The original Brothers in Arms gave tactical shooter fans a taste of the World War II gaming market which was ever growing in success, with both realistic games, like Call of duty to more arcade games like the famous Medal of Honour series. Developed by Gearbox software, Brothers in Arms Road to Hill 30 was released for Xbox, Playstation 2 and the PC, it was a tactical shooter, which was more realistic than most other shooters around, but also offered a high level of intensity. Although Brothers in Arms was not groundbreaking, it definitely deserved a sequel and indeed it did get one, Brothers in Arms Earned in Blood was released just over a year later. The original game followed a Sergeant in the 101st Airborne called Matt Baker and is based on true events around Normandy and D-day where Sgt. Baker lead a squad of paratroopers into enemy territory. Brothers in Arms Hells Highway again follows Matt Baker, but this time he is taking part in Operation Market Garden, a plan which at the time was believed it would end the war by Christmas 1944, however ultimately ended in disaster for the Allies. Brothers in Arms Hell’s Highway like many game series will be moving onto Next Generation platforms. The game is being published by Ubisoft, who are taking other successful series onto next gen platforms have Rainbow six: Vegas and Splinter Cell: Double Agent making their next gen debuts.
The storyline in the first Brothers in Arms game was one if its strong points, it was well presented and interesting. When you first started the original game, it seems you were being thrown into the deep end as Matt Baker and his company are pinned down and outnumbered by a relentless enemy. It was mayhem – bullets, shrapnel, pieces of wood and blood were all over the place, it was distracting and made the player confused what to do. Looking at the trailers, Brother in Arms Hells highway looks to continue this trend of intense and frantic gameplay. The Gearbox Team prided themselves over the accurate mapping of levels, they looked at old photographs to try and model buildings accurately and to place them in their correct place. The comparison screen shots of the old black and white photographs which overlap the in-game screen shots looked impressive at the time; however since taking the step up to next-gen platforms we can expect a lot more detail with the same accurate modelling coming as standard. As well as screenshots being released comparing in-game models with real life buildings, there is also a video available which shows the original game models compared to the next-gen models and the difference in detail and textures is incredible and hard to believe in parts. The developers have employed ex-military staff who will advise the team on weapons, manoeuvres etc. Then there are obvious improvements in graphics which comes with the next-gen upgrade, Gearbox Software are also claiming that 'Next-Gen Narrative' will be another key point covered in Hell's highway. What this means I'm not quite sure, the storyline in the original Brothers in Arms was excellent and based on true accounts taken from Matt Bakers journal and reports. First person shooters aren't usually noted for their story lines, however the way the events unravel in Brothers in Arms made the game compelling . Since it’s based on true events the developers wont be able to change much, like in Medal of Honour games where some missions were fantasy, it will come down to how the story is presented. If it follows on from its predecessors then it will take a more personal direction instead of the usual mission briefings seen across all genres on first person shooters. War can be a great backdrop for games and movies, what with all the guns, explosions, tanks – it’s all very exciting and I'm sure any fan of movies such as Saving Private Ryan, which offer and excellent cinematic experience, will be looking for a similar experience with Brothers in Arms Hells Highway.
Hopefully, the leap in graphics which is very noticeable when comparing screen shots with last gen versions, the game will provide a more cinematic and realistic experience for the gamer. The game will make use of Dolby Digital 6 channel surround sound which will surely be a blessing to the gamer but perhaps not for the parents upstairs. With the original game, enemies would mostly be at one point, but sometimes they would attack from all directions, hitting your flanks and such but a lot of it was simply pinning the enemy down, attacking them, then once they were finished it was just a case of repeating this moments later. The addition of vehicles helped add some variety into the gameplay but in Hells Highway there will be mortar teams and bazooka teams to command. Hopefully more than this will come from the next-gen upgrade which will be helped by better sound, more detailed graphics and effects and more enemies on-screen. There were voices of concern when one trailer for the game was released which has a very sloppy frame rate, however the video showed off some of the features of the game, including some wonderful vivid graphics which seem to capture the typical Dutch styling of the times which can also be seen in other World War II related games and movies. As well as showing off the visuals, it also lets us see the character interaction and the bonding of the soldiers through anecdotes and the usual conversation. This helps the player become more aware of the team mates, especially when the action comes thick and fast. Most games you couldn't care less about an AI team mate dying, however in Brothers in Arms as well as being helpful to win battles, the chances are you will know a little bit about them which brings a nice personal touch to the game and perhaps makes the player consider more sensible plans of action. We know that the unsteady frame-rate shown in that trailer won’t be present in the final release, but we don’t know much about the multiplayer yet.
Details of the multiplayer in Brothers in Arms Hell’s Highway are scarce, it will be on-line so you will be able to play with friends over Xbox Live but downloadable content has yet to be announced. It has been confirmed that the on-line portion of the game will support more human players that the previous game which was also Live compatible. I'm sure we can expect the same type of game modes available in the original game but changes and upgrades will probably be made where they can. There will also be an on-line co-op mode included which should certainly please a number of fans!
Brothers in Arms was a highly regarded game on the Xbox and its next-gen sequel looks to continue that success on Xbox 360. The team are proud of their work, they are obviously interested in Second World War history and are eager to share the stories taken from it, in this instance the story of a certain Sergeant in the 101st Airborne. They dedicate a lot of time to authenticity within the game and it comes across well, in fact it’s definitely worth mentioning the article which contains a lot of information on Market Garden, which is the campaign followed in the game. So as well as its excellent realism factor the game also looks sharp and detailed, the character movements look believable and its storyline delivery helps this game stand out, which is saying something when you look at the line-up of Xbox 360 games scheduled for release between now and early next year. No official release date for the game has been given, although many speculate it won’t be released for at least a couple of months into 2007. Surprisingly, there was no mention of the game at X06, but expect news concerning Brothers in Arms Hells Highway to come in more consistently on its build up to release.
Preview By: Fraser Keith
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