FPS General

Last month, EA put Medal of Honor on indefinite hiatus as they shift their attention entirely to Battlefield. We originally believed that the move was simply due to the poor performance of both 2010's Medal of Honor reboot and 2012's Medal of Honor: Warfighter. Incidentally, we liked both games but what do we know?

EA Chief Creative Director Rich Hilleman spoke last week to Rock, Paper, Shotgun and revealed that leadership and personnel issues may have been key contributors to their decision, saying:

We don’t think its a genre problem. It’s an execution problem. We don’t think Medal of Honor’s performance speaks to any particular bias in that space against modern settings or World War II or any of that. It’s much more that we had some things we should’ve done better.

What we think right now is that, for the next couple years, we can just have one great thing in that space. So we’re choosing for it to be Battlefield.

I think a key part of this is having the right amount of high-quality production talent. And we didn’t have the quality of leadership we needed to make [Medal of Honor] great. We just have to get the leadership aligned. We’re blessed to have more titles than we can do well today. That’s a good problem, frankly. In the long term, we have to make sure we don’t kill those products by trying to do them when we can’t do them well.

Ultimately, Hilleman said, Medal of Honor is taking a break but it will be back. EA will bide their time, watching the first-person shooter market (and Battlefield performance) and when the time is right, they will bring Medal of Honor out of the closet to have another crack at it.

For what it's worth, Hilleman did say that he believes it will be sooner than later so all of you die-hard Medal of Honor fans can find some solace in that. Stay tuned to FPS General, we'll be covering all of the news surrounding the next Medal of Honor game, whenever it comes down the road.

Source: Rock, Paper, Shotgun

EA announced in a conference call this evening that they would be pulling Medal of Honor out of their rotation  presumably for the foreseeable future. While we enjoyed Medal of Honor: Warfighter, critics - for the most part - did not. The game was fun but it had its share of setbacks and, unfortunately, that can make or break you in this industry.

According to PC Gamer, EA COO Peter Moore said:

The game was solid, but the focus on combat authenticity did not resonate with consumers. Critics were polarised and gave the game scores which were frankly lower than deserved. This one is behind us now. We are taking Medal of Honor out of rotation and have to bring year-over-year continuity to our shooter offerings.

At the time of this writing, no word was available on the fate of Danger Close, the studio who developed the past two Medal of Honor titles. For Battlefield fans, rest assured that EA is very happy with DICE and the direction they are taking the Battlefield franchise in so there is no immediate concern for the future of that series.

As EA had planned to rotate a new Medal of Honor game with a new Battlefield game every year, we're unsure where this leaves that development schedule. We'll update you as soon as we learn more!

Gone are the days when players were forced to spend hours of their valuable time, slaving away in a video game to earn their way to the next rank and unlockable item. Why spend time playing a game when you can purchase a piece of DLC today and get instant access to everything the game has to offer with the push of a button. It's the future!

Today marks the release of Medal of Honor: Warfighter shortcut packs, giving players a chance to convert their currency to automatically unlock every single Tier 1 Unit for each class. Each Shortcut pack will run you $4.99 (400MSP) and will get you instant access to the classes entire lineup of Tier 1 Units. Alternatively, you can level up to the Global Shortcut Pack and unlock all of the Tier 1 Units for every class in the game for $19.99 (1600MSP).

All told, players can now purchase:

• Medal of Honor: Warfighter Global Warfighter Shortcut Pack
• Medal of Honor: Warfighter Sniper Shortcut Pack
• Medal of Honor: Warfighter Heavy Gunner Shortcut Pack
• Medal of Honor: Warfighter Spec Ops Shortcut Pack
• Medal of Honor: Warfighter Point Man Shortcut Pack
• Medal of Honor: Warfighter Assaulter Shortcut Pack
• Medal of Honor: Warfighter Demolitions Shortcut Pack

All of these DLC options are available on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC (via Origin) so join in on the instant gratification!

Thanks, MP1st, for the heads up!

EA and Danger Close have released the Zero Dark Thirty map pack for Medal of Honor: Warfighter on PC, with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 releases to follow later today. Pushing out updates on PC is much easier than console, as publishers must rely on console manufacturers to test the content before they will release it. On PC, they don't have that limitation, which often results in quicker DLC or patches.

