and moving within the area of the map that is accessible to them. If the player is killed during this phase of a mission, they re-spawn in the air, descending down to the battlefield once more, and can thus take advantage of this to put themselves in a more favourable position to complete an objective. Upon completing the objectives outlined in a mission's briefing, the game's second phase begins and focuses on a more scripted and linear path, with objectives unlocked in sequence and a new area of the map becoming accessible. In this phase, the player no longer can parachute back down to the mission's map, instead re-spawning to the last checkpoint they reached.
Multiplayer
In the game's multiplayer mode, players work as a team, playing as either Allied or Axis soldiers, over six maps - while the game uses three from the single-player mode, along with another that is scaled down in size, the other two maps are original design. In a match, players begin by choosing what main weapon they begin with - rifle, SMG, auto-rifle, sniper and anti-tank - which is denoted by what role they are in (i.e. for SMG, Allies get the Thompson, while Axis get the MP40), and can scavenge a second main weapon during the match. If a player is killed, they can change what weapon they use before they respawn, though lose the second weapon they scavenged. Matches can be set to one of three modes - Airborne Objective (a variation on the "seize-the-objective" multiplayer mode), Airborne Team Deathmatch, and Team Deatchmatch - with the airborne-based modes utilising Airborne's unique paratrooper aspects of gameplay, in which Allied players can land wherever they want on the map being used, including when they respawn, but are vulnerable during their descent as Axis players can shoot them down.
Players can acquire access to weapon upgrades, similar to those in single-player, depending on what type of match they undertake - unranked matches grant access to upgrades and allow match's server settings to be optimized per what the player(s) want; ranked matches focus on persistent character development that grant gradual access to upgrades over time.
Plot
In 1943, following training in North Africa, PFC. Boyd Travers learns that the 82nd Airborne Division is to help with the invasion of Italy, beginning with Operation Husky. After nearly being killed by friendly fire from the US Navy, Travers and his squadron land in the village of Adanti, Sicily, where the group assists in neutralising several anti-aircraft nests while combating Italian soldiers, before venturing deeper into the village to find a missing sniper team and aiding his squadron in repelling a German counterattack. Travelling to the Italian mainland, the 82nd take part in Operation Avalanche, eliminating a munitions stockpile, fuel depot, motorpool, and radio equipment at an the Paestum archaeological dig near Naples, with Travers assisting in an assault on a ruined temple housing anti-air guns, destroying them before Allied P-40 fighter bombers arrive and destroy the German artillery located around the dig site.
One year later, on 6 June 1944, the 82nd take part in Operation Neptune, lending assistance to the American forces preparing to land on Utah Beach as part of Operation Overlord. Working with his squadron, Travers manages to eliminate all potential threats to the invasion force, including a Tiger tank and a series of bunkers, before heading to the shoreline and eliminating German pillboxes that endanger the incoming landing forces. A few months later, Travers and his squadron take part in Operation Market Garden, assisting in the capture of Nijmegen in the Netherlands, while preventing the Germans from destroying the town's bridge with explosives planted on it. Despite a fierce counterattack, including the use of Panzerschreck rocket launchers and Tiger tanks, the 82nd manage to secure the bridge for American Sherman tanks to cross, while Travers receives a promotion to Corporal for his actions.
After Market Garden ends in failure for the Allies, Travers transfers to the 17th Airborne Division. In March 1945, his division takes part in Operation Varsity, landing within an industrial complex in Essen, Germany, to destroy its stockpile of munitions and tanks, while shutting down its weapon production facilities. Despite a counter-attack by heavily armored Allgemeine SS troopers wielding MG42s that inflict heavy losses on the Allied troops, Travers manages to overcome the new threat and successfully destroys an armoured ammunition train that arrives at the complex. A few days later, with Operation Varsity proceeding as planned, Travers finds his squadron going deeper into enemy-held territory within Essen, with the task of destroying a massive flak tower that Allied bombers had failed to level. Despite heavy opposition, Travers helps to neutralize key fortifications within the tower, before assisting an engineering unit and detonating charges placed beneath the tower, destroying the structure as the war in Europe begins to enter its final stages.
In a closing report, Travers' CO comments on how history will remember the sacrifice and courage of the men in the Airborne divisions for what they did during World War II.
