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Brothers In Arms: A Love Affair
By Jimmy - 03.27.05
You might have noticed that we don't talk about the X-Box much here. That's because none of us actually have one. It seems odd, I know.
I think Bobby's just threatened by large pieces of hardware; genital insecurities, you know. Fortunately for all concerned, my housemate has an X-Box,
and I've been using it to sample the exquisite delights of Brothers In Arms: The Road to Hill 30. I think it's on PS2, too, but I'm going to ignore that [Editors note: it just came out on PS2 and PC but the reviews weren't as good.], because the whole X-Box thing was kind of crucial to my introduction (see above).
The game focuses on the exploits of the vaunted 101st Airborne in Normandy. After Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers the "Screaming Eagles" seem like old friends,
and it's gratifying to jump from the sky and kill some Nazis with 'em. The game purports to be based on a true story:
during the early morning of D-Day, the 502nd Regiment of the 101st jumped in behind Utah Beach with orders to secure two invasion causeways and wipe out a German artillery battery.
The men were scattered during the drop and individual soldiers linked up and fought on their own initiative. In a few days they drove on to and captured the town of Carentan, then repulsed a German counterattack.
The game focuses on these events, roughly the first week of the invasion.
After starting up, the you're thrust into the action with only a brief message that it is June 13th, on Hill 30. Your position is under heavy fire, men are being killed, when the unmistakable squeal of
panzers announces that you are fucked. The tanks open fire, you are knocked down and dazed, and we fade to black as a corporal kneels over you, asking for your orders. Right around here is when I got
hopelessly hooked. The game takes you back eight days to the moments before your drop, and you leap into Normandy, prepared to fight through the next week and beyond, as the player wonders how he got to that hill and what will
happen afterward.
The key feature of the game is its intuitive "Fire and Maneuver" system, which allows you to easily break your squad into fire teams,
lay down suppressing fire, then outflank and assualt enemy positions. This is is the centerpiece of BiA's vaunted authenticity and realism;
wander into any infantry training session and you'll see the same tactics you're asked to execute here. I love the command system. It doesn't force
you to mess around with clumsy menus and order trees. Instead all you have to do is select a spot for your men to set up in. Using the same key combinations
but pointing at an enemy causes your men to lay down heavy fire, and by pulling the "fire" trigger you can have them assault the same position. It does away with
everything I've always hated about team management in other games and replaces it with a simple that's both simple and realistic.
It's an amazingly good recreation of a young sergeant pointing and yelling, "Get your ass over there," or "Fucking shoot those assholes!"
What makes this possible is the excellent AI. Your men are smart enough to find and take cover on their own, as well as to fire on any damn Nazis they see.
The enemy AI is also frighteningly good, employing the same fire and maneuver tactics as you. I learned this first hand as I snuck along a low wall toward a sandbagged position
my men were firing on. Suddenly, two Germans burst around the corner and ran straight at me with bayonets fixed. After emptying a magazine into them (and waiting for my pulse to subside),
I resolved never to let myself get outflanked again.
The sound's great, and all the members of your squad have individual faces, voices, and personalities. The locales are recreated perfectly, and I can't think
of the last time I've ever been so immeresed in a game-world. The only thing that pulls you out of it is the "Situational Awareness View," a sort of limited
map which is supposed to recreate the intelligence benefit of aerial photos...I mean, I guess. Aerial photos can't show me the current position of anti-tank gun
that just wasted my best friend, but whatever. "War isn't fair, but videogames should be," as a friendly help message states.
In short, I'm in love...I usually fall for brunettes, but in this case blood-spattered khaki and jump boots have stolen my heart. Buy the fucking game, you won't regret it.
And hey, if you do, then it's your problem. I won't give a fuck, because I'll be crawling through the mud trying to clear the next hedgerow.
-Jimmy
Game screens from The Brothers In Arms website.
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