Medal of Honor Warfighter Review: Playtime Is Over

Game Reviewed: Medal of Honor: Warfighter

Release Date: October 23, 2012

Developer: Danger Close

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Platform: [Reviewed: Xbox 360], PlayStation 3

Genre: First Person Shooter

Rated: M for Mature

It’s been two years since EA has released Medal of Honor, delivering – in my opinion –  one of the most realistic and entertaining stories from ANY recent first person shooter.  Including  popular games like Battlefield, Call of Duty or even 2K’s Spec Ops: The Line. Now that’s not to say the stories in those games didn’t do themselves justice. It is just that  realism of MOH cannot be compared.

The Medal of Honor Warfighter campaign takes you once again through the lives of “Mother” and “Preacher.” Through cut-scenes, the game picks up ways later where the series left off,  with Preacher after he was labeled a traitor to his country and putting the truth back together. In this installment we learn more about Preacher, the family man, as he juggled homesickness and marriage issues with his current mission objectives.

We don’t know what soldiers go through, nor how families are affected, with having their loved ones away and wanting to be there with them. However, Danger Close does a good job at giving you an idea. Men and women of all ages risk their lives every day so that we may live in the “Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.”

The physical combat in MOH Warfighter is undoubtedly an absolute thrill ride.  When shooting at targets precision is required, you can’t just run and gun your way through this game like others allow you to do. In a few missions, your partner may tell you just how far off you were to assist you with eliminating a target.

I’ve ran through all difficulties on particular missions and can promise you a bit of a challenge, regardless of what you choose. Don’t expect to play on easy and “run” through the missions, it’s not going to happen. I applaud the developers for making sure that you truly exercise full combat, regardless of your where you are with your skill set.

Even playing on easy, I ran out expecting to plow through everyone shooting at me; yeah right. My screen turned red faster than Santa’s cheeks on Christmas.

There are so many moments in this game that definitely gives you that “WOW” factor, including missions that were literally inspired by real events. But it also delivers a bit of hindrance.

Only a few things seemed a bit excessive. The first thing you’ll grasp on to is all the breaching you do in Warfighter. It’s a popular tactic that’s used by all special forces, but it felt overbearing after a while. I will stress that MOH does allow you throughout the game to unlock different variants when breaching to balance it being used so much. But it’s still used too much!

The second drawback was restocking your ammo. You can kill enemies and pick up any and every weapon that you choose, but when you’re running low on ammo you’ll need to get it from a teammate . For the realistic story it presents,  I personally expected the traditional salvaging for bullets. Instead, your team has ammo for every gun in the game.

Overall, the single player campaign drives a great concept, but a confusing story. As mentioned earlier, you continue to think of family, next thing you know you’re in the middle of a mission. It’s like going to a movie theatre 10 minutes early and at start time it begins 30 minutes into the story. Where the last MOH keeps the story fluid, Warfighter keeps you wondering what the hell’s going on. It doesn’t affect the game-play, just a forgettable progression.

Multiplayer tends to show improvement over the last installment. Sessions mirror Call of Duty game-play with a note of  destructible environments of Battlefield.

If one thing would be considered to stand out in Warfighter, it is the Fire-team  Co-op has reached new heights. You can play with up to 20 people at once, but when the game starts, it’s all about you and the person on the other end of your headset. Your partner is your only sense of communication, your only teammate to spawn in from. You are still a full group of up to 10 players per team, just five separate two-man teams.

Graphics don’t look quite as detailed as Battlefield 3, but the Frostbite 2 engine still gives MOH its pretty moments. It’s more so the cut-scenes that show off the engine’s capabilities than the game-play. However, the audio is spot on. From voices and bullets to the soundtrack, Warfighter gives you that in-depth ambiance.

Where you’d expect Medal of Honor to excel, it doesn’t and leaves you right where you started. The potential for MOH: Warfighter was there to be a game that shocked you with its amazing everything, but instead remained in the safe zone. Now this isn’t to call it a bad game, as it’s far from by offering some good game-play and great moments. The issue is just the “been there, played that” moments that deny MOH a true identity.

The Scores

Gameplay: 4.25/5

Visuals: 4.5/5

Audio: 4.5/5

Controls: 4.25/5

Replay Value: 4/5

Overall Rating: 4/5