In the battlefield of gaming’s most celebrated first-person-shooters, some titles answer the call of duty and are revered by legions of fans. Other titles are geared towards gritty action fans and border on the edge of multiple genres, sometimes to great effect. What hurts as a gamer is watching one of the most recognized FPS franchises in industry have its fans wither away due to a string of poor releases, and unfortunately that’s the case with Medal of Honor: Warfighter.
There are a few reasons to be less than impressed with Medal of Honor: Warfighter, even though it runs on the same Frostbite 2 engine that powered Battlefield 3. With so many triple-A shooters on the horizon this year, what irks me the most about MoH:W is the lack of an intriguing single player story to keep it entertaining. Call of Duty, however endlessly repetitive its yearly releases remain, has at least built its own universe where gamers can identify with the characters they see on screen. Halo has spawned sequels and prequels that build upon the fan-favorite lore the games are known for. Medal of Honor: Warfighter plays like a made-for-television dramatic re-enactment of a series of military encounters, peppered with cut scenes that have cheesy dialogue akin to the first few minutes of a Law and Order episode before a dead body is found. Surely the game’s other elements will make up for the lack of a decent narrative… right?
Medal of Honor: Warfighter suffers from a few flaws that are quite noticeable, even after the game’s day 1 patch. Enemy AI is flimsy at best as enemies expose themselves often enough to turn what should be a nail-biting exchange of fire into a shooting gallery, when those shots register. Your squad mates are as useful as pop guns purchased at a discount dollar store, serving as distractions while you try and swing the fight in your favor. On the plus side, the game’s visuals and driving sequences are rather impressive, but if I wanted to play a pretty driving game I’d just play Forza.
It’s actually quite exhausting to keep running this game down, even when I haven’t even touched upon the cut-and-paste CoD multiplayer. If you find it unfair to compare Medal of Honor: Warfighter to other FPS games, consider that’s exactly what gamers do when they have to choose between available titles on store shelves. Very simply, Medal of Honor: Warfighter plays like it was kicked out of the door before being completed just to be included in the conversation with the other marquee shooters that will be releasing this holiday season. There is a lot of potential here, but having fun and potentially having fun are two different things.
Medal of Honor: Warfighter is available now on PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and will be available on Wii U at a later date.