Brothers in Arms: Double Time (Wii)

A WWII double feature for the Wii
10/3/2008 12:00 AM | 0 Comments | Page 1 of 2

Brothers in Arms: Double Time marks the debut of the World War II series on Nintendo's little white box. Double Time isn't actually a new game in the series like Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3; it's a port of two older games that originated on the Xbox. These two WWII adventures are loosely based on actual missions: Wii owners can play the events -- the triumphs and the tragedies -- of Sergeant Matt Baker and his 101st Airborne troopers in The Road to Hill 30 and then step into the role of Sergeant Joe Hartsock during the liberation of Normandy in Earned in Blood.

Each game puts some 20 soldiers under your command. Each one of these men has a name and job, and figures into the story. These two games cemented the "Band of Brothers"-style mix of harrowing, intense combat and deep-seated angst; and the constantly revisited theme is how hard it is to lose a man -- especially when you've been thrust into command due to circumstance. (The WWII European Theater had a lot of room for circumstance.) The travails of these men can be touching, but the plot gets maudlin, especially after two games. Most of the time, you'll just wish you could skip the seemingly endless story cut scenes (some can't be skipped) and get back to the action.

Earned in Blood was released just seven months after Road to Hill 30 and you can tell -- it seems like a continuation of the same game. There's no feeling of improvement or refinement between the two games, but they're satisfying in that Hartsock's adventures in Earned in Blood cross over and provide a nice counterpoint to what Baker and company were up to in the first game.

The controls are what you'd expect from a first-person shooter on the Wii. The Nunchuk lets you move and crouch, while the Wii remote is used for pointing and shooting, and there's some waggling required for hand-to-hand combat. It's notable that these earlier games don't have the tactical cover system for which Hell's Highway is getting just praise. In this game you run up to cover and crouch, stand up to get a shot off, and crouch again. It's less immersive, but that's made up for by the thrill of pointing and shooting. Still, the controls are way too twitchy for comfort. It takes a lot of practice to not fling your perspective up or down by accident.