Many thanks for all the reads, rates and comments - all are appreciated. An accountant by day and a ...
Many thanks for all the reads, rates and comments - all are appreciated. An accountant by day and a random reviewer by night I am not a professional writer, nor do I have any ambitions to be I guess I am just opinionated.
Member since:07.03.2007
Reviews:249
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Brothers in Arms is the typical concept of most war games whereby you play as, and control, a single soldier within a team of soldiers that are controlled by the DS.
In this game you must complete different missions from getting through enemy lines to ploughing tanks through the frontline shooting Germans as you go and protecting your fellow team members.
****Graphics****
The visuals on this game are amazing and it is graphically the best game I have come across on the DS. The graphics are very realistic and being in 3D, with a constant frame rate adds to the gaming experience. The general background sometimes looks a bit blocky but on the whole it is excellent. The characters look almost real, are well animated and dressed in realistic attire.
****Sound****
The audios of this game are really good. The sergeant voice over is clear and concise, and the gunfire and explosions are realistic and convincing. Some sounds can be ?low? but this is excusable given the amount of action the DS has to cope with at any one time, however, It is difficult to complain overall since compared to other DS games the sound is first class.
****Controls and game play****
The controls are complex and quite difficult to get used to and take a lot of practice and thought. Once mastered
the game runs very smoothly. Be prepared to persevere.
The action is on the top screen in the classic third person view. The touch screen is used to to get lock on the enemy by moving the stylus that moves the cross hair on the top screen. This makes aiming precise and very easy. The whole movement is very concise and there is no noticeable lag between moving the stylus and the movement of the crosshair.
The touch screen displays the weapons your soldier is carrying and in order to select a weapon it is a matter of simply tapping the gun icon and then tapping the weapon you want with the stylus.
The basic weapons have an unlimited amount of ammo, which is good. If you had to rely on picking up ammo to continue to shoot then this game would be really difficult and verging on impossible. The amount of ammo is displayed on the top screen and it is vital that you keep an eye on this level to ensure you reload at the appropriate moment. Reloading the weapon is done using the touch screen. There is a small icon of an ammo clip. It is a case of tapping this icon and dragging it down and your character will pull out the empty clip, and reload the weapon with another magazine.
Some specific weapons, such as rocket launchers, have a limited amount of ammo. These are only required for certain parts of the mission though and since you rely on the normal weapons to shoot soldiers this does not create too many problems.
Grenades are launched using the touch screen and involves holding down the stylus on the grenade icon, dragging it down (to increase the throwing power) or up (to decrease the throwing power) and then releasing the stylus. The direction the grenade is thrown in can be altered using the directional pad (if playing in right handed mode) or A, B, X, Y buttons (if playing in left handed mode).
Your character is simply moved around using the directional pad (if playing in right handed mode) or the A, B, X, Y buttons (if playing in left handed mode).
****Levels/Campaigns****
In single player mode there are three different campaigns ((Normandy, Tunis and Ardennes) that need to be completed. The missions involve your soldier being on foot, in a jeep and in a tank, which is quite a good feature.
The problem with this game is that there are only 13 missions, making it quite short. There are three difficulty levels for each mission, so this should extend the life of the game a bit more.
There is a multi player option whereby 4 people can go head to head. The downside of this is that all 4 of you must own the game cartridge and since my group of mates and I buy different games and loan them out (to keep costs down) we have yet to have a 4 player battle.
We have experimented with a one and one, and whilst good fun for a while it does get boring after a while.
****Extra features****
The developers have included some interviews and the like but this adds nothing to the game at all. There are no other features, which is a shame. In my opinion it would have been better if completing missions in record times, or with 100% kills etc were rewarded with an unlocking of different guns or faster vehicles or more characters, but this does not happen in this game.
This game is widely available and you should not have any problems in obtaining a copy. I paid £14.99 for my copy from Tesco although I note that it can now be bought from Play.com for £9.99.
This is a great price for such a brilliant game.
****Conclusion****
Brothers in Arms is a great game and well worth playing. I definitely recommend it and you will not be disappointed. The controls are effective, although difficult to master, and the combined use of the directional pad and touch screen is cleverly thought out. Persevere and practice with the controls and they will soon be mastered allowing you to enjoy the game to the full.
The overall gaming experience is second to none and no other DS titles come close to the superb graphics, sound and realism that this game provides.
The real problem with this game is that it is relatively short and will not take too long to complete. In my opinion, once completed it will be a game that is left to collect dust on the shelf, and will not be played again. Because of this I would recommend either renting it, borrowing a copy off a mate or buying a used/second hand copy if you can find one in a bargain bin.
(Originally posted on Dooyoo under the name of Yackers1)
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Feb 19th, 2009
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