Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway™

Very nostalgic feeling when playing this. I bought this game when it came out on xbox 360 and absolutely loved it!

Better than the first two.
Series is garbage.
Randy Pitchford clearly wanted to make movies.

For a 2008 game, it f@cks hard as hell. Good game.

It's a massive improvement over "Road to Hill 30" and "Earned in Blood". The controls are a bit stiff but the core gameplay mechanics hold up really well. Squad tactics and solid and motion sway has been reduced significantly. You can actually take out targets yourself now.

The story is still melodramatic but the voice acting has significantly improved. Themes of PTSD are present throughout the story giving this "Band of Brothers" flavors of "The Pacific". It's still really enjoyable to play however I am a bit sad by the lack of extras that were featured in Gearbox's two predecessors.

Unfortunately I don't think we'll ever see Baker's story finished. The game ends without wrapping up anything. It seems Gearbox were planning to make a sequel that never came. It's very sad to see Brothers in Arms as a dead IP. It's the only tactical squad based WWII shooter I know of. Without Ghost Recon, Rainbow Six, or Brothers in Arms around, we are now without a tactical squad shooter.

There aren't any WWII shooters that did the time period justice like Brothers in Arms.

ngl shi was fire

Buggy mess, every time I played it it crashed and froze, needed to restart my computer. Crashes at random points, and can't progress past one point because it always bugs out there.

I looked through Ubisofts catalog, found the Brothers in Arms games and that they don't use Ubisoft services, decided to buy the pack and give this one a try. I haven't heard, nor watched any gameplay footage of these games, practically, I knew nothing and had no expectations. I completed the story some minutes ago and I think this is a solid game, that sadly is forgotten in Ubisofts cellar.
This is not your typical WWII game, it's not like an action movie or the Allied forces being unstoppable, it's a story about soldiers, soldiers that lose their brothers, soldiers that struggle mentally, soldiers that do not leave their own behind, soldiers that fight for the freedom of others... This isn't a happy story, as it is war and here, every win, every acomplishment comes at a cost. Tonally, it is very different from every other WW game, as the game wants to portray the dark side of the war, which hasn't and still isn't done to such a scale, making the game unique in its own way.
Gameplay wise, it's not exactly your typical First Person Shooter, here we have tactics. Every mission, you'll have 1 or 2 teams to command, you press a key and you can order a team to follow you, move to a specific location or attack and the teams are varied, there's a standard assault one, RPG one, MG one and some others, but they are predetermined for every mission. In addition to that, your squad can die if they are exposed, but they revive upon checkpoints. But, if you are like me and like to be a one man army, you can, it can take you a bit more time, but most if not all leveles are doable without your squad. A slighly weak aspect of the game I'd say is the gunplay, as the weapons don't feel very punchy and are most accurate when used from cover, also, balance is a slight issue, as the Kar98, M1C Garand and Stg.44 are better than pretty much anything else (I tried all except the MG42 from the weapons).

With all that said, I strongly recommend this game - the story is great, gameplay is generally good and no Ubisoft services make this game a must buy if you are into FPS or WW games!

it's one of the games you can play over and over

gr8 game

Perfect

Definitely the best one of the trilogy.
The previous ones felt like unfinished work, the gunfight was very unnatural and the graphics have aged badly (not a problem for me but it is worth noticing).

This one has a new gunfight model, good graphics that hold well until today even, the story is good and the action is also present, more even than before. Some would say this one is a litlle bit more casual than the previous ones but I find this very refreshing.

Some of the final missions are a little annoying but overall a very solid game and absolutely worth it at this price.

Melodramatic af, but a fun game

One of my childhood classics and one of the best WWII stories of any game out there. Baker is a wonderful protagonist and the game play, character development, and overall atmosphere of the game is outstanding. Hopefully we get another game with Baker to continue this wonderful story but if not, this game will still forever hold a special place in my heart.

oof, after the first two this is uh. Well at least your bullets won't have the really bad and awkward hit chance mechanic, and it seemed they tried harder with the story telling. It just really drops literally everything else in favor of those two benefits, not really any strategizing that's noteworthy especially when put up against it's predecessors and the shooting somehow just felt bad which is kindof funny to me how the first two felt nice when you could actually shoot, but now that they fixed my biggest issue it doesn't feel like I'm firing a gun. It also for some reason has a lot of stuttering, not really sure why but the performance just wasn't there.

