Battle Of The Mindless Shooters

Three of the year’s biggest shooters all release around the same time, making it increasingly difficult for the multiplayer-obsessed gamer to choose which game they’ll be taking off large chunks of work to play.

Medal of Honor: Warfighter leads the way on October 25, followed by Halo 4 on November 6 and then Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 on November 11. So, yeah, that’s three weeks of multiplayer-centric shooters hitting the market, each offering a unique experience in both the campaign and multiplayer front. So which game is best for you? I’ll help you choose!

Campaign

As far as predecessors go, both Halo 4 and Warfighter have plenty to live up to. Medal of Honor’s campaign wasn’t amazing by any stretch of the imagine, but it was better than 2011’s Battlefield 3 campaign offering, and was certainly better than anything we’ve gotten from the Call of Duty ranks. Unfortunately it was let down by a non-event of an ending. It started slowly, had a nice buildup around half-way through, before leaving us with a frustrating conclusion. Hopefully Warfighter can learn from its predecessor’s mistakes.

Halo, on the other hand, has arguably the most anticipated campaign of the three blockbusters; Halo 4 will see the return of Master Chief, the series’ protagonists first appearance in a Halo game since 2007’s Halo 3. As the only series with a likable, recognisable and returning protagonist, Halo 4’s campaign certainly takes the prize as the most anticipated of the 2012 shooters.

Treyarch seems to be taking Black Ops 2’s campaign in a completely different direction, with “open” environments and interactive elements that will allow gamers to alter the game’s story. However, it’s still a Call of Duty game at the end of the day, and it’s hard to say it’ll have a better story and campaign than Halo 4.

Co-op

This is definitely the hardest one to compare, as all three have great cooperative offerings. Only Halo 4 will have a co-op campaign, which gives it a slight edge. The last Treyarch game to have co-op campaign was World at War, but unfortunately we won’t be getting it in Black Ops 2. That doesn’t mean it won’t have an engaging cooperative experience.

Warfighter’s ‘Fireteam’ multiplayer mode has micro-teams of two battling it out in what can only be described as a team-based competitive experience: it’s you and your teammate against everyone else, and it’s in your own best interests to ensure the safety and survival of your squadmate.

Discussion: Black Ops 2

Black Ops 2 will see Zombies expanded to 4v4 matches or 8-player team matches.

Then there’s Halo 4’s ‘Spartan Ops’, a new mode for the Halo universe that will see free downloadable content released weekly, allowing players to cooperatively expand the game’s campaign story.

All three games offer exceptionally good cooperative experiences, and while ‘Fireteam’ sounds like a great mode (previews have been very promising) it still doesn’t seem to stand up to either Zombies in Black Ops 2, which has had a few years to evolve, or Halo 4’s multiplayer cooperative options.

Multiplayer

And then comes the really tough comparison. All three games offer vastly different multiplayer offerings, and none really stand out as being superior compared to the other. They each appeal to a certain demographic, although Halo and Call of Duty are probably closer to each other in how they play than Medal of Honor is with either of them.

There’s a hoard of new content coming to all three, although Halo 4 certainly seems to be getting the most change considering it has a new developer at the helm. Choosing which one will simply come down to what sort of multiplayer experience you prefer. If games like Battlefield 3 are more to your liking, then Warfighter should be a no-brainer. Using the same engine, the game opts for realism and team-centric gameplay rather than glossy visuals and quick action. If you’re a Call of Duty gamer, either Halo 4 or Black Ops 2 should be to your liking: while Halo is certainly no Call of Duty-like game, it shares an obvious level of accessibility that has allowed it to develop such a large and devout following.

If you’re looking for the largest community, either Halo 4 or Black Ops 2 are probably the way to go. Not that Warfighter won’t have a large community, though.

All that said, if you absolutely must pick one game and one game only, Halo 4 might be your best bet. Halo games have never been especially “easy” to be successful in, and its ranking and progression system is like nothing we see in other multiplayer shooters. While other games have taken plenty of inspiration from Halo’s matchmaking systems over the years, it distances itself from the likes of Call of Duty and Medal of Honor with a unique and inviting setting that breaks away from cliche modern warfare environments (even though Black Ops 2 is taking things into the future, albeit sparingly).

DLC

All three games are going to get plenty of downloadable content post-release, but it’s a little hard to look beyond both Halo 4 and Black Ops 2. Modern Warfare 3 has set a pretty high standard for FPS DLC: over 20 DLC “drops”, a handful of free maps, new Spec Ops missions and Community playlists have done little to stem criticisms about Activision’s apparent exploitation of Call of Duty gamers, but it’s a little hard to ignore just how much content is there. If Black Ops 2 offers half as much content for the same price, it would be difficult to still find a way to criticise Activision.

Halo 4 will be introducing new Spartan Ops missions, which not only add new cooperative missions to the fold, but will be released every week for free in an attempt to expand the campaign’s story. Throw in the inevitable map packs and you have a pretty deep chest of extra content.

Discussion: Medal of Honor: Warfighter

Warfighter will undoubtedly get its fair share of content too, but perhaps more enticing is the prospect of Battlefield 4 beta access; pre-order Warfighter and you’ll be among the first in the world to play the newest Battlefield.

Overall, it’s hard to split the three because we all know they’re going to be supported extensively on the DLC front, but considering what we already know about Halo 4 and Black Ops 2 DLC, it’s impossible to look past them as the joint winners in that regard.

So Which Game Should I Buy?

I’d love to take the easy option and say, “buy all three!”, but I seriously believe that the easy option is Halo 4. I’ve spend a few years playing Call of Duty games, and I had a lot of fun with Medal of Honor back in 2010, but Halo is still the definitive console FPS, offering a hardcore competitive environment with smooth controls, cool weapons and a fairly addictive style of play. It’s certainly more for the sci-fi fan in you, and I admit that Halo games have never truly been for “everyone” in the same way Call of Duty games have been, but as far as content and multiplayer offerings go, Halo 4 is certainly the first my biggest shooter of the year.

By Gaetano Prestia - Bio