ic-games Review - Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood - Reviews, Previews and Interviews for PC, Xbox 360, PS2, PS3 and Wii

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Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood (Xbox)

Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood

Information
Reviewer: James Collins
Developer: Gearbox
Publisher: Ubisoft
Reviewed: Xbox
Genre: Tactical team based shooter
UK Release: 01st Nov 2005
Article Date: 16th Nov 2005
Difficulty: Hard
Retail Price: £29.99
Price Comparison:
0

Score Breakdown

Experience:
Game Play:
Graphics:
Sound:
Overall Score: 73%

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Pros

Great AI

Atmospheric

Challenging

Cons

Still Limiting

Slowdown

Audio Problems

Nothing New

Screenshots

2 of 3

If Ubisoft know anything, it’s when they have an excellent franchise on their hands. This years Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 was one of the more immersive WW2 squad based shooters that we had come across. Featuring the trials and tribulations of Sgt Matt Baker of the 101st Airborne Division, BIA was one of developer Gearbox’s greatest achievements in their prestigious history. The latest in the franchise, Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood, is the direct follow up, this time featuring Sgt Joe "Red" Harstock a former member of Sgt Matt Baker’s team.

Little has changed since we took the Road to Hill 30 so anyone familiar with the controls will find themselves immediately at home. For anyone new to the experience the original video tutorial makes a reappearance, and either way the initial sequences in the story mode goes though the basics anyhow.

This tutorial and story mode does its best to teach any would be squad leader what to expect when playing Brothers in Arms. Since most, (if not all) of the missions revolve around the basic tactics of using suppressive fire and flanking it’s worthwhile to watch the video clip before you begin. What really impressed us was the ease at which you control your squads, which in turn leaves the player with more time to actually plan tactics. Moving the squad is as easy as pointing in the direction you want them to move and pressing the left shoulder button to order them there. To suppress the enemy you simply point at a target and press the left shoulder button, and finally to engage the enemy you use the same combination apart from you use the right shoulder button to order an attack.

To help you plan some of these special tactics in advance, developers Gearbox have implemented something called "situation awareness" and it returns in Earned in Blood. When you enter this mode (by pressing the back button) the actual battle will pause and you will be presented with a bird’s eye view of the proceedings. From this mode you will be able to examine where about your squad is, and where they are in relation to the enemy. This mode is also useful to spot potential suppression zones and back routes to launch surprise attacks. To make the game slightly more realistic you can only zoom in and out so far and any enemy soldier yet to be spotted will remain invisible in the situational awareness mode.

Aside from the squad movement and ordering (which is incredibly easy to pick up), Brothers in Arms plays just like a standard FPS. You can still attempt to go your own way and take out the Germans yourself ‘Rambo style’ (if played on easy) but its all the more satisfying ordering your squad into tactical positions and picking off the enemy one by one as the game intended. Since at times you will be battling against heavily fortified German units, going alone will be almost impossible anyway, and so making best use of your squads, whilst making sure they remain protected becomes a more sensible plan. Because of this hidden depth, placing Brothers in Arms into a tidy genre is pretty difficult since it features ideas from many different types of games like Full Spectrum Warrior, Rainbow Six and Call of Duty.

Like its predecessor, on occasions you’re also lucky enough to have a tank under your command and even though the conventional tactics do not apply to a tank, you will still have to protect the vehicle from any possible hidden mortar fire. The way you control the tank doesn’t change though, you simply point at which area you want the tank to go and press the left shoulder button, or if you wish the tank to engage a target you hold down the left shoulder button and then press the right shoulder button when you have a target. When using a tank it’s always wise to scout the area ahead for soldiers using panzerfausts or other anti-tank weapons as losing the tank will usually spell the end of the mission, or at the very least, make the mission decidedly harder. Naturally the Germans will have access to one or two Panzer's and unless you have a tank under your command at the time, when you see one appear on the map you have to make plans to take it out before it cuts up the whole team. Generally speaking there are two effective ways to take out an enemy tank, if you get close enough to the rear of the tank you can climb aboard and drop explosives down the hatch or you can use a bazooka and fire from a distance. As it should be, fighting tanks with only infantry is fiendishly difficult and it will take some brilliant mission planning to come out of the battle alive.

Graphically Brothers in Arms does its best to portray the full horrors of the Second World War. Planes will fly overhead whilst bullets whiz past you as you scramble for cover. If you take a moment to look around your surroundings you’ll be impressed to learn that the maps and indeed missions were based around real locations and events. The graphics may not push the Xbox to the limit and there isn’t really any “wow” factor but Gearbox have still managed to create a believable setting that does look the part.

The sound effects are a different kettle of fish though. The digital sound has been used to great effect and explosions and gunfire all sound as scary as they should. Bullets whizzing past your head with mortars being fired at a close proximity sound particularly realistic and just add to the overall atmosphere. Voice acting is also a major plus with the whole squad generally adding to the convincing story. Also worthy of note is the narration from the lead character, Sgt Joe "Red" Harstock, which forwards the story after each successful mission.

For the multiplayer side, Gearbox has obviously gone out of their way to change the way you play the game online. Multiplayer modes are essentially objective based affairs with between 2-4 players frantically ordering around their teams to protect or attack key targets. Those without Xbox Live can engage in some team based split screen action with two players able to sit at one Xbox. The game modes on offer will not suit the average deathmatch junkie, but for a change from the norm, Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood does serve up some pretty addictive multiplayer shenanigans. There are around 10 different maps on offer, and depending on which side you decide to fight for your mission goals will change. The Allies are (as you would expect) normally tasked with destroying bridges or disabling anti-tank guns whilst the Germans normally just have to sit back and prevent the attacks from being successful. If that wasn’t enough, normally these multiplayer missions will be set against the clock which makes the game already on a knife edge, even more exciting.

When you consider the amount of realism that’s been placed into this title it’s a shame that you’re still restricted to what routes you take, and sadly we noticed that one of the greatest failings with Road to Hill 30 still hasn’t been addressed. Paths are still blocked by tiny wooden fences that should easily be vaulted over, and thin bushes still prevented us taking an alternative path. On many occasions you’ll come across another route around the enemy, or at least think you have, unfortunately it soon becomes all too clear that you must take the choice of path programmed.

Aside the few problems which distracted from the authenticity and tactics, Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood suffered from some annoying slowdown and dropped frames issues. In a game where split second reactions are paramount for survival it was infuriating when the engine choked and spluttered. We are not sure if this problem was down to the European versions, only that it occurred and it wreaked havoc on the overall experience.

Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood could have been the natural progression for the series but certain gameplay issues and other gremlins have spoilt an otherwise authentic and atmospheric experience. Brothers in Arms fans should see this version as a flawed sequel on the Xbox and should only really part with cash if they have tried a rental version first. It's a good game, but not as great as it should’ve been.

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