I guess overall I can't really recommend this series to anyone, if this game is just cod-lite and significantly worse, and then the first two while trying something interesting don't know how to make it feel like a shooter outside of the strategy mechanics then I can't really see a reason to pick these games up outside the story which personally to me didn't feel good either :/

I get a lot of people have fond memories of this game and the previous 2 titles, but I feel like all three of these games fumbled a concept all three times and never found the balance. That really sucks when the idea itself IS pretty cool and hey if I wasn't trying to get through college I probably wouldn't be stingy about 5$ for the bundle and I probably will come back to these, but right now I'd rather use the 5$ on ubisofts classic ghost recon titles or trepang 2 off a key shop, maybe a real good sandwich, I'm definitely taking any of those over this :\

I played this game ON and OFF for over 9 years, the first day i got this game i played a bit, then after like 2-3 years i played abit more then NOW to this exact time of this review, all i did was play for 16 mins, and most of it is an ending cutscene. I would say that this game is pretty awesome, It took me so long to finally get the time to beat this game from high school until I became a struggling man still studying for my final year in university.

im pissed they hit us with a TO BE CONTINUE... knowing the original devs is gone, the company is gone, and the IP is being hostaged by the Embracer group that now owns it.

we never got the Battle of the Bulge chapter of our favorite Airborne squad is just sad

I remember loving this game when it came out, and it's utterly surprising that it's holding up so well in 2025. Upon booting the game up, I was taken aback by how good the visuals look at 1440p. The lighting, environmental design, and animations are all very good, and the sound design is stellar. The only real "Ew!" moment I had was when the cutscenes ceased and gameplay started and I was met with what appeared to be 65 FOV (with no slider in the options). I was thankfully able to find a fix on the Steam forums which involved downloading a github file and setting my preferred FOV multiplier.

The truly amazing thing about this game is that it's a first person strategy game. It absolutely baffles me that other devs haven't tried to flesh out the formula Hell's Highway had going. You can get through encounters without ever firing a shot from your own gun if you are smart about how you order your fireteams (although sometimes it's fun to fire your own gun for obvious reasons).

It feels incredible to direct an assault team to pin down an enemy while you order your bazooka team to move up to a piece of cover and then direct them to blow away the destructible sandbag the enemies were hiding behind... or to instruct your MG team to leapfrog forward while you pin down enemies temporarily.

To this day, I haven't seen a smarter or more realistic suppression system in a game. For those of you who don't know, enemies have a little circle above their heads. If it's red, it means they are unsuppressed and dangerous. They will pop up and take accurate shots at you. The more you shoot at and around the enemy, the more the red circle turns grey, and when it's fully grey, the enemy is completely suppressed.

While in first person, you are able to direct multiple AI fireteams using 3D markers on the map. So let's say there is an MG in a building that you can't address. You can quite literally use third-person camera behind cover to direct your own MG to suppress the enemy MG while your bazooka team moves into range to blow up the building.

The only other game/franchise that offered this kind of gameplay was Full Spectrum Warrior. You end up using realistic tactics to deal with battlefield threats. 20+ years later and the latest Call of Duty titles still have no suppression or squad system, and you are just a rambo dummy clicking on heads and hiding when your interface is covered in tomato juice. Embarrassing.

I'd love to have seen a game that takes the Hell's Highway formula into multiplayer. Imagine a 2v2 competitive match where you and a human teammate are each directing 3-5 AI squads against human opponents who are doing the same. Imagine if there was a currency or resource system where capturing sectors allowed you to call in new weapons/squads/tanks. Would be amazing.

For all intents and purposes, Hell's HIghway feels like a first person Company of Heroes. There is a slight bit of 2008 jank when it comes to things like low FOV, the sprinting not giving you much directional control, and the AI sometimes bugging out and getting a little lost. But the overall strategic depth you have at your command and the mostly solid execution of it dwarfs any nitpicks I have. It's an absolute travesty we haven't gotten a sequel to this game. One set in the modern era could be brilliant. Right now this game is like 5 bucks on Steam. If you like WW2 FPS and want to use your brain while playing, this is an easy buy.

The best game in the series so far!

