Medal of Honor: Warfighter Review for PC

System: PC, PS3, Xbox 360*
Dev: Danger Close
Pub: Electronic Arts
Release: October 23, 2012
Players: 1-20
Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p	Blood, Intense Violence, Strong Language

I tried restarting from the most recent checkpoint and turning off the console to no avail. Eventually, I had to restart the mission, which worked. At least when multiplayer broke it was more blatant about it.

In multiplayer, I had an incident in which, while spawning from a Blackhawk, I got caught in level geometry and couldn't move for about twenty seconds. I also had at least one blatant crash to a totally black screen following a match. These would be forgivable if the multiplayer were well-balanced and compelling, but Medal of Honor: Warfighter quickly betrayed one of the sad truths about online gaming: team-focused games don't work well if no one is talking to you.

Medal of Honor: Warfighter Screenshot

Multiplayer in Medal of Honor is predicated around the "Fireteam" mechanic, which buddies up players in groups of two. In the single-player, this is more or less limited to one using one's squadmates as walking ammo stations; at any time, they can completely refill your primary gun's ammunition. In multiplayer, though, not only can you refill your teammate's ammo, but you can heal him, spawn on him if he's not in combat, even see where enemies are before you actually see them, if your partner has spotted them. Without communication, though, this is often fairly pointless. Your mute team will be utterly dominated by your opponents.

I think that, in Battlefield 3, the size of each map, coupled with the number of players on it, ensures a certain degree of enjoyment. There are vehicles to be piloted or driven and there's just so much going on that it's easy to be entertained even if one's team isn't doing well. Warfighter, though, is a more intimate game, and the team elements aren't encouraged strongly enough to make the average player invoke them (I'm not even sure the game does much to make them aware of the possibilities thereof).

Medal of Honor: Warfighter feels unpolished. It's a slew of great ideas mashed together in a way that doesn't give any of them time to truly shine, rushed out to make a deadline that didn't do it any favors. While there's enjoyment to be had here, it is fleeting and often devolves rapidly into frustration and boredom. I feel bad saying that, because the folks at Danger Close seemed intensely passionate about their work and there's simply so much potential in here, but it clearly needed more time if it was to develop into anything truly unique and compelling. Instead, it seems as though a bunch of good-to-excellent parts were put together and the result is significantly less than one would expect their sum to be.

By
Shelby Reiches
Contributing Writer
Date: October 24, 2012

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

4.8

Graphics
The Frostbite 2 engine does its work here. Even on the Xbox 360, this is a gorgeous game, right up there with Battlefield 3.

4.5

Control
The game gives you a lot of options to use in combat, but they never feel confusing or unintuitive. The sliding is sometimes a bit inaccurate, and it would be nice to get a clearer sense of when one was in cover, but the controls are largely excellent.

4.3

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
The game sounds great, other than some occasional echo on the dialogue, but I think that was more the result of being too close to characters who were also speaking through their radios.

2.0

Play Value
The multiplayer quickly turns from fun to frustrating, the unlock system is freakishly complex, and the fireteam mechanic doesn't do enough to encourage team play in pick-up games. The single-player is a one-time experience, if that.

2.7

Overall Rating - Average
Not an average. See Rating legend below for a final score breakdown.

Review Rating Legend
0.1 - 1.9 = Avoid	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	3.5 - 3.9 = Good	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair	4.0 - 4.4 = Great	5.0 = The Best

Game Features:

Best In Class Engine – Leveraging the power of tomorrow's technology on today's platforms, the groundbreaking Frostbite 2 engine delivers incredible video and audio fidelity to enhance the intensity of the battle and deliver this year's most authentic war experience.

Authentic Action – From rescuing hostages in Abu Sayyaf's stronghold in Basilan, Philippines to assaulting Al-Shabaab's "Pirate Town" on the Somali Coast, gamers step into the boots of Tier 1 Operators as they hunt down a terrorist mastermind and the global threat of PETN. Written by U.S. Tier 1 Operators while deployed overseas, Medal of Honor: Warfighter is inspired by real warriors, real operations, and real hotspots, providing players a view into these situations and lets them experience the action as it might have unfolded.

Fight Today's Global Terror Threat – As with every Medal of Honor game, the soldier's story is at the heart of the experience. Medal of Honor: Warfighter tells the story of U.S. Tier 1 Operator, "Preacher" as he returns home from overseas only to find his family torn apart from years of deployment. Trying to pick up the pieces to salvage what remains of his marriage, Preacher is reminded of what he's fighting for – family. But when an extremely deadly explosive (PETN) penetrates civilian borders and his two worlds collide, Preacher and his fellow teammates are sent in to solve the problem. They take the fight to the enemy and do whatever it takes to protect their loved ones from harm.