Medal of Honor: Warfighter Multiplayer: Stay Alive, Get Home

When your life matters in multiplayer, you play shooters more carefully. Counter-Strike and SOCOM scare players into using useful tactics by taking away respawns, and Medal of Honor: Warfighter is one of too-few adversarial games to borrow the idea. The new Home Run multiplayer mode takes away second chances, making for quick and quiet Capture the Flag matches that start tense and inevitably explode. Only the sneaky, patient, and careful will make it out alive.

Home Run gives defenders two flags to protect from the attacking team. Don’t worry: Camping isn’t a viable tactic. On the map I played, attackers concealed in buildings had a great view of the flags’ exposed outdoor areas. You’re better off hunting your enemies than role-playing the military equivalent of a goaltender if you’re keeping the flags safe, especially because there are so many spots to jump unaware foes. The map was small but dense, packed with flanking routes and high-ground vantage points, and within just a minute (or two if everyone’s playing extra cautious) it was all over. Whether that was because we’d all been killed or because I’d evaded my enemy despite the flag strapped to my back depends on which of the 10 rapid-fire rounds we’re talking about.