Product Description

Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway brings the critically acclaimed squad-based WWII shooter into the next generation of gaming with amazing graphics and sound, new cutting-edge gameplay features and a completely redesigned online component. Delivering on the franchise's compelling story, unrivaled authenticity and intense squad-based action, Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway drops you into Operation Market-Garden, the largest airborne operation of World War II. Lead Matt Baker, Joe Hartsock and the rest of the 101st Airborne Division as they fight to open "Hell's Highway" in a daring bid for a quick end to the war.

• Experience the largest paratrooper operation in World War II
• Get orders from HQ, go on patrol, spot the enemy, and set up a devastating ambush
• Each character designed with individual personality, unique story and background
• Incredibly realistic, from trading ammunition to helping wounded allies
• Fight major multiplayer battles with dozens of players on each side

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1205 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: UBI Soft
• Released on: 2008-09-26
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Platform: PLAYSTATION 3

Amazon.co.uk Review

In a nutshell:
After a successful tour of duty on the current gen consoles Brothers in Arms returns in the ultimate WWII squad based shooter, set during the closing months of the war as you take part in the crucial Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands.

The lowdown:
Although there were many astonishing looking games at the recent E3 event this was for most people the most graphically amazing next gen game seen so far. The levels not only look near photorealistic but the game world is huge and almost completely interactive. The gameplay works in the same basic way as before, with an easy to use onscreen cursor enabling you to direct your men with a single button press. New movement types now exist though, allowing you to specify stealth or patrol postures depending on what you’re doing and how fast you need to move. The only problem is the enemy have the same abilities and their artificial intelligence is advanced enough to make proper use of them.

Most exciting moment:
Not only are the enemy intelligent but they’re also well trained, reacting just as a real German soldier would. They’ll hide in doorways, ambush at road junctions and even, in one memorable encounter, hide behind a washing line – where your only warning is from a Dutch civilian at a window above.

Since you ask:
Everything in the game is as realistic as possible with streets and house copied exactly from photos taken at the time, while all weapons and vehicles are modelled to work exactly as they did in real life.

The bottom line:
The most realistic WWII game ever – in terms of history, tactics and graphics.
HARRISON DENT

Manufacturer's Description
Brothers In Arms Hell's Highway brings the critically acclaimed squad-based WWII shooter into the next generation of gaming with amazing graphics and sound, new cutting-edge gameplay features and a completely redesigned online component. Delivering on the franchise's compelling story, unrivaled authenticity and intense squad-based action, Brothers In Arms Hell's Highway drops you into Operation Market-Garden, the largest airborne operation of World War II. Lead Matt Baker, Joe Hartsock and the rest of the 101st Airborne Division as they fight to open "Hell's Highway" in a daring bid for a quick end to the war.

Customer Reviews

Good but not great
I have recently completed BIA and read several of the reviews and can understand the mixed feelings. I have always been a fan of the Brothers in Arms series and enjoyed the genuine innovation and tactics of the original PS2 games - but feel in some ways they are still superior to their PS3 counterpart.
On reading some of the reviews saying "a poor shooter" "not as good as COD" etc these individuals are missing the point - it is NOT a shooter, and is not in competition with the likes of COD, Medal of Honour etc - so I will review it on what it should be based on - how it performs as a strategic action game and how it has improved (and not as the case can be!!)

This game will never find a place in the hearts of shooter-junkies and I don't think it will ever try, but this is also where it sometimes fails, as if it is strategy-orientated game - in some place it is not as good as its predecessors.

