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| | Title:
Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30
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System:
Playstation 2
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Genre:
First-Person Shooter
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Publisher:
Ubisoft
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Developer:
Gearbox Software
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Release:
March 17, 2005
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Online:
Yes
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ESRB:
Mature (M)
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With the large number of World War II first-person shooters (FPS) on the market today it’s hard to get excited when a new franchise emerges. That’s not the case with Brothers In Arms. True, there is much to be improved with this WWII game but the title does hold as being the most authentic of WWII FPS'.
The gameplay of Brothers in Arms is both old and new. Old in the sense that the controls are similar to every other FPS on the Playstation 2 and new in the addition of capable squad mates who add a unique dimension to the art of WWII FPS'. In Brothers In Arms, the player takes the role of Matt Baker, an American solider enlisted in the 101st Airborne who has dropped into Normandy on D-Day. Throughout the game the player will encounter Nazi forces as Matt treks across the Normandy landscape fighting for the United States of America. This general concept has all been seen in other WWII games (Call of Duty and Medal of Honor). But Brothers In Arms does things that the others have not.
The new gameplay element in Brothers In Arms is the addition of a squad the player commands. Players have a few simple orders to issue to his team: follow, move, suppressive fire, and assault. What is amazing is how well the squad A.I. reacts to the Nazi forces. For the first time the player will actually want to use his squad. These commands play an important role in the new type of FPS action found in Brothers In Arms. The idea is not to fire blindly at the Nazis. Instead the player wants to move across the map to a position where he has a clear shot at the enemy (ideally defensive as well) and then attack. The player has available to him at any time a mode known as “Situational Awareness.” By hitting the back button the camera pulls up and away from the action. It pauses the game to give the player a chance to see where his enemies are. After checking out the area the player can return to his fight with a better idea of where to move his troops.
The enemy A.I. will also react to the player’s movements. Nazi’s will move to better cover and try to find the best position just as the player is. The result is a tense firefight of constant movement and yelling out orders. To help in this daunting style of gameplay, an icon appears over each group of Nazi soldiers. It turns gray as the Nazis get "suppressed". Suppression results from effective orders given by the player to his squad. The more suppressed a Nazi is, the less likely he’ll attack and, if he does, it’s sloppy. No other WWII title has attempted game play along this line. In Brothers In Arms it works.
To take out the Nazis a player needs weapons. The typical assortments of American WWII arms are found in Brothers In Arms. In addition the option to take German weapons from dead Nazi soldiers is also available. This gives the player numerous choices on what weapon to use. The player can carry two guns at all times in addition to grenades. It’s in the guns that Brothers In Arms encounters its first problem.
The firearms used in the game are not terribly effective. Many times I found myself lining up my scope for a perfect shot only to find that I completely missed my target. To have a gun completely miss when it shouldn’t is not acceptable. The guns’ ineffectiveness takes away from perfectly executed maneuvers. It’s frustrating.
Brothers In Arms is a good-looking game. The environments are well done with some the best trees and bushes seen in a Playstation 2 game. The water effects are also impressive. Just watch as a group of soldiers run through the flooded fields outside Utah Beach. Players will be tempted to reload the game to witness the amazing effect again.
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