The road to make a game good enough to dethrone the Call of Duty series is paved with titles like Medal of Honor: Warfighter.

A lack of finish in the multiplayer component and a solid cinematic solo experience leaves me with mixed emotions. One thing is for certain: This is not the shooter EA was hoping for.

Background:

Warfighter is the sequel to 2010’s Medal of Honor reboot. The game was released on Oct. 23, and was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was developed by Danger Close Games and published by Electronic Arts. While Danger Close Games has only released the last two games in the Medal of Honor series, its pedigree can be traced back to 1999’s original Medal of Honor.

I liked 2010’s reboot of the series, and I was eager to try out the latest iteration.

In Warfighter, you play as two different U.S. Special Operations soldiers, amd missions typically alternate between the two. The story itself is straight out of the book of modern-day shooter clichés: You’re trying to stop a really bad guy from blowing everything up in the Middle East.

Warfighter is supposed to be centered around realism and relying on your squadmates. All in all, it feels like a run-of-the mill FPS with friendly AI that struggle to be anything but a burden.

I promise the game does have some redeeming qualities.

Visuals:

Medal of Honor Warfighter runs on the Frostbite 2 engine, arguably one of the best graphics engines in the business, and Warfighter does not disappoint. This game looks damn good.

Textures are great, character models are fantastic and the lighting is unbelievable. This is exactly what you would expect from a game running off of Frostbite 2.

Solo:

Cinematic and epic, that is what Warfighter’s solo campaign feels like. Not because of the backstory: It’s the massive set pieces and engaging environments and injections of thrill and excitement that make Warfighter worth playing.

Warfighter’s controls are tight; they feel like every FPS should. You have access to a wide variety of weaponry, but I seldom found myself straying away from the mission default.

For some reason, the developers really focused on door-breaching. Breaching a door is when you and your squad bust down a door, enter slow-motion and blow everyone away. This gameplay element is nothing new to modern-day first-person shooters. In Warfighter, you can unlock new ways to bust open doors. Weird, right? Each headshot you rack up while in the slow-motion breach mode will unlock new ways to bust down doors. You start the campaign by kicking them in, and by the end you’re blowing them apart with explosives. These breach options aren’t really anything exciting, but it’s worth noting that you will bust down two to three doors every mission.

The best part about the solo campaign is the different environments you get to shoot up. From a hurricane-ruined village in the Philippines, to caves in Pakistan, to the streets of Dubai, the scenery is never boring.

There are a few high-octane driving missions that mix up the gameplay, and they’re a lot of fun.

Like I mentioned above, the story is weak and forgettable; there’s nothing engaging about it. There’s some backstory about one of the soldiers and his family troubles, but it’s not going to grab at your attention. The best part about Warfighter’s cutscenes is they came straight out of the uncanny valley; they look almost as good as Halo 4’s astonishing videos.

The campaign is the highlight for Warfighter, and that’s the reason you would shell out the cash to buy it.

I want to say Warfighter is short, but it seems all first-person shooters these days only last about five to six hours in length.

Multiplayer:

Ugh. The multiplayer in Warfighter is bad. Games lag, colors and textures pop in and out, audio is either way off or non-existent. Maps are mediocre, and the overall gameplay is sluggish and buggy. It brings me no pleasure to bash Warfighter’s multiplayer portion.

Warfighter had good intentions with its multiplayer component, with clan support, customization and games with up to 20 players. You’ll find your standard fare of deathmatch and territorial game modes, but nothing too ambitious.

The main component of Warfighters multiplayer is your fire team. A fire team is a two-man squad that is supposed to work together and spawn to each other. There are several fire teams on each of the two opposing forces. The fire team component is a cool feature, but only if you know the other person.

Warfighter offers some of the most expansive gun customization I’ve ever seen, from muzzles to grips and everything in between. It’s just a shame I respect myself too much to actually play enough to unlock these customizations.

With all of these negatives, the servers are somewhat populated. You won’t have any trouble finding a game to join.

Round Up:

Warfighter is a mixed bag. I really enjoyed the single-player experience, but I hated the multiplayer component. If you’re looking for an online shooter to play for the next few months, stay away from Warfighter. If you want an epic cinematic shooting experience to enjoy by yourself, look no further. Warfighter is worth its current asking price for the single player experience.