The Zero Dark Thirty map pack features a couple new maps and some weapons, as well as a few new camo choices. All told, we're looking at:

• New Map: Chitral Compound
• New Map: Darra Gun Market
• New Weapons
• EBR: Standard Barrel + PEQ-15, Trijicon TA648-308 + RMR
• AK103: Lightweight Barrel + Surefire Rail & Foregrip, Trijicon RMR
• MG4: Lightweight Barrel + Handguard, No Stock
• G36: Quad Rail + LLM01, Aimpoint Micro T1 + 3x Magnifier
• MK16PDW: Lightweight Barrel + PEQ-15, Trijicon 1×42
• OBR762: Standard Barrel + PEQ-15, US Optics SN-8
• 14 New Camouflages

The content is available now on PC, and as mentioned earlier, will be available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 later today. Stay tuned to FPS General on Twitter and Facebook, where we'll be sure to update when we have more information on the console release of the Zero Dark Thirty map pack.

Chitral Compound

Danger Close has revealed that the first big DLC offering for Medal of Honor: Warfighter will be releasing on December 18th, just under a week away from the time of this post.

Zero Dark Thirty is a map pack based on both the real-life hunt for Osama bin Laden as well as the feature film of the same name. The DLC features two brand new maps, 14 new weapon camos and a handful of new attachments for a few of Warfighter's weapons.

The two new maps are Chitral Compound and Darra Gun Market which you can see pictured at the top and bottom of this post, respectively. 

The weapon attachments that are coming in the DLC include:

• EBR: Standard Barrel + PEQ-15, Trijicon TA648-308 + RMR
• AK103: Lightweight Barrel + Surefire Rail & Foregrip, Trijicon RMR
• MG4: Lightweight Barrel + Handguard, No Stock
• G36: Quad Rail + LLM01, Aimpoint Micro T1 + 3x Magnifier
• MK16PDW: Lightweight Barrel + PEQ-15, Trijicon 1×42
• OBR762: Standard Barrel + PEQ-15, US Optics SN-8

Check out the source link below for the full list of camos that will be available in Zero Dark Thirty. Note that this map pack will be known as 'The Hunt' in all regions outside of North America.

Source: Battlelog

Danger Close is giving us our first real look at the Zero Dark Thirty DLC map pack that is due to hit Medal of Honor: Warfighter next month, available for free if you pre-ordered the game.

The map pack is inspired by the film Zero Dark Thirty, which in turn is inspired by the real-life events surrounding the assassination of Osama bin Laden. Starting with the decade long manhunt for bin Laden, the film ultimately zeroes in on the assassination that took place a little over a year ago in Pakistan. The raid was carried out by the now-famous Navy SEAL Team 6, which will play a role in the expansion pack for Medal of Honor: Warfighter.

The Zero Dark Thirty map pack introduces two new maps to Warfighter; Darra Gun Market and Chitral Compound. From the official description of these maps:

Darra is home to dozens of back-alley shops and self-taught machinists making guns by hand.

Chitral is highly inaccessible and was thought to be one of Bin Laden's hideouts -- only those with the capabilities of total surprise will successfully penetrate the compound.

Check out http://www.medalofhonor.com/zero-dark-thirty for more information on the Zero Dark Thirty map pack!

Just a quick update on this Saturday afternoon, in regards to Medal of Honor: Warfighter. The team at Danger Close rolled out another server update this afternoon, fixing a few pesky bugs including some issues with spawning.

Hey everyone!

We released a new server update today across all platforms to alleviate some minor gameplay issues; this update should now be rolled out across all Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 servers. Note that PC server updates are still rolling out. If your server has not been updated yet, please contact your RSPs (Ranked Server Provider).

-Addressed spawning issues on Multiplayer maps where the user was spawning incorrectly and occasionally falling through the ground
-Player should no longer see stat discrepancies for Double XP
-Balanced Matchmaking so teams are now more even in numbers from the start of the match
Fixed the Blackhawk gunner exit bug

Please report all bugs in the forum! Thanks!

If you're not going to be watching the Giants battle the Tigers in World Series Game 3, you might as well put in some time with Medal of Honor: Warfighter before Assassins Creed III starts cutting into your play time next week.

Source: Battlelog

Medal of Honor: Warfighter was released unto the masses yesterday, arriving on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, dealing a crippling blow to FPS General productivity for the day. We spent most of the day putting hours into competitive multiplayer, but we did dabble in campaign mode as well.

Today, however, we're focusing on the bread and butter of Medal of Honor: Warfighter; online multiplayer. The game feels great, and plays incredibly smoothly. There were some hiccups on launch, with several users reporting ongoing stats resets. While this is a pretty big deal, it seems like Danger Close has taken care of the bug and nobody at FPS General personally experienced it.

