GENRE
	First Person Shooter
	DEVELOPER
	EA Canada
	PUBLISHER
	Electronic Arts
	NUMBER OF PLAYERS
	1-4
	WI-FI ENHANCED
	Yes
	DS COMPATIBLE
	No
	BUY NOW AT

Let’s cut right to the chase: Medal of Honor Heroes 2 is one of Wii’s better games, and any self-respecting FPS gamer needs to give it a serious look. Electronic Arts has crafted a really solid title, maximizing Wii’s two biggest strengths: an innovative controller and built-in Wi-Fi. In so doing, EA has set a benchmark for shooters and online experiences that surpasses anything Nintendo, or any other developer, has accomplished on the system.

visuals

While Wii owners are notoriously defensive about their console’s graphics capabilities, most will be pleased by what Heroes 2 accomplishes. The graphics are comparable to Call of Duty 3 on Wii but include the additional implementation of some bloom lighting, which really helps soften the lines. Textures are not overwhelming but are still good enough to carry the game, and the same can be said for character models. In a concession to framerate considerations, dead enemies vanish from the screen, but this lack of realism is a small price to pay for what is a smooth performance.

audio

Great atmosphere characterizes the sound. The music is vintage World War II, with the sort of grandiose orchestra that players have come to expect from the genre. Voice work is professional and appropriately gruff as befits the genre. Sound effects are excellent, with each gun resonating with its own trademark tone and explosions ringing with realistic ambiance.

gameplay

Medal of Honor Heroes 2 is, not surprisingly, a first person shooter set in the World War II era. The core gameplay features multiple settings surrounding the Battle of Normandy. The plot is pretty basic, but essentially the player takes on the role of an OSS operative who is operating within the Army. The game features your usual assortment of weapons, including American and German pistols, rifles, machine guns, grenades and bazookas.

EA’s shooter offers three main gameplay types: campaign, arcade and multiplayer. The campaign mode, perhaps predictably, begins with a beach assault and culminates with an attack on a secret German base. Each level takes place in a different venue and features a wide variety of primary and secondary objectives. Spanning eight chapters total, the main campaign offers about 5-7 hours of gameplay. While this is not terribly long, the game also adds some value by featuring three separate difficulty levels and some unlockeables to add to the replayability.

The campaign mode and multiplayer mode work with a spectacular control configuration. The IR functionality proves to be the absolute best shooting mechanics that can be had from the comfort of one’s couch. The real secret is the ability to customize the sensitivity of the game’s "bounding box," the point at which the IR causes the player to turn. Unlike Metroid Prime 3, which limits the player to three preset options, Heroes 2 allows any range of sensitivity, all the way down to near-pixel perfect sensitivity, should one be so brave. The ability to move so quickly is a real asset to the game and one of the reasons it stands out among the FPS pack.

The rest of the controls are intuitive enough. Reloading is mapped to the d-pad, as is crouching. (Occasionally a player will try to reload and accidentally swap weapons instead.) The A button triggers a zoomed-in sight view, while Z offers a targeting assist in campaign mode. Grenade throwing is effected by targeting the screen, then flicking the Wii remote, while tilting the nunchuck allows a player to lean out from behind walls. Sniper zooming also uses motion, employing the twist of the Wii remote to zoom in and out.

The game’s arcade mode deserves special attention because it operates differently from the rest of the gameplay. The controls support both standard controls and the use of the Wii Zapper, and they play much like, say, Ghost Squad or House of the Dead. The player is moved along a series of on-rails levels and must fire from behind cover at legions of oncoming Axis targets.

There are a few soft spots in the gameplay that should be addressed. First, while the IR is fully adjustable, the button-mapping is not, and players might find that a little oft-putting. Second, the game’s AI can be a little poor sometimes; we observed, for example, a few instances where NPCs from opposing sides sat virtually on top of each other without firing a shot. Finally, some areas in the single-player campaign suffer from lots of infinitely-respawning enemies, which might be off-putting to some.

multiplayer

The US and UK versions of Heroes 2 comes packed with multiplayer online gameplay for up to 32 players on one map. (Tragically, the Australian version lacks online functionality, which really guts the overall Heroes 2 experience for gamers Down Under.) Online modes include deathmatch, team deathmatch and capture the flag.

EA’s multiplayer is excellent and puts Nintendo’s version to shame in almost every single way. There are no friend codes here; users simply sign up once for a single master account via EA Nation to play all EA titles. Finding a map is as easy as logging on and scrolling down a list. Map sizes range from small to large and allow for several customization options, including making maps private for those who only want to play with friends.

Best of all, the online experience is both well-populated and mostly lag free. We playtested on the US servers and found them to run smooth, even at peak playing hours, which is a testament to EA’s solid online infrastructure. The online population is not overwhelming, but there are a good number of players currently online -- between 400-600 players at any one time. Even several months after release, there are enough players on the servers to satisfy nearly any variety of gameplay type the game offers.

There are some shortcomings to the game, although several of them are inherent Wii’s limitations. One, there is no voice chat, only a few nebulous preset text chat options. Two, there is no downloadable content such as extra maps and no prospect of any, given Wii’s lack of a hard drive. Three, there is no real way to sort among skilled or non-skilled gamers, meaning a new player could find the first few rounds a rough indoctrination into the online world. Finally, the map selection feels a bit on the skimpy side; this is especially true for players looking to play capture the flag, as one map (the village) is far and away the most suitable for that game type.

overall

Despite its origins as a PSP port, Medal of Honor Heroes 2 really feels like a ground-up offering. The shooting mechanics are superior to Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, the arcade mode is comparable to Ghost Squad or Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles, and the production values compare favorably with just about anything not featuring Mario or Samus. On the multiplayer front, Heroes 2 proves superior to almost anything Nintendo has yet published, save perhaps Mario Kart Wii. In short, this is a game that any gamer with even passing interest in first-person shooters needs to check out. Highly recommended.

8.5/10