Brothers in Arms Hell’s Highway – 360 – Preview

E3 2006 First Look Preview

The
Brothers in Arms games have been one of the hallmarks of the WWII shooter genre
since the first game was released just a couple years ago. The next entry,
Hell’s Highway marks the series’ first entry to the next-gen, with releases on
the PS3 and the Xbox 360. This one promises to bring the series over in style,
offering intense battles while maintaining the sense of camaraderie between the
soldiers, as well as incredible graphics and a great feeling of atmosphere.

Hell’s
Highway keeps you as Matt Baker, the war hero and veteran of the series.
However, this time around, Baker has gained access to a recon team, meaning that
he has a lot more assets at his disposal as he fights in the war against Axis
forces.

One of
the things that the team is working on putting together to make the game a fresh
and compelling experience are the Brotherhood Moments. Dubbed “Bro-Mos” by the
team, Brotherhood Moments basically occur when something unique happens on the
battlefield. Similar to Burnout (where you can slow down to watch car crashes
are they occur), Bro-Mos will slow down the world as something vital happens.
One segment showcasing this had one of Baker’s fellow soldiers getting shot and
then falling back, at which point Baker catches him in slow-motion, which
actually looked very cool and cinematic.

The
development team behind Hell’s Highway is taking a different approach than seen
in previous First Person Shooters as far as your actual character is concerned.
Whereas other FPS’s have made your character a camera with a gun on it, Hell’s
Highway will have you playing as a full-on avatar akin to a third-person
shooter, a living, breathing character with actual dimensions within the game’s
universe. The character will be fully animated, casting real shadows and loading
clips from his belt and so on, really adding to the game’s atmosphere.

The
environments are also more realistic, teeming with details and ambience. If you
shoot at a sheet hanging from a clothesline for example, the sheet will get
holes in it and flap realistically in the wind.

Great
AI has been a mainstay in the series for some time now, and Hell’s Highway is
poised to deliver in this regard. There are lots of believable characters, each
with their own personalities and approaches to battle. They’ll form
relationships with each other, good or bad, and react in the fight in different
ways as a result.

Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway is going to be quite the impressive jump to
next-gen when it’s released later this year.

For All E3 2006 Previews