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Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30

EMAIL PRINT pc

6.5 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 32 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 62 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Ubisoft

Developer: Gearbox Software

Genre(s): First-Person Shooter, Action

Players: 4

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: March 15, 2005

Summary

Created by Texas-based Gearbox Software, Brothers in Arms is the most realistic and authentic WWII shooter ever. While other WWII games have sugarcoated the war experience, Brothers in Arms is based on a true story and will immerse gamers into the gritty, uncensored and emotionally-charged side of war. The game puts you in the shoes of Sgt. Matt Baker, a D-Day paratrooper squad leader, and asks you to lead the squad as you balance their lives with the success of the mission. The true stories and historical events you experience on your perilous journey take you through real battlefields meticulously recreated from aerial reconnaissance images, US Army Signal Corps photos and eye-witness accounts of war-torn Normandy. Players of allskill levels can battle their way through this intense experience because of Brothers in Arms innovative and accessible command and control system. [Ubisoft]

Also On Metacritic

GAMES: Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central GameSpot Guide

Also On The Web: ActionTrip Preview Game Revolution Preview Games Domain Preview GameSpot Preview GameSpy Preview IGN Hands-On Official Game Site

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Yahoo! Games

It's not just its uncompromising realism or its emotive theme, it's the whole package -- great looks, fantastic sound, and a gameplay and plot structure that promotes bonding with the men under your command. Wrap that up with a slick control method and, for once, some tactical depth, and you're left with a very special recipe.

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Worth Playing

What impresses me the most about BIA more so than any other shooter about WW2 is that BIA treats WW2 much more in the same vane of "Saving Private Ryan" and "Band of Brothers."

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Next Level Gaming

The game has something that many games are missing these days, and that is emotion.

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Gamezilla!

Without a doubt, even with a few minor problems, this is one of my favorite titles of this year.

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Pelit (Finland)

An excellent game. It is superbly written and researched. The situations and characters simply feel real. [Apr. 05]

Game Revolution

The realistic squad based action is handled well and provides a satisfying journey through the nightmare of war.

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PC Gamer

It temporarily wrests the verisimilitude crown away from "Call of Duty" and - amazingly - revives Normandy's "dead horse." [May 2005, p.56]

IGN

Offering up engaging, squad-based battles and presenting it all in an authentic yet undeniably cinematic setting, Brothers in Arms is a game that, to borrow a phrase from General Patton, "grabs you by the nose and kicks you in the ass."

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Total Video Games

Quite honestly the first realistic shooter I’ve found myself completely enthralled within. It’s cross between Medal of Honor/Call of Duty and Full Spectrum Warrior gameplay creates an experience that is fresh and compelling, while the multiplayer mode should make this one of the most popular titles around.

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GameSpot

The campaign is varied and lengthy enough to keep players thrilled from beginning to end. There's even good incentive to play through again at higher difficulties.

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GameSpy

The squad-based combat is handled elegantly, from the simple control scheme to the ability to switch out to a birds-eye view to strategize, and injects some life into a genre we thought had been milked for good.

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2404.org

One of the best World War II shooters I've ever played, and certainly one of the better shooters of recent years.

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GamingTrend

This is a labor of love by Gearbox and if you’re at all into historical stuff, this game is for you.

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Computer Gaming World

This is one shooter in which your tactical skills are rewarded more than your ability to line up targets. [June 2005, p.76]

Game Over Online

In the end, crisp visuals, superb sound and an engrossing solo campaign all help Brothers in Arms stand out from an overcrowded crop of World War II shooters.

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Eurogamer

The beauty of it is the ability to play it however you want, either going for all out rushes or a more strategic squad-based approach.

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Gaming Horizon

Not only does it have everything that all of the other first person shooter games have had, but it also has a feature that adds just enough strategy to the game that separates it from the rest.

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Computer Games Online RO

Can you forget "Medal of Honor" and "Call of Duty" by playing this game? Of course not, but Brothers in Arms marks a new beginning for the Second World War shooters. It's an extraordinary game, one that will change the history of war shooters forever.

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PC Format

This is the point where the populist WW2 first-person shooter gets the long awaited reinforcements: New Ideas. [Apr 2005, p.98]

Computer and Video Games

Luckily, it's dead simple. When it comes to squad-level infantry manoeuvres, tactics have changed little in the last 2,000 years (so we're told), and they're almost insultingly basic. [PC Zone]

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Jolt Online Gaming UK

The effect that all this adds to the game is more a sense of realism than a sense of camaraderie. The harrowing, dangerous nature of war is shown here in its truest form in a video game.

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Play Magazine

With more of an emphasis on the intimate perils of war, the game feels fresh enough, but staggers in an attempt to draw us in to the characters. [May 2005, p.50]

GameZone

Unfortunately, with the limited MP games and buggy code, this game could still use some fine tuning.

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My Gamer

So, even if you are weary of the WWII theme, don’t be so disillusioned by the overabundance of WWII games that you let this one elude you.

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ActionTrip

In a nutshell, when its 'gears' are clicking, Brothers in Arms manages to deepen the shooter genre with the addition of some great tactical gameplay and relatively realistic depiction of infantry warfare... [but] sadly lacked somewhat in the execution department, making it not as good as the reigning king of the genre.

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PC Gameworld

An average World War II shooter, with elements of strategy implemented somewhat successfully. However, the game is also available on consoles, and I can't help but think the game would have been so much better had it been developed solely for PC.