I would go as far as to say the greatest WW2 game if we purely base it on characters and story the brothers in arms games shaped my childhood and love for history and the fact that there hasn't been a entry in over 16 years is a damn shame (if we don't count mobile games) its un ironically what the current market needs a story driven more tactical story game sure there are multiplayer based ones that are really good but the fact there hasn't been a significantly good WW2 story game in years says a lot. Hell's Highway holds up still even today both gameplay and graphics wise character models although defo aged still are extremely good considering the age and weapon models and overall places you visit are fairly detailed too.
The characters are to me is whats most memorable about the bia franchise and when Baker screams their names when doing squad call outs is still embedded into my brain.The game does run fairly well on modern hardware i had no issues starting it up on my windows 11 gaming laptop and so far had no game breaking glitches.To me this is my childhood in a nutshell a game i remember soo fondly and that even still holds up today Ubisoft its really time for a new entry in the series the world needs it.

This game is a masterpiece, I liked the narrative the cutscenes seem like a movie, and that makes you feel what the soldiers felt in the war. Losing friends and struggling with it. With that amount of narrative you get to know the characters in the game. I liked how they improved the aiming system, graphics are really awesome for a 2008 game.

At the beggining it feels weird to adopt to the new controls specially if you come from playing the two first games, but two or three chapters and you are ready to go. I feel this game is the easier one of the franchise, but for me it is the best of them.

So sad we don't have the next game to see how the story finishes. I recommend to play this game if you are fan of WW2 and it is one of the best game about that.

Tragedy simulator

one of the best Ubisoft classics with a excellent story and good graphics! 100% recommend.

Its been 15 years and this is still by far the best ww2 game out there.

peak

One of the best game franchises ever made imo. Sadly discontinued. I haven't played the 3rd installment (Hell's Highway) in many years. I am shocked how good it is holding up even today. It still looks really good, especially during night missions. Gameplay-wise it is one of the best single player shooters ever made. Highly recommended. It is best to play all 3 games in the chronological order.

There's Only One Way Out of Hell... And That's Through It

Story 9

Returning as now Staff Sergeant Matt Baker from the first game, this installment continues the saga of the 101st Airborne Division as they parachute into Western Europe to engage the Germans from behind enemy lines. Participating in Operation Market Garden, one of the largest airborne assaults in history, Baker aims to secure critical bridges at Eindhoven, Nijmegen, and Arnhem. Alongside the 101st Airborne Reconnaissance Platoon, Baker and Red leads 3rd Squad and 2nd Squad, accompanied by original soldiers and replacements tasked with disabling 88mm cannons, securing strategic positions, and paving the way for British Army corps and logistical units. This game diverges sharply from earlier Brothers in Arms narratives by adopting a more generic Hollywood-style World War II epic tale characterized by forced characterizations, reliance on familiar war movie clichés, and an embellished story arc involving a supposedly cursed Colt M1911A1 pistol. Despite plot inconsistencies arising from fabricated casualty reports during the Battle of Bloody Gulch and abrupt changes introducing new enemy bosses, Baker’s transformation into a multifaceted leader remains compelling. His inner turmoil grappling with survivor’s guilt and PTSD adds unprecedented psychological intensity, while his bond with Red fosters an intriguing dynamic showcasing how soldiers rely on mutual trust during wartime chaos, a testament to enduring camaraderie that enriches every aspect of this gripping narrative.

Gameplay 8.5

Influenced by trends in the shooter genre, particularly the success of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and the cinematic gameplay of Medal of Honor: Airborne, Gearbox significantly revamped the tactical squad-based gameplay, known as the "Four F's" (Find, Fix, Flank, and Finish). Key gameplay changes include a third-person cover system inspired by Gears of War, destructible environments for dynamic strategy, slow-motion headshot or grenade kills reminiscent of Sniper Elite and the health system that is similar to Uncharted, where bullets gradually turn the screen red until a hit results in instant death, encouraging players to seek cover under fire. New features also emerged, with weapons and vehicles like the Gewehr 43 and the M4A4 Sherman VC Firefly tank added to the revamped squad system. Teams like the MG Team can suppress multiple enemies, while the Bazooka Team effectively targets fortified positions and tanks. However, players can no longer use the Browning M2HB or Browning M1919A5 on moving tanks while an Assault Team rallying on foot. Though the game leans towards more linear level design, it still offers unique mission experiences set in the Netherlands, notable missions include Operation Garden, Hell's Highway, and The Rabbit Hole. The AI is improved over the older Brothers in Arms titles, showing better cover use and flanking tactics. However, there are still flaws in gameplay mechanics, such as the underwhelming Tactical Map functionality, buggy AI pathing in complex levels, dead multiplayer, and inconsistencies with weapon handling, where the M1A1 Carbine outshines the M1 Garand and Sturmgewehr 44. These issues sometimes make Hell's Highway feel less polished in its modernization efforts.

