The digital delights of Sony’s scrumptious PlayStation Network service know no bounds. Aside from letting punters compete in online gaming, stream films, browse the Internet and more, its premier attraction rests in the copious supply of downloadable games ripe for the picking. From PSN exclusives to PSOne Classics, minis and plain old add-on content, Sony’s online space is chock full of goodies battling it out for your hard-earned digital dollars.
Welcome back to another installment of Inside PlayStation Network, where every Monday – Friday we’ll pluck a PSN release—be it new or old—and put it in the spotlight for a thorough dissection. Fancy getting a new PSN game but don’t know what one to plump for? Perhaps this feature will help. Didn’t realize that a game was available in your region until now? We’ve got you covered. Or, perhaps you were musing over what those lucky Japanese folk were tucking into over in the Land of the Rising Sun? You can be sure our coverage will extend to those rare regional exclusives as much as those firmly embedded on the public consciousness.
Today, we take a gander at downloadable PSP shooter Brothers in Arms: D-Day.
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Developer: Gearbox Software
Region(s) available: North America, Europe
Players: 1-2
Originally released in 2006 before making the transition to PSN two years ago, Brothers in Arms: D-Day plonks players into the heat of the bloody Normandy landings of June 1944. Powered by the Unreal Engine 2.0, D-Day centres on Sgt. Matthew Baker and Cpl. Joe Hartstock as they pair embark on historical missions during the final stages of World War II throughout the sprawling French countryside.
D-Day should be instantly familiar to anyone who has played previous BiA games or indeed Call of Duty. Health utilizes the ubiquitous ‘find cover and regenerate’ mechanic popularised by Halo, with missions themselves employing a checkpoint system, thereby eliminating any pesky backtracking should you end up brown bread. The action is viewed from a first-person perspective, with gameplay focused predominantly on organising your squad so you can pin down the enemy and then flank their position effectively.
As you’d expect, this injects a fine degree of tactical play into the proceedings that sets it apart from your bog-standard WWII blaster. D-Day’s ‘situational awareness view’ proves instrumental in making it through each mission safely, giving you a birds-eye view of battlefield in order to plan your attacks. Of course, you’ll have to juggle the responsibility of managing your squad while looking watching your own hide, so you had better be a dab hand at multitasking.
In addition to the main story mode, D-Day also offers up a skirmish mode that accommodates both solo and co-op battles (the latter via ad-hoc). Here, your objective is pretty clear-cut: eliminate as many foes as possible while avoiding getting a bullet between your eyes. As you’d expect from a game of D-Day’s calibre, there’s an assortment of authentic WWII-era weapons up for grabs for both the American and German sides. On the downside however, the jump to PSP has resulted in a noticeable dumbing down of the AI, so veteran fans will find this portable outing far more lenient than its console counterpart.
Tune in again same time tomorrow as we have another wonder around Inside PlayStation Network.