Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 Review

Posted by Mark van Steen March 23, 2005

An MG42 planted in a farm house up ahead is covering the entire road. My two teams quickly run into the bushes, only to find them occupied by several packs of Germans. While my fire team courageously suppresses the German fire, I move the assault team further ahead. The enemy ducks for cover from the bombardment of bullets from my fire team, but they're oblivious to the assault team moving up their flanks. The assault team opens up on the exposed Germans, who divert their attention from ducking to attempting to fire back. But it's too late for them.

With the bushes cleared out, our attention goes to the MG42 in the farm house. Again, while having the fire team fire on the enemy, the assault team moves across the road for a safer attacking position. Half a dozen German soldiers scream orders and fire back from the vicinity of the farm house, but the M1 Garand is a trusty ally in this particular part of the battle. Eventually, my fire team goes around the back of the house and eliminates the MG42 gunner. Then, just when I think it's safe to catch my breath, at least two dozen German soldiers swarm onto our position. My buddies start screaming as, no matter where you look, there are enemy soldiers closing in fast. The assault team tries to keep them at bay while the fire team rushes to the rescue, and a few moments later the silence of victory falls upon us. My heart is still pounding from that unexpected counter-attack... that was tense.

"... just when I think it's safe to catch my breath, at least two dozen German soldiers swarm onto our position."

That's how a lot of the action goes in Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, Gearbox Software's brand new World War II shooter. While the comparisons with ‘King of WW2' Call of Duty are abundant, in Brothers in Arms you are not a conscript who'll just run at the German army and shoot them all the way back to Berlin. In fact, if you attack with open visor here, it's highly unlikely you'll make it even half way across the street, let alone to the Reichstag. Brothers in Arms may be a WW2 shooter, but at the same time it incorporates a lot of strategy similar to Full Spectrum Warrior. The difference however is that, while in Full Spectrum Warrior you just get to shout the orders from your safe third person camera, in Brothers in Arms you're actually there, with a gun, and with a body that can get shot just like any other soldier on the battlefield.

The Assault squad attacks German soldiers head-on

Ubisoft Entertainment (the game's publisher) and Gearbox have been in the spotlights ever since last year's E3 unveiling of Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30. The tactical gameplay, as well as the authenticity of the levels and the story - which is based on the true story of the 101st Airborne Paratroopers - have you believe you are there, fighting for the success of the Allied invasion in 1944. A WW2 shooter like no other before it; that much is certain.

Gameplay: 9
As I've tried to translate to mere words in the gameplay example above, Brothers in Arms is tense. The gameplay consists of combat alone, but very often you'll find tricky situations play just like a strategy game, only from the first person perspective. Early on in the game you will be following orders, but pretty soon you'll command troops ranging from a single paratrooper to two groups (Fire & Assault team) or even Sherman tanks. Also, with help of the game's tutorial, it becomes very clear that flanking is the way to go. The game comes with a large poster explaining this military move actually, where one team fixed the enemy (Fire Team) and another team goes around the enemy to attack from an exposed side (Assault Team). It may seem simple, and often it is (when there are only a few ways to tackle a situation – single player games are still often rather linear, and Brothers in Arms is no exception) but Brothers in Arms shows exactly why these tactics have been key to victory in war for centuries.

Your own equipment, which usually consists of two weapons and a few grenades, is pretty hard to use. Like in real combat, when aiming down the sight your weapon will sway, making it tough to hit or even kill targets. Especially when the enemy has taken cover, shooting becomes less lethal and more a matter of pinning the enemy down so your AI squad can eliminate them from an alternate position. The same rules go for the AI though, no-one is likely to score monster kills just by being a good shot.

Suppress with one team, flank with the other

Brothers in Arms' tactical side is very well done, but just like shooting it's not very forgiving for the Rambo's among us. When a member of your squad is shot down, he will not be replaced. He'll usually be back on his feet the next mission - apparently the game's narrative and authenticity are much more important than your tactical incompetence - but unlike, say, Call of Duty you don't have an unlimited supply of GI Joe's at your disposal. However, if you learn how to use your fellow paratroopers effectively, you don't need a whole army: their AI works excellent, they take cover nicely and rarely get stuck. It's some of the best team AI I've seen in shooters of this kind, especially considering you are with them throughout the entire game. Most of the time they'll be screaming at you, in fact, when Nazi soldiers are firing at you or when you're just doing something stupid.

