Feature

Inside PlayStation Network – Medal of Honor: Heroes

The digital delights of Sony’s scrumptious PlayStation Network service know no bounds. Aside from letting punters compete in online gaming, stream films, browse the Internet and more, its premier attraction rests in the copious supply of downloadable games ripe for the picking. From PSN exclusives to PSOne Classics, minis and plain old add-on content, Sony’s online space is chock full of goodies battling it out for your hard-earned digital dollars.

Welcome back to another installment of Inside PlayStation Network, where every Monday – Friday we’ll pluck a PSN release—be it new or old—and put it in the spotlight for a thorough dissection. Fancy getting a new PSN game but don’t know what one to plump for? Perhaps this feature will help. Didn’t realize that a game was available in your region until now? We’ve got you covered. Or, perhaps you were musing over what those lucky Japanese folk were tucking into over in the Land of the Rising Sun? You can be sure our coverage will extend to those rare regional exclusives as much as those firmly embedded on the public consciousness.

For today’s outing, we step back in time to the battlefields of WWII for the classic PSP shooter, Medal of Honor: Heroes.

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Developer: EA Canada
Region(s) available: North America, Europe
Players: 1-32

Originally released back in 2006, Medal of Honor: Heroes – the pint-sized ninth instalment in EA’s illustrious FPS franchise – is essentially an all-stars squaddie fest of sorts, reuniting players with the series’ most iconic protagonists. Specifically, we’ve got Jimmy Patterson (MoH and MoD: Frontline), John Baker (MoH: Allied Assault), and William Holt (MoH: European Assault). Three meaty campaigns are up for grabs, taking place on a globetrotting push through Italy, Holland and Belgium, with each hero given centre stage in a specific campaign.

In terms of missions, Heroes brings a myriad of objectives to the briefing room table to punctuate the obligatory, bread-and-butter baddie capping shenanigans. Whether you’re in Patterson, Baker or Holt’s muddy boots, there’s something here to cater to all tastes. Gun nuts will appreciate the formulaic, yet intense bursts of action-based antics requiring you to dispatch hordes of troops, while others will appreciate the surreptitiously-tinged flavour of infiltration missions. Still, you can bet your bayonet that somewhere along the lines you’ll be blowing stuff up, pinching enemy intel or cleaning house.

There’s ample room for replay value too, thanks in no small part to the three difficulty levels: bronze, silver and gold. Bronze is your bare bones affair, requiring you to simply plough through all primary objectives. Silver goes one step further, asking you to clean up on the second objectives too. Lastly, Gold requires you to accomplish all of the above, but also display higher accuracy and cap off more enemies to boot. Furthermore, bagging all three ‘medals’ feeds your rank and completion ratio. Fancy going for that fabled 100% clear score? Then you’re going to have to bite the bullet and – quite literally – go for Gold.

Elsewhere, Heroes also offers up a healthy multiplayer component, accommodating up to 32 players.  Gameplay modes include done-to-death distractions such as Deathmatch to more standout offerings including Infiltration and Hold the Line. Authentic weapons are up for grabs here too, including the legendary M1 Garand, Thompson submachine gun and old faithful himself, Mr. M1911. Needless to say, anyone who has a penchant for WWII-based weaponry will have a field day here. While there’s no point-based scoring system on offer, the game tracks stats via a ranking system that displays your kill-death ratio, with the top 100 leaderboards also on offer for anyone to have a butcher’s at and compare notes.

Tune in again same time tomorrow as we take yet another look Inside PlayStation Network.