Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway Preview

When the gaming scene was thriving with World War II themed titles, Ubisoft and Gearbox teamed to dish out their own interactive interpretation of mankind's biggest worldwide conflict with the title Brothers in Arms. Even though it had tough competition, Brothers in Arms turned out to be a success, both with critics and the public. While games like Call of Duty and Medal of Honor: Airborne focused on pure fast-paced action, Brothers in Arms offered a commendable variation on your average WW II shooter. The first BiA game, Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, made a decent impact on the market due to its innovative tactical approach to combat. BiA: Earned in Blood, the stand-alone expansion, released several months after, was almost equally entertaining (mind you it did inherent some of the flaws of the original). Now Ubisoft is taking another step to further popularize its franchise with Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway (referred to as HH from here on out).

Not a pretty sight at all.

Yeah, I love trashing bikes!

The single-player campaign follows a more than familiar WW II style storyline. It's the height of World War II, you're sent in as part of the largest airborne operation of the entire war - Operation Market Garden. History shows this as one of the most devastating events for the Allied forces, who wanted to finish the war quickly, but were met severe German resistance. The game unfolds and players are introduced to Sergeant Matt Baker, Joe Hartsock and the rest of squad, as they head deep into the war zone.

In contrast to earlier games, HH has more emphasis on the narrative, featuring crucial animated sequences, as players progress through the main campaign. Not much has been uncovered on the subject, but from the look of things it seems vital segments of the plot are presented via flashbacks and various images, probably going through the mind of the main character. As we've learned, every chapter in the game is divided into sub-maps, each of which represents an important piece of the story and is merged carefully with the appropriate cut-scene to keep the action seamless.

Taking things a few steps further and making the gameplay a whole lot more enjoyable than before, Gearbox is keeping itself busy with tweaking almost every aspect of the game, not the least of which is the AI of both friendly soldiers and enemies. Squad members are more than capable of taking care of themselves as well as supporting your actions. So, when a group of friendly soldiers is by your side when you're approaching German troops stealthily, immediate silence will follow in your team. They are all trained and are smart enough to keep their mouths shut when the need arises (Wish we could implement that into our family or coworkers - Ed). The situation changes dramatically, of course, once the action begins.

In HH a handy system was incorporated to give you a better idea of what you're getting yourself into. When you move out of cover, for example, and find yourself in line of fire, the in-game atmosphere shows a subtle shade of red. This indicates you've entered a danger zone and if you remain exposed too long, it's likely someone's gonna blow your head off. In other words, most of the time, it's best to stay under cover for as long as you can. When you fire at enemies though, do it swiftly and accurately. Otherwise you're not going to last long on the battlefield. So, it's going to be a challenge all the way, but it's safe to say you'll be able to rely on your squad. Still, for gamers who aren't all too keen on squad-based combat, the developers decided to throw in some missions where Sergeant Matt Baker will need to go into action on his own.

Apart from improving the gameplay itself, the developers also found the time to insert numerous subtle changes to overall design. They already revealed a new camera effect, which activates in specific moments during the game. An example for this was given, when the main character throws a grenade behind a few sandbags, straight into a group of German soldiers. The scene would quickly switch to slow motion, while the camera zoomed in on the position. The grenade detonated, sending one soldier flying sky-high. Normally, they will go easy on this effect and, as explained, it will not be overused throughout the game.

Most of you have probably realized by now that this continuation in the BiA series isn't making fundamental changes to the successful formula of earlier iterations. Instead, the game will be enriched with a few new touches, drawing upon the familiar gameplay mechanics of the original. So, next to issuing the usual commands to your squad as they advance to take cover or flank, you'll be given an opportunity to send in the new bazooka team as support. In some missions their help is essential to the successful completion of your objective. Most areas will be crawling with enemy troops and German machine gun nests - usually, your best bet will be to provoke them with a couple of shots, while the bazooka team moves in for the kill.

The devs. also promised utilize the next-gen horsepower as much as possible, in order to add more to the standard BiA gameplay. Unlike earlier installments, this game features environments with highly destructible objects and material throughout each level. If you recall, previously your character could crouch behind a wooden gate to avoid being hit. You can scratch that option in Hell's Highway, because wood was designed more realistically this time around - courtesy of the Unreal Engine 3. The newly enhanced physics engine makes certain materials such as wood break apart after receiving heavy fire from, say, a tommy gun. Other objects are vulnerable to gunfire damage. In recent footage (some of which was shown at E3) soldiers fired from a mounted machine gun and in the process knocked down a sculpture. So, there's no telling where danger lies and you'll definitely have to choose your cover carefully.