» Review: Medal of Honor Warfighter

Medal of Honor Warfighter tells stories ripped from the pages of today’s newspapers – whether it’s Somali pirates holding hostages or terrorists planing large-scale mayhem.

Alternating play as one of two elite soldiers (Preacher and Stump) sent to hot spots around the world, you are dropped into war- and weather-torn locales. The overarching storyline is a quest to track down and prevent the spread of PETN (pentaerythritol tetranitrate), a powerful explosive popular with terrorists.

As with previous Medal of Honor games, the soldier’s backstory is an important part of the experience, with trouble at home told through cutscenes.

The story plays out in large-scale gun battles, often fought building to building and room to room, with intense close quarter combat.

The second component of the game (and generally the most important in a first person shooter) is the multiplayer, which offers a dizzying array of options for outfitting your soldier. I actually found the choices a bit too dizzying for my tastes.

When equipping your main weapon, you can change the optics (sights), barrel assembly, muzzle, receiver group (rifle stock), magazine style and paint job. And that can be done on each new weapon you unlock. I just found it confising and unnecessary.

I would have also liked a little simpler explanation of the benefits of one gun over another. Here are some actual descriptions of the options.

Early on, I could choose from the Heckler & Koch 416 GREKO’s (GREKO heavy barrel + M952V Light & PEQ-14, GREKO Magput CTR stock, Aimpoint CompM4, Grecko’s, GROM 30-round 5.56mm Green PMAG, Surefire Mini Monster Suppressor) or the Heckler & Koch 416 SFOD-D (Muzzle Brake, Standard stock, (extended), Lightweight barrel + contour camera, Aimpoint Micro T-1 + 3x Magnifier, SFOD 30-rounr 5.58mm PMAG, Brown String).

That’s just detail overkill, in my opinion, much like many of current day racing games, with over-customization detracting from the enjoyment of just playing the game. Just tell me which gun will help me kill the most enemies.

You can play online as a member of a platoon, joining with your friends or with players met online. Play involves joining with one other player in a fireteam. You and a second player can communicate by microphone, spawn next to each other and resupply and heal each other.

Spawning with your fireteam member can be helpful in advancing across a map, but the ability is limited to only when your fireteam member isn’t in imminent danger. You can also spawn at a base or sometimes from a blackhawk helicopter deployed by a teammate.

Points are earned by completing tasks and stringing together kills (scorechain). The more you kill without dying, the better the support action. You can earn either defensive or offensive support actions – such as artillery strikes or ammo replenishment.

Five multiplayer gametypes are available for up to twenty players playing 10 on 10:

• Combat Mission – one team attacks and the other defends, with three points on the map the target.

• Sector Control – each map has three flags that both teams battle to control for as long as possible.

• Hotspot – similar to Combat Mission, but with five targets on the map, with the attack point chosen at random.

• Home Run – capture the flag, with six-on-six teams.

• Team Deathmatch – both teams try to kill each other, with the first to reach 75 kills winning.

For the hard core player, Real Ops is available for all gametypes. This mode removes the heads-up display and removes protection from friendly fire.

I found the multiplayer gameplay lacking – missing something essential to immersion. I never felt that I was fully invested in the battle. Part of that might have been the way the game marks friendly and enemy players – identifying them with bright outlines when sighted, detracting from the grittiness of the action.

Additionally, the graphics in Medal of Honor Warfighter seemed to be a bit dated. And more than other recent games, the game didn’t effectively present an interesting killcam scenario. When killed, the scene would slow to a crawl, with your killer continuing to fire away at nothing.

First-person shooters are probably my favorite type of videogame.

A good FPS can easily suck 100s of hours of my time. Unfortunately, Medal of Honor Warfighter won’t fall into that category.

That’s not to say it’s a terrible game. It has its moments. In the single-player mode, I especially liked the tsunami-ravaged Philippines level. The sense of overwhelming water damage and danger was palpable.

The game also intersperses heart-pounding chases – both on foot and in vehicles – that were a nice break from the gun battles.

The heart of the good FPS is the multiplayer, of course. Without that, you’ve just got the 8-or-so hour single-player experience.

The multiplayer in Medal of Honor Warfighter on its face is not bad – it’s just not remarkable. There is no wow factor, which is pretty necessary in the very intense competition for the gamer’s dollar.

One innovation is the option of selecting soldiers from 12 different countries. You can play as a U.S. Navy SEAL or as a member of the British SAS or even a Korean UDT (Underwater Demolition Team) member.

Platform: PlayStation3, Xbox 360

Manufacturer: Electronic Arts

Rating: Mature

Score: 7 chilies