Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway

After being pushed back many times, Hell's Highway finally arrived -- still waiting on that sequel. I played through the previous two BiA games before playing this, which wore me out rather than got me excited for this long-awaited sequel. It is speaking to the quality of the game then, when I say that it re-immersed me entirely. After playing under the limited Unreal Engine, the Unreal 3 Engine enabled Hell's Highway to bring this series to life. The game finally has the intense, scenario-driven battlefield of Call of Duty 2 and has a story that is by far the best of the series. The game has some of the best cutscene direction and writing you'll find in a video game of its year (Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots certainly surpasses it, but c'mon!) The game has streamlined many issues of the previous games while bringing it up to speed with next-gen games, including vehicle sections and a cover system. The game still feels a bit too repetitive, but it makes good on the promise the series made in 05'. Its ironic then that now that it has caught up to the speed of Call of Duty 2, that the CoD series only got more intense and fast.

Where the series shines is in offering -- as goofy as it sounds -- a first person puzzle shooter that doesn't get old as long as it is addictive and accessible. You overlook your battlefield and decisively position your troops in the only way that is right, while hoping to get a couple kills of your own. Hell's Highway does little to build upon this (adding a bazooka team is a lot of fun, though), but it massively improves the experience with finesse and an actually good story. BiA could still enlist the help of a couple Band of Brothers writers, but Hell's Highway tells a complex and compelling story of mystery, hopelessness, and betrayal. There are some memorable moments in this game, but the writers still don't know how to tie it together like a Band of Brothers episode does. The story strives to be as bold and different as the gameplay, offering some real Apocalypse Now moments, but it is still having trouble finding its voice. Even so, the series continues to find originality and heart in a genre that so many have declared dead and dull. Hopefully, Gearbox will return to the series and do it justice, one day.