BROTHERS IN ARMS: ROAD TO HILL 30 XBOX, PS2, PC
GEARBOX SOFTWARE/UBISOFT
ESRB RATING: MATURE
9/10
- - -
If you sat down and tried to play through all the Second World War-themed shooters that have been released in the past five years, you'd be looking at a time commitment practically on par with the D-Day invasion of Normandy itself.
From Medal of Honor to Call of Duty to Battlefield 1942 and beyond, first-person shooters with a dubya-dubya-two backdrop have become as common as praying men in a foxhole, squeezing every ounce of novelty out of this overpopulated and overwrought sub-genre.
And then along comes Brothers in Arms: Road To Hill 30 to round up these simplistic shooters and scream in their faces, like an especially sadistic drill sergeant. "Y'all think you're givin' gamers some kinda REAL wartime experience, you pansies? You don't know squat! I will own you, maggots, heart and body and soul! Now drop and give me 50!"
You play as Sgt. Matt Baker, a somewhat unwilling squad leader in the 101st Airborne Division. The game takes place over one week's time, from your chaotic drop behind enemy lines on the eve of D-Day to a climactic battle for the French town of Carentan.
Most of the locations and many of your missions are drawn from the actual experiences of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment over those days, and the research and time that have gone into recreating environments, weapons and other details are staggering.
And if you thought the pants-crapping, Saving Private Ryan-inspired Omaha Beach landing in Medal of Honor: Allied Assault was a grabber, wait'll you see how this puppy starts off. The opening level is actually a flash-forward, and, without giving too much away, it's one of the most intense and harrowing gaming moments you'll experience.
After that, things calm down and the game slowly teaches you the skills you'll need to survive in this strange new world. Ultimately, you'll end up controlling two squads of three men (and sometimes the odd tank or other piece of armour), generally using one to lay suppressive fire on an enemy position while the other tries to flank the baddies.
If that sounds like last year's excellent Full SpectrumWarrior, it very much is. But the key difference here is you're not just telling your squad where to go, you're running alongside them, ducking bullets, being rattled by mortar shells and taking aim at intelligent enemies who will kill you in an instant if you get careless or foolhardy.
Because the game strives to be as realistic as possible while still featuring run-and-gun action, it feels remarkably different from most of its first-person shooter brethren. Heck, your guns don't even have crosshairs by default. Rather, you're expected to lift your weapon to your eye and aim down the iron sights, just as a real soldier would.
And if you're surprised by a pair of Germans rounding the corner of a bombed-out farmhouse in the French countryside, you'll probably fire your M1 carbine blindly from the hip - just like a real soldier would, if he was a trembling, fresh-faced farm kid thrust into the maw of war.
Brothers in Arms isn't a flawless experience, nor is it perfectly authentic. A lot of concessions are made for the sake of gameplay, the most obvious being that you're hemmed into predetermined areas by obstacles that should otherwise be easily passable. What, Sgt. Baker can't even climb over a metre-high fence to cut through a field and flank an enemy? Not if the game doesn't want you to, no.
But it would be unrealistic to expect a completely open-ended game world, and, for the most part, you never feel like you're being pulled around by the nose. While the tactically demanding Full Spectrum Warrior was almost like chess with guns, Brothers in Arms gives you more options and allows more creativity when engaging your foes.
And, at the end of the day, you're looking down the barrel of your own weapon and deciding when to pull the trigger.
War is hell, but in this case it's also a hell of a lot of fun.
- - -
BOTTOMLINE
Thanks to its authentic details, excellent production values and strong tactical element, this game breathes new life into a bloated genre.
