Three's company: can Medal of Honor survive alongside CoD, BF?
- Posted November 5th, 2012 at 17:17 EDT by Mike Harradence
- 6 Comments
Back in the late 90s and early 2000s Medal of Honor was a force to be reckoned with. This, of course, was prior to the days of a certain Activision juggernaut known as Call of Duty and fellow Electronic Arts shooter Battlefield. But in those days, Medal of Honor was the quintessential console first-person shooter, combining (at the time) unprecedented storytelling, advanced enemy A.I., stunning graphics and competitive multiplayer that gave GoldenEye a run for its money. How things have changed.
After lagging consumer interest in the mid-00s, EA finally decided to reboot the franchise and abandoned the World War II setting for a more contemporary feel with 2010’s eponymous release. Reviews were good but not great, with many arguing the title was saved by its multiplayer while the campaign did little to challenge any pre-conceptions of the genre. However, sales were solid and a sequel was given the green light soon after. That’s a solid foundation to build upon then for the then-upcoming Warfighter, right? Not quite.
Frankly, Warfighter’s release late last month has proven just one thing as far as we’re concerned: Medal of Honor is struggling to find its place in the market alongside its contemporaries. The problem is the series just doesn’t do enough to differentiate itself from the competition. Warfighter was blasted by critics upon release, and EA itself has conceded the military shooter has performed below expectations – not exactly the springboard you need for the future of the series. These days, if you’re not CoD or Battlefield, then you have to be something REALLY special to turn heads; and sadly, Medal of Honor just isn’t doing anything to warrant interest for the mainstream consumer.
The campaign is essentially a by-the-numbers blaster designed to emulate – not innovate – on Call of Duty’s success. Battlefield’s trump card was its sumptuous visuals and destructible environments, supplemented by a comprehensive multiplayer mode. Call of Duty is, well, Call of Duty; however this year Black Ops II sets to really shake things up thanks to its dynamic storytelling and gameplay. Juxtaposed with these two giants, Warfighter comes out decidedly generic. Set pieces? Check. Linear missions? Check. Pop-up enemies that are practically begging to be shot at? Check. There’s nothing here you haven’t seen below, and while the MoH brand name certainly carries some clout – it made no.1 in the U.K., after all – it’s unlikely to be so lucky a third time, unless EA and the developers really turn the aging MoH paradigm on its head for the next entry.
Can Medal of Honor survive alongside Call of Duty and Battlefield? Do you think the franchise needs a kick up the arse? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Comments
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SPOTTED
- 5:32pm EST - November 5th, 2012
- 1
If MOH remained gritty and authentic like MOH 2010 then I'd say yes, it could hang BUT with Warfighter, it's too damn cartoony and corny. We're not even fighting terrorists anymore. It's Special Forces vs. Special Forces. That's just silly to me. You can see your enemy through walls and across maps with that stupid red outline thingy (weak). Spawning on your teammates on such small maps was a horrible idea too. The campaigns are o.k in MOH, but not too different from COD or BF in a significant way. Bottom line, no it can't hang with COD and BF...especially if it continues to follow the path of Warfighter. I mean honestly, what casual gamer would pick Warfighter over COD or BF? Nothing about it trumps what COD and BF have to offer.
*I need SOCOM*
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jayman1 |
Srg_Slaughter- 9:02pm EST - November 5th, 2012
- 2
whoever wrote this is a complete moron. Warfighter does set itself apart with the multiplayer! The 2 team squads is something never scene in multiplayer on any shooter either cod or battlefield. If anything this writer is a cod lover. How does cod have dynamic story and gameplay wtf? Minus the story which should be different its a different game. I hate to bring it to your attention but COD is as generic as they come. The Warfighter multiplayer brings something very different to multiplayer focusing on 2 player team ops. COD is a cut an paste multiplayer with a facelift every year. Its to the point that your almost basically buying essentially the same game year in and year out. Atleast Warfighter tries to bring something new tactically to the multiplayer. COD just subs in something for something else IE the remote control car for a flying remote control unit. The turret for a moving turret. The weapons are almost the same in everygame the new game might have some different scopes for the guns but I will not rush and buy another cod cloned game. The last 2 great cod games are MW2 and Black ops.
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ANWBUXTON |
ANW2512- 5:33am EST - November 6th, 2012
- 3
Warfighter could be a very good game, but like most games released today, in their rush to release the games to a schedule, they mess up and leave blatant flaws in the final product. Frustrating flaws in Warfighter, sometimes throwing a grenade the animation still shows the grenade in your hand, but you've actually thrown the grenade. Again, reloading the weapon, sometimes the animation does not appear. Shooting physics. The game plays on cover, however there are too many occasions whereby I can hide behind cover, unable to shoot an enemy as the bullets do not got through the cover, i.e wall, bin. However the enemy can shoot and kill me from the same angle.
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Corvette-Steve
- 9:46am EST - November 6th, 2012
- 4
I agree with SPOTTED, we lacked any terrorists, this one lacked the grit involved with the campaign of 2010, and the multiplayer is buggy. It was certainly a let down in my books. Where as the 2010 version had me playing out the campaign on more then 1 time though it.
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acecombat2011
- 4:28pm EST - November 6th, 2012
- 5
I wouldn't know if MOH copied COD I don't play COD any more not for several iterations but MOH doesn't feel stale to me. Run and gun and you get smoked. I buy these games for the multiplayer primarily and the campaign is an afterthought.
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Marc Gibson
- 6:07am EST - November 10th, 2012
- 6
Medal of Honour WARFIGHTER is a very good game, campaign could've been longer, but the multiplayer gives the player a good feeling whilst playing online, especially with the new ''buddy system'' that is inovative. Medal of Honour WARFIGHTER flows nicely online and gameplay is less frustrating than lets say Modern Warfare 3. So forget the bad press about this game, get it, play it, make your own mind up, and i promise you won't be dissapointed. mixitup1.
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