Brothers in Arms is a  First Person Shooter based on a true story. This game has authentic locations and weapons based on real life WW2 combat areas in Normandy right down to the square yard,even the house details are nearly exact. You could  visit these places in real life and see the same area you see in the game and even the wall you used for cover. You are a Squad Leader that eventualy gains control of 2 teams. One is a Fire team for Suppression fire,and the other team is an Assault team for closer up front enemy fire. Your job is to command these 2 teams effectivly. First by using your Fire team to suppress the enemy and then using your Assault  team to Flank the enemy .Basicly you Find Em,(suppress)Fix Them,Flank Them ,Fire on them. Your Enemies also use simular Fire and maneuver tactics and they will shift there defenses based on your movements,but they will never leave there fixed Machine Gun positions. To move your men.. you use whats called one button-context sensitive command system ,by pressing Left Trigger and moving hilight over desired area and letting go of left trigger. Its easy to do once you get the hang of the command system. You also use the d-pad for commands such as "on me" and to change fire teams. Also you can use white button to quickly change fire teams and issue order. It may take a few levels before you get it down. If you use your fire team to first suppress the enemy then use your assault team to flank and fire. You will mostly be successful. Its true that sometimes your squad will not do as well as you want them to and they would not be able to hit enemies sometimes ,I was able to pick enemies off easily but my squad weren't the best targeters,but for the most part they do a good job,sometimes they even  find better firing positions,this is definatly one of the better command shooter maneuver games out there with relativly smart A.I. .On Normal and Hard mode your squad is never able to hit enemies while in cover but I was able to pick off enemies when they peeked up from cover. If I had to rate me compared to my squad as riflemen,My squad would get a 4 and I would get an 8 out of 10. Sometimes I would hilight an area behind a wall for my squad to use as cover and one of them would line up on the opposite side of the wall facing wrong direction as enemy would spawn in, I had to re-issue the command to get them behind wall. A nice feature is that if all of your squad gets taken out,you can still finish the level solo. The graphics are nice ,nothing spectacular but they do a nice job and the faces of your squad mates are nicely detailed .The frames skipped sometimes ,probably because of all the stuff goin on in the screen. There is a feature in this game called Situational Awareness View ,basicly this an overhead view of you ,your men,enemies,and the surrounding area. You get this view by pressing the back button to pause game then you get a chance to scout the terrain for possible flanking areas for your fire and maneuver tactics. In the real WW2 they used maps  before they entered an area , so this game also gives you advantage of knowing the surrounding area by using your situational awareness feature. There was some times when I wish my player was able jump over a fence to get a better flank position,(in the real world we can climb over 3ft fences )and I wish you also climb over small walls,But this game does give you,for the most part,alot of ways to Flank your enemy. This is definatly a well designed and fun game ,I noticed your men get smarter on the harder settings and there's more enemies and even an added tank that wasn't in the level on the Normal setting. I played the game on Normal setting and beat it in Two days. Im guessing maybe it was 11hrs total gametime to finish. After you beat the game on Normal setting ,two cheats open up in the menu section ,'Unlimited Ammo' and 'Old Movie Mode' old movie is basicly black & white mode. You have easy,normal,hard, & realistic settings. The realistic setting  is only available after beating the game on hard difficulty. Once you beat the game on Realistic setting a cheat opens up called 'Super Squad'.The game saves automaticly once you get to a certain point in the level,so there's no saving on the fly .It does seem to save in the right points,so no harm there. You have the ability to have the crosshairs turned on or off. The fixed machine gunners are tuff to beat but with the right suppressive/flank maveuver they can be dealt with. The Squad A.I. is  good in this game,it really depends on how good you are at picking the right suppresion and fire areas for your squad. Remember the 4 F's ..Find,Fix,Flank,Fire. Always try to use the Fire team to suppress enemies. And There is almost always a Flank opportunity for your Assault Team. The tactics used in this game are based on real life WW2 fire and maneuver tactics and WW2 veterans were on hand for help in designing game to make it authentic as possible. There were some things I wish they couldve added ,like the ability for your men to operate fixed Machine gun  positions,only your man can operate them. Also I wish You could drive the Tanks but the tank drivers do fight well ,but it depends on how well you command them. Sometimes there was some serious Lag in the framerates .But with all that said..this game is  fun  with  nicely done cinematics,graphics, sound effects,and good solid shooter gameplay. The enemies are tough but not too tough. But there are 4 different difficulty settings. There's also alot of bonus info after completing levels on certain difficulties,such as WW2 photos of tanks,personel,maps,documents,alot of real WW2 information. This is a good game ,a more hands on tactical shooter. Its definatly a FPS all the way around. Now that Ive completed game on Hard setting its not that different than Normal setting hopefully Realistic setting will be a challenge. I think its a little too easy  on Normal & Hard settings. But  Definatly worth playing. HINT:If you want this game to be harder turn off the overhead circles above the enemy ,they are the red/grey circles that indicate enemies positions and the status of there suppression. You can turn them off in the options menu. Without the red circles on,the enemies are tougher to spot. Also finish game on Hard difficulty to open up the hardest setting, Realistic mode. Good Luck. Thanks To All Who Serve In The Armed Services.
