	Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
	Developer: Gearbox Publisher: Ubisoft Release Date: Out Now Players: 1, 2-16 multiplayer	Words By:
It's been a while since Gearbox's WWII FPS-RTS has graced our consoles, with their first two Brothers in Arms titles being released for the Xbox and PS2, so this is the first truly Next-gen outing for the 502nd Airborne Regiment. The series has always been renowned for getting you in the thick of it with the grunts, be it when their best mate has just been blown to smithereens by a mortar, or when they're just shooting the shit about which superhero could beat up the other. But what does it play like? Brothers in Arms carries on the story from the first two games, with you taking up control of Matt Baker from the first BiA. The game pushes you through a variety of set-pieces, each with a couple of flanking points, with two squads of troops at your disposal. These vary but usually consist of a suppression and assault squad. Essentially your tactic is to keep the enemy hiding under cover while you and the assault squad nip round the side and unload several clips of lead into Jerry's arse before they know what hit them. The mechanic really hasn't changed from the last two games, and fans of the Medal of Honour series will still wonder why you can’t just run down the middle and take out a whole platoon with a single Panzershreck, but I find on the whole the change in pace to a slower, more methodical game works well. You'll constantly have to stop and think of a new way around a strongpoint and if you're too slow the Germans will see what you're up to and change position, rather than sit blissfully unaware as in the previous games. This is a more 'realistic' approach to war FPS, but you'll find the game constantly reminding you that this is a computer game, despite gritty realism and angst-ridden soldiers, by the massive great red icons pointing out enemies in the distance. I know it would be almost impossible to play otherwise but there must surely be a less intrusive way of letting you know where the enemies are. They are shooting at you, which is usually a good indicator of friend and foe, although not in always the case of the US Army... A new addition to the dynamic is the inclusion of destructible cover. This adds a whole new dynamic to the game several ways: when assault troops get close enough their attack icon changes to a grenade sign. Ordering them to attack now will see them lob a couple of grenades over their cover and right into the lap of those pesky Nazis and blowing them into their air, usually with limbs travelling in the opposite direction to torsos. Having a problem with an entrenched MG-42 nest in a church tower or building? Not anymore! Get the bazooka squad a clear line of sight and they'll blow a massive chunk out of the side of the building. Job done. Unfortunately like most games (we’ll exclude Red Faction, Battlefield: Bad Company and Mercenaries 2) it’s the lack of objects in the game which we are allowed to destroy that is both inconsistent, and at times pitifully lacking. Although some stone structures can be blown halfway across the map simple stone walls and other less solid items can take everything you throw at them... Controlling both yourself and the two squads isn't too complicated and the controls are largely the same as the previous games. You can quickly switch between squads and the previously existing problem where the game recognises an 'attack' order as a 'move right in front of them and sit around like lemons' order is much rarer. However sometime the same problem still rears its head and it's much harder to ignore it. The movement/attack cursor works by line of sight and sometimes it's hard to issue orders to take cover behind a wall across the road when you can't see all of it, especially when you're looking over a wall yourself. Try to sneak out to see completely the area you want to send them and you're promptly killed. After a reload you try to order them near the area, hoping the squad’s AI will be good enough to make them take cover as near as possible to the point to which you ordered them. They do, but on the other side of the wall. When you combine this with the bizarre routes your allies take to get to their destination, usually running right into enemy fire, this makes moving your squads on the harder difficulty settings almost impossible. It's much less hassle to just stick them at the back of the map suppressing, do all the flanking yourself and then move them up when it's all clear. Surely with a detailed in-game map already in place it could have been used to order more precise manoeuvres, just like a real squad leader would do? To break up moving from strongpoint to strongpoint on foot the game also throws in a few vehicle sections where you get to run amok in a Sherman Tank. Things start off quite nicely, with some nice sound and realistic targeting but it quickly turns into a bit of a turkey shoot as you deal with mostly infantry and the enemy Panzers seem to be driven by blind paraplegics. The only real enemy you'll face is the control system of the tank, which is jerky and unresponsive at times, and by the end of each level you'll be glad to get back on the ground with Baker and the gang. The graphics are nice in places, particularly with regard to the character and gun modelling. The action is fairly gory and the game slows down with headshots and explosive kills so you can enjoy blood splatters and limb-flinging rag doll action for longer. This works pretty well and pre-dates the much-vaunted slo-mo effects in Fallout 3 by months. The environments range from devastated towns to spooky deserted hospitals and really create a tense atmosphere. Particle effects such as rain look great, although some effects such as underwater and wet clothes don't look so hot. The game is rife with graphical glitches that completely take you out of any atmosphere it tries so hard to immerse you in. Boxes will float in mid-air, bazooka troops will fire in one direction and the shell will magically ping 180 degrees and go in the opposite direction. Getting stuck on tiny bits of scenery is frequent and annoying as it's usually as you're moving between cover. I know the game was already heavily delayed but this is precisely the reason why you shouldn't rush games out at the expense of thorough quality control. The storyline is one of the game's advertised strong points, where Gearbox make all efforts to change your AI squad mates from more than just cannon fodder but soldiers with character and a fleshed-out background. In between missions cutscenes will show incessant banter and moments of bonding between the soldiers, all trying their best to make you care a little bit when they all are inevitably bumped off one by one. Unfortunately the game tries way too hard and it seems to portray your unit as a bunch of whiny, philosophical pacifists who spend ten minutes crying and cursing the horrors of war every time a squad member dies, and then either die too, or develop a psychiatric illness. I really connected with the soldiers in TV series Band of Brothers and there was less than 10% of BiA's 'war is hell' preachiness. Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway is a fun tactical shooter and offers something a little different – it’s FPS action but with a strategic element strapped to it. However this is what I said when I reviewed the first Brothers in Arms game a few years back, and nothing really seems to have changed at all. In some ways this is a plus, as the squad element is great and really doesn't need changing but other areas, such as AI and pathfinding, have been crying out for a shake-up since day one. To release a game that's not different enough from its previous titles and with more problems is a step back for Gearbox, but if you haven't bought either of the previous titles you won't be worried with the lack of progression and you'll have a lot of fun.

Best Bits
- Slo-mo goriness!
- Cool destructible scenery
- Fun set-pieces
- Cinematic Storyline
- Good soundtrack and dialogue

Worst Bits
- Levels are still quite linear
- AI teammate problems
- Graphical glitches
- Preachy cut-scenes


by: Crazypunk