In the Game Room - Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway

Full disclosure - I am an unabashed Brothers in Arms fan. Ever since its seminal first offering Road to Hill 30, I have never stopped praising the good people at Gearbox for having the guts to introduce smart, tactical gameplay into a genre that cries out for innovation. I've met Randy Pitchford (Gearbox CEO) and Col. John Antal (the game's military consultant) at two different E3's, and were always struck by their passion for the franchise and excitement to deliver something truly different to the marketplace.

So what if the multiplayer kinda stunk? The single-player campaigns were always magnificent. What's more, I've completely changed as a gamer over the past few years - I don't even play online multiplayer anymore except on rare occasions and only then with people I know. Maybe it's because I'm older, or because I'm a Dad, or just because I have so few hours a week to play, but I love me a good single-player mode now more than ever.

And Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway delivers that in spades.

I played HH over the course of almost 2 months, spending an hour or so a night a few times a week. The more I played it, the more I realized that's probably the right way to go. Simply put, HH is so intense and demanding that you become exhausted after just a level or two. And it's also hard - really freaking hard. But not hard in the "we're just out to punish you" hard, just "you have to think about what you're going to do then do it and not abandon smart tactics when things start to fall apart" hard.

Hell's Highway is an apt description; taking place during Operation Market Garden, you're placed in the (familiar to those who've played earlier versions) shoes of Matt Baker, who's dealing with all sorts of issues surrounding the events of his squad's earlier forays in Europe during D-Day. He and his regiment are dropped right into the center of the Market Garden mess, from the initial heady moments all the way through the painful defeat. Blistering setpiece firefights, house-to-house squad combat, tank battles, and haunting solo excursions all make up a surprisingly varied and satisfactory game.

This ain't your typical Brothers In Arms game either; sure, there's plenty of fix-flank-fire strategy, but there're also a healthy dose of vehicular and corridor-shooting levels to mix things up a bit. At no time will you ever be comfortable - which is exactly what I'm sure Gearbox was going for.

Unfortunately, Hell's Highway does have its share of problems. The cutscenes are shockingly jumpy, with texture changes and awkward movements. The story is also a bit of a wreck, even to fans of the series who know the characters well. The good news here is that it does a better job near the end, as opposed to the first few chapters, where I couldn't tell what the heck was going on. Even better, there's a clear indicator of yet another BIA title on the way, as "To Be Continued" precedes the ending credits. Evidently, Baker and friends will be heading to Bastogne and the Battle of the Bulge next time. And that sounds freaking awesome.

Unlike some WWII shooters, Hell's Highway also spares little expense in gore. One of the, um, hallmarks of the game is the Action Cam, a mechanic that shows you your best kills in super-slo-mo, such as exploding heads for good sniper shots or dismembered bodies flying through the air when you time a grenade just right. Maybe it was happenstance or just bad timing, but half the time I got the Action Cam I didn't seem to be in the right place, as my camera angle was blocked or at least partially obscured. On those occasions when I had the right line of sight, though, it was more than a little disturbing to see chunks of Nazi arms and heads flying through the air in slow motion. I'm not sure if I hated it or not, but it's not completely necessary and isn't executed particularly well.

Even so, Hell's Highway remains one of my favorite games of the year. Unfortunately, it looks like it's getting buried in the holiday avalanche; who knows if it will even sell enough to get its clearly-alluded-to sequel even made. No matter what, I'm glad I played through it and despite its bevy of problems, I had a heck of a good time. It's strongly recommended to anyone with an Xbox 360 and a penchant for a thinking man's military game.

Too many games? Only for suckers (or kids with nothing better to do)!

It's that time of year, when all the game publishers release a year's worth of top-notch titles in a two-month period. All of this could be so stressful, and yet I am utterly unconcerned that I am missing out on a bevy of ridiculously entertaining games with every passing day.

