Medal of Honor: Warfighter

Medal of Honor: Warfighter

Medal of Honor: Warfighter is a first-person shooter video game developed by Danger Close Games and published by Electronic Arts. It is a direct sequel to 2010's series reboot Medal of Honor (2010) and the fourteenth Medal of Honor installment in the series. The title was officially announced on February 23, 2012, and was released in North America on October 23, 2012, in Australia on October 25, 2012, in Europe on October 26, 2012^[1] and in Japan on November 15, 2012 on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. The game runs on DICE's Frostbite 2(the same engine that Battlefield 3 uses). The PC version only supports Windows Vista/7 and DirectX 10 and 11.

The game picks up where Medal of Honor (2010) left off from before as it reveals Tier 1 operator Preacher returning home to find his family torn apart from years of deployment. The campaign also reveals that the deadly explosive, PETN, had began to appear aross the globe.

Medal of Honor: Warfighter received generally unfavorable reviews compared to its predecessor, Medal of Honor (2010). On GameRankings, the game currently has scores of 57.58% for PlayStation 3 based on 12 reviews, 53.08% for PC based on 13 reviews and 54.30% for Xbox 360 based on 27 reviews. On Metacritic, the game currently has scores of 57 for PlayStation 3 based on 19 reviews, 57 for PC based on 29 reviews and 53 for Xbox 360 based on 40 reviews.

Gameplay

The gameplay of Warfighter includes six different classes which are Assault, Sniper, Demolitions, Point Man, Heavy Gunner, and Spec Ops. It uses a fire team system where two people must work together and there are certain perks to working as a team. "Support-actions" return in Warfighter, and now have a bigger impact on the gameplay and how one approaches situations. Also, when one acquires a kill-streak, the player is given a choice on of one or the other, larger kill pile-ups will have greater rewards.

Single-player

The single-player follows the story of Tier 1 operators. The single-player features various locations including Bosnia, Pakistan, Philippines and Somalia.

Playable Characters

·         Stump

A Recon Marine-turned U.S. Navy SEAL.

·         Preacher

One of the main characters from the previous Medal of Honor game.

Multiplayer

In addition to the nationalities, there are six distinct classes that players select from: Spec Ops, Sniper, Assaulter, Demolitions, Heavy Gunner, and Point Man. Each class has specific benefits and abilities that are unique to their class. These nationalities and classes are only available in multiplayer mode.

Medal of Honor: Warfighter's multiplayer was not developed by EA Digital Illusions CE who helped develop Medal of Honor (2010)'s multiplayer. Danger Close Games developed its own multiplayer with DICE's Frostbite 2 engine. Players are involved in a global battle by choosing which country they would like to defend. There are 12 different tier one units from ten different nations that players can choose from. Reserving the game will give players access to additional content when Warfighter releases, including additional weapons and perks. There is also a limited edition of the game that will give players early access to U.S. SEAL Team Sniper equipped with the McMilllan TAC-300.

In addition to the nationalities, there are six distinct classes that players select from: Spec Ops, Sniper, Assaulter, Demolitions, Heavy Gunner, and Point Man. Each class has specific benefits and abilities that are unique to their class. These nationalities and classes are only available in multiplayer mode.

Customization

Warfighter features deep customization, for both the players appearance and the player's weapon. The player is able to equip various barrels, muzzles, magazines, stocks, optics, and paint jobs of the weapon.

Plot

The game opens at an undisclosed ship dock in Karachi, Pakistan. Task Force Mako is the newly designated team consisting the previously known U.S. Navy SEALs of Mother, Preacher, and Voodoo, who are assigned by DEVGRU to sabotage a black market arms deal, involving with an Al-Qaeda linked jihad movement. They successfully plant a charge on the truck that they intend to destroy. When they detonate the charge, another explosion destroys the shipping docks and sinks a cargo ship, forcing the operatives to fight through the chaos and flee. They are later debriefed by Dusty, a U.S. Army Delta Force operative from the previous game, who is their field operations commander. With satellite video taken, the entire team finds out that the docks and the cargo ship had amounts of PETN.

