Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway

"As long as there are sovereign nations possessing great power, war is inevitable."
American Scientist Albert Einstein, date unknown

This review is going to be brief and short, because this game follows all the fundamental rules and contains all the necessary parts to be called a game but nothing more really. It turned out to be such a generic, run-of-the-mill game that for the most part had a been here/done that feel to it. So I can't really hate on it, because there's nothing here that isn't done wrong or terribly, it just doesn't gel into a fun experience.

So in this game you play as Baker, I was so unattached from the story I couldn't even tell you what his rank is, it took me awhile to realize even which one I was, this game does a terrible job at catching you up if you've never played the first two, there's a "Previous on Brothers in Arms..." section at the very beginning, but Baker just mumbles and they show random things happening to random people. So the entire game I was trying to piece who I was, who the others I was talking to during cutscenes were, and what the big hub bub was about this pistol with an engravement on it. By the end of it all I could piece some of it together, but this hodgepodge of story was trying too desperately to be emotional and deep but failed so hard at it, I admittedly began to zone out during some of the scenes.

So what's the gameplay like? Basically you're in charge of anywhere from 1 to 3 teams, and you follow your compass and lead your teams, hiding them behind things and then having little trench warfare type fights with the Germans, or if you like you can take a group with you and perhaps sneak up on the side of the Germans or behind them even. Rinse, repeat for 6-8 hours. I will say there were a few parts where you were all alone and it was more run-n-gun, which I enjoyed, there was a few tank segments which I liked, basically you roll around in a tank and massively blast everything and watch it all crumble and German body parts go flying in the air in slow motion. Then there were some segments like sniping Germans to protect a boy, and a run-down hospital level that I liked, had a vibe to it unlike any World War II game level I've ever played. But these few and far between segments can't save the rest of the game or make it recommendable. If you played the last two and somehow feel like the narrative is something you connected with and want to see more exploits of Baker and company, then you'll probably enjoy this game but I wouldn't plunk $60 on it even then.

The graphics are nice, but I remember seeing videos a year or so ago and I'm pretty sure the developers said what they were showing was in-game, and that old footage was very impressive but I'm wondering if that was more of a tech-demo where they were pushing the engine to the max, then realizing hey we actually have to ship an entire game on a disc, not just one visually amazing scene, the graphics took a respective dip into somewhere between good and average for the final product. I also found the sound lacking, I figured this was a World War II game, I bet this will be booming, I'll be hidden behind a wall and hearing gunshots pecking off the corner of the wall and hearing my squadmates screaming out and calling positions while emptying their clips, and Germans shouting and firing etc. That sort of happens, but the audio seemed mostly quiet and low-key. I had to really crank my system to try and get a feel like I was actually out on the battlefield and in the war, and I ended up having to turn on the subtitles because during cutscenes it was if the characters dialogue was spoken through a pillow before it reached the microphone that was recording it.

Having never played much of the first two, I figured Hell's Highway would be the best of the first two, plus some new additions with next-gen technology, I also figured since I hadn't played the previous installments the gameplay would probably stay refreshing all the way through the title unlike where it might go stale quick for a veteran of the series, I was mistaken. It went stale by about the 2nd hour. I gave it the benefit of the doubt and was treated to some interesting segments, but still wasn't enough to leave me feeling positive about this game. Oh and for those who love the series, at the end of the game I was treated to a "To be continued...." screen. I have a feeling Gearbox won't be developing another title however, unless this game sells really well which I don't see happening, I can't see anyone wanting to fork more cash into this series. Third-person shooters have moved so far beyond where Hell's Highway stands, I really feel like this is the last stop for these games.


Final Verdict: Thumbs Down

"As long as there are gamers possessing great wealth, World War II games are inevitable."
American Gamer Bane, date September 30, 2008