Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway

Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
Developer(s)	Gearbox Software
Publisher(s)	Ubisoft
Series	Brothers in Arms
Engine	Unreal Engine 3 (Modified)
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release date(s)	PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 NA September 23, 2008 EU September 26, 2008 Microsoft Windows: NA October 7, 2008 EU October 10, 2008
Genre(s)	Action game
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer
Rating(s)	BBFC: 15 ESRB: M OFLC: MA15+ PEGI: 18+
Media/distribution	Blu-ray Disc, DVD
System requirements Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista SP1, Intel Pentium D 3.0 GHz /AMD Athlon64 3000+, 1024MB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Series /ATI Radeon X1600 Series, 8GB free disk space

Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway is the third entry in the Brothers in Arms series of video games which follows the men of the 101st Airborne Division (502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment). This game once again puts players in the role of Staff Sergeant Matt Baker during Operation Market Garden in the later stages of World War II.

The game was released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on September 23, 2008 in North America, and were in stores on September 20, 2008. The Microsoft Windows version was released two weeks later, on October 7, 2008. It was made available on Steam on October 8, 2008.

Plot

The game follows the story of Staff Sergeant Matt Baker leading his new recon squad into the middle of Holland for Operation Market Garden. It starts with a brief retelling of events in the previous two games, then switches over to both Baker's and Staff Sergeant Joe "Red" Hartsock's squads preparing to enter a glider for insertion into an area designated right outside of Eindhoven, Holland. There are many new faces, who are replacements for soldiers that have died in the previous titles. The squad's mission is to clear Eindhoven and their DZ, and then link up with Lt. Col. Robert Sink in the city. After meeting a dutch informer called Nikolaus, Baker begins to move throughout the city with the assisstance of his squad. They eventually get to a main street in Eindhoven, where German artillery begins to bombard them, killing a priest in the process. After this, they fight through more of the city, until Baker takes an alternate route through a building to kill some MG42 wielding Germans. In this building, the first of the flashbacks occurs when Baker sees glasses that resemble those worn by Pvt. Leggett are sitting on a table. He eventually makes it out of the building and links up with squad on the other side. they fight through a couple more blocks, then finally make their way to the main bridge in Eindhoven, where they link up with "Red's" squad and the rest of the invading forces in the area, including Sink. Sink then gives the order to cross the bridge, then immediately after the bridge is destroyed, forcing the soldiers to cross through the river. In the process, many are mowed down by Germans awaiting on the other side, thankfully none of them being a part of Baker's or Hartsock's squads. They then proceed to destroy a German Flak 88 emplacement on the other side, which in turn completes their objective partially, for they were unable to save the bridge. Baker soon learns that Lt Col Cole, was kill by a Sniper during a firefight (whom they do not find after, only his tally on the window sill.) Baker then tells Red, they then get into an argument which Mac interrupts to give Baker his next orders. You then witness a American being shot by a Sniper in a nearby Church, which Baker then assaults, killing several Germans and a MG42 Squad. Baker then has a vision of Leggett, he is firing Baker's Colt 45 and shouting " You want me!" "Fucking Take me!" "Take me!". Baker enters the Church with Paddock, who then kill the Germans occupied inside. Baker is then punched by a German, falling to the floor, but Paddock intervenes, throwing the German out of a Window. The Squad continues through Eindhoven, destroying several 88s and killing many Germans. Nikolaus approaches Baker and tells him that his son has ran off to fight the Germans, Bakers gathers his men and they go looking for the boy. They soon link up with a Irish Tank Commander called Redwood, saying that he is going to help them get through " this shitehole ", he also gives Baker a new Tommy Gun, "Its Jesus resurrected compared to your "Yank Tommy" ( M1A1 Thompson ). They fight through the factories in the City, supported by Redwood's Tanks, Baker and his radioman, Holden, go to the rooftop of one of the factories to call in air support. (Still incomplete)

Gameplay

The game has many new features, including a selection of new specialized units (bazooka and machine gun teams). When a command is issued, the player model uses authentic WWII infantry hand signals to issue the command to his squad, similar to its predecessors. The player also has the ability to take cover behind objects and fire from a third person perspective which is an integral part of the game's strategy. A new “health” system has replaced the more punishing set health per mission system of previous titles in the franchise. With this system, the player's screen begins to turn red as he exposes himself from cover and will return to normal when he return to cover; failure to do so will result in Baker getting shot and killed. The original 'Situational Awareness' system of the first 2 games has been replaced with a simple tactical map that includes historically accurate recon reports based on period reconnaissance of the exact missions the player is currently playing.

One of the newer features of Brothers In Arms: Hells Highway, is the "action cam". Whenever the player gets a head shot, good grenade kill or orders a particularly explosive bazooka blast, the camera will sometimes zoom in on the action and go into slow-motion showing the gory death.

Development

Official system requirements

Minimum Recommended Windows Operating system Windows XP with Service Pack 3 or Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 CPU Pentium D 925 3 GHz 2.6 GHz dual-core Memory 1 GB 2 GB Hard drive space 8 GB of free space Graphics hardware DirectX 9.0c compliant card with 128 MB RAM must support Pixel Shader 3.0. ATI RADEON X1600/1650/1950/HD 2000/3000 series and NVIDIA GeForce 6800/7/8/9 series or even higher Sound hardware DirectX 9.0 or 10.0 compliant Network Broadband internet connection with 384 kbit/s upstream

On September 15, 2008, Ubisoft and Gearbox Software announced that the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game had gone gold. The Windows version went gold two days later. Playable demos on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace are available now.

Gearbox has officially announced a special, limited edition version of the game. The limited edition includes a 6 inch Sergeant Matt Baker figure with 13 accessories, a blister pack holding the figurine and accessories, a 32-page Brothers In Arms First Edition Comic book, a full color map of Operation Market Garden, special packaging and 2 more playable multiplayer characters.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	76.45%(PS3) 77.44%(Xbox 360) 77.75%(PC)
Metacritic	76/100(PS3) 76/100(Xbox 360) 79/100(PC)
Review scores
Publication	Score
Edge	6/10
Eurogamer	70%
Game Informer	7.75/10
GameSpot	8.5/10[citation needed]
IGN	7.6/10
Official Xbox Magazine	9/10
PSM3	70%[citation needed]
X-Play

The game was met with generally positive reviews. It was received with praise for its gritty realistic, highly authentic and true-to-life portrayal of soldiers in combat and the bonds that form amongst them, however, not all of Hell's Highway's reviews and aspects were ideal, with many citing the lack of any real support for its multi-player and the uneven gameplay and modes as steps backwards from the previous entries into the series. Positive things cited by many critics included the voice work, which many reviewers noted as a high step up from previous entries, as well as the story, which worked on a much grander level as well as personnel to show the true horrors of war. Other issues cited were a collection of bugs, primarily in multi-player, which some saw as damaging to the games overall worth. In summary, the single player was seen as an incredible and well written trek through the horrors of Operation Market Garden, while the multi-player component was seen as sub-par. As the single player was praised and the multiplayer fell short of what was expected, Brothers in Arms was mostly seen as a single player game.

Novelization

Hell's Highway
Author(s)	John Antal
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Brothers in Arms
Genre(s)	War novel
Publisher	Presidio Press
Publication date	July 29, 2008
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	320 pp
ISBN	0-345-50337-6

Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway has also been published into a popular companion novel for the video game by the video game's historical director, Colonel John Antal, who served in the United States Army and retired after 30 years.

External links

• Official website