Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway

Brothers in Arms has always been one of those series you either love or hate, and Hells Highway is no exception. Not a lot has changed since 2005's Earned in Blood, but for fans of the previous games, this isn't such a bad thing.

Player's still order squads about authentically replicated WWII battlefields, using real-life fire and maneuver tactics to outsmart, rather than outshoot the enemy. There are a few different squads this time round to add to the tactical goodness, namely machine gun and bazooka teams that liven things up a little.

The graphics are a mixed bag. By and large the levels, characters, weapons, lighting and effects look absolutely amazing and actually have COLOUR, unlike the art direction of certain other UT3 based games. On the other hand, lip syncing can get a little patchy at times and there are some environments and cut scenes that just aren't up to par with the rest of the game.

The game also suffers from some irritating flaws. While the game play remains immensely challenging and satisfying (play it through on Veteran difficulty first and no crosshairs) the levels still feel too hemmed in and don't take advantage of the UT3 engines capability for expansive environments. The much touted 'destructible cover' is a crushingly under-used disappointment as well and the solo and tank missions feel tacked on and out of place.

The main draw for me is the continuation of the most heart-felt storyline in video gaming to date. While some of the references may be lost on players new to the series, it seems at times to be like a missing episode of Band of Brothers, dealing with its brutal, unforgiving themes with a maturity and respect that is without peer in the industry.

If you're looking for tactical game play, an excellent story and are willing to give WWII another go, you can't go past Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway

This games graphics are outstanding! I love the way you can hide behind objects and command your own squad of highly trained soldiers. The Extremely good background story is closely interlinked with the intensive game play. Brothers in arms gives you the choice to flank the enemy or have a full on fire fight. Brothers in arms makes you feel as if you actually are in 1944 fighting Nazis not sitting in front of your computer.

This games graphics are outstanding! I love the way you can hide behind objects and command your own squad of highly trained soldiers. The Extremely good background story is closely interlinked with the intensive game play. Brothers in arms gives you the choice to flank the enemy or have a full on fire fight. Brothers in arms makes you feel as if you actually are in 1944 fighting Nazis not sitting in front of your computer.

There are lots of cutscenes in this game, often 5min or more. Voice acting is good and lip synch is usually bang on. You need to know teh previous games quite well to get the full effect - there are lots of references to past events and characters. I personally didn't think the story was that good and it doesn't really have anything to do with Operation Market Garden - it's all about character development.

The controls are the same as previous BiA games, but now you can shoot enemies from a much greater distance. This means that you usually end up sniping most of the enemies then moving up to finish off the rest. The ability to control teams is quite realistic, but you can't order anything except move or suppress. This can get annoying with the bazooka team since they sometimes will just shoot with their rifles when you want the bazooka.

For a game that claims to be super-realistic I found some of it a bit hard to believe, like how is this one section taking on half the German army by itself since you hardly ever meet other support. The tank levels are really easy and a bit weird since you suddenly change to commanding a British tank, then go back to your usual character.

Graphics are good on the whole and some of the levels have some good vistas. Sound is ok but some of the weapons sound exactly the same.

Replay value is limited. The levels are very linear and although you have a few options for flanking usually there is a very obvious and deliberately placed bit of cover out to one side. There are extras to find, like the Kilroys and recon points, but these hardly add anything. There's no bonus for finding all the Kilroys and each recon point gives you some bland info text and very occasionally a short in-game cutscene.