Medal of Honor Warfighter Review: War Has Not Changed at All
October 27th 2012 By John Stewart contact email , twitter
Realistic depictions of war and combat is a very competitive market in today’s games. EA and Danger Close aimed to broaden the shooter experience by revealing the often times ‘hidden-lives’ of Tier-One soldiers, both on and off the battlefield.
In ‘Medal of Honor: Warfighter’ players will assume the role of Tier-One operatives around the world, fighting in some of the worst conditions one can imagine. Preacher is the character that should offer the most insight into the lives of these soldiers, however the melodramatic cut-scenes and interactions with his wife often felt like I was watching a made-for-TV movie and not a hollywood blockbuster. It seemed clear that that ‘MOH: Warfighter’ was trying to show me the difficult reality that these soldiers must endure. That I was going to suddenly realize how these soldiers were honest family-men and women, that have chosen to serve and that their families back home are serving with them. I no doubt believe that this is true but the story of Preacher, with it’s interrupting flashbacks and re-flashbacks, didn’t do this sensitive material justice.
In an effort to make the situations even more ‘realistic’ many of the plots and sub-plots are renditions of actual news-headlines that have taken place over the last few years. The explosive component PETN takes center stage in the campaign (think shoe-bomber) and many of the locations and operatives are names that you would recognize if you were researching the topic of anti-terrorism.
Outside of the story and into the gameplay fans won’t see any real changes. With all the attention Danger Close gave into humanizing the anti-terrorist soldiers, the writers did nothing for the actual people you are mowing down in the crowded streets or small towns. ‘Soldiers’ is a blanket term that we give men and woman who fight for our country, I felt that the whole substance of this game was to show you that these are people, just like you and I, who have chosen a life of service and to give them a much deserved face, name and story. If that’s the case then why are the enemy soldiers that I am simply chopping down so meaningless? I felt that Danger Close lost a terrific opportunity to show the full dimension of war and combat, which again was what I though was the entire storyline of this game.
The vehicle scenes and helicopter extractions are just walkthroughs that you don’t even have to participate in. As I was being extracted via a boat through enemy territory I didn’t have to play it if I didn’t want too. It was just a railroaded escape scene that let me shoot from a boat. Much of ‘MOH: Warfighter’ can compete with other FPS shooters on the market. The graphics are stunning, the weapons and locations are all very well crafted, and seemed to be very realistic, but the gameplay offered nothing new to the genre. The enemies that you are picking off one by one have no emotions or sense of awareness. You could kill four men hiding behind the same wooden crate without even moving. You would think that the three dead-bodies that are piled on the ground would deter anyone else from attempting it but no, it’s just where enemies hide in this game.
Everything about the game is scripted. Your comrades will do the same thing, time and time again in the same parts of the story. Enemies will do the same thing, time and time again in the same parts of the story. There is no reason to play this game a second-time unless you really want those extra trophies or achievements.
It’s easy to pick out the flaws when a game is not as inspired as you had hoped. ‘MOH: Warfighter’ does have some truly enjoyable moments. There are a few spectacular payoffs when you get through a mission, with the surrounding area being torched in explosions as you make your way back to safety. Slow-motion gunfights or unexpected surprises do pop-up every so often and refueled my excitement to continue playing.
Many people are picking up ‘MOH: Warfighter’ for the online component and that does offer a bit more excitement than the campaign mode. Warfighter offers you a partner when you start out, and rewards you for working with this randomly selected person during the match. It added a layer of teamwork that I felt could benefit all FPS. I did my best to help out my assigned ‘friend’ by giving them support and staying close to them at all times. The promise of more exp was a nice bonus, and one that I think would encourage a lot of people to use the system.
The downside is I really wanted the exp because I was so unhappy with my current set-up. Starting out in Warfighter you have the choice of….Assault Class. If this isn’t your preferred choice then stick with your buddy because it takes many matches before you unlock any other class. Now I don’t think you should get everything you want at the onset of a game, you need something to work towards but you should ‘enjoy’ your character while playing the title and not want to simply ‘get it over with’. In a sense though I suppose it does make the game more realistic. I’m assuming that most frontline soldiers are outfitted with the same gear and weapons on the battlefield and that is what happens in Warfighter. Almost all low-level fighters are clones of each other, scattering about trying to unlock more personal choices to use later on.
Luckily it does get more customizable further into the game. Each class will have unique weapons and gear choices and are designed for more distinct purposes. The ‘heavy assault’ class is clearly more suited to repel an advancing enemy than the ‘assault class’ is, and the sniper class is unique much unlike some games where an assault-rifle is basically a sniper-class because of one scope.
Fans of online-shooters could easily enjoy the new gameplay maps and new weapons but there isn’t anything new to the genre to be found in Warfighter. Much of the game seems like it was forced in because ‘that’s what FPS are’. The title played like it was pandering to fans and not trying to challenge them with anything new or inventive. Overall the game is exactly what you may think of, when you think of an online FPS, but as the genre grows I think fans have begun expecting more. I don’t think you can take a franchise like ‘Medal of Honor’ and simply put out a game that has the exact same components as other series. There are so many FPS on the market today that offer the exact same experience, fans of this series should expect something different, something creative and something that they couldn’t get in other games and that’s not what I found playing Warfighter.
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