Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway

[Pulp Hero]

I give this game a B. (A fun rental for the tactical FPS crowd.)
Pros: Great immersive cutscenes and story, beautiful graphics, good level design (for the tactical levels)
Cons: Hard to control your squad, unskippable cutscenes, dumb vehicle levels, strangeness on the "Authentic" setting, almost no one playing this game on LIVE.

I've played the first BIA when it came out years ago, and have forgotten most of the plot, which makes me feel like I'm missing out on this one, which is shame because the psychological stuff is great.

The gameplay is for the most part passable. I have trouble controlling my fireteams sometimes (occassionally I will order them on the wrong side of cover) because the commands can only be given through the first person point and click interface. There is no way to set waypoints or use the overhead map to issue orders. This is shame because the pathfinding is sometimes atroicious and when they get to cover I have noticed soldiers simply standing straight up and bitching about being exposed. Also sometimes I will see the icon that means my team can open fire on an enemy position, but when I issue the order, they just sit there. The bazooka team also has unlimited rounds, making it very easy to abuse.

The German AI is okay, though it is predictable and has no strategic sense (the Germans never try to flank you). Also they have Z-ray (two better than X) vision, so that even the stealthiest flank maneuver is always discovered.

The cutscenes are LONG and almost all of them are unskippable, even when replaying the game. However, as a small upside, at least they are usually entertaining, and seeing Matt Baker crack up is a great ride.

The unlockable "Authentic" mode is a nice addition, which makes the Germans tougher opponents (frankly there should have been one harder mode, because even this is does not feel "OMG!" hard) and rightly for a hard setting removes most of the UI. However it removes any way to aim when stuck against cover, making shooting a pain in the ass and leaving no way to count remaining ammunition for weapons- two things that are more annoying than realistic.

The multiplayer is a waste. Its laggy, people have already discovered cheats on LIVE, and it takes forever waiting in the lobby for enough players to join up. All it is really successful in doing is making me miss playingDay Of Defeat, which is something I guess.

[chitoryu12]

Is there still the problem from the demo where they refuse to set up in buildings for whatever reason? The demo had the first real mission after the tutorial mission, and there's a part where you go upstairs to clear the house, then go downstairs to find some Nazis hiding behind the overturned kitchen table. When I tried to preemptively set up my machine gun team at the table to gun them down on their way in, they refused to enter or even poke around the corner and shoot into the doorway at them, leaving me to kill them myself.

Gotta have those scripted events, after all.

[Pulp Hero]

The teams have always deployed in buildings when I've told them to.


Also: The tutorial hospital level- you play it twice during the campaign, no joke. Once at the beginning and once when the main story catches up to it, and it is EXACTLY the same. I was expecting some weird twist to throw me off, but nope.

[weemadando]

I'm messing about with it at the moment on PC. I liked BiA and really liked EiB (better MP you see), but am as yet unsold on this one. Their story-telling just seems so very, very forced this time (not that it didn't before) and whoever at Gearbox thinks that they are a good writer? You aren't. You're passable sure, but you are not good. Certainly not good enough to force me to sit through 2-5 minutes of cutscenes every time I enter an area, reload an area, see a new person, see a sheep, fire a bullet...

[CaptHawkeye]

I liked the old games and played the demo. Not much has changed since the last games though. It pisses me off that these guys put so much effort into a level's draw distance and rolling scenery and yet you cannot go there. Ultimately BiA is a puzzle game, since it's all about finding which cover is best and where the flank hole is. I would have hoped they'd change things by now, but the only thing they've added was a mechanic somebody else invented. Cover.

[General Zod]

I downloaded the demo and it pissed me off. For some stupid reason when I hunkered down in some cover it wouldn't let me unattach myself for it no matter what I did.

[weemadando]

Yeah, it's a pain in the arse, sometimes you can detach really easily by moving "off" it, other times you have to pummel the "dig-in" button over and over and over.

Pretty much all that they've made is a re-skinned R6: Vegas 2 now. You don't even need your dudes to back you up half the time as you can be the super-soldier sniper machine with your Colt 1911, popping off headshots from 200m.

[chitoryu12]

The teams have always deployed in buildings when I've told them to.


Also: The tutorial hospital level- you play it twice during the campaign, no joke. Once at the beginning and once when the main story catches up to it, and it is EXACTLY the same. I was expecting some weird twist to throw me off, but nope.

Okay, at least they fixed that. The demo wanted to keep scripted events so bad they would just make your team take cover outside and hide from the big bad Nazis with their submachine guns.

And they pulled the level trick in the first BiA game, but at least they had the good sense to make it one small part of the mission and add in a long beginning and ending.

[Darwin]

I wish there was a way to play in Realistic from the start.

Hell's Highway made it so simple to shoot from cover with the crosshair, picking Germans off from behind cover was very, very easy. Even on realistic, I'm breezing through the game after having beaten it on Veteran. The tough tactical puzzles of Road to Hill 30 and Earned in Blood are gone.

you can stop and pop your way through he whole game.

Still, the story is great.

[Darwin]

The German AI is okay, though it is predictable and has no strategic sense (the Germans never try to flank you). Also they have Z-ray (two better than X) vision, so that even the stealthiest flank maneuver is always discovered.

if you stay crouched they often won't see you. i've personally run some brilliant flank ambushes in the game. IF the enemy is already under fire though, they will see you, (and usually stand up and get shot by your fire team)

The cutscenes are LONG and almost all of them are unskippable, even when replaying the game. However, as a small upside, at least they are usually entertaining, and seeing Matt Baker crack up is a great ride.

on PC all cutscenes can be skipped almost as soon as they load.

The unlockable "Authentic" mode is a nice addition, which makes the Germans tougher opponents (frankly there should have been one harder mode, because even this is does not feel "OMG!" hard) and rightly for a hard setting removes most of the UI. However it removes any way to aim when stuck against cover, making shooting a pain in the ass and leaving no way to count remaining ammunition for weapons- two things that are more annoying than realistic.

not knowing how much ammo in the gun is one thing, but not knowing how much spare ammo you have is another matter entirely and totally annoying, not to mention unrealistic. I miss the ability in Earned in Blood to hit up your squadmates for extra ammo for the American guns. The lack of crosshairs fouled me up in the start, but now that I'm used to it it makes shooting from cover a little less gamebreaking. You just break cover, aim, pop off your shots, then duck back in. you just need to choose your spots a little more carefully.

[Darwin]

Is there still the problem from the demo where they refuse to set up in buildings for whatever reason? The demo had the first real mission after the tutorial mission, and there's a part where you go upstairs to clear the house, then go downstairs to find some Nazis hiding behind the overturned kitchen table. When I tried to preemptively set up my machine gun team at the table to gun them down on their way in, they refused to enter or even poke around the corner and shoot into the doorway at them, leaving me to kill them myself.

Gotta have those scripted events, after all.

It depends. Some buildings, the plot forces you to go in alone. Others allow your squad. It just depends on the scripting.

[chitoryu12]

The least they could do in some cases is at least poke a submachine gun through the door and fire a bit at the guys right in their view, instead of cowering behind a wall. Talk about fucking useless.