To play Medal of Honor Warfighter's single-player campaign is to become Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, only instead of knowing exactly where Ned Ryerson will be and what he'll say every single day for eternity ("I did the whistling belly button trick at the high school talent show. Bing!") I knew every exploding twist and slow-motion turn the levels were going to make before they actually made it. Warfighter isn't a bad modern military shooter, it's just that there's very little of its seven hours of terrorist-shooting that doesn't make me feel like I've played it before.
While just about every map I played through as Tier One operators Stump and Preacher provided plenty of options on where to take cover and return fire, the overall level design in Warfighter is as linear as they come. There's one path to take throughout -- even if some levels provide wider paths than others -- and too often it's so clear where enemies will spawn that I could open fire before they set foot outside. It's a big part of how developer Danger Close plays dangerously close to the scripted-thrillride formula concocted by Infinity Ward in the five-year-old Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare -- a formula that's been regurgitated countless times since 2007. That wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't the same goddamn ride every time, right down to the sniping levels, "get on that machine gun" battles, feet-dangling helicopter rides, and slow-motion kill shots.
The Boys are Back in Town
Warfigher says it's different, though, and touts its "realism" as the trait that sets its campaign apart from the Battlefields and Calls of Duty it so closely mimics. I do believe it's successful in at least creating authentic characters. The closest I've ever come to the real-life battlefield is a paintball match, but I got a very strong sense that Stump, Preacher, Voodoo, Mother, Dusty, and the other Tier One operators portrayed look, move, talk, and kill very much like the real-world soldiers they're based on. Team leader Voodoo, in particular, with his scarred face, Bahstun accent, and black humor, felt authentic enough to climb out of my monitor, AR-15 in hand, and start kicking down doors.
While just about every map I played through as Tier One operators Stump and Preacher provided plenty of options on where to take cover and return fire, the overall level design in Warfighter is as linear as they come. There's one path to take throughout -- even if some levels provide wider paths than others -- and too often it's so clear where enemies will spawn that I could open fire before they set foot outside. It's a big part of how developer Danger Close plays dangerously close to the scripted-thrillride formula concocted by Infinity Ward in the five-year-old Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare -- a formula that's been regurgitated countless times since 2007. That wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't the same goddamn ride every time, right down to the sniping levels, "get on that machine gun" battles, feet-dangling helicopter rides, and slow-motion kill shots.
The Boys are Back in Town
Warfigher says it's different, though, and touts its "realism" as the trait that sets its campaign apart from the Battlefields and Calls of Duty it so closely mimics. I do believe it's successful in at least creating authentic characters. The closest I've ever come to the real-life battlefield is a paintball match, but I got a very strong sense that Stump, Preacher, Voodoo, Mother, Dusty, and the other Tier One operators portrayed look, move, talk, and kill very much like the real-world soldiers they're based on. Team leader Voodoo, in particular, with his scarred face, Bahstun accent, and black humor, felt authentic enough to climb out of my monitor, AR-15 in hand, and start kicking down doors.
However, even if some of the missions are based on true events, that realism doesn't extend to the gameplay, as slightly blurry vision is not considered to be a realistic consequence of getting shot repeatedly. The brief story is broken up with some interesting cut scenes of the Tier One operatives struggling to balance home life with their incredibly difficult job, another good example of why the characters feel authentic. The overall story of counter-terrorism, though, is so by-the-action-movie-numbers that the humanity the characters inject is diminished. Warfighter, despite its claims to the contrary, is an action game with no aspirations of being a simulator.
Frostbitten
Frostbitten
The same squad you did battle alongside in Afghanistan is back in Warfighter, only this time around they look a whole lot prettier.
If you played the mediocre 2010 Medal of Honor reboot, the names of the soldiers I mentioned are likely familiar. The same squad you did battle alongside in Afghanistan is back in Warfighter, only this time around they look a whole lot prettier. The same Frostbite 2 engine that makes Battlefield 3 such tasty eyecandy is put to good use here, producing striking environments from the South Pacific to Eastern Europe to the Middle East. If anything, Danger Close errs in not playing more to Frostbite 2's strengths, creating too many dark, tight battlegrounds instead of dazzling, open environments. That said, there are some seriously impressive character models. From their authentic boots to their highly detailed unis to their gadget-covered helmets, these Warfighters are some of the best-looking virtual soldiers ever created.
