Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway (PC)

Taking cover and taking names in slow motion.
10/1/2008 6:36 PM | 2 Comments | Page 2 of 2

Another flaw with the game is that the red circle accompanies enemy troops. This means you're never ambushed. Conversely, the artificial intelligence seems to become aware of you the second you aim your sights at an enemy. So even if you flank them and are hidden while they're totally exposed, they will turn and shoot before you can mow them down.

The graphics on the PC version also have more clipping and physics problems than in the console versions. I've seen soldiers in mid-air and I've shot heads poking out of cover that the game seemed to think were protected.

While the AI is good at reacting and finding new cover when flanked, it can get confused if you get too far behind it. I've seen German soldiers running in place or staying crouched as if invisible as I walked right up to them. There also seems to be a lack of AI for tanks, which will just wait for you to run up and place a sticky bomb on them (probably why tanks don't feature much in the game). On the other hand, you get to drive a tank in two missions, and blowing down churches and cover is a lot of fun.

World War II movies use slow motion to convey the horror of war; Hell's Highway uses it to celebrate a gruesome kill. If you get a perfect headshot, the action slows down and you can see the soldier's helmet go flying as his skull ruptures. Grenades are even more fun, as you might see several German soldiers flying through the air, their heads separating from their bodies, torsos blown in half and limbs laying several feet away. You can also shoot through wooden cover and sandbags, and some towers and walls can come crumbling down.

Up to 20 brothers and sisters can join in simple multiplayer, with two teams vying to raise or lower flags. I can see the game being fun and rewarding with squads of friends working together, though lack of coordination is a problem. And at the time of this writing, online performance is unstable, with games crashing and freezing up on occasion.

Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway is an ambitious title that corrects too few of the flaws in the earlier games in the series (the aforementioned squad control problems remain, as do graphical flaws such as clipping issues). The developers should also realize the limitations of telling this story in a game: Losing a comrade, failing a mission, and fighting in a war do evoke a psychological cost, but slow-motion dismemberment and consistently thrilling combat undermine the seriousness of the main character's painful descent into posttraumatic stress disorder. That's a lot to ask of a videogame -- and of a gamer, too.

What is it that makes a great game? Brain -- that's my answer. Let the movies and miniseries handle the heart.

This review is based on a retail copy of the game purchased by the reviewer.