Cycling through all of the game modes, on all of the maps, we did our best to experience everything that Medal of Honor: Warfighter multiplayer has to offer - in a nutshell.

Danger Close has done a great job with game modes, offering a variety but not overloading us with a dozen variations on the same concept. If you're looking for objective-based modes, they are there; if you're looking for capture the flag, it's there; if you're looking for straight up Team Deathmatch; you can have it. All of the game modes are fun and diverse, as are all of the player classes.

With 7 player classes, we were a little bit worried that there really wouldn't be a purpose, but as Dave mentions in the video above, each class has a clearly defined role for players to fulfill. These classes also offer access to different weapon types, as well, further defining the purpose of that class on the battlefield.

We've had a great time playing Medal of Honor: Warfighter, and we encourage you to check out the video above, hopefully helping you make an educated purchase. 

Click 'Read More' for details on the small but important server update that Danger Close released earlier today.

Electronic Arts and Danger Close have officially released the next installment in the Medal of Honor franchise, marking the day with a brand new launch trailer.

This is actually the second launch trailer for Medal of Honor: Warfighter, with a multiplayer-centric trailer making its debut last week. Today's trailer focuses on the singleplayer aspect of the game, inspired by real-life events, soldiers and situations.

Penned by actual Tier 1 Operators, Medal of Honor: Warfighter tells the story of some of the world's most elite special forces soldiers as they track down and attempt to eliminate the group responsible for a major global threat. With the dangerous explosive known as PETN being wielded by a terrorist group, players will carry out missions based on real-life happenings to try and stop the threat before it becomes a reality.

Check out the singleplayer launch trailer and visit http://www.medalofhonor.com/ to see where you can pick up the latest installment in this classic franchise. We'll have a full hands-on with the game later this week, so if you're on the fence about picking it up, be sure to check back with us for a more in-depth look at what the game has to offer.

Danger Close has released a launch trailer for Medal of Honor: Warfighter, celebrating the multiplayer aspect of the game. Warfighter is scheduled to ship next Tuesday, October 23rd.

The trailer is pretty straightforward, showing off a wealth of multiplayer action in a very short span. We see a ton of weapons, environments and Warfighters in the video above, which we think is kind of the point. Medal of Honor: Warfighter's multiplayer mode features 6 unique classes, 8 real-world locations and a plethora of international Warfighters and Fireteams to create.

Pre-order Medal of Honor: Warfighter at http://www.medalofhonor.com/ if you haven't done so already.

EA and Danger Close have released a brand new trailer for their upcoming first-person shooter Medal of Honor: Warfighter. With a hefty emphasis on multiplayer in recent trailers and press releases, it's nice to see a new look at singleplayer.

The trailer above is destructive, fast-paced and oddly beautiful in a chaotic way. In this mission, Preacher must capture a terrorist sniper, their only connection to the mastermind behind the global terrorist threat that the Tier 1 Operators are up against in Warfighter. The terrorists are planning a massive attack using PETN, a deadly explosive that has been put into effect countless times in real life tragedies.

As Preacher tears through Karachi, Pakistan, you can see merchant stands being destroyed and debris flying every which way, showing off the power of Frostbite 2 to create some incredible detail in this chase scene. As Danger Close proudly declares, this trailer features actual gameplay from Medal of Honor: Warfighter, powered by Frostbite 2.

Check out the trailer above!

Earlier this week, we got word that the Medal of Honor: Warfighter beta would be launching exclusively on Xbox 360 this Friday, but Danger Close has taken it upon themselves to issue an official statement as well.

The statement comes in the form of a brand new video, narrated by Daniel Wiksten, Senior Game Designer on Warfighter.

The beta will feature 12 of the 72 available Tier 1 Operators in all 6 classes and will feature play on the brand new game mode, Hotspot. The map in question will be Sarajevo Stadium.

The Medal of Honor Warfighter Multiplayer Beta is coming to the Xbox 360 on October 5! Step into the boots of today's elite global warfighters in the most authentic shooter experience of the year.

The beta features all 12 Tier 1 Operators from 10 nations with access to all 6 classes. Get ready to dominate online in the all-new Hotspot game mode on the Sarajevo Stadium map.

Check out the beta on Xbox Live this Friday, October 5th. The store usually updates around 1:00 - 2:00 AM so prepare yourself for a late night if you're looking to play as soon as possible. 

