There are only three orders you need to worry about: move, shoot, and assault. The important aspect of control here is how you manage your squads. You’ve got your basic FPS movement setup, and you can carry up to two different weapons from an assortment of almost 20. Moving yourself around the French countryside in Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 is a simple task. The only way you’re going to get that kind of action is through Xbox Live where you can play against another human who has their own squads to control. You’re never really faced with an opposing squad who is trying to outflank you, so you can idly sit back and take your time planning out how you will crush the two idiots who are stuck behind barrels, trees, fences, or whatever other static defense they never move out from. The whole game you are maneuvering around them, but the only time they do any maneuvering is when they attempt a retreat. You’ll quickly realize if an order didn’t get through and the situation is easily remedied, but it is still a minor ache to deal with. There are only a few issues with it, mostly when you are ordering tanks around and it does the unexpected like sit in the same spot when you continuously give an attack order. It just would have been better if there was more of it.Īs you would imagine, the Artificial Intelligence is a crucial part of the gameplay. However, this isn’t to say that what’s there isn’t good. Had the game given you more than two squads, or provided you with bigger firefights, it would have really been magical. The beginning is slow to bring you into the real thick action, and the end degrades into run-and-gun action where the squad-based tactics are only a cautionary action that need not be taken. The middle part of the game is purely this kind of gameplay you lead two squads against dug-in German soldiers. Though this is the essence of Brothers in Arms, it unfortunately isn’t always given the chance to shine as much as it should. You rarely are alone usually you have two other squads with you, one outfitted for suppressing the enemy and the other geared up with grenades and small arms to assault them while they are being pinned by the first team. Mostly linear in nature, you go through more than a dozen missions trying to outsmart German infantry and tanks. As the sergeant of a group of a dozen airborne troopers, you must lead small squads to suppress, flank, and kill the enemy. Working with and giving orders to the men around you is crucial to everyone’s survival. It’s almost not fair to compare it to older WWII games, as the gameplay here is a very different experience. Where Brothers in Arms differs from other WWII games is in the non-playable characters. The fighting is up close and personal, but you won’t do it alone. Instead of the grand scale levels of the aforementioned games, you face the enemy in fields and small towns, broken farms, and meandering streams. Brothers in Arms takes you to the rural countryside of Northern France and pits you against the Germans in a battle of infantry tactics. You won’t be storming beaches or taking back cities.

Some graphical glitches, like bodies flying off into the air after you shoot them, as well as looping sound issues won’t affect the gameplay, but will definitely be a thorn in the side of many players.īrothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 is not a Medal of Honor or Call of Duty clone. The real problems with the bells and whistles are the many bugs that players will more often than not encounter in the game. The music is reminiscent of “Band of Brothers” and “Saving Private Ryan ” very dramatic yet uplifting at the same time. Dialogue from your squad mates not only helps make the game more convincing, but it is also a tactical help, as they report what is going on in their area. The sound does an equally well job of sucking you into the action. The various fog effects are also put to good use, making some battlefields nerve-rackingly obscured by low lying mists. You’ll rarely notice the streaks of light coming through the branches of a tree (what with all the fighting going on), but when things calm down and you catch a glimpse of it, the game somehow feels more real. The lighting alone is as subtle as it is great. While the graphics may not be award winning, they at least do have style.

Thankfully, some of the true devotion to it is still hanging around as well, as is apparent in Gearbox’s Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30.

The “Saving Private Ryan” craze is far from over.

Brothers in arms road to hill 30 ps3