The SEALs determine that the shipment was due for the Philippines after a car chase through the streets of Karachi, and quickly follow the lead to Isabela City, the provincial capital of Basilan, in the southern part of the Philippine Islands. During the height of a typhoon-induced flood, members of the Abu Sayyaf kidnap several hostages for ransom. Mako, working with Philippine SOCOMforces led by General Barrera, attempts to identify the ringleaders and successfully recognize Marwan al-Khalifa conferring with another 'unknown' terrorist head. At that moment, they witness the other 'unknown' leader shooting one of their own men. Preacher requests permission from Barrera to inquire an ID check on the other leader, but is refused. At that same time, Barrera orders his own sniper specialist and team leader, "Tiger 12" to take out Khalifa and deploys the army's special Light Reaction Battalion to begin the hostage rescue. Just as the operation begins, the terrorists and hostages hastily escape. Mother and Preacher join up with Tiger 12 and the rest of the special forces, tracking the hostages and fighting their way to the capitol building. After a failed door breach resulting in some casualties, Barrera orders Tiger 12 and the others to withdraw, intending to negotiate with the terrorists. Tiger 12, refusing to concur, asks the SEALs for an alternative plan that defies the general's orders, wherein the joint forces manage to liberate the hostages. During the extraction, there are three more casualties, including Tiger 12. Links with theAbu Sayyaf, the PETN, and a man known as "the Cleric" are then exposed. The aftermath of Mako's operation results in Mother and Preacher receiving pending honorable discharges from the Navy, while Voodoo is appointed leader for Mako, and operative "Stump" serving alongside him.

At this point, Mako has their manpower replaced by Dingo and Tick. The four remaining operatives commit to a joint operation with Task Force Grizzly in Mogadishu, Somalia, curtailing piracy in the area. Shortly after the operation, Mako is assigned to the USS Bainbridge, ending the hostage situation with a U.S. captain.

Preacher, whose marriage has been failing due to the nature of his job and the frequency of his deployments, immediately seizes the opportunity to attempt to repair his relationship with his wife, Lena, and daughter, Bella. He travels to Madrid, Spain, where his wife has taken their daughter to live with her parents. His wife agrees to meet with him, but while Preacher is waiting for her train to arrive, he sees Khalifa as a suicide bomber inside one of the moving trains before the bomb is detonated. The blast destroys the train, killing a large number of civilians and putting Preacher in a coma. When Preacher regains consciousness, he finds Mother in his room, revealing the connections of the PETN with their recent operations and various bomb attacks throughout Europe. Mother also identifies the 'unknown' head they observed in the Philippines as Sad al-Din. Lena and Bella arrive at the hospital, having missed their train earlier and sparing their lives in the process. Although Preacher is initially resistant to returning to duty, Lena eventually persuades him to go back.

After full recovery, Mother and Preacher are assigned to the Central Intelligence Agency's Task Force Blackbird. Taking place after the previous game's ending, both SEAL operatives travel toPakistan. With the aid of undercover operative Ajab, they covertly track down another jihad subject named Faraz, to investigate Pakistani ties to the terrorists and the PETN. Shortly after being apprehended, Faraz reveals the PETN stored at a hidden area in Yemen and exposes a Saudi Arabian banker named Hassan, who has strong terrorist connections and knowledge of the explosive. When preparing for extraction, the prisoner has been killed by a terrorist sniper, forcing Blackbird's hasty departure in order to avoid the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence. Immediately after tracking the location in Yemen, Mako is ordered to raid the facility housing large amounts of PETN. After the mission, Voodoo and the team radio in that only half of the PETN is stored in the discovered training facility.