Earlier this week, Electronic Arts announced that Medal of Honor: Warfighter would be getting an open beta release, giving players a chance to check out the game and provide feedback before the scheduled release later this month. You know, as long as you're not rash enough to play video games on PC or PlayStation 3.

The Medal of Honor: Warfighter open beta - available exclusively on Xbox 360 - has been dated, seeing a release on October 5th. For those keeping score at home, that is this Friday.

We had the chance to play Medal of Honor: Warfighter in person last month, and our very own Nikoli002 had this to say:

Nickoli002

Medal of Honor: Warfighter is one of those games you might have heard about because of the whole 'Battlefield 4 beta' thing but don't let that define it for you. Medal of Honor is an amazing game by Danger Close, a true rival to Call of Duty and Halo.

It's clean, smooth, polished and most of all, a really, really fun game.

So, there you have it. 

But you don't have to take our word for it. Fire up your Xbox 360's on October 5th - this upcoming Friday - and download the open beta for Medal of Honor: Warfighter yourself.

The Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta - or, simply, Delta Force - Point Man is a pre-order exclusive player class in Medal of Honor: Warfighter but it merits some explanation. If you pick up the game without a pre-order, you can surely pick the Point Man as your player class but you won't be able to do so if you wish to play Delta Force as your fire team.

Pre-ordering the game at Gamestop, however, gets you day one access to the Delta Force Point Man, if that's your thing. This class is all about speed, lethality and being on the forefront of the action. If that's your style of play, then you definitely want to check out the Delta Force Point Man trailer above and drop by your local Gamestop to put down some money on Medal of Honor: Warfighter.

The game is scheduled to launch on October 23rd, 2012 - visit http://www.medalofhonor.com/ for more information on the game.

Danger Close has released the latest in their SEAL Team 6 Combat Training video series, focusing this time on the Demolitions player class in Medal of Honor: Warfighter and its role on the battlefield.

These videos are doubly insightful as they offer not only a look at what the multiplayer class is designed for in the game but also a real-life look at what these operators would do in actual combat situations, straight from the mouths of Navy SEAL Team 6 members.

In this video, as mentioned previously, Danger Close and SEAL Team 6 take a look at the Demolitions class, which is described as:

Leveling obstacles in the midst of high pressure scenarios is a skill unique to the SEAL Demolition experts. Heavily armored demolition teams are called in to tactically plant and defuse explosives of every kind while withstanding significant enemy firepower.

The Demolitions class is one of many that we had a chance to go hands-on with earlier this month. Check out our in-depth Class Preview for Medal of Honor: Warfighter for more information on the rest of the games playable classes.

Maps. Maps never changes.

Every great game (and even some bad ones) usually owe their maps at least some part of their success (or failure). They are just too important to gameplay, flow, spawn camping, etc. Of course, spawn mechanics and game modes affect the final product just as much but without fun maps, people don’t want to play the game - it’s as simple as that.

So how does this affect Medal of Honor: Warfighter and what does it mean for those interested? Well, I’m here to tell you first hand, from the limited selection we were able to play with and scout out at the Medal of Honor press event earlier this month, they were awesome.

First off, all of the maps in Warfighter are huge...like really big. But depending on the game type or mode, they are cordoned off and sized perfectly for the gametype at hand. The three maps we were able to play on were: Harra Dunes, Somalia, and Sarajevo. Each one crafted by hand to bring you the best looking and playing maps possible

Every aspect in Medal of Honor: Warfighter, including the maps, is powered by Frostbite 2.0, the second iteration of DICE’s Frostbite game engine. They are all gorgeous, shiny, and well lit. There are few spots within the maps that I felt I would be at a disadvantage at, even on the losing team. You always have a few ways to go, even with the obvious ones locked off from the enemy.

With each game mode, the maps shift to a new portion, similar in feel and design to its previous iteration, but none of the same actual areas. Each one lends itself to that particular game type, as it should no doubt, but as you see with other games, sometimes that doesn’t work out right.

Without getting into turn by turn explanations, it’s hard to say much else about the maps other than they are open and fun. There aren’t many positions to set up camp and even if you do, someone will be right there to take you out. That’s not to say gameplay feels super fast or super slow, it’s balanced just right.

Moving on from maps and flow, click 'Read More' below and lets talk about some Game Modes!

Danger Close has announced that the open beta for their upcoming first-person shooter, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, will be going live in early October.