One area which does need to be addressed again as has been raised by many was the build-up to its release. When a games' release date is put back and back, you would hope this is to perfect the game, and there were plenty of impressive teaser-trailers leaking into the internet that looked frankly very impressive and a genuinely innovation-laden move foward to the series. But after a long delay when finally released, I was dissappointed that through playing through the game patietly - I failed to find at least 80% of the footage I had seen in the trailers - yes, developer would argue not everything will find itself in the final game but this much impressive content missing was a huge let down I felt somewhat short-changed when I completed the game. It actually did not end up coming across as the genuinely innovative game that we were all expecting.
Looking at the game itself - yes the graphics are not cutting edge - but they are not terrible either - there are plenty of nice touches, lots of attention to detail, the colours can often be a bit too bright and sharp - but as a balance, effects such as fire, explosions, water, movement all look sharp and there is plenty of atmosphere. On the whole the gameplay is intuitive and fluid, succesful strategic assaults and flanking are still very rewarding - but agian there is not much new here - in fact less than before - you can't lie prone any more, you can't melee attack (which was often missed) you can't order your squad to assault(rush) a position anymore(would've helped), and you can't order a tank as part of your squad(again really missed!)

Unfortunately too much emphasis has been put on flashy displays such as slow-mo head-shots, and dismemberment of limbs - which was a silly trade off - effects vs strategic options. The new units bazooka and Machine Gun are good fun though and do offer broader options in support for your squad - you never bore of a bazooka shell screaming over your head and destroying a particularly stubborn machine gun nest!! There is lots of narrative about story and the characters - but if you haven't played the other games, this will mean nothing to you. Although the game is all about teamwork, there were, for me, just too many "go it alone" sections - which were long, drawn out - and has probably alienated the aformentioned "shooter-fans" all the more as they prob think this is the direction the game is trying to go in and not doing it that well.

I think because of all the misleading trailers - my biggest gripe is the slightly underwhelmed feeling I got when I completed it (and have not been in a hurry to play through it again) The game starts off really well, its exciting to follow the story starting off, and playing with the new squads and blowing stuff up and looking agape the first few times you literally blow people apart, but thats only for the first 1/3 of the game. For the rest its just the same over and over, slight variety of weapon you carry and squad you command in slightly different terrain. The last couple of levels in the dunes was the only time full effect of your command of a squad really falls into place and is an utter delight - but the last level is a boring and dissappointing finale.

All in all though I have been a big fan of the series - and in some ways the predecessors are better - more tactical options - less graphical sheen. A lot of fans like me though are going to feel a bit mislead as to the finished article and rather short-changed over all. Ubisoft really need to listen to the critcism here and make significant improvements to a fundamentally good but as yet nowhere near a great game

Guys Chill Out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well what can i say!!!
i have read all of these shocking reviews and some (which this upsets me the most) have reviewed and said call of duty is more realistic!
hah! speak to any war veteran and they will say you cant run into a hord of japanese soldiers and bayonet them all to death without them doing anything because they are obviously worse then you at fighting!
BIA HH makes clever use of cover which you can use really cooly. You can order different groups of men to do different things. Unlike COD'S it isnt a one man show where you go running it blazing the place down. In this you must make use of your teammates and what they do.By ordering them around and telling them to perform different tasks it really is like being a commander of troops. With good weapons, and very good scenery. The game takes you to a variety of places and touches on an untold story of the airborne in holland. Yes, this game isnt perfect i have to be honest, the graphics are poor on the cutscenes in comparison to leeding games such as COD, however the story line is very good, i throughly enjoyed playing it and at this price you really cant go wrong!!!

Was this game made during WWII?
This is a surprisingly old-fashioned game, considering that it has been developed for the Xbox 360 and PS3 (as well as the PC).

The cut scenes look incredibly retro with their rough-looking character models that look and move like reanimated corpses. No matter how much they shout (and swear), their faces remain locked in rigor mortis, only their lips vaguely suggesting any movement.

Then there's all those old favourites of FPS shooters past... doors you can't open, waist-height objects you can't jump over, glass windows that don't even scratch, let alone break, when you fire hundreds of rounds into them, not being allowed to pass between a table and a chair that are 3 feet apart from each other. It's like travelling back to the late 1990's.

The gameplay is pretty turgid too... move your troops forward to provide covering fire while you sneak round the side and do all the real work. Rinse and repeat.

Much as I love some of the old games of the 1990's, I'm not paying full price for that level of effort and imagination today.