Medal of Honour Heroes 2

[Emo-Iwata]

Medal of Honour Heroes 2

 

Developer: EA Canada-Team Fusion

 

Publisher: Electronic Arts

 

Genre: Shooter

 

Platform: Wii,Psp

 

Release: Nov 6 2007(US)

 

Vids:

 

It's June 6th, 1944, and the war is in your hands. Step into the boots of OSS Operative John Berg and infiltrate Normandy from behind enemy lines to undermine the Nazi regime.Choose to tackle all-new missions in traditional single player campaign or engage in massive, 32-player online, continuous-joining multiplayer battles where you can jump into the battle at any time.

 

In addition to a full-fledged single player campaign, Medal of Honor Heroes 2 also features an all-new mode designed specifically for the Wii that simplifies gameplay for players of all skills levels for easy pick-up-and-play action. This mode plays like an old-school rail shooter — the Wii moves you around, while you do your part—taking enemies out and achieving objectives. The Wii version also features full support of the Wii Zapper (name not final), allowing for a more immersive WWII action than ever,the game also features 32 player Online.

[Hahaman]

yeah lets see how this turns out to be with the zapper

[Emo-Iwata]

As a committed pacifist, I can't believe what I'm about to write. I played a war game at EA's offices this week and found it downright delightful.

 

Those of you who follow the Medal of Honor series closely probably found yourselves wallowing in a sweet miasma of shame and disappointment over the previous Wii installment, Medal of Honor Vangaurd. It's no secret that the Vangaurd port controlled like a drunken walrus in ballerina slippers. On top of that, it just wasn't there. The Nazi shooting gallery felt so awkward and ungenuine, you kept expecting a carny to hand you a large purple elephant doll as a reward for your sharp eye. Thankfully, none of this is the case in Heroes 2.

 

EA Canada has collected some intelligent, dedicated designers that poured their hearts into creating what could be the Wii's quintessential first-person shooter. Let's run through some stats. Online multiplayer modes featuring up to 32 human combatants: check. Intense showdowns in varied historical locales that run in a smooth, lagless 60 frames-per-second: check. Graphics that look like they took longer than a couple of 80-hour crunch weeks to create: check. Absolutely no friend codes needed for convenient match-ups with your friends across EA Nation's server: holy mother of God, check.

 

Hit the jump for my hands-on preview and conversation with the game's lead producer, Matt Tomporowski.

Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 has three major modes in its Wii incarnation: arcade, campaign, and multiplayer. The arcade mode is an on-rails shooter, much like Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles. The game shoves you along a conveyor belt through a preset path of World War 2 carnage. The area I tried in this mode was a Nazi-infested submarine port in Normandy. The gameplay was very basic but entertaining. Your character has the ability to quickly duck behind objects to hide from enemy fire (think of the cover pedal used in the Virtua Cop series). You can shoot sprays of bullets by firing the Wii remote's trigger or zoom in on distant enemies for precision sniping. Health packs hide throughout the landscape and can be picked up by simply shooting them. The arcade mode was obviously designed for a more casual light-gun styled experience, and considering this, it was actually a lot of fun to play. Although I only had time for one level, an EA spokesperson stated that the arcade mode was a full-fledged component of the game, equal in scope and importance to the single player campaign.

 

The game supports the Wii Zapper and I have to second Colette's opinion: it's not as cool as it should be. There were no problems with this game's implementation of the zapper and thankfully, you aren't required to use it. Besides being generally clunky and awkward, my main complaint with the Wii Zapper is that it reverses your general idea of how you would fire a gun. For pointing purposes, the Wii remote is encased at the front of this plastic contraption, with the analogue stick holstered further back. This setup creates a major problem: you're actually pulling the trigger to fire the gun with the wrong hand. It doesn't matter if you're left handed or right handed, however you hold this thing, you'll be firing it with your finger directly under the muzzle. I kept switching my hands back and forth trying to find a way to do this comfortably, but it continued to feel counter intuitive. There aren't many ways to resolve this problem with a peripheral that doesn't already have all of the Wii contoller functions built in. If you're looking for a cheap plastic casing to replicate the sensation of holding a gun, you might be looking for a long time.

[if you're reading this right now, that means I'm you in the future trying to send you a message. Wake up! Snap to action!]

