Medal of Honor Heroes 2 Review

The Medal of Honor franchise has been busy as of late. After releasing Medal of Honor Heroes on PSP last fall, EA has published Medal of Honor Vanguard for PS2 and Wii, Medal of Honor Airborne for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, and Medal of Honor Heroes 2 for PSP and Wii. Is the second Heroes and fourth Medal of Honor game in a year worth your gaming time in a holiday season as packed as 2007? Yes it is.

One of the first things you will notice in playing Medal of Honor Heroes 2 is that it is one of the best looking third party games on Wii. Whereas Vanguard had no big distinction graphically from the PS2 version, the Wii and PSP builds of Heroes 2 are completely separate. One of the reasons it looks so good is that they use assets from a next-gen game for PS3 and Xbox 360, Medal of Honor Airborne, on things such as the weapons. The game also runs at 60 frames per second.

Just as in any game on the system, the controls and gestures for Wii are a pillar of the development of Heroes. This meant making gestures that made sense and weren’t just thrown in. Unlike Medal of Honor Vanguard for Wii, which had three different gestures involved on the Wiimote (reload, melee attack and a 180 degree turn), Heroes 2 only has reload, which is done by flicking your wrist up. Thrusting forward with your Wiimote and nunchuk acts as the melee attack.

A few neat things that they’ve done with the controls are the bazooka and shotgun. Reloading the shotgun involves a pumping action. The bazooka can only be fired in the scopes when you place the Wiimote on your shoulder like you would a real-life bazooka, controlling your aim with the nunchuk and firing with B. A satisfying launch sound, using the Wiimote speaker, goes off in your ear to let you know that your deadly explosive was fired. It can be an affective weapon that will take out groups of people at once.

There are three game modes to choose from: the 32 player online multi-player, single-player story mode and the Arcade mode. The multi-player is adequate, it won’t challenge Halo 3 or Call of Duty 4, but it is the best on Wii so far. You have deathmatch, team deathmatch and CTF. Unfortunately, no voice chat. Blame that on Nintendo, though.

I spent most of my time in the two offline modes. The single-player story is solid. Depending on the difficulty setting you select, the AI can be fierce. If you played Medal of Honor Vanguard, you pretty much know what to expect. The biggest difference are the vastly improved graphics and refined controls with fewer gestures.

The Arcade mode is something that you would not really expect from a Medal of Honor game, yet it works quite well. Think of this as a Time Crisis or House of the Dead arcade-style shooter. There is an on-screen reticule and your weapon selection is chosen for you. Since you never collect ammo, you can fire as much as you want. Just remember to reload. The AI was built separate from the story mode, as these guys will just run at you, relying on numbers over strategy. You do not control your movement, instead being controlled on a rail. The fact that both single-player modes play so differently guarantee a unique experience as you play both, even though you play through the same levels.

The Wii has a serious lack of quality third party titles. Medal of Honor Heroes II helps to fill that void. From the online multi-player to the single-player story and arcade mode, there is plenty of shooting to be had. EA attempted a first with 32 player multi-player on Wii (most PS3 and Xbox 360 games don’t even support it) and they deserve credit for their attempt. Even better, EA Nation is used in place of friend codes. That’s right, no more friend codes! If for some reason you find yourself bored this holiday season, Medal of Honor Heroes 2 will keep you entertained for some time.