A wonderfully refreshing and engrossing squad-based World War II shooter. What an oxymoron.

User Rating: 9.3 | Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 PC
By wjones14 | Review Date:
In the crowded genre of World War II shooters, and indeed, first person shooters in general, it's hard to come up with a game that both breaks the mold and is still enjoyable and polished. Gearbox Software, the development team also responsible for the expansion pack Opposing Force (Half-Life), has done just this. In fact, the game is so obvious in its authenticity and quality that the Veterans of Foreign Wars fully endorses this game. Authenticity. That is the word that you will hear most associated with this game. When are (literally) dropped into this maelstrom of fighting and death, you will be hit, again and again, by both graphic images of war and moving conversations that provide insight into your soldiers' lives. The movement, tactics, vehicles, weapons, hand signals, and uniforms are all authentic right down to the button. Gearbox spared no expense in researching at many museums and memorials around the world. Normandy has been mapped down to the yard. Everything you see in this game was there 60 years ago, exactly as it appears in the game. First, the gameplay. The first few levels help show you the game's mechanics via hints that pop-up and little videos that show the various features of the game. The game doesn't start you right off with the responsibility of leading a squad of men. Instead, you slowly accrue the rest of your unit as you complete the missions around Normandy. The game's chapters are all based the actual actions that the 502nd, your unit, took during and immediately after D-Day. The game controls like a normal first person shooter, albeit with no prone or lean keys. This is to discourage players from sniping enemies or remaining stationary. The key to this game is suppressing the enemy with one team and flanking with the other. The game includes toggle-able icons that show an enemy's current 'suppression-level', for lack of a better term. All commands are issued with the click of a button. You don't have to micromanage your men; in fact, they can think pretty well on their own. Just tell the team leader where you want him to put his men, and it'll get done. There are no crosshairs, so you have to use the iron sights. This both makes the player pause while aiming (your movement is slowed dramatically while using the sights) and makes the player have reduced peripheral vision while sighting an enemy. Aim too long in a vulnerable spot, and you may not even notice the enemy to your side taking aim at you. In addition to a suppressing team and a flanking team, you can also command tanks at certain points, whose mechanics work the same as commanding men. One big impressive feature of Brothers in Arms is the AI. Your men are intelligent and don't need the babysitting that other games of this genre would have you do. Likewise, the enemy is ruthless and intelligent. This is the only first person shooter, in history, to actually have an enemy that will take cover and be suppressed by your or your team's fire. It really feels like you're fighting humans that have a will to live rather than mindless automatons that simply run at you. Graphics and sound are very good in this game. The bloom effect is used throughout to give the game a nice outdoor look. The overcast skies in particular look very realistic. Uniforms and weapons are all impressive, and have a decent amount of kick to them. Models and effects are all detailed. Sound is especially impressive. You will be taken aback the first time you hear an MG42 firing on your position while your men hurredly take cover. The maps are all fairly small, but are extremely detailed and give you a good range of options for taking out those pesky Nazi scum. This is a graphically violent game in the vein of Band of Brothers or Saving Private Ryan. The violence isn't overdone (no insta-gibbing enemies), but it also does not sugarcoat the effects the bullet has on the human body. Some swearing is here too, but it's not gratuitous or in bad taste - these men are desperate and frenzied. Multiplayer is also used to great effect in this game. Unlike other games, where simple modes such as deathmatch or capture the flag exist, BIA opts for a different route. With a max of 2v2, and each player controlling one or two teams (2-3 men each), the players are given objectives such as taking codebooks or destroying german artillery pieces. These maps are all original, and are not copied from the single-player portion of the game. The length of the game would have to be my sole complaint. At around 12 hours for the average player, it's not exactly a marathon gaming experience. However, there are different "extra's" such as images or videos that are unlocked by completing the chapters with the three different difficulty levels. You can also unlock the "Authentic" difficulty level, which eliminated saves, all icons, and makes the enemies much tougher. In conclusion, this game is a refreshing and original look on the Greatest War. It can even be considered a tribute to what these men endured for our sake. There are so many nuances to this game that it wouldn't be practical to mention them all in this review. Just know that this game gets you as close as you'll be able to get to combat in a video game. Not only will you have a great time, but you'll learn a heck of a lot about the war and what really transpired on that fateful patch of ground called Normandy.

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