If you can stomach some more WWII, this game is worth playing.

Since the launch of the Wii many developers have been trying to create some sort of working control scheme for first person shooters, and rightly so as in theory the Wii should be the perfect console for a good fps.  Many have came and gone but none have left as much of an impression on me as Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 has. Up front I will say I am not even a fan of World War II settings in video games, they have been done to death and if I never have to fight another battle on the shores of Normandy it will be too soon. Despite that I found myself actually having fun going through all these familiar settings with the Wii remote and nunchuck. 
 

The controls are spot on thanks to some clever customization options, most notably the dead zone for aiming. This box controls when your character will start turning based on where your aiming reticle is on screen. If the box is set to its maximum size you will not be able to turn until your reticle is near the edge of the screen, opposite of that you can shrink the box down as small as it will go which in turn will allow for quick turning. This custom tailored Wii setting is one of the options that gives the game a solid control scheme for whoever is playing. 
 
Otherwise Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 is your average fps, the guns are all WWII era ranging from the Thompson, the MP40, to the classic Bazooka. The entire game is spent mowing down Axis forces and stealing vital documents in the usual level by level format. There are a few things to break up the tried and true formula from time to time such as using turrets or mortars to hit foes from a distance, but in the end it is just another way to kill the enemy. The lack of variety really is one of the games only downfalls, as fun as it is using the Wii remote to aim down the iron sight of a MP40 to take out your foes around halfway through the short campaign it can become quite boring.  
 

Of course Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 isn't exactly a one trick pony. For each level you clear in the campaign you are allowed to replay that level in a different mode titled Arcade mode.  As you might guess this is your simple on-rails shooter and while it is the exact same levels from the campaign it feels very different since you have no control of your movement and there are near endless amounts of enemies on screen at a time for you to shoot down. 
 

Speaking of near endless amounts of enemies that alone can take a toll on the Wii hardware. While the game looks and runs smooth, especially compared to other Wii titles, when too many enemies are on screen or are a far distance away things can start to look bad. The frame rate drop isn't terrible alone but enemies begin to look and move like cardboard cut-outs. The best example of this I remember is a later mission when you are tasked with destroying a massive group of Axis forces off in the distance via the mortar. The many enemies in the distance looked like they were pulled from a 2D fps from 15 years ago, moments like these are an ugly blotch on an otherwise pretty game. 
 
Even with these limitations at times the game boasts impressive 32 player online matches. At least, it is impressive on the surface. While there is no shortage of people to play with there is only 3 modes, deathmatch, team deathmatch, and capture the flag. While this alone isn't terrible or anything the game lacks structure, most of the maps are too small for 32 players and it can sometimes take over a full clip of most guns to actually kill an enemy. The same goes for yourself of course, but it just takes far too long to kill players online without head shots or explosions. Also upon death you can go into a customization screen and actually switch teams if you wish. The online experience is plagued by these problems and after a few hours I found myself avoiding it altogether. 
 
Looking past that Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 is still a solid game. If you can stomach another World War II game and wish to see what a good fps controls like on the Wii this is a game for you. Arcade mode is a nice bonus but not a huge selling point, and if the only console you own is a Wii this is one of the few games with a working online mode despite how weak it is.