Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway

Conclusions

Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway has left me in something of two minds. Part of me wants to gush over the fantastic squad based combat, ambitious plotline and fantastic atmosphere, but another part of me knows that all these positives are nagged by dodgy level design that negates the flanking gameplay, dodgy plot execution and immersion breaking solo and vehicles sequences.

It’s certainly very frustrating because underneath the flaws, I’m entirely sure Hell's Highway could have been one of the finest single player experiences on any platform. The squad based combat is awesome when everything comes together, letting you combine strategy and FPS skill sets in equal amounts and many of the levels are fantastically atmospheric and almost cinemagraphic in quality and pacing.

The plot and NPC characterisation attempts a lot and while it doesn’t completely succeed, the ambition here is impressive and the voice actors do a commendable job of holding the whole thing together even if the engine isn't up to the task of properly conveying the subject matter. You’re dropped into this ongoing plot line which deals with pretty heavy issues, and it demonstrates a respect for the audience that’s very rare in modern gaming. The personification of your squad is also very well executed and the way that every character has their own vocally expressed personality and isn’t just a braindead solider-bot really adds to the immersive nature of the game.


Sadly it’s all spoiled by the baffling inclusions of solo and vehicle sections which just don’t fit in with the rest of the game and tend to shatter that precious immersion that the squad based combat and plot line bring. What’s more annoying is that we get the impression that Gearbox was forced to include these weaker sections due to development time constraints instead of choice – the game was originally supposed to launch this time last year and there have been some obvious sacrifices to get the game shipped on time.

But it’s perhaps the multiplayer that sours our taste for Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway the most – it’s a disgracefully shoddy port of the console multiplayer, with the poor features to match. PC multiplayer gaming deserves better than this mess, and Gearbox should be pretty ashamed of it.

Despite these flaws, would I still buy Brother in Arms: Hell’s Highway? Yes, without a doubt. It’s still a fine game and when it shines, it shines brighter than any other FPS I’ve played this year. Taking on many enemy positions with multiple squads in the final missions of the game was fantastic fun, and has certainly been one of my gaming highlights of the year so far.

It’s just a titanic shame that Gearbox copped out in so many ways, muddying the experience considerably. For those willing to look past the shortcomings, there’s a quality game here, but if you’re expecting something truly great you’ll be disappointed.

What do our scores mean?