This is the most realistic and intense World War Two simulation out there. You have to play it!
User Rating: 9 | Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 XBOX
I recently got a new Xbox and this is the second game I bought for it.....and I was overwhelmed by the sheer quality this game possesses. The main selling points of this game are the realistic simulation of the fighting in Normandy 1944 and the innovative squad control system. With just a couple of buttons, you can command up to 2 squads or tanks to move, suppress, charge or follow. The execution of these commands are seamless, apart from a few path-finding issues with the tanks. Your squad members are smart enough to find the best available cover when you move them somewhere, and to duck down whilst reloading. They will yell out all kinds of things to keep you informed as to their status, which brings me onto the sound. The sound in this game is amazingly realistic and really adds to the intensity, bringing the game to life. Everything from the weapon sounds (which are recorded from the real-life guns), explosions, voices and environment sounds are believable and clear. It really puts you in the fight when the sound of mortar shells landing around you, the crack of rifles, the screams of the wounded and the responses of your squad mates all combine into an immense maelstrom of noise. The graphics are also brilliant. The foliage is very well done, even up close, which is unusual for most games. Everything in the game is made to look realistic without being overly fancy, which is a good thing. There are some nice effects on the water. Some of the best things are the explosions, which kick up dirt in your face and appear to make craters in the ground. Another noticable innovation is that when a shot lands near you little specks of mud kick up in your face, and blood if you're hit, which gives you a clue to go and hide. There are plenty of real weapons in the game, including their German counterparts, all of which can be picked up and used. Except for the sniper rifles, none of them are deadly accurate, many are very innacurate, which is true of the time and highlights the need for suppressing fire. Suppression is modelled very well by the game, a circle appearing over enemies' heads to indicate how suppressed they are, which judges how vulnerable they will be to being flanked or charged, and how often they will emerge from cover to fire at you. The battles in this game are often epic and unique. The game never really gets repetitive with a variety of interesting missions. From charging up a hill with mortar shells landing all around you, to sprinting towards a machine gun nest through a smokescreen where you can't see more than ten feet in front of you, to sniping Germans from a cathedral tower, to clearing out city streets, you always feel involved and exhilarated. One of the best things about this game is that you can actually visit the locations in real life and they look almost exactly the same. The game is also based on real people, where the characters are real US paratroopers....you may have heard of Baker's Dozen - well thats who you play as, Sergeant Matt Baker. You get attached to your squad mates....until you realise that they come back next mission even if they die. They only get killed properly if the plot requires it. The game defaults to not having crosshairs switched on, although they can be switched on in the menus. It adds to the realism, but some people have difficulty playing without them. I personally don't play with them but I probably would if I played online. The suppression indicators dont appear in split screen multiplayer, although they may do online, I'm not sure because I haven't played it online. Lastly I'm gonna talk about multiplayer. I haven't played it on Xbox Live but I've heard that its good. I have played split screen and it is very enjoyable, the combination of FPS and RTS makes for a good face-off against your family and friends. There are about 11 maps each with different objectives for both sides. The one disappointment is the lack of co-operative split screen. I really think that would have perfected the offline experience. 
