Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood

Posted 12/20/2005 at 1:59pm | by

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Anyone who’s read Stephen Ambrose’s exquisite history of the WWII exploits of the 101st Airborne’s Easy Company, Band of Brothers, or seen the HBO miniseries of the same name, is going to feel right at home with Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood. In EiB, you play a paratrooper in the 101st Airborne, and you start by parachuting into Normandy on June 6, 1944.

Earned in Blood continues the story started in the first Brothers in Arms game— The Road to Hill 30—but from the perspective of a different soldier. Some of the battles are similar to those in the first game, but because your character and objectives are different, you won’t mistake this for an expansion pack.

The thing that separates Brothers in Arms games from your traditional Medal of Honor-style shoot-‘em-up is the emphasis on realism over arcade-style action. Aiming and firing weapons is more true to life—you won’t make many headshots at 10 yards with a Luger here, and even hitting targets with a rifle at range requires crouching and careful aim.

Earned in Blood emphasizes tactics over pure twitch skill. Finding appropriate cover, setting up firing positions, and covering your flanks is crucial. To handle these tasks, you have two teams—a fire team and an assault team. A basic engagement goes like this: Get your fire team in position to put suppressing fire on the enemy, then move your assault team to a better spot and have them apply suppressing fire. Then, your fire team leapfrogs the assault team. Eventually, you either move one team into position to flank the enemy and flush them from cover or you have to charge the fortified Germans. There are multiple ways to approach every engagement, and some are definitely better than others. The only thing a solo charge on a fortified German position will get you in EiB is a military funeral and death benefits.

The biggest complaint about the original BiA was the slightly sub-par AI—for both squad mates and enemies. The enemies would cower behind cover for hours rather than move to a better position or try to flank you, and your squad mates couldn’t figure out where they should go to get a bead on a target unless you specifically told them. Both of these problems have been fixed in Earned in Blood. In fact, the enemy AI is among the best we’ve ever experienced. Enemies not only flank you, they’ll flee the battlefield, or even make desperate suicide charges. Likewise, your squad’s AI is much improved. Instead of running across a field of fire to get from point A to point B, they stay under cover. They’re even capable of finding a good spot to take potshots at Gerry without too much hand-holding.

The placement and variety of cover objects feels much more natural this time around. Instead of always cowering behind stone fences, you’ll find yourself hiding behind trees, cars, boxes, and even the occasional burned-out tank. Of course, you need to constantly keep moving. If you linger too long in any one spot, nearby mortar teams will zero in on your position and bring your foot tour of France to a halt.

Multiplayer includes the same objectives-based two-on-two game from The Road to Hill 30, but there’s also an interesting Skirmish mode, which gives you a series of single-player or co-op challenges to complete.
--Will Smith

Month Reviewed: December 2005

+ FLANKING: Basic tactics and realistic weapons make a unique WWII experience.

- BEING FLANKED: Sometimes frustrating; can only save at predefined checkpoints.

Verdict: 9
kickass=yes

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