Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 hands-on

Meet this guy…another one of the unlucky henchmen in Medal of Honor: Heroes 2. There he sits, across a body of water…not suspecting the bullet that is about to head his way. While his fate doesn’t involve a happy ending (not that type you pervs), my fate brought me to the perfect sniping position. That same spot also happened to hold the sniper rifle. Imagine the situation if he and I had switched positions. I guess it just wasn’t his day.

Out of all the games on the show floor, I spent the most time with Medal of Honor: Heroes 2. After hearing some various industry gushing, I really wanted to get some good time in with the game. After Medal of Honor: Vanguard, I really didn’t have much faith in the series. From my playtime with the game, it’s very obvious that EA has put a lot of time into this game. Everything from gameplay to controls has been nailed. I know I didn’t get to check out all 8 levels, but if the quality in the level I played is any indication, this game will be a must have for FPS fans.

EA isn’t shy about admitting their aim to mimic Metroid Prime 3: Corruption’s control scheme. That really is the benchmark for Wii FPS games, and MoH:H2 is right there with it. The controls are tight, responsive, and perform fantastically well. EA has even taken it a step further by adding in some new abilities. You are able make your character lean by zooming in (A button), and tilting the Nunchuk left or right. I never, ever use leaning in any FPS games, but I was all over it in this game. It was just so easy to use, and worked out so many times that I couldn’t help myself. Honestly, this control scheme is wonderful, and makes the game a blast to play.

The gameplay, while standard MoH, is fast-paced and action-packed. There were tons of enemies all over the place. Around every corner, doorway, a building there were droves of military men waiting to take you out. They’ll be throwing grenades, sniping, bashing, and charging every second. Once you get a break from the action, you better prepare yourself. Take a few more steps and you’ll be faced with a whole new wave of opposition. Take all this blistering action and add in the visceral control scheme, and you are in for one hell of an engaging experience.

As if the control scheme wasn’t enough to take advantage of the unique Wii elements, the game is full of fun little touches that revolve around the controller. The examples I came across while playing were extremely varied. At one point in the game I had to tune a radio to catch a certain broadcast. You twist the Wiimote to turn the dial, then listen in to the frequency with the Wiimote speaker. Once you find the right channel, you lock it in with A. When using the Bazooka, you hold the Wiimote up by your ear, as if you were laying the body of the bazooka on your shoulder. You line up your shot with the joystick, and fire off your shot. You get to hear the shot fly out of the Wiimote speaker and over to the TV. I don’t want to ruin any of the other surprise elements like this, but they make the game even more fun to play.

I was flat out honest with the guys at EA. I told them that I really had grown tired of the MoH franchise. I hadn’t played an entry in years that got me excited. I can’t tell you how much that changed with MoH:H2. The controls are spot-on, the game looks great, the gameplay is a ton of fun, and it all meshes into a fantastic experience. So far, this game looks to be like the perfect answer to those that like their FPS games with more action than exploration. Trust me, you will want to try this game out.