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Brothers in Arms

Daz
Daz
polycounter lvl 18
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Daz polycounter lvl 18
I just picked this up today for the pc. I know the WW2 shooter thing has been done to death, but damn, this is seriously good. Move over Call Of Duty. This has some interesting strategy elements too. Firing a weapon in game never felt as visceral as this. The MG42 is insane. So might I add are the loading times, but other than that, I'm thoroughly enjoying this. Gearbox done good.

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  • Slayerjerman
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    Slayerjerman polycounter lvl 18
    My friend and I are wanting to play it, I just finished HL2 and CoD just today..So actually I am kinda FPS'd out for the moment. Next on my list is NWN, though thats ongoing project since its so damn long.

    BiA definitely looks cool, Im sorta waiting for my buddy to buy it so i can just borrow it later smile.gif HEHE
  • poopinmymouth
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    poopinmymouth polycounter lvl 19
    I can't wait to play the game either. I think the art looks a bit meh on the characters, esp on the xbox version, but Gameplay looks really fun.
  • Daz
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    Daz polycounter lvl 18
    It feels like all their arms are too short and their heads too big, which of course kinda makes 'em seem about 12 years old. But yeah, it's a lot of fun. You get into some really intense firefights.
  • iMag
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    iMag polycounter lvl 18
    Was looking forward to the game, but now i'm sorta meh on the whole topic. from what I can tell it's sort of a mix between an fps and full spectrum warrior which is appealing, but anything world war two related has been beaten to death. This penny-arcade comic, while refering to tribes relates very well to almost anything world war 2 related.

    20021213l.gif
  • Daz
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    Daz polycounter lvl 18
    Yeah I mentioned that it had been done to death If you read my initial post.

    If the game is really good then the fact that it's in a genre that's been done before is kind of an odd reason to not like it ( especially without having played it ). Lets face it, there are very few truly original subject matters in videogame shooters these days.
    The strategy elements make it feel very fresh.
  • iMag
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    iMag polycounter lvl 18
    Daz: okay I admit, it's not fair for me to judge the game based on not having played it. I'll have to go out and rent the game for the xbox once I have the spare time.

    I noticed your comment about the ww2 based games after I posted (been a rough week for me which included going to emrgency to get rid of a migrain). For the ww2 genre based games, it's a saturaed subject matter. All that's probably left are games based on the German or Japanese points of view and those really wouldn't go over well.

    About the lack of original subjects for games, I disagree and feel there is plenty out there. some recent history ie the cold war, or the korean war both could be used for quality games. Then there's all the conflicts in africa or south america which could provide some very good backings for games.
  • Daz
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    Daz polycounter lvl 18
    No, I didn't say there was a lack of available subject matter smile.gif I said that there were very few original subject matters allready IN games.
  • adam
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    adam polycounter lvl 19
    Bah, no demo for download!
  • Cthogua
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    Cthogua polycounter lvl 18
    Does anyone see it as kind of odd that experiences these people (WW2 vets or really any vet) went through, and would probably never ever want to repeat sells so well as a entertainment experience? I wonder how they feel about people paying 50 dollars to see their friends explode infront of them and to be placed in situations where you have to kill another person inorder to survive. It's not just videogames either...there's a whole market of tabletop WW2 wargames and have been since the late 70s or early 80s. I play all these games and have always loved them, it's just recently started to strike me as wierd.
  • kleinluka
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    kleinluka polycounter lvl 18
    Actually Brothers in Arms is the only world war 2 game ever that was officially endorsed by the veterans. The veterans actively supported the making of this game with eye witness accounts, too.

    Here's the press release from May 28:

    Ubisoft announced today that Gearbox Software's Brothers in Arms has received official endorsement by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Foundation, which seeks to protect the legacy of combat veterans.

    Scheduled for release this fall for the Xbox and PC, Brothers in Arms will give players a detailed, immersive recreation of WWII's invasion of Normandy. The VFW endorsement speaks to the game's realism, intensity, and careful depiction of the soldier's experience.

    "The VFW Foundation believes that Brothers in Arms will help us reach our goal of increasing awareness about the sacrifices of veterans," said VFW Foundation President, John Senk. "Video games are the new medium for storytelling and Brothers in Arms accurately depicts the contributions made by veterans during World War II."

    "In Brothers in Arms, Gearbox Software is telling an interactive story about the brotherhood between soldiers during one the most important battles of the modern world," said Colonel (U.S. Army retired) John Antal, Gearbox chief of staff and military and historical director. "Brothers in Arms places you in the center of D-Day to experience the self-sacrifice and unprecedented bravery of the troops who fought to win the freedoms that we enjoy today."

    What we've seen of the game so far is indeed impressive. Check out our full coverage to date for the full scoop, and look for more details on the title as they come in.

    I read an other article last week about a veteran seeing BiA for the first time and basically saying he was amazed at the games authenticity and it would serve as a great history lesson for younger generations.
  • Daz
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    Daz polycounter lvl 18
    Well, the point that you bring up Cthouga I've certainly thought about.
    I've often had a twang of guilt for playing a game that relives hellish events that actually took place. But whats worse? A game like this that attemps to depict it as realistically as possible? ( there is swearing, fear shown by the men and gore ) Or a game like Battlefield 1942 that turns it into something almost comical? Oh wait, I play that game too smile.gif.