After playing the arcade mode with the gleaming white death machine, I was able to move on to the single player campaign with an unadorned Wii remote and nunchuk combo. I had the time of my life with Metroid Prime 3 last week, and I admit that I did walk up to this game with a certain amount of premature schadenfreude over it's potential failure to stack up. Well, I was wrong. Is the egg showing? Rather than an isolated pocket of success, Metroid might prove to be the game that leads the pack in an avalanche of well-designed first person controls. EA Canada's Matt Tomporowski told me that his team had been enjoying Corruption and really admired the controls, "We really like it. We're big fans of the Wii, big fans of Nintendo. The controls are great on Metroid. What we did is we really learned from other games. Not only EA Games, but non-EA games for the Wii that really get the remote."

 

The aiming controls for the campaign mode are responsive and sensitive, you are no longer required to flick the controller in an epileptic seizure in order to do basic game actions, you don't need to park your reticule in the corner of the screen before the camera performs a nauseating turn; in other words, they're a complete 180 from the controls in Vanguard. Speaking of 180s, there's even a handy command for instant 180 degree turns to snag enemies sneaking up behind you. Take that Samus! Heroes 2 also employs a smattering of context sensitive Wii remote controls. If you pick up a rocket launcher, you'll actually hold the Wii remote upside down over your shoulder to fire. There are sections where you'll need to clear land mines by waving the Wii remote slowly until it begins to vibrate. These unique implementations feel organic to the game, work as they should, and are generally unobtrusive.

 

Tomporowski elaborated, "What we did is, we had two priorities. One was: let's really nail the controls. The second was: let's make the best game, in terms of visuals, that we can on the Wii." Playing the actual game you'll be impressed by the muscle they were able to squeeze out of the Wii. EA confirmed that the game uses anti-aliasing technology, which has been a point of contention for many Wii detractors.

The multiplayer mode might be the most exciting feature of the game. This section wasn't available to experience at EA's offices yet, but the details sound promising. We'll be able to compete against 31 other players online in three different challenges: capture the flag, death match, and team death match. You can select between six different maps that feature similar settings to the single player campaign, but have been customized to improve the multiplayer experience. When EA decided they would allow up to 32 players to compete, they knew they would need to ditch the friend code system and host the game on their own servers. I asked Tomporowski if he found there was a lack of online infrastructure from Nintendo to support the game. He responded that it "was definitely a challenge. It wasn't for lack of desire or trying. You know, the Wii's really new hardware. There's a lot of challenges. I think, long term, it's going to be easier and easier to develop with Nintendo online and we're going to be seeing a lot more Wii games online. You know, at Christmas and next year. I think we're probably at the front of a big wave of online [games]."

 

Serious gamers will definitely be spending more of their time with the single player campaign and the multiplayer mode. The split focus between the arcade mode and the more traditional modes was a brilliant decision and should go a long way toward silencing those who thought the move to EA sullied the franchise's original feel. By focusing separately on a casual arcade mode and a more traditional single player campaign--rather than creating an awkwardly fused Frankenstein game out of both-- you end up with the best of both worlds, not the worst.

 

It seemed like there was a general acknowledgment on EA's behalf of the mistakes that occurred with Vanguard and a serious effort has been made to rectify those problems. There was a lot of talk of recreating and paying homage to the classic Medal of Honor feel. Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 hits the street for the Wii on November 13th, which means you'll only have one day to cuddle up next to bee suit Mario before jumping in to slay the Axis forces mercilessly and mit vernugen.

 

source

[MarketTantrik]

IGN's Casamassina says new Medal of Honor 'beats the pants off Metroid Prime 3' controls

 

From Joystiq

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/25/igns-cas...he-pants-off-m/

____________________________________________________________________________

 

With equal parts vindication and deep personal loss in his life, IGN's resident Nintendo fanboy Matt Casamassina seized the moment and spent a little time blogging. The big revelation is that he believes the upcoming Medal of Honor Heroes 2 is a new benchmark in Wii FPS controls. He says there is a video coming in the near future, but for now says, "[MoHH2] officially beats the pants off Metroid Prime 3 in the the FPS control department."

 

Casamassina also says while speaking with Shingo Mukaitoge (Elebits, Dewy's Adventure) that the game producer "paused for a moment, smiled, and would only say, 'That's a secret.'" in regards to an Elebits sequel. Mukaitoge says his team is already working on a new Wii project and will announce it soon. We're kinda looking forward to another Elebits. It's no secret that the game was a rush job for the Wii release, but it'd be interesting to see what the team could do with a little more time.

_______________________________________________________________________

 

Finally !! A reason to get a Wii.

[Emo-Iwata]

IGN review

 

http://wii.ign.com/articles/833/833766p1.html

 

8.0 Presentation

Narrative voice acting and stylistic briefing videos set the stage for a return to classic Medal of Honor gameplay. Menus are slick and attractive throughout.

