Remember when World War 2 used to be an over-saturated genre in gaming?
We had the Medal of Honor and Battlefield series, from EA, Activision published Call
of Duty, and Ubisoft published another series, Brothers in Arms.
Over time, however, it’s evident that World War 2 shooters must not be the cash magnets
that they used to be, because we’ve seen a sharp decline in their numbers recently,
with Medal of Honor, Battlefield and Call of Duty taking the modern route.
Brothers in Arms always felt a little bit different, and in staying with the World War
2 theme, I guess it’s still that way.
This is Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway for the Xbox 360.
For fans of the series, you’ll remember Baker from the previous games as the protagonist.
I didn’t have all that much prior experience with the series before save for a little bit
of Road to Hill 30, so the beginning cinematics were great for getting me up to speed on the
story.
The problems started, however, when the cinematics went past that, and continued on for another
seven or eight minutes.
Don’t get me wrong, these scenes were very well done, and they actually gave the game
a nice tone, but if I wanted to watch a World War 2 movie, I’d go see Saving Private Ryan
for the 750th time.
Gameplay in Hell’s Highway feels strikingly similar to the Rainbow Six: Vegas games that
I’ve been reviewing recently.
Control layout is similar, with the right stick aiming, down calling your men to regroup,
ect, but although there are similarities in control, this game’s pace is a little bit
slower.
Again, it feels more like the pace of a movie or episode of Band of Brothers than it does
a videogame.
If you like a slightly slower pace, this can be a good thing.
It also helps that the game provides some really nice set pieces that feel right at
home in the middle of the action.
Planning strategies, and for me, mostly failed ones, is a lot of fun, as the game gives you
a bit of a break when you’re figuring out what to do.
The one aspect of this game that was done extremely well in this is enemy AI.
It’ s almost unfair how good they are, as they hide behind cover for long periods of
time before bolting to the next piece when they realize that they are getting surrounded.
I was getting a little bit frustrated with their patience.
Nothing is worse than thinking you killed all the Germans and then getting your head
shot when you walk be a few of them hiding behind a wall.
Visually, the term “mixed bag” can’t be applied more accurately than to Hell’s
Highway.
Faces, at least when they are still, look fantastic, especially eyes and five-o-clock
shadow.
Environments also look great.
However, texture pop-in even during cutscenes, is a pretty big issue, and the game seems
to be trying to do too much, which leads to frequent framerate issues.
As far as audio goes, it’s excellent, with a great voice cast giving believable performances.
However, I couldn’t help but notice that a song in the game sounded almost identical
to Band of Brothers.
Like, really, really close.
Band of Brothers in Arms.
Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway is not a perfect game, but if you’re a World War
2 junkie, this is definitely worth at least a rent.
It’s cinematic style also makes for something truly unique in a giant shooter genre.