The Medal of Honor Warfighter beta will feature a brand new multiplayer mode called HotSpot, where players attack and defend randomly-selected locations on the Sarajevo Stadium map in Bosnia. Inspired by real life operations, players team-up in pairs using the game’s unique co-op Fireteam system for a competitive advantage on the battlefield.

The Medal of Honor Warfighter multiplayer beta will be available for a limited time in early October exclusively for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system.

What's more, players who download the open beta for Medal of Honor: Warfighter will help unlock the Medal of Honor-themed music video for Linkin Park's song Castle of Glass. The video will be released five days after the beta goes live, but if the community bands together and hits 3 million downloads, they will release it even sooner.

Players who participate in the open multiplayer beta for Medal of Honor: Warfighter will be rewarded with 60 minutes of double XP when the game launches in full next month.

For more on Medal of Honor: Warfighter, check out http://www.medalofhonor.com/ and be sure to read our hands-on preview of the game's class system right here.

Earlier this week, Danger Close has released a brand new trailer for their highly-anticipated first-person shooter, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, showing over 7 minutes of gorgeous singleplayer footage. Electronic Arts might be moving away from static, single player experiences but that doesn't mean that Medal of Honor isn't going to have an excellent campaign.

The team at Danger Close and EA are constantly touting the realism of Medal of Honor: Warfighter and that shines through most prominently in the single player game mode. Sure, it's great to play on multiplayer maps inspired by real life locations but unless you've been to these places, you're not going to get much out of it.

The single player portion of the game, however, is a different story. These are real life missions, locale and international figures that we can recognize and relate to on some level.

In this extended single player mission, watch as Tier 1 Operators infiltrate an Abu Sayyaf compound to rescue hostages in Basilan, Philippines. Plus, for the first time, we get a glimpse at the face of the global terrorist threat being posed in Medal of Honor: Warfighter.

Medal of Honor: Warfighter deploys for combat on October 23rd. Enlist at http://www.medalofhonor.com/. 

What is the best new upcoming first-person shooter?

An age old question for us gamers, one specifically of interest in the fall season when most triple-a shooters seem to arrive. Most would spout off something about Call of Duty’s latest iteration, maybe some Halo hype, or maybe, just maybe, something about some new series or reboot that is going to take the FPS world by storm. Sadly, that almost never happens.

Even when the amazing titles do get released, they usually never skyrocket in popularity and are relegated to obscurity, or worse, hipsterity. Have you played that game bro? No, no I haven’t, go away. That’s why FPS General is here to explain a little what the new Medal of Honor is all about.

You may have seen the ads, the rage surrounding the marketing campaign, and oh, did you hear? Buy it now for access to Battlefield 4 beta! Unfortunately for Medal of Honor: Warfighter, it got the short end of the stick with its big brother Battlefield keeping all the love to itself, but don’t write it off just yet.

Danger Close Studios, the company behind Medal of Honor: Warfighter, has been doing amazing things with this title and recently at PAX and at their development studio in Los Angeles, FPS General had a chance to take a good long look at the game up-close with a few others .

To say that the game is fun, creative, polished, and worth your time is a pure understatement, and I certainly didn’t use enough adjectives. Those are not words I expected to say, and I’m sure, most of you to hear. The first reboot was clanky, badly paced, and just a little annoying. Truthfully, I wouldn’t want a sequel to that game. Which is why when I played Warfighter, and everything I hated about the previous title was fixed, I was sold.

So without further blathering lets get right to it shall we, why should you buy and play Medal of Honor: Warfighter this season? Keep reading to find out!

Electronic Arts and Danger Close have announced a pretty exciting partnership with Medal of Honor: Warfighter and Zero Dark Thirty, the upcoming film about the decade long manhunt for Osama bin Laden and eventual SEAL Team 6 raid on his compound in Abottabad, Pakistan.

The partnership comes in the form of two exclusive maps, based on real life locale featured in the film. The two maps are Darra Gun Market and Chitral Compound. The Darra Gun Market is a lawless town in Pakistan where bin Laden was purportedly hiding out. No police forces are allowed inside the town where homebrewed weapons are being built by hand, rather illegally. Outsiders are rarely - if ever - allowed inside.

Chitral Compound is another where we believed Osama bin Laden to be hiding out. In the mountains of Pakistan, Chitral features 1200 small towns dotted around the foothills of the mountains, making it an ideal place to hide.

The Zero Dark Thirty map pack is available as pre-order DLC and the film itself is in theaters December 19th, 2012. Visit http://www.medalofhonor.com/zero-dark-thirty for more information on the promotional tie-in.