Metareview -- Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway

by Justin McElroy { Sep 24th 2008 at 10:57PM }

Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway has been quite a long road but, if the reviews are any indication, it's been a worthwhile one. The critiques aren't without complaint by any means, but they're are all consistently solid, always a good sign in our metareviewing experience.

Official Xbox Magazine (90/100): "Raw, frenzied action and deep thoughts about the nature of leadership don't seem like natural bedfellows, but in Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, they join forces to deliver both gripping drama and riveting gameplay. Like the heroes it portrays, the game itself is an imperfect experience, but its better qualities are so compelling that surrender won't be an option."
VideoGamer (80/100): "Bar the jarring Action Camera, there's not a lot wrong with Hell's Highway. Rather, there's a lot good with it. It's an intelligent game made by adults for adults. It'll have a hard time going up against Treyarch's Call of Duty: World at War this Christmas, of course. But, like Sergeant Baker himself, it's going to put up a damn good fight."
Game Informer (78/100): "Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway is a competent tactical shooter blessed with a dedication to narrative rarely seen in shooters. If Gearbox can build off this success with more inventive gameplay, the series has a chance of overcoming the boredom that curses so many WWII titles."

Tags: brothers-in-arms, brothers-in-arms-hells-highway, metareview, ubisoft

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

A @ Sep 24th 2008 11:07PM

I can't believe they screwed multiplayer- BIA2 was some of the best coop ever.

I waited years for THIS game, and now I'm gonna pass. I feel like Christmas just got canceled.

Autopsy15 @ Sep 25th 2008 12:02AM

Waah, waah, waaaaah.

t3kni9e @ Sep 24th 2008 11:07PM

Decent reviews, but not good enough to get me to buy it. When it comes to war shooters, it comes down to the online first, then single player 2nd and I think CoD:WaW would be more fulfilling. Then again I don't plan on getting CoD either.

Arturo @ Sep 24th 2008 11:10PM

I'm not sure I want to get this yet with WipEout HD releasing tomorrow. :(

Plus I have to save moneys for Left 4 Dead, LBP, Dead Space, Gears 2, Resistance 2, Fallout 3, maybe Fable 2, Far Cry 2, maybe World at War. eeeeeek

Arturo @ Sep 24th 2008 11:33PM

Oh and I forgot SOCOM. My poor wallet lol

MC Double Def DP @ Sep 24th 2008 11:11PM

I enjoy this game, but I had to get use to not pressing the left trigger to aim. Lost too many good men by directing them to charge blindly in the direction I wanted to zoom in on.

Parnic @ Sep 25th 2008 2:10AM

Switch to the "Tour of Duty" control scheme for a left-trigger zoom.

Naota @ Sep 24th 2008 11:35PM

eh, i never liked the feel of the first two, the weapons felt too inacurate for me to really enjoy it, but who knows this time around?

Parnic @ Sep 25th 2008 2:10AM

The weapons are much more accurate in this game than the previous installments.

Lone Starr @ Sep 24th 2008 11:47PM

That pic is creepy. Uncanny valley....

Seanross @ Sep 25th 2008 2:38AM

Looks like it belongs on myspace...

ifalldownstairs @ Sep 25th 2008 12:20AM

I just bought it and I'm really liking it. Then again, I really liked the first 2 also so i guess this one isn't much different. I definitely made sure to turn off the thing where the screen turns red and the action cam though, they're both way to distracting.

Titanium_Orchid @ Sep 25th 2008 1:23AM

what other options can you turn off?

I am on the fence about this game but after reading what you wrote, I'm a little more excited to enter into a more realistic experience.

Immortal Technique PSN: johnnynumber5 @ Sep 25th 2008 12:42AM

I want this game. I have an un-opened copy of SW:Force Unleashed I could return and get BIA:HH

zaglis @ Sep 25th 2008 1:35AM

And the barrage of garbage continues...

t_m @ Sep 25th 2008 6:01AM

80%+ has become garbage now?!?

I remember the good old days of video game reviewing when 70% was garbage... :-(

GhostWorld @ Sep 25th 2008 3:56AM

I guess it was a bad time to get back into playing Halo 3 again.

uh-oh polio @ Sep 25th 2008 5:17AM

This game on authentic=the best ww2 game ive ever played.
Its incredibly realistic as if you run/gun. You WILL be cut to pieces.
Now what they really need is BiA Iraq/modern warfare.

Xoviet chiK @ Sep 25th 2008 7:38AM

"It'll have a hard time going up against Treyarch's Call of Duty: World at War this Christmas, of course. "

Gearbox > Treyarch

Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 + Earned in Blood > Call of Duty + United Offensive + Finest Hour + 2 + Big Red One + 3

I'll take original, tactical, gameplay playing out to one of the best told stories in any video game over cookie-cutter cinematic action any day.

Vcize @ Sep 25th 2008 10:29AM

And I'll take co-op over a game that was in development forever and still couldn't put what should now be a basic feature into the game.

Bass Masterson @ Sep 25th 2008 1:53PM

I'm sorry, but BiA is _not_ a good game. From the first one where you had the shakiest gun in the West, concrete hedges, and one 'tactical' move you repeated over and over ... to having to listen to painfully sophomoric, cliche "thoughts about war" and supposedly humanizing stories about soldiers cutting hard-boiled eggs ... it's cheesy and hammy. That makes a good lunch, not a good game.

Xoviet chiK @ Sep 25th 2008 2:10PM

I think we differ greatly on what merits a great game, as well as a great lunch.

I like immersion, I like to forget that I'm playing a game. I don't want my hand held around every corner, and I certainly don't want to push through an endless barrage of enemy NPCs for the sake of pushing my way through to the next linear objective simply because some silly developer couldn't figure out the proper AI algorithms to dictate an action other than run, shoot, run, shoot some more, and die because they were too busy copy and pasting 1999 game design standards.

BiA certainly isn't perfect (it only looks that way in comparison to other WWII drivel that isn't titled "Commandos 2" or "Company of Heroes"), it was just the perfect shot of espresso when everyone else was serving decaf. Who would have thought we would need another with EiB and now HH. Virtual Ham n' Cheese for the vegan win!

oldmike @ Sep 25th 2008 8:57AM

after gameinformer gave SW.FU a 8.75 can you trust them can you trust any fanboy magazine (looking at you xbox) lets see what some big names score it

rickjamess @ Sep 25th 2008 9:08AM

correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't IGN give this a 7 or something?

OTAM @ Sep 25th 2008 12:23PM

You know,there's a reason 1UP changed their scoring scale. It's because people just look at a number and if it's not an 8 - 10,they don't give it the time of day. You're supposed to READ THE REVIEW and see what's good and bad about the game and judge if you'll like it,not just look at a number and never give the game another thought again.