Brothers in Arms: HH Review

BY Soheil Sadeghi | POSTED: 14 October 2008

"You did not desert me, my brothers in Arms – Dire Straits, 1985"



War; one of the most devastating events in the human history; is nothing interpretable into any media. Not that it is not possible to write or make a motion picture or more importantly for our interest make a game out of it, but no story, film or a game can truly demonstrate what the soldiers had gone through. We only get a glimpse of the hell they have lived in and we can just scratch the surface of the feelings they had during those moments.

That's why by looking at the latest edition of Brothers in Arms you will think again about the people who have fought shoulder to shoulder and have gone through hell and back or probably stayed there forever. In any other game based on the World Wars or any other fiction or non-fiction war, you just think about your own character alone, other soldiers are just there to fill the screen, but not here. In BIA: Hell's Highway they are here to show the importance of friendship, sacrifice and brotherhood. A vision that without a doubt was present in the battlefields among the soldiers participating in the fight. From this point of view, soldiers are not just pawns of a chessboard, easily dispensable for a greater goal. They are here to help each other end what has started and get safely back home to the mothers and wives and the children whom are waiting and praying to have one last look at their loved ones.

Gearbox's BIA: Hell's Highway is a tactical squad first person shooter. The addition of squad commands coupled with the strong drama of the transition from boys to men overnight were the insignia of the previous games in the series which made their way to this installment too. On the other hand the intensity of the battles and their successful creation has made this game not your ordinary WWII FPS game. The story follows our old heroes from 101st Airborne Division with Staff Sergeant Matt Baker as our in-game protagonist again. For those of you newcomers interested in this game, it is the third installment in the Brothers in Arms series which first appeared as BIA: Road to Hill 30 in 2005 on original Xbox and PlayStation 2 followed by BIA: Earned in Blood in the same year.

The interaction between the squad members and the levels of humanity they share amidst the inhumanity of war made one of the better stories ever told in a computer game. The first game was based on a true story of the squad but some of the battles they participated in are based on fiction. From the moment you start the game you will build a strong connection to every single soldier in your squad and like it or not the cruelty of war will separate you from many of them and this fact has made our hero of Hell's highway game lost in delusions and troubled as a leader. The story is strongly influenced by the previous games which will cause some difficulties for a gamer without the background knowledge of the other two titles, and although the game tries hard to shed some light on the events that happened before, some will find themselves lost in the story unable to connect the bits and pieces together.

The game relies on your skill as a soldier and a leader, the success of your missions depends on the strategy you deploy in the warzone. Almost in every level of the game you have squads of different characteristics ready at your command. The base of fire and MG (Machine Gun) Squads are used to suppress the enemy while you and your bazooka or assault squads move from one place to the other to flank the enemy and get a better shooting position. The command system is easy and consists of simple follow me, attack target and move commands. You can select each squad by pressing a button and giving instructions to that squad independently. There is a map available in each level so you can build up your attack plan before blindly going in on an assault. Although on the medium difficulty of the game, you just deploy your squads in some positions and go get the main objective done yourself, like you usually do. But in harder settings you will not be that lucky.

The cover system is also present in this game, while you cover behind an object the screen will go to a third person view giving you a better understanding of your surroundings. You can pop out of cover and shoot the Nazis or you can throw a grenade to finish off a set of multiple enemies. Enemy and friendly soldiers alike have good but not perfect artificial intelligence. When you order your squads to move from one location to another they will usually choose the safest path available and the enemies will try to stay hidden and shoot you when they get a chance. But they could've improved the AI section. Because you will not find an instance when an enemy soldier tries to throw a grenade at you or your teammates, or you have to manually order your assault squad to throw a grenade at the enemy's hideout when they are close enough.

The graphics and sounds are of high quality in this game. The levels are beautiful and successfully give the feeling of fighting in countryside or small towns. Character models although not as pretty as what we can find in a game like Call of Duty, has very good details and can show the characters' emotions. Sound effects and the music are great. While in a fight, the shouts of the enemy or your squad members coupled with the sound of heavy machineguns or mortar fire have made this game an unforgettable gaming experience. It is also noteworthy that the level of gore in this game is also very high, your grenades cause dismemberments and it is shown in a very close and detailed slow motion. This action camera is also triggered when you headshot an enemy soldier.

The game also supports multiplayer gaming too. Two opposing teams will be deployed in the zone and each soldier (total of 20 players) given a certain role in the battlefield must choose his weapon and remain with his squad to complete the objectives and gains a victory for the whole team. One player is assigned as the leader who will give orders to the rest of the squad so teamwork and sticking to the group's plan is essential during the online play too. Squad leaders can also request aerial recon and you can also be designated as a tank team driving or gunning from it. The servers which I played on where populated and did not make me wait for a game to begin.

Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway is a nice addition to the series. The new gameplay elements and the added details have made a very solid and interesting game. The cut-scenes developing the story are very well done which gives a cinematic touch to the whole experience. BIA proves that games based on WWII can still be fun to play and the genre is not dead, and it is very good news for the rival Activision with its next Call of Duty title. But at the end, there's nothing beautiful about war itself.