The new installment of Gearbox's WWII epic has finally arrived, despite 2 years of delays and a lot of criticism that Hells Highway's more cinematic feel will ultimately change the feel of the Brothers in Arms franchise. After playing and beating the game, it is easy to say that it lives up to both the franchise and Gearbox's skill at making a great game and although to some Hells Highway is just another in the endless stack of WWII games, Hell's Highway is without a doubt the most significant since Call of Duty 2.
Continuing the story of Sargeant Mathew Baker from the first game, Road to Hill 30, Hell's Highway observes Baker's story in a far more cinematic way with many cut-scenes and flashbacks that detail events from the first game. While the story focuses on Baker, and the trauma of all the men who have died under his command, it also shows Baker's close friendship with Joe Harstock, the main character of Earned in Blood, and loosely shines on individual members of Bakers squad including some who had died in Road to Hill 30. This shows that while Hell's Highway's story focuses on the actions of the 101st Airborne at Operation Market Garden the story is more like that of a movie, containing many subplots such as Baker's "cursed" pistol, the stories of Baker's men, such as a level where a young soldier goes AWOL, running off with a Danish woman while a city was being bombed, and just as significant, Baker's battle with PDST.
Graphically, the game looks great. A few people may have said that the game looks like Call of Duty 3, but as anyone plays the game, they will see that Hell's Highway, while it isn't a new advancement in graphics, is comparable to most other first person shooters. The game's framerate runs smoother throughout the experience, despite only a few stutters during the begining of the game. The destructible cover also works well in coordination with the game's physics, wood splinters realistically and should you throw a grenade or order a special weapons team to fire a bazooka at a rocket at a sandbag wall, it'll shatter, of course the real treat of that would be seeing whoevers taking cover behind that go flying and most likely lose a limb or two.
The gameplay in Hells Highway, while it is not an upheaval, is a refinement of that of the two previous games, that introduces a cover system and more cinematic violence that could be compareable to Saving Private Ryan. Like the two previous games, Hell's Highway puts you in the place of a sqaud leader commanding up to three sqauds, ordering them to cover and letting the game's smart AI do the rest. Brother's in Arms' AI is one of the major selling points of this game, in fact, having AI that is smart enough to take cover and fire at enemies without running around like complete retards, standing still, or glitching into objects. The cover system in Hell's Highway obviously borrows from that of Rainbow Six Vegas, except it uses one of the better destructible cover systems I have seen in a FPS, although still not reaching the perfection of having an entirely destructible enviroment, that many false promises can not live up to. Hell's Highway's violence, that many long-time fans of the series have called over the top and untrue to the series is a complete overstatement. As I have said earlier, it feels more down and gritty like Saving Private Ryan, than over the top and super violent like Gears of War, and the complaints themselves had only been about limbs being blown off in slow motion should you throw a grenade at an enemy position or get a headshot.
In the end, this leaves Hell's Highway as another great game in the Brothers in Arms franchise and has certainly left many people waiting for the next installment. While there are many complaints about an unfinsihed multiplayer and terrible sections of the game in buildings, Hell's Highway is overall a great game that any fan of tactical shooters should play.
