Going into the game, i had read various reviews of Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, having never played a BiA game before. I was aware of the squad-based tactics and the emphasis on the storyline or more specifically the companionship between the squad members.
Indeed, this game appears to be no different, as you are thrown into World War Two - locations ranging from Germany and Eindhoven in Holland - with a group of eight squad mates, four assault soldiers and four of another sort (either MG specialists, Bazooka men or other less important categories).
Whilst the story-telling certainly seemed to play a big part, i felt it was slightly overdone. Indeed, the atmosphere created during each mission is incredible, you feel like you really are in a warzone especially when using headphones (highly recommended). The graphics are also worth mentioning, in particular the water effects, grass textures (yes, i really said that) and the general explosion and fire aspects.
Where the game deserves criticism is in the technical flaws. There were often occasions when i would encounter slowdown - on one occasion i felt the gamemay freeze altogther - and the close combat controls are incredibly fiddly, leading to several deaths which could quite easily have been prevented had there not been glaring problems with the controls/interaction system.
Some levels are quite astonishing - the hospital mission deserves an honorable mention in particular for the incredible tension it evokes and the eeriness of the entire level. I was reminded of the game The Suffering because of the supernatural elements - hospital beds flying around and drips swinging back and forth - though The Suffering was a very average game so to compare the two does a disservice to BiA.
The biggest problem i had with the game was the length. I felt certain mission types had been to death - such as constantly having to destroy huge missile launches stationed within enemy grounds. These missions were enjoyable on the first occasion but having to repeat the same style of mission over and over again became tiresome. If the game had been made a few missions shorter, it would have been up there with Call of Duty 4 in terms of how well the single player was executed. However, the niggly controls, repetition of mission types and occasional technical issue brings the score down somewhat.
Nonetheless, i would still recommend the game.
Rating: 7/10
