Genre: Action
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Gearbox
Release Date: March 1, 2005
Buy 'BROTHERS IN ARMS: Road to Hill 30':
Xbox | PC | PlayStation 2
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Thanks to the near-simultaneous releases of Halo 2 and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas during this past holiday season, the AAA period has lasted a lot longer than ever before. Let me eat my own words here; I was originally convinced that the release of those two games was mostly to the detriment of the industry, leaving little room for other releases to have a piece of the pie. And while that may monetarily hold true to some extent, the bottom line for gamers is more robust releases earlier in the year than ever before. Since when do we see games releasing in January like Resident Evil 4 bringing incredibly evolutionary changes to a genre? Since when does a nearly irrelevant series like Tekken make a glorious return to form, following up what many fans considered the worst fighting game sequel of all time? Since when does a late March release like God of War come out of left field and steal the hearts of reviewers across the board?
As far as the current generation of consoles goes, 2005 has shown the best first quarter release schedule yet. And it's not done yet, boys and girls. There are a few surprises yet to come, including one that just may have frozen Satan to his toilet seat.
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A quality World War II first-person shooter for Xbox and Playstation 2 has been released.
No, not just "quality." Phenomenal is a more accurate term to describe the feeling of the pure shock I felt after picking up my Dual Shock 2 and bracing myself for yet another Medal of Honor: Rising Sun or Call of Duty: Finest Hour or … you get the picture. The double-you double-you two shooter genre went stale half a decade ago and has show rare signs of recovery outside the PC gaming world. Even console franchises that stood parallel to passable and even great PC counterparts have traditionally suffered a severe downgrade in almost all regards, as evidenced by the two aforementioned WWII games, which both have had great PC releases and sub-standard console versions. (These developers are clearly not giving console fans enough credit for their gameplay mettle. It's time we ask them to max chain every Ikaruga stage and complete Gunstar Heroes without losing a single life, and see what they would think of us after that.) Finally, a console release will change this monotony, and the deserved stereotype tied around the necks of WWII shooters may be removed. Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, despite its slightly lame subtitle, is the game to change the tide after countless waves of garbage.
Brothers in Arms starts its winning formula with an obvious factor: realism. While the gameplay rarely oversteps its boundaries as a videogame, the narrative is quite literally ripped directly from the war itself. Enter the story of real-life soldier Sgt. Matt Baker as he struggles through a week-long trial to regroup with his squad mates and make his way through Normandy. The tale is told through heart-wrenching cut-scenes that maintain an impressive balance between strong, emotional storytelling and concise presentation, keeping the player stuck to the action. However simple that may sound, it is a balance that most WWII shooters – and most other modern videogames with a story to tell – still have not gotten the hang of. Call of Duty on the PC (definitely not Finest Hour for consoles!) and now Brothers in Arms are the only successful attempts that come to mind.
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The majority of the game is not spent staring at cut-scenes, thankfully, which means that players will spend most of their time playing through incredibly deep strategic battles. The most notable feature of these firefights is the A.I. on both sides. Enemies react like one would expect a trained solider to. They peek only slightly over cover to quickly aim and open fire, and they will regroup, strategize, and flank your ass like never before. And you can do the same thing right back to 'em. Since controlling your squad is a snap, players will be barking out commands like pros in no time. The difficulty curve here is anything but easy, though, and players will have to hone their skills to battle their way through the game. Yet while there is little room for error, the game is not nearly as stiff as Rainbow Six and its ilk, leaving a bit more breathing room for players who aren't military fanatics.
The realism doesn't stop there. A multitude of real WWII vehicles and weapons are fully playable, and presented in a way that is both realistic and appropriate for a videogame. While everything feels extremely realistic, you don't need to learn how to drive a real Sherman tank to play with one in-game. Likewise, you may never able to wield a 1940s-era infantry rifle in real life, but you'll get a hold of the realistic (shaky, but in a good way) rifle action that makes up the majority of the time spent with this game. This is how multi-faceted gameplay is meant to be done. Are you paying attention, Electronic Arts?
And my, do we have a looker on our hands, at that. The French landscape is meticulously detailed in a very realistic manner. Although it does not compare to recent efforts like Metal Gear Solid 3, it is nearly top-tier in quality, and quite an impressive work given the platform. Nuances down to small details like scattered patches of dead plant life among otherwise green fields – marks of previous battles – are present, serving to add to the overall realism of the game. These are graphics that make you feel the game. Even the superbly modeled characters animate perfectly, with nary a glitch to be seen – something all too rare even this late in the 3D modeling game.
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The sound is the only feature of the game lacking the strong punch of the product as a whole. The voice acting is usually spot-on, which is a must in a narrative game like this, but the weapon and environmental sounds lie on the tinny side too often. Gunfire is especially muffled; considering the amount of time one will spend listening to the pops of muzzle-flashes, it would have been nice to make them sound more like rifles and less like popping champagne corks. Nonetheless, the rest of the game makes up for this inconsistency handily.
Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 marks the return of a long scoffed-upon genre. This return was made in style, for sure. At its worst, Brothers in Arms is a slightly contrived kill-to-survive WWII story with popgun sounds representing gunfire, but it would be shortsighted to focus only on those details. This is a uniquely immersive game, clearly crafted by a development team that was fed up with the path of every other WWII console release out there. For once in my life, I'm going to tell gamers everywhere to buy a WWII game for the Playstation 2, and I feel proud to say so.
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