EA senior creative director Richard Farrelly talks Medal of Honor Warfighter, ‘Blue on Blue’, Frostbite 2, and Battlefield 3 comparisons.
In an interview with CVG, Richard Farrelly sheds some light on several topic regarding the multiplayer portion of Medal of Honor Warfighter. Farelly assured that Danger Close is up to the task of developing both the single-player and multiplayer parts of the game. He explained, “we’ve got a lot of good DNA on the team now from other different studios that’ve come over; we’ve had some guys from DICE working on the multiplayer side and we’ve got a lot of people from other teams working with us on single-player.”
Farrelly stressed that honoring “Tier 1 forces from around the world” is one of the things that sets Medal of Honor: Warfighter apart from its predecessor. Warfighter will feature “12 of the world’s best units from different nations in the game. We’re looking at the SAS from the UK, SAS from Australia, KSK from Germany, the Polish GROM – because they have a cool name,” Farrelly jokingly added. You can spot some of the other teams in the reveal trailer.
Further, we now have the first details on the Blue on Blue game mode. Ferrelly explained, “we have a playlist [Blue on Blue] that came out of a conversation we were having with the guys, which was about how they’re always trying to make themselves better, they’re always measuring themselves up against the guy next to them, whether in their unit or in another unit. So we thought alright, let’s have a ‘who’s better? SAS or SEALs?’ Put them in an arena and have them fight it out. That was how we came up with the Blue on Blue playlist – it’s a place people can go and settle their ‘who’s better?’ arguments.”
On the subject of the game’s engine, DICE developed Frostbite 2.0, Farrelly had to say, “obviously [DICE] had to make a game on an engine that they were making, so they absolutely had some challenges. To be truthful we have our own challenges switching from one engine to new technology.” He assured. “through a little hard work learning their stuff the result is the game looks great and plays great.”
Even though Battlefield 3 and Warfighter share the same engine, Danger Close believes that Warfighter has a different feel. He explained, “I think we have our own signature look; I think it looks a lot different from Battlefield even though it’s on the same engine. It’s more intimate, but we still have some of the same elements that they have like the micro-destruction and the amazing lighting.”
Farrelly went on to note that both Danger Close and DICE have a common goal in optimizing the Frostbite 2 engine, “we work very closely with the Frostbite team – we’re all in the same boat. We’re helping to make it a better engine on our end as they are. We work very closely with them and as I said, we’ve got some former members of DICE working with us.” He went on to praise Frostbite 2 for being “platform agnostic.” He elaborated, “you make one game and then you play to each of the platforms’ strengths. On PC you have the high res textures… it looks like a proper PC game.”
Farrelly is eager to build Medal of Honor 2010’s success, not Battlefield 3’s. When asked on whether Warfighter can build on Battlefield 3’s success, he pointed out, “I think we’re in for the long game. We came out with Medal of Honor 2010 and it shattered records for the franchise, it’s moved something like 6 million units sold through, which is far and above any numbers the franchise has done before. So for us it’s about keep building on that – we want to do more this time and then we want to do more the next time around, just as Battlefield has done building from 1942 to where they are now.” It’s worth noting that Battlefield 3 sold over 10 million copies.
What do you think of the Blue on Blue playlist? Let us know in the comments below and don’t forget to read the latest Warfighter news here.