Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway (Xbox 360 Review)

[Tiger]

If there is one concept in gaming which has been done to death it is the World War 2 setting. The Medal of Honour series is the main culprit with Call of Duty following close behind. If comments on the Internet were as influential as some like to believe no company would dare create another game with this setting. It’s a good thing that Ubisoft decided to ignore the nay-sayers and instead set their minds on creating a title which adds something new to the mix.

Of the many World War 2 games which have been released I felt that Call of Duty 2 stood head and shoulders above the competition. The combination of a half-decent story with believable and likeable characters was a breath of fresh air which made it a must have for anyone with an interest in the war. CoD2 was my favourite WW2 game until Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway came along and changed everything for me.

If you’ve played any of the previous games in the series you’ll be familiar with the tactical elements which make this differ from similar titles in the genre. This aspect of the game works very well and each battle is designed in such a way that you will need to do a bit of forward planning before climbing out of cover or sending your men into oncoming bullets.

This game has a first rate story which I would describe as an episode of M*A*S*H* set in WW2 and directed by David Lynch. The main benefit this story has over CoD2 is that we follow one group of characters throughout most of the game, instead of bouncing back and forth between different squads, and this allows us to witness more detailed personalities. The characters are well thought out and offer the kind of depth you would expect to find in a film with a top class script which is a rarity for this type of game. With a large number of games and countless films with similar settings the developers deserve a great deal of credit for managing to create a title which feels so original.

The graphics are nice on the whole although at some moments they don’t look as detailed as they might have been but this doesn’t have an adverse effect on the game so for the most part I can ignore this. The music is suitably epic in nature which suits the World War setting although a part of me does wish they had used the soundtrack to Pink Floyd’s The Wall as it would fit perfectly with the surreal nature of the game.

I’ll now explain why I mention M*A*S*H* and David Lynch which I admit is a strange combination. At several moments in the game there are cut-scenes which progress the narrative and these have a wonderful flow to them as the focus moves from one casual conversation to the next and it all feels so natural. Running parallel to this are a bizarre string of events, which directors Lynch and Cronenberg would be proud of, connected with a mysterious inscribed handgun and misfortune surrounding it. The dialogue and voice acting are easily some of the best found in a game of this type and can rival the frontrunners in any genre. It is the acute attention to detail which ensures that this game should be considered the benchmark for all others.

8.5/10