Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30

Posted 06/23/2005 at 1:48pm | by

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This war suddenly got a lot more realistic!

Dear Mom and Dad,

Sorry I haven’t written in a while, but the Germans have been fighting us tooth and nail, and I just haven’t had a chance to sit down and write. Hopefully, I’ll be able to write more often in the future, at least if my hand doesn’t get blown off like old Jonesy’s!

So, here’s the latest update: Last week we were supposed to sky dive into this certain part of *redacted*, but instead we landed in **redacted.** We’ve spent the last seven days trying to make it to **redacted** where we should be able to regroup with our platoon. Since we dropped in, the fighting has been nonstop. I don’t know if I’m suffering from shell shock, but it’s getting much harder to hit the Germans. I have to really take my time and aim to make each shot count. My squad mates tell me this is more “realistic” than the fighting I’ve done before, and I sure believe them! Apparently I’m doing something right, though—the lieutenant just promoted me to squad commander!

Now that I have two squads under my command, I have to take a more strategic look at the battlefield. I’m using one squad as a fire team—they pin down Gerry with suppressing fire. Once the soldiers are pinned down and unable to return fire, I can send my assault team around the enemies’ flank, letting them pounce on the unsuspecting Deutsch-heads and obliterate them with grenades or small arms fire. It’s a simple formula, really, but it applies to every single encounter we have here in the battlefield.

It doesn’t matter if I’m commanding soldiers, tanks, or a mix of both, I always have to pin them down and flank them. Even though the suppression/flanking maneuver is the smart thing to do, it’s already become a bit repetitive. Sometimes I just want to send the assault team right up the middle of the battlefield!

My other gripe about command is that the boys in my squad are a little dim. I never noticed it before I took over, but they need to be told everything. When I give a simple order—for example, “Shoot at that **redacted**”—these guys can’t even move to a spot where they’ll have a clear shot. They just stand around with their hands in their pockets yelling, “I can’t shoot there Sarge!” When that happens, I have to order them to move to a new spot so they will have a shot, even if it’s only three feet! Luckily, my boys heal really fast. If a guy goes down during one mission, he’s right back beside me at the start of the next.

While my boys are busy suppressing and flanking, I usually settle down behind some cover and try to take out a few Krauts myself. These Germans might be a bit misguided, and their leader is **redacted,** but they’re damn good soldiers. They’re difficult to kill when not suppressed, and they use cover effectively. Although I hate them and want to kill them all, I’d go so far as to say they’re the smartest battlefield opponents I’ve ever faced (just don’t let my CO hear this!).

Maybe the Germans are so hard to kill because the only weapons we’re equipped with are typical Army gear—government-issue crap! The only way to actually shoot a German is to steady my aim by crouching down, then drawing a bead on the guy using my gun’s iron sights.

I’d better sign off. The first nine days of this war have been hell; hopefully it will get better in time. We’re shipping out to **redacted** on **redacted.** Thanks for the care packages and tell Mary Jo I miss her! Tell her I can’t wait to get back home so she can **redacted.**
—Matt “Josh Norem” Baker

+ SUPPRESSING FIRE:
Tense gameplay, very realistic, and commanding squads is fun.
- ENGULFED IN FIRE:
Almost too realistic, squads need micro-management, and dead squad mates come back to life.

Month Reviewed: June 2005
Verdict: 9
URL: www.ubi.com