[Video Games] Brothers in Arms
Jun. 6th, 2005 02:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trooper6A review:
Brothers in Arms -- Ubisoft/Gearbox
What the Game is: This is a World War II first person shooter--however this is not a game that really allows for lots of running and gunning. You are a squad leader and command a bunch of troops. Generally, you try to find a good position for your fire team to set up and suppress the enemy, then you try to find a good place to send your assault team to flank the enemy and kill them. There is quite a bit of tactics and strategy and thinking involved. There are no medpacs or health boosts during the missions in this game (though you do heal up if you complete a mission).
Plot/Level Design: You are the squad leader of a bunch of paratroopers who land behind enemy lines on D-Day. The game takes place over that day and the following 7/8 days. You follow the path of an actual squad of paratroopers. All the missions actually happened, and Gearbox followed actual after-action reports to script the story. They also went to Normandy and took extensive photos...they looked through archives and arial photos...and the levels look exactly like what these towns looked like...it is pretty uncanny. How do I know this?
Extras: When you complete the various levels, you get these really cool extras: photos, a bunch of history, letters, after-action reports...all sorts of cool historical stuff and some things about the making of the game. The extras are super cool.
Audio: The sound effects are brilliant. The audio folks went to Ft. Hood and fired vintage weapons and recorded them just to get authentic M1 gunshot sounds. Things are places well in my 5.1 field. The score is that sweeping orchestral war movie score done by the Prague Filmharmonic...just as you'd expect. It is nice...it doesn't stand out (for good or for ill)...and by that I mean that it does its job effectively....but I didn't go...Wow! The voice acting is good...there were a couple moments that surprised me. The nice voice acting (though pretty mellow) helped humanize the soldiers.
Graphics: Nice graphics. Very beautiful.
Replay: I will replay the game on the "Authentic" difficulty level after my queue of games thins out...I want to get the authentic level extras...there are some really cool extras that I can only get if I finish the levels on the hardest difficulty--including the Gearbox gang singing "Gory, Gory, What a hellava way to die!"--which is a very cool cadence.
Army Person Says: They really get the madness and confusion of war down really well.
Observations: Gearbox went above and beyond the call of duty, and they are very clearly heavily invested in this game. I noticed no bugs, and the framerate drops in only a few places. The levels are varied...and so much detail (from the eyes of your squad mates following you as you move, to the way you get a ringing in your ears and the screen goes white and blurry when an explosion goes off too close to you and knocks you off your feet!) It is nice to play a game that is so clearly a labour of love and is of such great quality. It isn't the longest game in the world...but it feels just right. It inspires me to run a soldier RPG game one day.
Grade: A
Recommended: I'd recommend it to folks who like to puzzle out things amidst their shooting. Also, if you are a war buff, highly recommended. This is one to buy rather than rent--the extras make it worth it.
What's next?
Quickie Game: Well, I picked up Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2. It is a racing game using an engine that I actually like--most of the other racing games make me crazy...so that will be the game I play when I only want to spend a quick 10 minutes playing video games or when I have a pal over to play with. I'm enjoying the game so far...and it is now my official killing ten minutes game.
Main Feature Game: I will probably play Advent Rising so I can get the collective unconscious bonus.
Brothers in Arms -- Ubisoft/Gearbox
What the Game is: This is a World War II first person shooter--however this is not a game that really allows for lots of running and gunning. You are a squad leader and command a bunch of troops. Generally, you try to find a good position for your fire team to set up and suppress the enemy, then you try to find a good place to send your assault team to flank the enemy and kill them. There is quite a bit of tactics and strategy and thinking involved. There are no medpacs or health boosts during the missions in this game (though you do heal up if you complete a mission).
Plot/Level Design: You are the squad leader of a bunch of paratroopers who land behind enemy lines on D-Day. The game takes place over that day and the following 7/8 days. You follow the path of an actual squad of paratroopers. All the missions actually happened, and Gearbox followed actual after-action reports to script the story. They also went to Normandy and took extensive photos...they looked through archives and arial photos...and the levels look exactly like what these towns looked like...it is pretty uncanny. How do I know this?
Extras: When you complete the various levels, you get these really cool extras: photos, a bunch of history, letters, after-action reports...all sorts of cool historical stuff and some things about the making of the game. The extras are super cool.
Audio: The sound effects are brilliant. The audio folks went to Ft. Hood and fired vintage weapons and recorded them just to get authentic M1 gunshot sounds. Things are places well in my 5.1 field. The score is that sweeping orchestral war movie score done by the Prague Filmharmonic...just as you'd expect. It is nice...it doesn't stand out (for good or for ill)...and by that I mean that it does its job effectively....but I didn't go...Wow! The voice acting is good...there were a couple moments that surprised me. The nice voice acting (though pretty mellow) helped humanize the soldiers.
Graphics: Nice graphics. Very beautiful.
Replay: I will replay the game on the "Authentic" difficulty level after my queue of games thins out...I want to get the authentic level extras...there are some really cool extras that I can only get if I finish the levels on the hardest difficulty--including the Gearbox gang singing "Gory, Gory, What a hellava way to die!"--which is a very cool cadence.
Army Person Says: They really get the madness and confusion of war down really well.
Observations: Gearbox went above and beyond the call of duty, and they are very clearly heavily invested in this game. I noticed no bugs, and the framerate drops in only a few places. The levels are varied...and so much detail (from the eyes of your squad mates following you as you move, to the way you get a ringing in your ears and the screen goes white and blurry when an explosion goes off too close to you and knocks you off your feet!) It is nice to play a game that is so clearly a labour of love and is of such great quality. It isn't the longest game in the world...but it feels just right. It inspires me to run a soldier RPG game one day.
Grade: A
Recommended: I'd recommend it to folks who like to puzzle out things amidst their shooting. Also, if you are a war buff, highly recommended. This is one to buy rather than rent--the extras make it worth it.
What's next?
Quickie Game: Well, I picked up Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2. It is a racing game using an engine that I actually like--most of the other racing games make me crazy...so that will be the game I play when I only want to spend a quick 10 minutes playing video games or when I have a pal over to play with. I'm enjoying the game so far...and it is now my official killing ten minutes game.
Main Feature Game: I will probably play Advent Rising so I can get the collective unconscious bonus.
