Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 ESRB Rating: T for Violence Publisher: EA Release: November 13th, 2007
The Wii seems to have been built for first-person shooters. While Call of Duty was released at launch, it didn't quite nail the control scheme. Gamers envisioned Wii controls matching, or at the very least being very close to the tight PC controls we're all used to. Metroid Prime 3 was released, gamers everywhere rejoiced. And here comes another first-person game to set the bar even higher.
The first thing you'll notice about Heroes 2 is the amount of control customization. With options like tweaking horizontal/vertical look speed, the bounding box (more on that later), and the sensitivity, it's a hardcore gamer's dream.
Now, the bounding box is where you can aim without turning the camera. If you want quick, on-the-dime controls, you'll quickly learn that shrinking the bounding box to its minimum will help you out immensely. This, coupled with the kajillion other options, show that EA Canada worked hard to make sure everyone could be comfortable playing.
Now, enough about the controls. Let's get into the meat of the game, shall we?
Single-Player
The single-player mode of Heroes 2 is short, but well-made. The levels are long enough to satisfy, and not too long where you go "meh this is becoming tedious". The Nazis, while not very smart, will take cover and take small bursts of shots at you. For the most part, the AI is disappointing, but most of the time the Nazis present high levels of difficulty because of their numbers, and how many shots it takes to knock them down. There are some tense situations that you'll be thrown in, just because of their numbers, and it seems like EA Canada said "Since our guys aren't that smart, we'll just spam them to make it harder."
That brings us to difficulty. There are three levels of difficulty to choose from, and the easiest lets you lock-on to close enough targets. Even in the easiest difficulty level, the game can still be hard and you'll have to replay missions a few times before you're able to defeat it.
The single-player campaign is good, but not great. It's also disappointingly short, maybe taking the average gamer 5-7 hours to complete. Luckily, Arcade mode was thrown in to increase replay value.
Arcade mode is an on-rails shooter. Think Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, except with Nazis, and they're not continuously walking toward you. You can replay all the levels through Arcade mode, and they do increase replay value by a bit, but not much.
Multiplayer
Where Heroes 2 lacks in single-player, it makes up in multiplayer. The Wii finally has a hard-hitter when it comes to online multiplayer. Did Nintendo really expect us to play Super Mario Strikers: Charged for that long?
The 32-person mutliplayer is fantastic. There's very little lag, and the maps are quite varied. While it doesn't have a million maps (I think there's 5 or 6), it's plain fun. There's nothing like teaming up with a few guys and gunning down a sniper spot, right?
There are 3 modes. Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag. Your normal modes, really. A little more meat around here wouldn't have hurt, but you'll probably stick to just playing your favorite mode.
Also, when it comes to multiplayer, I know you're thinking, "Uh-oh. Friend codes?" The happy answer is, no! The game use EA Nation, EA's own online service, which means lobbies and other cool thinks like that. It's too bad that there's no voice chat, though, although the blame goes to Nintendo for that, not EA.
Overall, the multiplayer is great, and it'll keep you coming back for more, just like it has for me.
Graphics
The graphics, while not fantastic, are good. The character models look a little funky up-close, but the enviornments are varied and the textures look good. The draw distance is also very good, which is evident during multiplayer games when you want to look across the map. Heroes 2 is also more colorful than your normal WWII game, which is a nice break from the normal dreary, gray enviornments.
The gun details are great, and you'll see all the nifty little bolts and screws on them. The rugged textures on them look good, and the overall modeling is good. Sound
When it comes to WWII games, sound is important to enhance the atmosphere. Gun sounds are good, and you can determine which gun is firing from the sound, which is great. Of course, you've got the random German-shouting from the Nazis, but that's expected.
The sounds of the enviornment are good. If you have surround sound, it's even better. The little echoing noises in the hallways by the U-boat anchoring areas, and the little touches help out a lot.
Overall
Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 is a solid game. It offers great replay value, and it's a step up from other third-party efforts on Wii. It's well-worth the money, especially with the online multiplayer.
