Since
Medal of Honor came out in 2010, some people liked the game, but many didn't. The game had a gripping campaign, average graphics, and multiplayer was unfinished and had many glitches. After two years, here comes Medal of Honor Warfighter, which has a heavy emphasis on Tier 1 special force groups and is armed with the Frostbite 2 engine.
CAMPAIGN/STORY: Many people say the campaign is between 3-5 hours, which is on normal difficulty. I would say between 7-9 hours on hard difficulty. The missions in the campaign are based on real events and are set in various parts of the globe, such as Bosnia, Dubai, Pakistan, Philippines, and Somalia to name a few. Fire-fights will take place in various types of settings, such as a jungle, a destroyed hotel, caves, a flooded town, alleys, the desert, and ruins. Players will play as characters Preacher and Stump. Preacher returns from the previous Medal of Honor. In Preacher's missions, players will see other familiar characters from the previous game, such as Dusty, Mother, and Voodoo. Preacher's missions are more covert and adventurous. Most fire-fights on his missions are mid to long-range. Stump is a new character, who is a former Recon Marine, turned SEAL. Since Stump is a part of DEVGRU aka SEAL Team 6, many of his missions involve close to mid-range fire-fights. Not to spoil it, but one of Stump's missions will be re-enactment of a very familiar SEAL mission.
GAMEPLAY: The gameplay is a cross between Battlefield 3 and COD. The controls are like COD. The gameplay is very serious and authentic. When I say serious, I mean it takes out the COD-like Hollywood effect and puts players into the boots of the Tier 1 Operatives, who performed these missions. The game does not play as easy as the previous Medal of Honor, ESPECIALLY on hard difficulty. With that being said, when playing on hard difficulty, being tactical is a MUST. Take your time! Shoot! Get cover! Repeat! Enemies move much smarter and are tactical. Some may flank you. Others may ambush you, hide behind cover or even go into prone. The WORST enemies are the ones with flashlights attached to their weapon. In other words, you WILL get cut down, if not careful. Fire-fights can be very intense and sometimes elongated because of the likeness to be suppressed by heavy enemy gunfire. The close-quarter battles are the most fun, but be careful, when engaging enemies. Also, in hard difficulty, prepare to run for cover because enemies love to toss grenades.
The AI of your team is VERY good. They are constantly firing at enemies on sight. This team knows how to put rounds down-range. Sometimes, being in cover and seeing them engage the enemy is cool. They take needed cover and will remind you to do the same. Just like the previous version, ammunition can be retrieved from any teammate.
A new feature added to the game is door breaching. Of course, this is a welcome feature for all of you
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas lovers, but this game adds more variety to the technique. Players can unlock new breaching techniques, when getting four straight headshots on enemies, upon breaching a door. The given breaching technique is the basic kick. Afterwards, players can unlock six additional techniques, such as the crowbar, door knob charge, flex linear charge, sheet charge, shotgun, and the tomahawk. It is cool seeing how each breaching technique is done. Once unlocked, any can be used, when given the opportunity to breach a door. Once a door is breached, the game goes into slo-mo.
Driving vehicles is another new addition to this game for more variety. The view is in first person, of course. Driving vehicles are very basic. Just press the R2 button to accelerate and L2 to brake. Players can also press the left or right sticks to look from side to side, while in the vehicle.
GRAPHICS/VISUALS: Between this game and the previous Medal of Honor, the graphics are a 180. Colors and textures are more polished and vivid. Weapons show realistic wear. Not to mention, the red dot sights look very authentic, as well. Thanks to the Frostbite 2 Engine, just about every surface can be manipulated by gunfire or grenades. I just love how grenade blasts sends dirt, water, and other debris flying in the air. It is a thing to see. On one driving mission, the visuals will make players feel as if they are really driving. Seeing your surroundings in the review mirror is GREAT detail. Also, on another the driving mission, players will see all kinds of dirt and mud fly onto the windshield and the windshield wipers wiping it off. Not to mention, how the vehicle shows realistic wear, based on what objects they may interact with, while on the road.
When scoring a headshot, players will see two skull icons. For example, if a player shoots an enemy in leg and then manages to shoot them in the head, the white skull icon will come up. If a player shoots an enemy in the head with just one shot, then a red skull icon will come up. Nothing feels better than seeing the red skull icon show up. It's not easy to get those, though.
MULTIPLAYER: The multiplayer lets players play as 12 types of Tier 1 operative forces across the globe. All cannot be played at first, they have to be unlocked. The coolest thing about unlocking the different special force groups is seeing what types of weapons each operative force has. Not to mention, each has their own type of offensive/defensive killstreak. Weapons can be vastly customized ala
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, including camouflage. When I first played multiplayer, I did not like it. Now, I do. It is not like playing COD. It is more tactical and more rewarding to learn how to play. Teamwork is very essential. Many times, fighting alongside team members is commonplace. In fact, it will feel as if players are playing on the campaign.
SOUND: For all of you Battlefield 3 players, who love to hear the sound of authentic gunfire echoing, authentic sounds of weapon re-loads, and the realistic sound of explosions, you'll find that on this game, as well. All of these sounds become magnified, when fighting in close-quarters. Hearing bullets lay into enemies is like music to my ears.
TIER 1/HARDCORE MODES: Upon completing the game on Hard difficulty, players will unlock these two modes. The TIER 1 mode is automatically on Hard difficulty, but there is no HUD, whatsoever, which makes gameplay increasingly difficult and realistic. On Hardcore mode, it is on Hard difficulty, but if players are killed at any portion of the game, they will have to start the level completely over.
VERDICT: Despite what some may say, this game has it all. For those returning from the previous Medal of Honor and liked it, you'll love this. For new Medal of Honor players, you'll love this game too, if you are willing to step out of your COD box.