Years ago, the situation would be completely different. As my buddy Mark can attest, back in the halcyon days of 2002 or 2003, I'd happily walk into a game store at lunch, ask what the latest releases were, and plunk down $100 or more sight unseen for whatever happened to catch my fancy. Times were good back then - I had money and time to burn. Ah, the folly of youth.

These days, life is actually better, but both time and money are in dramatically less supply. Thanks to a demanding job, a less-demanding but time-consuming second job, and an awesome little boy whose daily antics keep me happy and hopping, I have about 95% less time to devote to "just for fun" gaming. But, really, not only is that OK, it's actually awesome.

Why? How could I possibly not be fretting that I am missing out on Fallout 3, Little Big Planet, Call of Duty: World At War, Gears of War 2, Resistance 2, or Fable 2, just to name a handful of the blockbuster titles that've release in the past 4 weeks?

Three reasons, really:

1) They'll be there in a few months if (when?) I get around to them. It's not like it used to be, where I spent lots of time online in the latest shooters with all my friends. There is no sense of urgency anymore to keep up, because for the most part we've all grown up and moved on. And I like it that way. Sometime next year, I'll amble into a Gamestop and see Fallout 3 for $30 or $40, and I'll probably pick it up. Or not. Who knows?

2) I've still got a backlog from hell of great games I haven't gotten to. Between Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, and Godfather, that's probably 100 hours or more of top-notch games I own that have not had the shrink-wrap broken. That also doesn't count GTA IV, which I stopped mid-game, or Oblivion, or....well, you get the point. Why keep adding to the pile of shame?

3) I am happily playing 1 game "for fun" and getting a lot out of it. For the past month or so, I've been able to spend quality time (3-4 hours a week or so) with one game - Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway - and take it at a pace that I want to. There's no need to try and rush through it, or get frustrated when I die a lot (which I do - it's a hard game!). Once I've finished, I'll decide what's next, then play that for a month or two. And that's just fine with me.

Not to mention, I keep playing games on the treadmill too, but those are always sports games. Between the need to really concentrate and turn up the sound so I can hear what's going on, it just doesn't work to try and play anything else. On the other hand, I've spent gobs of time in NHL 09 and NBA 2K9, both of which are totally awesome and both of which I totally suck at. But that's why God invented the reset button!

Lastly - and speaking of that second job - here are links to the last reviews I've written for GamesRadar. As the economy falls apart and my freelance opportunities dry up, these may be the last ones I do for awhile. Considering that it frees up 8-10 hours a week, though, that's not too bad of a situation in the short term.

NBA 2K9: http://www.gamesradar.com/ps3/nba-2k9/review/nba-2k9/a-2008100914485412048340/g-20080611141448749075

NBA Live 09: http://www.gamesradar.com/xbox360/nba-live-09/g-2008060914457722077

NBA 09: http://www.gamesradar.com/ps3/nba-09-the-inside/g-2008091015312151087

Enjoy!

Coming soon - an actual blog!

This is the obligatory "Hi everyone I just started this but don't have time to actually, you know, put anything here yet while I get this together while also doing the 438 things on my to-do list" post.

Trust me, actual (moderately?) interesting blogs about my occasionally humorous adventures will be coming shortly.

In the iterim, though, here's a mini "What I've Got Going On" post:

Now reviewing: Nothing (thank goodness, since the basketball games are all coming very soon)
Now playing (for fun): Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway (more on that soon)
Now playing (on the treadmill): NHL 09 "Be a Pro" mode
Now reading: Harry Turtledove's "Drive To The East"
Now watching: Sopranos Season 3 (slowly)
Now not watching but have on DVR ready when I get a few hours (ha!): Season premieres of The Office, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad

Lastly, for your reading pleasure, here are my last couple of GamesRadar reviews - all pucks, all the time.

NHL 2K9 for the Wii: http://www.gamesradar.com/wii/nhl-2k9/review/nhl-2k9/a-20080915172519879045/g-2008061216247488033

NHL 2k9 for the 360/PS3: http://www.gamesradar.com/xbox360/nhl-2k9/review/nhl-2k9/a-2008091210252860879517/g-2008061216229675013