Brothers In Arms (PS2) Review

Good Points
NICE graphics, 'blooming' looks good, call-of-duty-style-ironsights, authenticity, useful squad tactics.

Bad Points
No discernible location-damage, in-game blown up enemies (by tanks or grenades) have no blood on them, no rag-doll physics.

General Comments
I lusted after Brothers in Arms before I got it, and I was not disappointed. The level of immersion is intense - especially when you're ducking for dear life behind cover while hot lead zips overhead and thanks into the grass beside you, throwing up mud and grass into the camera. Yes, it really does. And rain and blood hit the camera too, which is a nice touch.

The scenery is awesome, and although the explosions can seem suspect at times, you can actually see a realistic shockwave, which is cool. My only gripe would be the Nazi soldiers, who aren't half as detailed as your squad-mates, and who all appear to be clones of each other, wearing just four different uniforms. Not only does it take two shots to bring them down (sometimes more) but headshots have no effect. Gearbox missed out on an opportunity to incorporate Medal-of-Honor-Frontline-style location damage, which would have really helped realism.

Also, although there are really gory shots of your buddies' insides on their outsides, you can't replicate this in-game as you lob grenades (at least, not on the ps2). And, more worryingly, your buddies don't stay dead, but miraculously resurrect themselves for the next mission. So you don't care as much for their lives as you might, although you will still reload checkpoints if too many get killed.

Your squadmates are so darn handy. I thought if you ordered them to charge an enemy position they'd get murdered, but they seem better shots than you are, and they're useful for drawing fire while you steady your aim to plug a nazi.

Overall, though, this game is massively fun to play, especially as you get to command tanks, firing the mg from their turrets, and popping grenades inside enemy tanks. Small problems aside, this game is so far ahead of its time it's unreal. You will want to replay levels over and over again. I can't wait to see if a PS3 version will be brought out.