If there's one thing the last few years have brought us, it's piles and piles of World War II shooters. Into the fray marches Ubisoft and Gearbox's Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway. Can this effort stand out from the crowd?

Well, this squad-based shooter has two things that make it different. The first is the military direction provided by Gearbox Software's Colonel John Antal - a retired U.S. Army heavyweight whose influence has become a defining force behind the project. The other is th ... more >>

If there's one thing the last few years have brought us, it's piles and piles of World War II shooters. Into the fray marches Ubisoft and Gearbox's Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway. Can this effort stand out from the crowd?

Well, this squad-based shooter has two things that make it different. The first is the military direction provided by Gearbox Software's Colonel John Antal - a retired U.S. Army heavyweight whose influence has become a defining force behind the project. The other is the focus on realistic tactics, which must be mastered to achieve objectives.

Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway also stands out with its storyline, which is set against the backdrop of an Allied defeat rather than the glory of D-Day or the Russian front.

The Arnhem engagement (Operation Market Garden) of September 1944 was an Allied military disaster that resulted in thousands of men being killed or captured. It is during this, the largest airborne invasion in history, that you assume the role of Sgt Matt Baker, a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne.

The gameplay revolves around leading a squad into battle, issuing them with basic commands to run, suppress and engage enemy troops while attempting to dodge a hail of unfriendly fire. Your soldiers are moved via a simple interface not dissimilar to that used in THQ's Full Spectrum Warrior, although Brothers in Arms is far less ponderous and more intense than its strategy-heavy cousin, and you have the added pressure of keeping yourself alive in battle.

This wouldn't be a shooter, of course, without a multi-player component. Hell's Highway has that, with the squad-based gameplay promising to keep things interesting.

Despite WWII fatigue, the cream rises to the surface and Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway looks a sound contender with an emphasis on tactics rather than suicidal first-person action. It is also backed up by a firm grounding in history and decent research. Onwards, to victory! << less