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Pelaaja (Finland)

Brothers in Arms is a good start for Ubisoft WWII franchise. The drama of the story, frantic fire fights and well implemented squad command system makes other WWII shooters feel, well, just like your average shooters. Brothers in Arms is more of an authentic WWII combat experience. [May 2005, p.66]

Sydney Morning Herald

First-person shooter fans might struggle initially with the demanding targeting system, plus a selection of weapons that take into account the accuracy and range of their real-world counterparts.

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Computer Games Magazine

Significantly more elaborate than any of the other [current tactical shooters]. [July 2005, p.49]

Gamer's Hell

While it offers a unique, new experience to the platform, it is nothing that is groundbreaking but can still be fun to play through once just for the historical novelty.

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games(TM)

Gearbox should be applauded for taking the first-person genre in a bold new direction, but during the bulk of the game, players must be willing to sit back and let the developer tell the story. [Apr 2005, p.104]

Edge Magazine

Plenty of games have flourished around the slaughter, scale and destruction of war, but few have managed to realise a soldier’s role and worth - disposable, vulnerable, pivotal - as well as this. [Apr 2005, p.100]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 6.5 (out of 10) based on 62 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Josh P.S. gave it an8:
A fairly solid tactical historical shooter. The only major faults are with the contextual commands- occasionally causing you to order your squad to attack when you want them to move, and to mount guns when you want to reload- and the friendly AI occasionally not firing when they have clear shots and not always using cover intelligently, but for the most part they make themselves useful. It also isn't the best looking game given its age, looking obviously like an Xbox port. All that said, it's still an engrossing FPS that's a welcome diversion from arcade-style WWII shooters like the Call of Duty and Medal of Honor games. Worth a go if slower, more cerebral rather than twitchy FPS are your thing.

JImmeh Boy gave it an8:
Still love it. Havent played it in years and am still loving it. Play it on Authentic and turn all the assists off and you will have a good fun challenge. Reason its no 10 is because the graphics are fair dated and the voice acting isnt very good. But the gameplay is original and fun, all the people whinging that its repetetive are the clowns who cant play it properlly. Better get back to your COD, little boys. The sounds are excellent, especially for the game of its age. And the story telling and the story in generall is just great, the three BIA games are by far my favourite series. Get it while its cheap.

Travis R gave it a2:
This game is awful. Repetitive, boring, ridiculous load times, and horrible hit detection. Bad for the time, and equally bad now.

jens h gave it a9:
this is by far 1 of the best games iv'e ever played the graphs are pretty good when u think about what year it's made in. i also think this is the only game i ever played that got emotion. the gameplay is great, they did alot into the tactics and it turned out pretty well even if your on the normal level then it's not just run and gun u have to use your sqaud/tank. the only thing about this game that could be better is the weapons they made the M1 garand and other types of rifles in the game a little too unaccurate

Slerba brouken engilsh gave it a10:
The most realistic WW2 game indeed, I recommend playing it with hard difficulty setting to maximise the immersion. You will die alot, because only one enemy can kill you with a single shot, but once you learn to keep your head down and flank the enemy, it's one hell of a ride! Graphics are good enough- runs smoothly with olde r computers, sounds great- weapons and explosions have a realistic feel in them, Great animations and voice acting- soldiers act like living beings, hiding behind covers and yelling for each other in the heat of a battle. I highly recommend playing this game, you don't even have to like war games that much. Tactical elements and effort they put in realism separates Brothers In Arms from titles like Medal Of Honour and Call Of Duty.

Daniel C. gave it a1:
Sucked! Repetitive tactics get boring very quickly. If you're a drone, you'll like this game; if you're a human, stay away. I bought this game based on good critics' reviews. Something want terribly wrong here. Were all the critics on drugs, payed off, or just didn't bother playing through more than just a handful of missions. You can't judge a whole game solely based on a first few levels. Critics, play the whole game before providing your two cents worth. This game, although appearing good at the beginning, quickly becomes worthless as you play on. I think that this game will go down in history as the most overrated game ever. At least the users, not the critics, gave it a more fair review, although still a little hight.

Matt gave it a3:
I had such hopes that this would be a good game, but instead, it was a bad minigame drawn out to cover the plot. The mechanics of the minigame are simple: see the Germans, shot in the general direction of the Germans, tell your squad to stop taking cover from the wrong direction and shoot at the Germans, walk over to the Germans, shoot the Germans. The friendly AI is so useless that despite the levels constant attempts to railroad you into using this tactic, I found it more effective to order my squad to sit in the corner while I single-handedly slaughtered the Germans. The weapons behave as an experienced shooter would expect them too, in the hands of untrained game developers. The German AI compensates for the flaws in the American AI, demonstrating a complete inability to use grenades effectively, cover their flanks or rear, or even utilize the old tactic from Wolf 3d and gang up on the poor Americans. On authentic difficulty, the weapons are still almost completely useless, requiring multiple head and chest hits to bring down a German. Fortunately, the Germans have the same problem, allowing you to simply charge enemy riflemen, emptying the clip of a Thompson into them, and ignoring the hits you take in the process. Perhaps most disappointing was the fact that for all their efforts and attention to detail in historical accuracy, the levels were essentially long clear tunnels. If pinned down by a German machine gun in the street, it might seem reasonable to jump the fence beside the road and take cover in the ditch, move forward and flank, right? Wrong. The fence should be easily cleared, but it is in actuality the base of an invisible wall. Such invisible walls abound, in order to ensure that the path chosen by the game designers is the path the player follows. All in all, this feels less like playing a game, and more like playing a role in a movie, only instead of a script, you simply have a director yelling at you whenever you do anything that isn't what he wants.

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Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30

Game Info

Summary

Also On Metacritic

What The Critics Said

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