September 17. 1944 the allied forces performed a massively airborne operation deep behind German occupied Netherland. The strategic purpose was to occupy and hold the bridges that crossing the great river Rhine. Then outflank and punch a hole in the last German defensive line, the “Siegfried Line”.
Again you play as Sgt. Matt Baker who fought earlier on the D-day invasion in France.
He survived the Normandy Invasion and is now thrown back in to the action, trying to keep himself and his men alive. Basically the game is pretty much the same as the predecessors, but some very much welcome new cool stuff is added. Though the storytelling is some what cliché it is still credible and intriguing.
Controlling and playing the game
For those of you who have never played Brothers in Arms before, the game is a crossing of Call of Duty and Rainbow Six Vegas. This isn't a “run`n gun” game so you need to think and plan your moves. Like ordering your squad to give you covering fire while you run for left or right flank to surprise your enemy. This is basically how you play the game. The game is built on linearity, you can only go straight forward or around buildings for flanking.
The control is ok, but I had some serious problems remember which button did what in my first hours of the game. Occasionally I killed my squad members by using the wrong buttons. Slaughtered by friendly grenade or commanded into line of fire and certain death! The latter still happens on occasions, but hey what's war without casualties!? Once I became more familiar with the control, the game got exciting.
Staying alive in firefights has become easier than its predecessors because you have all the time in your life to plan your next strategic move. In addition a new cover system has been introduced to the game. By pushing the L2 button you automatically take cover at almost any obstacle or house corner in front of you. Then you can pop up of that cover by looking over you character shoulder and open fire, or just have a peak. Your teammates and the enemy are doing this as well. By holding the R2 button you will see a red ring which means you can throw a grenade in that circle. When you get a headshot or a good throw by a grenade an action camera starts. You’ll see your target blowing to pieces or brain mass splattering all over the place. That is is awesome to watch. The game contains lots of gore and strong language therefore it is rated M (mature) (18+).
Sound, graphics and AI
The graphics are based on the Unreal 3 engine which means of course that the game looks really good. Although some miner graphic glitches and bugs is present in large parts of the game, it doesn't mutilate the fun completely.
Voiceacting and soundworks are well done. I miss a little more "bang" in the guns, especially the rifles.
The AI behaves ok. Enemies will take cover once they spot you and try repelling your attack in a human way. Your squad sometimes gets stuck, disappear or dosn't obey your orders. They also suck in hitting their targets. You’ll have to do all the dirty work. This is not a bug it’s only how the game works and that’s fine. Guess it would be pretty boring if your squad did all the kills for you.
Conclusion
BIA Hells highway is defiantly not a bad game. Beside some annoying bugs and glitches I had a great time with it. It’s a challenging game to beat, even on easy. If you love strategic shooters this game is a must. In my case, now that I have beaten the game, I have found a nice spot for it on my “I'll play again - sometimes in the near future” shelf.
PS! This review is based on the single player / campaign mode. The multiplayer takes place online with up to 20 players. I will soon come back and update my review when I’ve played that part as well.
Score
7 Out of 10