Brothers in Arms: Double Time (Wii)
alt="Sniper's view"/>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.
alt="Bazooka"/>Most satisfying way to take out a machine gun in a window? Bazooka!
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.
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alt="Under attack"/>Both games do feature the tactics the series is known for. You can command men (machine gunners, assault troops) and sometimes vehicles (tanks) into position in order to suppress enemy fire and maneuver your men into flanking position. Enemies have a red circle above their heads that steadily turns grey when they are fired upon by your troops. Once the circle is grey, signaling that enemy fire has been suppressed, you've bought some precious time and can hoof it over to new cover. This lends Brothers in Arms a more thoughtful and strategic feel, and often troop movement and tactics are the only way to win a tough mission.
The graphics in Double Time look mediocre, even for a Wii game; the original Xbox and PC versions of Road to Hill 30 and Earned in Blood look the same or slightly better. Brothers in Arms is well known and regarded for its multiplayer, so it's disappointing that it doesn't exist on the Wii at all (each game only takes about 10 to 15 hours to complete). But with these two full games bundled as one, Double Time is a good deal for World War II buffs.
This review is based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.
