I wanted to like it.
I really wanted to like Medal of Honor Warfighter, as I have enjoyed both Battlefield 3 and the Call of Duty series. I was hoping for some kind of mix match between the two series, with the tactical realism espoused by the developers, and the destructive adaptive multiplayer of the Frostbite 2 engine. What I got was a single player campaign that never strayed from the Call of Duty model, and a multiplayer that copied Call of Duty, while leaving Battlefield 3's best mechanics behind.
Single Player
The campaign takes about five hours to complete, though it only takes about one hour for you to wish you had never started. The gameplay sets you on an endless self propelled rail, punctuated with large explosions and feeble attempts at “Awww, F**K!” moments. For the most part, every few feet, you are met by a band of turban wielding zealots, hell bent on ending American hegemony. The afore mentioned zealots are slain from cover, and you step forward, only to be met by more zealots. Every once in a while, a zealot is wearing a welding mask, and fames the pretense of being a challenge.
Speaking of challenge, the single player campaign can actually be quite chal...well...frustrating. Your character is the sole interest of all opposing enemies, and unless you are content to sit behind rubble all day, praying for a gap in the lead, you will inevitably die several times. These deaths are no more frequent than in other games, but they seem all the more infuriating, as with each death, the campaign is invariably lengthened.
There is not much else to say regarding the single player campaign. It is awful on virtually every level. I could wax eloquently on the nature of the game’s mechanics or implementation of artificial intelligence (both beyond horrid), but to do so would be only to waste more time this game's single player campaign simply does not deserve. Suffice it to say, this game attempts to copy Call of Duty’s formula, but falls short. In fact it may have broken the veneer around the entire genre. I doubt I will ever be content moving from point A to point B, following an arbitrarily designed path, ever again. Thank you Danger Close for ruining a genre I otherwise found tolerable.
Multi Player
Now to the meat of the matter: multi player. Despite running on the Frostbite 2 engine, Medal of Honor Warfighter only ever attempts to be another Call of Duty. The maps are small, the pacing is frenetic, and the only thing you really care about is attaining the next unlock.
In its own way, this multiplayer experience serves to shed light on the genius behind the Call of Duty games. In the latest outings, the majority of the multiplayer is tolerably fun. This is largely due to the circular flow of the maps. In nearly every case, Call of Duty maps have built-in alternate routes for avoiding spawn camping and prowling corner lurkers. In Medal of Honor, however; maps rarely present more than two or three routes to travel by. As a result, every avenue is covered, and you are faced with the dubious choice of running forward and dying, or prostrating yourself on the ground while you wait for some ill-bred baboon to trapse across your selected real estate. In short, Medal of Honor Warfighter’s multiplayer maps are ill conceived, and lack the typical work arounds necessary to keeping game play flowing.
If you are willing to tolerate the poorly designed maps, you may be able to actually enjoy the multiplayer. The controls are adequate, and the unlocks are compelling. Each class is relatively unique, though you should not anticipate significant differences between the nationalities represented. Each is a skin for an otherwise identical soldier.
Conclusion
Medal of Honor Warfighter is not actually a bad game. It lacks polish, and does not bring anything new to the genre. It is a bald faced attempt at copying the success of games that came before it, and in so doing, it has earned its share of criticism. If it had taken risks to be original, and turned out as poorly, the comparisons would not have been so glaring, and it might have had a chance at capturing a few hearts. As it stands now, Medal of Honor Warfighter is far from worth purchasing, unless of course, you wife happens to be leaving for the weekend, and you have a tendency towards bad decisions.
