Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 Preview

One of the most appealing aspects of Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 is the thorough approach used to design and recreate war-stricken regions of Europe. Most areas were reconstructed according to old photographs that were taken during this turbulent period. The lovely greenish landscapes of Normandy appear to have been conveyed with an impressive amount of details in background and enough textures and polys to make it look genuine. Most of the missions take place throughout huge outdoor levels which aren't bound by irksome loading times. All these areas look good too, featuring things like soft shadowing and dynamic range lighting. Slight blurriness and a smooth glow effect ensue depending on the position of the sun. Such visual techniques seem to be catching on fast in modern-day shooters and should come off well in this game.

Multiplayer fans won't be disappointed. Both console and PC versions of Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 will ship with online MP support. Gearbox and Ubi have limited this one to accommodate 16 players on screen at once which certainly seems enough, seeing as each player commands a squad of four characters (many technical and performance issues have been considered here as well). Playing the Xbox version will allow you to compete online or against four players in a split screen variant. Most modes are objective-based, so tactics and teamwork remain the focal point of gameplay, similar to the single-player experience.

Considering what Gearbox and Ubi have revealed so far, there's absolutely no reason to doubt the success of Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30. Every unveiled detail shows the making of a top-notch FPS. Take our word for it when we say all four-eyed geeks out there (this editor included) should keep an eye out for this title when it comes out later this year. More levels, characters and other content are to be exposed at the upcoming E3 in May, so we'll be offering you a closer inspection then.