Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 (Wii) Review
Next to sports titles and racers, First Person Shooters (FPS) make up one of the most populous genres across most gaming platforms. Though being born through the PC, FPS have settled in nicely among the various past and current generation consoles. Gamers are far from short on choice when it comes to the FPS genre and there’s a wide variety of FPS shooters out there ranging in style and ultimately, quality. The majority of gamers will be quite familiar with the Medal of Honor series. Developed by EA, there have been countless iterations of the series across platforms over the past few years. Most involve major wars of the past, such as World War 2, and thus give gamers the chance to relive history to some degree, as the take on the role of the allies taking on the German forces. Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 (MoHH2), follows this recycled approach. Yes, the story and general theme of MoHH2 is as old as time itself, but does the game stack up against the competition? Read on to find out.
First, let’s get the lack of online out of the way. Yes, MoHH2 was released with an online component (a well received one mind you) in America and Europe, but once again Australia gets a slap in the face and EA, for whatever reason, omitted the online component from the Australian PAL version. Coupled with the fact that the game doesn’t have local multiplayer either and you already have a substantial problem on your hands. Furthermore, the campaign mode (more on that soon) isn’t particularly long, so questions regarding the value of the game must be asked. It’s disconcerting that the online mode was omitted from the game, especially considering it was considered quite good across the pond. There’s no denying that it detracts from the overall quality of the game. Ill be frank; I took marks off for this unwarranted omission. However, there is little need to dwell on this issue, so we shall move on.
As a FPS shooter, MoHH2 is a mixed bag. The controls are one of the most important aspects, considering the nature of the Wii-mote and Nunchuk. MoHH2 was received as the next best thing to Metroid Prime 3 in various other presses, and though I agree that the controls are good, they fall well short of those found in Metroid Prime 3. There’s plenty of room for customization of controls, so you should be able to tweak it to your own personal liking. They controls are also usually responsive, but there are times when the controls become jerky and the character would just spin or the aiming reticule would be all over the place. It is possible that it may have been a problem with my control or positioning. But I have no reason to believe my controls don’t work (every other game I have been playing works as normal) and I changed my position to no avail. I must stress that this experience didn’t always happen, and it wasn’t difficult to fix, but it still made the experience a little annoying at time. However, apart from this issue, the controls are well thought and generally well executed. Not quite on the same level as Prime 3, but I certainly think the controls in MoHH2 stand well above some of the previous efforts we have seen on the Wii.
Though the control makes for the better experience, MoHH2 fails to offer anything that hasn’t been done before. The World War 2 theme has been done too much and all of us have played this game before in one form of another. The main campaign see you play as OSS operative John Berg. Your task is to infiltrate Normandy and fulfil various tasks to put a stop to Hitler’s antics. Each level in the campaign mode includes both primary and secondary objectives. These include such things as finding secret documents, blowing up boats, infiltrating certain areas, defending areas, and so on. Again, things we’ve done time and time before. The controls do make some objectives more entertaining, as they are certainly more immersive with motion control gestures. Setting a bomb to a boat with various gestures is far more enthralling then simply pressing a button and running. The enemies in the game, as well as your team mates, aren’t particularly exciting in terms of A.I. Half the time, I wasn’t even sure if my team mates would do anything, and the enemies will generally shoot at you regardless of your soldiers’ positions. It’s also a bit disappointing that game like GoldenEye 007 on the Nintendo 64 can include various animations and death sequences based on where you shoot the opponent, but more modern shooters don’t. All in all, the campaign mode is a tried and true textbook experience. It’s not bad; it’s just old and unoriginal.
On top of the Campaign mode is an Arcade mode which I must say, is a welcome addition. This mode allows you to play through each of the games levels like an on rails shooter. Movement is entirely controlled by the game, your job is simply to aim at the enemy and kill them. The benefit of this mode is that it allows inexperienced gamers to tackle the game with a much simpler and more streamlined approach. It also allows players to build on pertinent skills (such as accurate aiming/ducking) that can then be translated into the campaign mode. Even though the Arcade mode is played across the same campaign mode levels, it still adds value to the game and gives you the chance to improve skills or tackle the game in a different manner.
Graphically, MoHH2 boasts pretty impressive visuals, even if a little bland at the time. Animation is generally ok and the game runs nicely at 60FPS. The surrounds look and do the part well, despite lacking much variety in colour. The game sounds impressive too, with a decent soundtrack complimented by spot on effects. Walking on different surfaces will produce different sounds, and the explosions, gun shots, and comments from both enemies and allies are great. It still falls short of a PS3 or XBOX360 title, but it looks like an improvement on Gamecube title, which is the least we can ask.
So, how does one rate MoHH2? Not an easy task, and remember that the lack of online (or local multiplayer) hurt the game – quite a bit. What we have is a FPS that fails to offer anything new or original. The controls are certainly good, but the experience is still much of the same, even when you take into account improved control methods. The campaign mode takes us through missions and scenarios we’ve faced many a time before, and it isn’t more than a couple of days of play. The arcade mode adds some value, and provides players a different way to play the game. However, beyond this, the game offers very little. It is in no way a bad game, but it’s a little too safe and predictable. Had the online component been kept for the Australian PAL release, then the overall quality, and score, for the game would have been different. As it stands, MoHH2 is worth a look for die hard FPS of Medal of Honour fans, especially those who value quality controls. For everybody else, there’s more value for money in the market, so perhaps a rent will suffice.
