Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway Review
- Posted October 6th, 2008 at 01:35 EDT by
- 6,966 views
- 20 Comments
Review Score
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
- PSU Review Score
- 7.0
- Avg. user review score:
- 5.8
Summary
Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway provides an emotionally charged story that will draw you into the battlefield, but some lackluster AI, visuals, and online play will take you right back out.
We like
- Amazing storyline
- Solid cover system
- Pretty particle effects
We dislike
- Inconsistent AI
- Lack of visual polish
- Lame online play
See PSU's review on Metacritic & GameRankings
Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway is one of those rare games that manage to capture the realistic emotion and sentiment that true soldiers on the front line experience. The series has always followed the 502nd Parachute Infantry, 101st Airborne Division throughout their trials and tribulations of war. Revealing the soldier’s deepest thoughts, fears, and personality development, Gearbox Software captures the minds of gamers and sucks them into the battlefield. While these men are no strangers to insurmountable odds, Hell’s Highway is a retelling of Operation Market Garden, a World War II disaster that resulted in many casualties.
Operation Market Garden is also known as the largest airborne invasion within the history of warfare. The plan, which was originally designed to end the war by the Christmas of 1944, ended up being the Allies' greatest failure and the Nazi’s last great victory. The idea was to invade Holland and capture a highway point that would enable the Allies to drive straight into the heart of Germany. Hitler, however, had his best soldiers and tanks surround the area. The Allies were completely oblivious. When they overtook the highway and victory seemed sure, the Nazis came crashing down around the Allies, ending any hope they had at gaining control of that highway.
The majority of the story revolves around Staff Sergeant Matt Baker. You spend a good portion of the start of the game being shown flashbacks of his earlier years, as well as a portion of the stories (from other games in the series) leading up to this point. This is a definite bonus, as it gives gamers who haven’t played the earlier titles a chance to understand what exactly is going on. Baker spends a lot of his time between missions reflecting on his childhood as well as fallen comrades that he’s fought alongside. Throughout Hell's Highway, these aspects come across as genuine, not corny. With this game, Brothers in Arms continues its standing as one of the most emotionally riveting series on the market.
If you’re a fan of the series, you’ll have a strong grasp of the controls right from the get go. Fortunately, if you’re a newcomer, you’re able to go through the game with tutorials enabled until you have a better understanding of the controls. To give you heads up, do not expect to run through Hell's Highway mowing down Nazis as though you’re a new-age Rambo. It just isn’t going to happen. Unlike other titles where you can push forward as your own one man army, BIA forces you to take a strategic and methodical approach to the battlefield that you may not be expecting. The best way to go about pushing forward is eyeing areas where you can take cover, then taking down enemy soldiers one by one. A word of warning is necessary, though -- be careful what you cover behind, as some cover is destructible. If you take cove behind a flimsy wooden barrel, for instance, don't expect to stay there for long, or you'll face rather painful consequences.
So, if you can't be a one man army, how do you make any progress? BIA is actually comparable in a sense to Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2, as you’re given the opportunity to instruct your teammates to perform certain tasks such as laying down cover fire. In total, there are three types of troops you can control to get the job done. These types of squads include Firing, Assault, and Special Weapons teams. If you’re going to be successful, you’ll need to learn how to play to each team's strengths and weaknesses.
Unfortunately, the squad AI is one of the downfalls of Hell’s Highway. Though occasionally your teammates will display glimpses of brilliance by laying down suppressive fire and taking cover, there are also times where they’ll come off completely stupid. For instance, when I instructed one of my units to take cover safely behind a wall, the marker was position right and it should have worked. Sadly, two of the soldiers decided to jump the wall and ended up with more holes in them than 50 Cent on a good day. Another odd occurrence that takes place with your squadron AI is the teleportation issue. I ... (continued on next page)
- Page 1
- Page 2
Comments
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
edward_moffet |
edd- 11:01am BST - October 6th, 2008
- 11
i think this is a fair review this is probably what i would've given it, they should've delayed it though, if it had a little more visual polish especially better facial animation, then it would have had an even better emotional experience, and the a.i. had some weird moments.
but i did like the tactical layer given to it, and the different squads you command make it feel more like your really in an army setting and not a one man hero type of thing story was also another good aspect of the game, its really too bad the ai glitches and lack of polish drag this title down, should've delayed it until december i think then it wouldnt have to compete with resistance 2 or anything and they could've made it better
-
-
XSpike_SpiegelC |
XSpike_SpiegelC- 12:45pm BST - October 6th, 2008
- 13
a 7.0?? but i guess you guys played the whole game, we just got the demo. I would give the demo at most a 5.0....
-
-
-
-
ryuken
- 4:41pm BST - October 6th, 2008
- 17
Like I've mentioned before its all about covering and headshots.... but I have to say so far I've killed at least half of the nazis with a shot clean to the head, at first I thought it was the only way to take em down. They do get health back just like you though. I started in veteran and was a bit dissapointed with the ease at which I could clear levels.... oh yeah the thing I hate most is when I go to take out an "88" and I kill half my guys cause there dumba ss' and they followed me to the explosion but not away from it!!
-
StevenHibs |
StevenHibs- 3:03am BST - October 7th, 2008
- 18
nah sorry 7.0 is not fair, a definite solid 8 at the very least!!! Was this guy reviewing the demo or the final game, because the faults he described were not present in my game!!! Strange, oh well, I suppose maybe its my opinion, ( I guess opinions are like ar5eholes, EVERYONES got one).
-
cheff |
cheffer- 7:58am BST - October 18th, 2008
- 19
I just finished playing and think that a 7 is a bit generous. I enjoyed the way the game played but it has far to many things that let it down, graphics, AI, story, and its a little repetative. Its funny to say despite all of the complaints i still enjoyed the gameplay, but would not advise anyone to buy it!!!!!!
-
Advertisement