Dusty then assigns Blackbird to the city of Dubai, and abduct Hassan for interrogation. After Mother and Preacher take him captive, Sad al-Din and his men chase them into a sandstorm that engulfs the city. The SEALs manage to upload the laptop's data to Dusty before being intercepted and captured. Dusty is able to determine from the contents of the hard drive that the PETN came from Sarajevo, where a weapons dealer named Stovan Bosic, whom Dusty used to work with, was selling it. Mako links up with a team of Polish GROM led by Specialist Greko at the Bosnian capital. The joint forces track down the source of the PETN to a local hockey rink and capturing Bosic. The arms dealer revealed 2 ships containing the PETN had just left Dubai and after tracking the vessels, Mako is sent to intercept one of two cargo ships headed for Karachi, as the other is already being impounded by NATO forces in Croatia.

Meanwhile, Preacher and Mother are interrogated by Sad al-Din aboard the cargo freighter headed for Karachi. Mother is executed by Sad al Din when he refuses to give up his allies. As Makoarrives and assaults the ship, Preacher manages to escape captivity and kills most of Sad al-Din's security while finding his way to the ship's bridge. He finally corners Sad al-Din and nearly beats him to death in retaliation for Mother's death, before allowing the SEALs to arrest the terrorist. With Sad al-Din in custody, the SEALs are able to identify Hassan as The Cleric, serving as the leader for his own jihad network and the location of his compound in Pakistan.

Preacher and Dusty personally rejoin Mako to raid Hassan's Pakistani compound. During the assault, Voodoo and Preacher are able to locate Hassan and kill him when he attempts to detonate his bomb-laden vest. Preacher returns home, where the SEALs and their families attend Mother's funeral. As Mother is laid to rest, Preacher and Lena decide to reconcile their differences and improve their marriage. In the final scene, Preacher's cell phone rings while his family is eating out in a restaurant, where Preacher hesitates on returning to duty, leaving the game in a cliffhanger.

Music

The music for Warfighter was composed by Ramin Djawadi, who also composed the music for Medal of Honor (2010). The official soundtrack was released on September 25th, 2012, on iTunes and Amazon, nearly one month before the release of the game. The soundtrack consists of 21 tracks, 2 of which were composed by Mike Shinoda, the co-vocalist and rapper of Linkin Park. Linkin Park's song Castle of Glass (from their newest release Living Things) serves as the theme song for Warfighter, and variations of the song appear on the soundtrack. Themes from the previous game reappear as well, albeit in slightly differed forms. The official video was released on October 10, 2012.

Medal of Honor: Warfighter (EA Games Soundtrack) (Digital Release) (65:34)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"For Rabbit"	Ramin Djawadi	2:50
2.	"Deploy"	Ramin Djawadi	2:39
3.	"NOC Out"	Mike Shinoda	4:07
4.	"Lena's Theme"	Ramin Djawadi	3:26
5.	"Kit Up"	Ramin Djawadi	3:28
6.	"Restless Natives"	Ramin Djawadi	3:21
7.	"Blackbird on a Wire"	Ramin Djawadi	3:20
8.	"Bridge the Gap"	Ramin Djawadi	2:11
9.	"Saa'iq"	Mike Shinoda	4:33
10.	"The Raid"	Ramin Djawadi	2:17
11.	"Force Multiplier"	Ramin Djawadi	2:54
12.	"Old Friend, New Foe"	Ramin Djawadi	3:03
13.	"Victory at Sea"	Ramin Djawadi	3:06
14.	"Resolve"	Ramin Djawadi	2:44
15.	"Green Light"	Ramin Djawadi	4:35
16.	"H.A.H.O."	Ramin Djawadi	2:45
17.	"Medal Run"	Ramin Djawadi	2:16
18.	"For Mother"	Ramin Djawadi	3:05
19.	"Buzz in the Air"	Ramin Djawadi	2:10
20.	"Lena's Dream"	Ramin Djawadi	2:26
21.	"With Honor"	Ramin Djawadi	4:26

Controversy

Seven members of Navy SEAL Team 6 who worked as consultants for the game were disciplined for releasing classified information to the game's creators. They received a punitive letter of reprimand and a partial forfeiture of pay for two months. The two main complaints against the SEALs were that they did not seek the permission of their commanding officer to take part in the project and that they showed the game designers some of their specially designed combat equipment unique to their unit. The military official briefed about the case was not authorized to speak publicly about it.