If you're making a military first-person shooter that's enamored with authenticity - one like Medal of Honor: Warfighter, for instance, which acts as an homage to its story's Tier One operators - it always helps to have a good set of consultants.
We're classifying this one as exceptional.
According to a source of the Los Angeles Times, one of the Tier One operators collaborating with Danger Close Games on Medal of Honor: Warfighter is none other than Matt Bissonette, a member of the U.S. Navy's Seal Team Six who participated in the raid that killed Osama Bin Laden in May 2011 - and who caused quite the firestorm this week after his tell-all book on the experience unexpectedly surfaced.
Due out on September 11, No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden was originally announced on Tuesday by publisher Penguin Books as an autobiography penned under the pseudonym Mark Owen. Bissonette's identity - secret as a matter of national security - was discovered on Thursday by Fox News, and the LA Times claims that his consulting firm, Silent R, was tapped by Danger Close and Executive Producer Greg Goodrich (though presumably a while back) to help assure that Warfighter's scenic, weaponry, and gameplay fidelity was top notch.
That being said, Electronic Arts is doing its part to keep its Tier One consultants off the record; the publisher wouldn't lend any credence to the report and almost certainly never will. "We cannot comment on the identity of consultants who worked with us on ‘Medal of Honor: Warfighter,’ says spokesman Jeff Brown.
Goodrich also stated in February that Warfighter's missions wouldn't be even going near Bin Laden territory - "that's not our story to tell," he said - and so while we won't delve into the controversy surrounding Bissonette right now, any link to the soldier was likely a product of his expertise, not marketing potential. (Coincidentally, Bissonette's Seal Team Six oeuvres extend to the famous 2009 rescue mission of Captain Richard Phillips from the high-seas captivity of Somali pirates. The mission, albeit without naming names, was used by Ghost Recon: Future Soldier to advertise its own version of Tier One authenticity.)
At any rate, a man directly involved with eliminating one of the free world's most despised and wanted enemies is never a bad asset for military authenticity. It's a better one than promoting tomahawk and Tac-300 sniper rifle sales on your website, anyway. Hopefully Medal of Honor: Warfighter can get the most out of its talent as it nears its October release.
Ranters, 2010's Medal of Honor took a similar approach in collaborating with real-life Tier One operators; will the aid of Matt Bissonette and others create an improved outing in Warfighter?
Medal of Honor: Warfighter releases October 23, 2012 for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.
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Source: Los Angeles Times, Fox News