Brothers in Arms Hell's Highway Preview February 8,2008 - Brothers In Arms has clearly become Gearbox Software’s claim to fame, evidenced by two successful installments into the series, which were accepted with a fair amount of appraisal from critics and fans. They have been hard at work on the series’ third chapter, Hell’s Highway, and while not much of the fundamental gameplay mechanics have been changed, Gearbox is poised to bring more of what followers have come to love.

If you’re a veteran of the series, you know that one of the hallmark traits that Gearbox plays up is the true-to-life re-creation of the environments in which you play. Every battle you engage in actually took place at some point in time, and through the use of archive photos, they've reconstructed the war torn European cities and villages of WWII. Expect no difference in Hell’s Highway. Colonel Antal, Gearbox’s Military and Historical Director, is still on board with the team and continues to act as a litmus test for authenticity.

The biggest noticeable change, as expected, is the jump to the next-generation arena, and with that comes severely enhanced visuals, which is evident in the videos and screenshots of the game. Powered by Unreal Engine 3, from what we’ve seen out of it, Hell’s Highway looks fantastic. Take a look at any game powered by the engine (Mass Effect, Unreal III, Bioshock, etc.) and you’ll get an idea of how intense the graphics are.

An especially impressive demoing of its technical prowess is the level of detail put into the physics, exhibited by the splintering of wooden objects under the bombardment of heavy gunfire, another feature added. Players won’t be able to just hide behind anything solid this time around. Taking cover behind flimsy protection, such as a fence will do little in the way of providing any real security. New bazooka teams make taking cover an even more thoughtful process, since entire walls can be blown away.

This brings up the point of the risk-indication system they’ve incorporated, which acts as a visual warning of your vulnerability while in combat. If you come under heavy fire, instead of letting your character get riddled with lead before realizing you’re in danger, the screen will get blurry and turn to a shade of red, warning you that you’re moments from taking a bullet and you’d better get moving. When the screen is in this state, objects which are safe to hide behind appear as clear as day, without blur or discoloration. It’s a bit arcade-like, but should prove utilitarian.

As aforementioned, the core gameplay remains unchanged; you take control of Sgt. Matt Baker, in charge of a group of men broken into teams who you have to strategically issue orders to in order to get through the Hell (pun intended) that took place during Operation Market Garden. Expect a considerably more cinematic and visually captivating experience out of Hell’s Highway than previous episodes, when it ships this summer.

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