    But If you start to wonder If we have the right to depict War in the hope of providing entertainment ( something that has been happening ever since War itself has been around. Film, theatre, books, wargames, boardgames etc etc ) then where do you draw the line? Many videogames depict deaths that actually occured. Do we question the ethics of 'Rome: Total War' depicting bloody battles of men hacking each other apart? Nope, because it was so long ago ( but perhaps games that depict much older war are more acceptable since there aren't any vets around? ). The thing is, I personally happen to have an interest in WW2 as a subject matter. I grew up being obsessed with it, making model kits and playing with soldiers as many boys do. So that's why it appeals. And it's the same reason I own the 'Band Of Brothers' DVD box set. ( well that and the fact that its the best thing ever made for TV ) But I think I can play this videogame or watch a movie and see it purely for what it is, without losing any respect that I have for men that lived and died through it, nor for a moment thinking that in playing the game I'm gaining some understanding of what it was really like. But I don't know. This could end up turning into a huge debate smile.gif
  • Cubik
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    Cubik polycounter lvl 18
    Ecoing Adam: Where's the demo?! Bad Ubisoft, no sale for you!
  • sumguy
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    sumguy polycounter lvl 18
    This piece of shit game should be free.

    Wait a minute, I worked on this game.
  • Jeff Parrott
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    Jeff Parrott polycounter lvl 19
    I have been to Normandy and Hoth enough. Those are the two levels that will make me just shut off a game. You know what hasn't been made is a Star Wars/World War 2 cross-over. I hear some marketing people bookmarking this url now!

    Brothers in Arms does seem very cool though. I've followed that one for quite a while. Glad to hear it turned out well. Gearbox has always impressed me.
  • Cubik
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    Cubik polycounter lvl 18
    sumguy: Good for you. I still want my free taste though. I usally buy games based soley on my impression of the demo.
  • sumguy
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    sumguy polycounter lvl 18
    I believe there will be a Demo Cubik, I still think the game should be free though. Should have been government funded as a history lesson... Fuckin kids would love it.
  • GoK
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    GoK polycounter lvl 18
    the game should be free...!? why it looks awsome!

    Jody
  • Sett
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    Sett polycounter lvl 18
    Kinda theadjack but I always wondered about this.

    Is CoD the Band Of Brothers game?

    I never saw BoB on tv but I knew it was good, so like Daz I bought the DVD box set(a good buy IMO). The weird thing was that I could recognize the buildings/towns etc from playing CoD. I know I can hear you saying 'well duh' but playing CoD first then seeing BoB well... just an odd experience is all.

    What's with this naming convention (noun)(article)(noun) they all seem to have?

    Back to Brothers in arms-- I heard that there is no lean or going prone, true?
  • Daz
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    Daz polycounter lvl 18
    Not officially no, CoD simply 'borrowed' from BoB.
  • lkraan
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    lkraan polycounter lvl 18
    I felt that the first level from MoH Spearhead really resembles the 2nd episode of BoB where you parachute in over Normandy behind the beach and where you have to disable the 3 big guns that are connected with these narrow low passages.

    Can't wait to play BiA. Will pick up the PC version soon.
  • Ryno
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    Ryno polycounter lvl 18
    COD borrowed from Band of Brothers, Enemy at the Gates, Saving Private Ryan, and several other movies. Still, a very good game, and the multiplayer maps are wonderfully designed.

    So how is the multiplayer in Brothers? Single player just loses my interest, no matter how good it is.
  • Daz
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    Daz polycounter lvl 18
    I only played multiplayer for about half an hour yesterday. It's very different from anything else, since as well as shooting, you are commanding a squad of A.I driven men that are competing against your real opponent and his A.I driven squad If that makes sense. I'm going to play it more later, but from what I saw it looked like a lot of fun and very different from a run and gun fps. Far more tactical.
  • danr
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    danr interpolator
    just picked this up ...

    i just need one question answering : are the guns woefully inaccurate, or do enemy solidiers need 5 bullets in them before they notice and fall over dead? There's nothing to suggest when you've scored a hit, not even a flinch ... i don't even know for sure that a single shot has hit home, just that they *eventually die ... so, what was it when they do bite the dust? Hit-points reached and breached, or the one dead-centre bullet that took the guy out?

    over than that confusion, it's great. I love the soft, slightly sepia, slightly out of focus look to the gfx (making up for many shortcomings in the scripted character animation).

    Action is definitely as visceral as vicious cock, one wrong move and you end up horribly broken - unlike CoD's gung-ho charge-giggling-for-the-nearest-health-pack approach (normal difficulty). Quite happy really. It makes me wince when it all goes wrong, and the blood and mud spatters into your eyes ... not many games do that ...
  • rooster
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    rooster mod
    I've been wondering if they fudge your shots to miss more when guys are under cover to accentuate their suppression system? feels a bit like it sometimes.

    I know they're harder to hit since theyre behind cover, but sometimes they've had their entire torso visible and my shots just keep missing. And forget even trying to pick them off with their heads just visible.

    edit: having played with the sniper rifle, im starting to think that the guns are just less accurate than we're used to
  • Joshua Stubbles
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    Joshua Stubbles polycounter lvl 19
    I actually didn't like it much. The AI didn't do it for me, even on the hard setting. They were still really predictable.

    Firing the weapons was seriously off as well. I've fired quite a few firearms in my time, and it's nowhere near as "bouncy" as it is in BiA. The fact that you are "stuck" in place during a lot of the dialog is also really annoying.

    Aside from that though, it's an okay game. The graphics are nice, and the sound is top notch. I don't see it competing with CoD in the least, though.
  • Scott Ruggels
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    Scott Ruggels polycounter lvl 18
    The weapons are less accurate. Still, use the Iron Sights and don't run. If you run the sights get more bouncey. If you can fire prone, they are less bouncey but yeah the C.E.P. (Circle of Error Probability), is a lot wider than reality.

    Scott
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