Realism vs Authenticity?
As for the single player of this game, well, there's barely any suspense or excitement except the last 3 chapters. You follow the waypoint with your AI partners, kill some "evil" people. That's it, there is no internal conflict, no gray moral ground, no ethical questions, barely any climaxes. Granted, there's a side story with the guy and his marital problems, but who cares? I didn't get attached to the character for one thing. And there's barely any meaningful dialogue between the main characters (unlike in Bad Company 2).
The gameplay woes:
-infinite ammo for pistols, AGAIN (neither realistic or authentic);
-infinite ammo for rifles, just ask your friend, AGAIN (neither realistic or authentic);
-regenerative health (neither realistic or authentic), yeah, I had to put that one out there;
-you don't cast a shadow (neither realistic or authentic);
-a little head-shot icon still appears whenever you score a head shot, because that's what happens in real life (neither realistic or authentic, just an ego-boosting trick);
-frostbite 2 sometimes looks as if it's in demo stage, for some reason I found it less polished than the BF3 iteration, the water sucks and you can see the water-edge lines (one of the indications of a rushed game);
-you can't turn off the cross-hair (neither realistic or authentic);
-your melee takes 2-3 blows to knock someone out (neither realistic or authentic, at least in most games);
-re-spawning enemies in some locations(neither realistic or authentic);
-you can't remap the middle mouse button to use for cover which I usually use. May I ask WHY?;
-little to no environmental destruction (what happened here. EA?);
-uninspired friendly and enemy AI (neither realistic or authentic), apparently, Killzone 2,3 are the only games that got the FPS AI right;
The gameplay joys:
-you can see your legs;
-realistic recoil;
-two zooming options on some guns;
-Killzone based cover system;.
-interesting team-based multiplayer mode (almost like in BF 2,3 squads only better);
-nice hardcore mode in MP (you don't get to respawn after death, it's not for those people with short patience)
-various map designs;
-weapon customizations;
-various door breaching techniques (which are, in the end, useless);
-outstanding audio;
-you don't get to be revived by your squad mates. Although, the downside is that your squad mates are immortal (neither realistic or authentic), whereas in Killzone, for instance, you had to revive them from a bullet hit occasionally (neither realistic or authentic).
In general, the game land somewhere between your typical COD and Drama-driven narrative, for better or worse. I, personally could not care less for the animated main character and his family. I didn't even bother to remember their names.
I also like it how sometimes the loading screen says something like "Warfighters are men and women who bravely fight for their country", or something like that. Really? How interesting, tell me more.
I guess what bothers me most is the way the game was being sold initially and the way it was being defended after GS called them out. We all remember that stand-off between Tom McShea and Greg Goodrich on the matter of authenticity. What exactly did we get? did we get any emotional attachment to the soldiers? NOT. Did we play some sort of brand new FPS? NOT. Are we likely to play multiplayer a year from now? NOT (back to BF3).
In the end, the game barely brings anything new to the table. It's basically BF3 smallest brother. Makes me wonder whether there was any reason for the game to be made at all. I think it's time to try out the new engine in World war II.
I also think GS should invite Goodrich again and ask him to defend his authenticity claim. If he asks: "Did you play the game?", the answer should be, "Yes, we did, AND?"