"... the best team AI I've seen in shooters of this kind, especially considering you are with them throughout the entire game."

The game's difficulty level is pretty high compared to other shooters. You can only take a few shots (there's no health bar, just an approximate indication of how close you are to pushing up daisies), you're rather inaccurate with most of your weapons, and a wrong decision or even a late decision can decimate your AI assets in seconds. Attack a tank head on, and it'll be the last thing you see before the menu screens. Nonetheless, Gearbox has taken into account the fact games have to remain fun, so while there are no med kits in the battlefield you will get the choice to reload with full health for you and your squad if you die too many times. Also, since soldiers in WW2 had maps to study the environment in which they'd have to fight, you can pause the game at any time and view the map around you in what is called the Situational Awareness View. This makes it slightly easier to figure out a flanking route. Brothers in Arms is a tough game, making combat very tense, but at the same time it stays as fun as war can possibly be.

Graphics: 8
Brothers in Arms uses the powerful Unreal Engine 2, and with added effects like HDR and pixel shaders the large open terrains look fabulous. The vegetation is very convincing, and so are the buildings: when you're fighting on the countryside, it'll look like French countryside, when you're fighting in towns it'll look like it. Also, character models and animations are excellent, with the exception of some odd lip sync from time to time. More bothersome is the texturing though, as it's pretty obvious the game was also designed for the Xbox. Also, FSAA seems to have no impact, which is common for Ubisoft titles. Still, the overall looks of the game are very good, and when six Nazis are firing on you and your fellow soldiers are screaming for help you will only be thankful for that badly-textured wall, as it will save your life nonetheless.

Situational Awareness View

Performance seems reasonable for the graphics, as on my system the game runs at approximately 30-40FPS at all times using the highest possible settings. Mind you, while that may seem low, the frame rate actually seems capped at around 40/50FPS to prevent high fluctuations. Since the game stays playable at all times, it seems like the right decision to me. Brothers in Arms doesn't beat Half-Life 2, DOOM 3 or Far Cry in graphical sweetness, but it does the job very nicely.

Sound: 9
Very early in the game, I hid in a corner (give me a break, I played on the highest available difficulty!) while watching another soldier fire his M1 Garand. I noticed how powerful every single shot sounded, until the famous *clang* of an empty ammo clip ended his lethal work. The voice-overs are well done albeit a little rough at times, as during in-game cut scenes characters come across as a little robotic. The ambient sounds are excellent and the sounds that wash through your ears after a concussion (tip: don't stand between a tank and its target, nearby explosions aren't good for the ears) were very convincing. The music, while present, doesn't stand out, but that doesn't make it bad. It's just there.

Multiplayer: 8

This German tank has seen better days

Brothers in Arms' multi player is a strange one. It doesn't play like Call of Duty or Unreal Tournament (DM, TDM, CTF), nor does it play like Battlefield (many players, objective-based). Instead, while the game is based on achieving objectives (or preventing it), there are only two to four human players. Sounds bad? Not when you consider that each human player has a team of AI soldiers with him, making for a lot more tactical combat. When you die, you will take over one of your AI places. This approach is new, fresh, exciting and works incredibly well - I was executing flanking manouvres within minutes, pushing Germans away from their defensive positions. There are downsides though, as the in-game server browser is very limited, clan-forming is practically impossible and the maps are not as wide and open as for instance Battlefield's maps. Nonetheless, while Brothers in Arms is obviously single player-oriented, the innovative gameplay could turn out quite addictive.

Replay: 9
Although the single player campaign is mostly linear, there is quite a bit of tactical freedom. This makes many a situation interesting every time you play it. I died plenty of times during the game, but going back to the last checkpoint (no quicksaves here) was never annoying as every time you play it's slightly different. Besides that, some missions are simply worth going back to at least several times, and if you enjoy the multiplayer that should keep you playing for quite a while anyway.

Conclusion
A lot of gamers have grown tired of World War II shooters. Especially with duds like Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault and short 'on-rails' shooters as Call of Duty some seem to think nothing new can be done in the sub-genre. Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 has proven the opposite, adding depth in both gameplay and story, with some excellent technology to back it all up. One of the best World War II shooters I've ever played, and certainly one of the better shooters of recent years.

"One of the best World War II shooters I've ever played, and certainly one of the better shooters of recent years."