Customizable controls make-up for a list of short-comings
With the notable exception of Metroid Prime 3, the first-person shooter/action genre on the Nintendo Wii has been dominated by WWII-based games. Although it is the third major title on the Wii to revisit the European theatre of the 1940's Medal of Honor Heroes 2 provides enough unique features to allow it stand out from its predecessors.
The single player campaign comprises eight different missions, all of which feel rather generic after playing through Call of Duty 3 and Metal of Honor Vanguard prior to this game. Visually, Medal of Honor Heroes 2 does not break new ground. Textures are decidedly low-resolution and although there some exceptions environments are often quite barren. The true innovation in Medal of Honor Heroes 2, however, comes in the form of control. Infrared-sensor controls, such as dead-zone and turning rate, are totally customizable making pin-point accuracy attainable. The control customization offered in Medal of Honor Heros 2 realizes the potential of first-person control on the Wii and sets a fantastic president for subsequent titles in the genre. Indeed, the control scheme is so nice to use that it makes an otherwise relatively un-engaging story fun to play through.
Medal of Honor Heroes 2 is the first multiplayer online-enabled shooter effort put forth on the Wii. While the online modes, which include Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag, may be new to the Wii, the online system generally lacks in comparison to offerings on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. For example, there is no matchmaking available, which essentially offers up noobs to the slaughter, character animations are reminiscent of skaters from Blades of Steel, and bugs such as invincibility, walking on air, getting stuck in a crate are too common and unpatchable. That being said the short-comings do not make the game unplayable and the online multiplayer modes are generally enjoyable to participate in. If the Wii is your sole console this game is the best/only online shooter currently available and one of the best online offerings on the platform.
With its flaws, had a previous title dialed in a similar level of user control and/or a fully fledged online multiplayer component Medal of Honor Heroes 2 would not be as significant a release as it is. However, it is the first title on the Wii to take full advantage of the available infrared and motion controls and breaks new ground on the console in terms of multiplayer integration. For those two reasons it is definitely worth playing and overlooking its flaws.