Brothers in Arms is a  First Person Shooter based on a true story. This game has authentic locations and weapons based on real life WW2 combat areas in Normandy right down to the square yard,even the house details are nearly exact. You could  visit these places in real life and see the same area you see in the game and even the wall you used for cover. You are a Squad Leader that eventualy gains control of 2 teams. One is a Fire team for Suppression fire,and the other team is an Assault team for closer up front enemy fire. Your job is to command these 2 teams effectivly. First by using your Fire team to suppress the enemy and then using your Assault  team to Flank the enemy. Basicly you Find Em,(suppress)Fix Them,Flank Them ,Fire on them. Your Enemies also use simular Fire and maneuver tactics and they will shift there defenses based on your movements,but they will never leave there fixed Machine Gun positions. To move your men.. you use whats called one button-context sensitive command system ,by pressing Left Trigger and moving hilight over desired area and letting go of left trigger. Its easy to do once you get the hang of the command system. You also use the d-pad for commands such as "on me" and to change fire teams. Also you can use white button to quickly change fire teams and issue order. It may take a few levels before you get it down. If you use your fire team to first suppress the enemy then use your assault team to flank and fire. You will mostly be successful. Its true that sometimes your squad will not do as well as you want them to and they would not be able to hit enemies sometimes ,I was able to pick enemies off easily but my squad weren't the best targeters,but for the most part they do a good job,sometimes they even  find better firing positions,this is definatly one of the better command shooter maneuver games out there with relativly smart A. I.. On Normal and Hard mode your squad is never able to hit enemies while in cover but I was able to pick off enemies when they peeked up from cover. If I had to rate me compared to my squad as riflemen,My squad would get a 4 and I would get an 8 out of 10. Sometimes I would hilight an area behind a wall for my squad to use as cover and one of them would line up on the opposite side of the wall facing wrong direction as enemy would spawn in, I had to re-issue the command to get them behind wall. A nice feature is that if all of your squad gets taken out,you can still finish the level solo. The graphics are nice ,nothing spectacular but they do a nice job and the faces of your squad mates are nicely detailed. The frames skipped sometimes ,probably because of all the stuff goin on in the screen. There is a feature in this game called Situational Awareness View ,basicly this an overhead view of you ,your men,enemies,and the surrounding area. You get this view by pressing the back button to pause game then you get a chance to scout the terrain for possible flanking areas for your fire and maneuver tactics. In the real WW2 they used maps  before they entered an area , so this game also gives you advantage of knowing the surrounding area by using your situational awareness feature. There was some times when I wish my player was able jump over a fence to get a better flank position,(in the real world we can climb over 3ft fences )and I wish you also climb over small walls,But this game does give you,for the most part,alot of ways to Flank your enemy. This is definatly a well designed and fun game ,I noticed your men get smarter on the harder settings and there's more enemies and even an added tank that wasn't in the level on the Normal setting. I played the game on Normal setting and beat it in Two days. Im guessing maybe it was 11hrs total gametime to finish. After you beat the game on Normal setting ,two cheats open up in the menu section ,'Unlimited Ammo' and 'Old Movie Mode' old movie is basicly black & white mode. You have easy,normal,hard, & realistic settings. The realistic setting  is only available after beating the game on hard difficulty. Once you beat the game on Realistic setting a cheat opens up called 'Super Squad'. The game saves automaticly once you get to a certain point in the level,so there's no saving on the fly. It does seem to save in the right points,so no harm there. You have the ability to have the crosshairs turned on or off. The fixed machine gunners are tuff to beat but with the right suppressive/flank maveuver they can be dealt with. The Squad A. I. is  good in this game,it really depends on how good you are at picking the right suppresion and fire areas for your squad. Remember the 4 F's.. Find,Fix,Flank,Fire. Always try to use the Fire team to suppress enemies. And There is almost always a Flank opportunity for your Assault Team. The tactics used in this game are based on real life WW2 fire and maneuver tactics and WW2 veterans were on hand for help in designing game to make it authentic as possible. There were some things I wish they couldve added ,like the ability for your men to operate fixed Machine gun  positions,only your man can operate them. Also I wish You could drive the Tanks but the tank drivers do fight well ,but it depends on how well you command them. Sometimes there was some serious Lag in the framerates. But with all that said.. this game is  fun  with  nicely done cinematics,graphics, sound effects,and good solid shooter gameplay. The enemies are tough but not too tough. But there are 4 different difficulty settings. There's also alot of bonus info after completing levels on certain difficulties,such as WW2 photos of tanks,personel,maps,documents,alot of real WW2 information. This is a good game ,a more hands on tactical shooter. Its definatly a FPS all the way around. Now that Ive completed game on Hard setting its not that different than Normal setting hopefully Realistic setting will be a challenge. I think its a little too easy  on Normal & Hard settings. But  Definatly worth playing. HINT:If you want this game to be harder turn off the overhead circles above the enemy ,they are the red/grey circles that indicate enemies positions and the status of there suppression. You can turn them off in the options menu. Without the red circles on,the enemies are tougher to spot. Also finish game on Hard difficulty to open up the hardest setting, Realistic mode. Good Luck. Thanks To All Who Serve In The Armed Services.