8.5 Graphics

Running at a solid 60 frames per second, Medal of Honor is smooth and visually pleasing. Make no mistake about this game’s graphical leap over the PSP version.

8.5 Sound

An inspirational orchestral score blends with tons of VO, voice morphing/ear ringing effects for explosions, and simulated surround for an impressive audio experience.

8.5 Gameplay

IR control gets no better than this for Wii FPS games. Online runs extremely well, and the amount of customization is a huge plus. Still a bit buggy at times, but impressive nonetheless.

8.5 Lasting Appeal

32-player online, a full single player campaign (about six hours), and an arcade mode added in. This is a great amount of bang for your buck.

8.4

Impressive OVERALL

 

sounds good to me,too bad i have a major fpsphobia

[Hahaman]

medal of honour series is back to its best

[K'dash]

aah waiting for this awesome fps for the wii!!!

[Hahaman]

its out today m getting it after i get the wii zapper

[Emo-Iwata]

its out today m getting it after i get the wii zapper

 

where are you getting it from??you are getting the legit version right??

[Hahaman]

^^havent ordered it yet m getting ghost squad ofcourse from playasia

[Emo-Iwata]

ghost squad cool!!!the bikini girls and the banana guns are awesome!!

[Hahaman]

haha u getting it

[Emo-Iwata]

haha u getting it

 

not atm cos there are too many other games that are already on my must buy list but i eventually will.

[MarketTantrik]

Ars Technica Review

 

From Ars Technica

_________________________________________________________

 

Game Review: Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 (Wii)

 

By Frank Caron | Published: December 06, 2007 - 09:32AM CT

 

As much as I love Metroid Prime 3, it's not the kind of shooter that you can just pick up and play once in a while on a whim. The steady flow and intricate design of the game just doesn't lend itself to that kind of play. Aside from the plunger shooting in Rayman Raving Rabbids, a good pick-up-and-play FPS game has been slow in coming to the Wii. Thankfully, Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 manages to fit that bill.

 

Unlike the less-than-stellar Medal of Honor: Vanguard, Heroes 2 combines a solid selection of responsive motion-based controls with the IR-aiming that is pivotal to the Wii FPS experience. Better still, a wide variety of adjustment options are available to fine tune the controls. This makes playing through the otherwise typical shooter far more enjoyable than its competition.

 

While the game doesn't veer far from the beaten path of the World War II genre, the campaign is still fun to play thanks to the tight controls. Once you get into the action, you'll find an assortment of typical assault and defend missions, as well as the requisite momentary bomb-planting, sniping, and turret-based tangents. If there's any one complaint about the single player offering, it's the old problem of duration: storming Northern France in the game's eight missions is a relatively short experience, as each mission will only take from 20 to 40 minutes to complete. The Wii Zapper friendly on-rails arcade mode is fun, but again, it's a short-lived thrill.

 

What really makes the game worth coming back to, though, is the excellent online multiplayer. While shockingly modest in comparison to the online offerings on competing consoles, EA has actually managed to fill a fairly significant niche on the Wii by presenting what is arguably the strongest online experience available on Nintendo's console.

 

At first glance, it's easy to dismiss the multiplayer. The graphics are abhorrent—I liken it to what the N64 would have produced if it had online play—and there are only three modes: deathmatch, team deathmatch, and capture the flag. The player customization is incredibly basic, with only a few permutations, and there are only a handful of weapons to choose from.

 

However, once you actually get into a game and start shooting others with the Wii remote, you'll forget all that: there's something so inherently rewarding about the level of physical skill involved in deftly avoiding death in Heroes 2.

 

Best of all, the game actually runs pretty well online: the framerate stays solid and there are few game-related connection issues to be found. Perhaps even more impressive is the implementation of "EA Nation," EA's proprietary online platform that arose this year from Madden 2008. After signing up for the service and picking a username, you'll find a helpful assortment of community tools that will allow you to find, register, and invite friends, send messages outside of games, and more—all without friend codes. And with support for up to 32 players online, there's simply no rival to Heroes 2 on the Wii.

 

Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 may not be the prettiest or longest game around, but it offers a solid first-person shooter experience that is easy to pick up and play, and it has some serious staying power thanks to its strong online mode. It's surprising to say this, but EA has yet again managed to push the envelope of Wii software.

 

Verdict: Buy

___________________________________________________________

[Emo-Iwata]

it's funny hoe EA is the one making games based around traditional genres that are actually good and takes advantage of the system.

[Haroldo]

Where do I buy Medal of Honour Heroes 2 in Mumbai, anyone?

[MarketTantrik]

^^ Try Shivam (Heera Panna), Origin (Inorbit), Ninja (Musafir Khana).