26 December 2007 0:00 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Medal of Honor is back once again on the PSP, but can the WWII first person shooter capture our imaginations once again? We pick up a rifle and find out.

The storyline is simple: It's June 6th, 1944, and the war is far from over. In you step in to the boots of OSS Operative John Berg with the task of infiltrating Normandy from behind enemy lines to undermine the Nazi regime.

Of course as a special agent of the Office of Strategic Services, you must use tactics of combat, infiltration, assassination, reconnaissance and sabotage to carry out the covert operations that will help defeat the Nazi war machine once and for all.

Designed specifically for the PSP, Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 gets you straight into the action fighting the Germans on the beaches before moving inland to the usual French cities players of the series will have come to know.

Movements and controls are fairly straight forward and you get crouch, stand and jump controls as well as a plethora of weapons to use along the way including those of your enemies.

In keeping with previous titles you'll only be able to carry a limited number of weapons, mainly a machine gun and pistol, and we found that with your bullets in short supply you'll be doing this sooner than you think whether you like it or not.

The single player missions, which to be honest won't take you long to carve your way through, are balanced with plenty of Germans to kill and plenty of scenery, which looks great and you can also use to your benefit.

But where the game is appealing is in its multiplayer offering. Here if you can find 31 other mates who've gone out and bought the game you can play against them online in a series of deathmatch modes or settle for just 8 of you in the room and play via an adhoc network.

The online offering is up from eight in the last outing making a massive difference and although the game modes aren't anything that strikes out of the ordinary they are still good fun.

Maps are taken from the short-lived campaign maps, which are relativity large but have been reworked for the multiplayer action so the action flows better.

So what's the catch? Well its not that easy to control and you've got to master movement with the analogue stick (something that isn't that hard) with camera control via the four square, triangle, circle and cross buttons on the right of the screen. Unless you've got a thumb the size of a giant you're going to struggle and it's this that spoils the gaming experience.

Verdict

If you are into your WWII shooters, Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 will bring you the next hit of satisfaction just like a large espresso.

The graphics are top notch for the console and the online multiplayer element fantastic if you can find the friends to challenge.

So what's the catch? The controls will take some time getting used to.

Score

Review Recap

Made by

EA

Price as reviewed

£30

The good

Multiplayer mode, action, graphics

The bad

Single player campaign is short, controls hard to master

Quick verdict

If you are into your WWII shooters, Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 will bring you the next hit of satisfaction just like a large espresso

Score

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