They're also fairly smart -- I was impressed at how well they take cover, return fire on enemies, and stack up on doors. Just don't expect them to save your ass when it comes down to it. The AI is good, but there were a handful of occasions when my squadmates allowed a foe to run right past them without so much as lifting their weapons. Enemy AI is also respectable, with bad guys taking cover, occasionally flanking, and tossing grenades to get you out of your hiding spot, though not without a few instances of simply charging my position down an open corridor like extras in a Rambo movie, the growing stack of their friends on the floor be damned.
Take First-Person Cover!
Those stacked enemies serve as a good lesson for players, too: take cover. Running and gunning will get you killed fast in Warfighter. Thankfully, sliding into cover and peaking and leaning out to return fire works flawlessly. I wish all first-person shooters employed such a strong, simple cover mechanic -- I also wish MoH had more features like this to really differentiate its action from the competition. Warfighter's many guns pack a terrific punch and carry the appropriate weight, as well. I particularly liked that gravity and breathing affected my long-distance sniper shots, requiring real aim instead of the basic point-and-a'splode-head mechanic. Oh, and make sure you turn off aim assist in the options menu -- the difficulty here is never greater than average, even when set to Hard, so you probably don't need to make things any easier.
Take First-Person Cover!
Those stacked enemies serve as a good lesson for players, too: take cover. Running and gunning will get you killed fast in Warfighter. Thankfully, sliding into cover and peaking and leaning out to return fire works flawlessly. I wish all first-person shooters employed such a strong, simple cover mechanic -- I also wish MoH had more features like this to really differentiate its action from the competition. Warfighter's many guns pack a terrific punch and carry the appropriate weight, as well. I particularly liked that gravity and breathing affected my long-distance sniper shots, requiring real aim instead of the basic point-and-a'splode-head mechanic. Oh, and make sure you turn off aim assist in the options menu -- the difficulty here is never greater than average, even when set to Hard, so you probably don't need to make things any easier.
I do give Danger Close credit for a slight changeup with Warfighter's driving levels, which play much closer to what you'd find in an arcade racer than something plugged into a shooter simply for a change of pace. Driving levels are set in crowded cities, where I had to weave in and out of traffic (and up on sidewalks and through bazaars) in pursuit of targets. On another level I was challenged to evade pursuers by driving and hiding my way toward a destination, ducking into tough-to-see spots to avoid detection and then hitting the gas after the enemy passed by. The cars themselves seem virtually indestructible, and I drove away from more serious crashes than Billy Joel, but that didn't take away from Warfighter's surprisingly fun driving -- just further distances it from its claims to realism.
Stick to the Script
Strangely, the classic Shooter Training Course level in Warfighter put me in the shoes of a rookie terrorist. I have no friggin' clue why. I guess it was another attempt by the dev team to add a touch of humanity to the war on terror, in this case making Muslim extremists more than just walking shooting dummies. In practice, it only came off as bizarre -- the character is never seen or mentioned again, and in all likelihood I ended up shooting him without a second thought along with the hundreds of other faceless evildoers in my path.
It's also about as far as Danger Close is willing to stray from the CoD4 script. If you've played any modern military shooter of the past several years, you know exactly what you're getting into with the Medal of Honor Warfighter campaign, and for me, that same experience with improved graphics is no longer worth the price of admission. At this point, I'm so sick of reliving the same day in Punxsutawney I'm about ready to deck Ned Ryerson and drive old Phil the groundhog over a cliff. Let's all hope that when I wake up next month to Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, the loop will play out a little differently.
Stick to the Script
Strangely, the classic Shooter Training Course level in Warfighter put me in the shoes of a rookie terrorist. I have no friggin' clue why. I guess it was another attempt by the dev team to add a touch of humanity to the war on terror, in this case making Muslim extremists more than just walking shooting dummies. In practice, it only came off as bizarre -- the character is never seen or mentioned again, and in all likelihood I ended up shooting him without a second thought along with the hundreds of other faceless evildoers in my path.
It's also about as far as Danger Close is willing to stray from the CoD4 script. If you've played any modern military shooter of the past several years, you know exactly what you're getting into with the Medal of Honor Warfighter campaign, and for me, that same experience with improved graphics is no longer worth the price of admission. At this point, I'm so sick of reliving the same day in Punxsutawney I'm about ready to deck Ned Ryerson and drive old Phil the groundhog over a cliff. Let's all hope that when I wake up next month to Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, the loop will play out a little differently.
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