Graphics 9

Although Brothers in Arms franchise may not be widely recognized for its stunning visuals, this game features some of the best first-person shooter graphics of its era. Utilizing Unreal Engine 3, it offers a cinematic experience with dynamic depth of field and consistent lighting effects that enhance both cutscenes and gameplay. The environmental details and high-quality textures effectively represent the events and locations of Operation Market Garden, while graphic portrayals of war, such as blood splatters, wounds, and realistic dismemberment, add to the visceral combat experience. The game also introduces destructive physics, allowing for a destructible environment that includes concrete buildings, sandbags, and smaller items like bottles and flower pots, which enhances immersion. Furthermore, the user interface has been improved for better visual feedback and a more user-friendly experience, facilitating command issuance and environmental interaction for a more fluid tactical experience. However, the game does have notable shortcomings that can detract from immersion; one significant issue is memory management, which may lead to glitches like missing textures during gameplay and could necessitate restarting entire chapters. Additionally, there are minor concerns, such as less appealing models for British soldiers compared to their American counterparts, inconsistent facial animations, and lip-syncing issues. While some animations effectively convey emotional weight, others can appear awkward and fail to match the intensity of the dialogue.

Sounds 9.5

Gearbox is excelling with Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway's soundtrack and voice acting. The game's scores, composed by Ed Lima and Duncan Watt, evoke the intensity and emotional weight of World War II and complement the narrative themes. Five outstanding tracks are "Main Theme", "The Story So Far", "Baker's Dozen", "Eindhoven" and "Farewell is Goodbye". The dynamic sound mix adapts to the gameplay, with the music intensifying during combat and fading to silence during quieter story moments, adding depth to the experience. With Troy Baker as Matt Baker and David McGarry as Red, both reprising their roles, the voice acting is also impressive. Enriched by dialogue that explores the personalities and challenges of the squad members, the cast as a whole delivers more nuanced and emotionally engaging performances. The script's use of authentic military terms and the addition of new accents help to bring the characters and setting to life. The battle and environmental sound design in this sequel is noticeably improved, capturing realistic audio details from the roar of explosions to the ambient sounds of war.

Replayability 7.5

On the topic of replayability, Hell's Highway offers fun authentic modes, cool easter eggs, Kilroys, and reconnaissance reports. But unfortunately, these things can't make up for the fact that this game has the lowest replay value of the three Brothers in Arms games; contributing factors include linear level design that makes it predictable and repetitive, a dead multiplayer mode that can't be saved by the AI Bots mod, the absence of Earned in Blood's challenging skirmish mode in this game, and the lack of the Extras mode, which includes behind-the-scenes footage, developer interviews, and the official recording of the game's soundtrack; although there are recon reports, it's still not the same as having an entire Extras filled with those things. While there are some significant improvements over its predecessor, the game doesn't fully capitalize on its potential replay value, so it doesn't quite live up to the expectations of a sequel.

Overall 8.7

Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway offers a compelling narrative driven by Staff Sergeant Matt Baker's transformation into a multifaceted leader amidst the chaos of Operation Market Garden. The gameplay has been revamped with a third-person cover system and destructible environments, introducing new features like the Gewehr 43 and M4A4 Sherman VC Firefly tank. However, the game faces criticism for its linear level design, poor Tactical Map functionality, and inconsistent AI behavior, which undermine its polish. The soundtrack and voice acting excel in evoking the intensity and emotional weight of World War II, but the game's replay value is hindered by its predictability and lack of substantial multiplayer options.

war

Definitely best in the series. Shame it doesn't look promising for any more BIA games.

7.5/10 Soldiers

This is one of those games that desperately needs a mixed option. It's fun and still holds up pretty well. There's a story, if you care about that, and multiplayer that I've never tried. I'm here for the campaign, and I enjoyed my time with it. There's some old school jank and bugs, but nothing too bad. However, the game just ends out of nowhere. It never really feels like your accomplishing much, just running through standard similar levels, and then the game just ends. The last few missions feel like any other to the point that I had ZERO idea that I was at the end. It's strange and kinda left me with a sour taste in my mouth after what was a fun blast from the past. I wouldn't pay full price for this. It's worth a few hours of your time but get it on sale or sail the high seas.

i was wrong about refunding it

Quite possibly the worst kbm default settings I have ever used.

After you sort through all that shit you finally get to the sweet, golden corn.

Great game

veri gud

Love it, amazing tactical gameplay

WAAAWAAWEEWAAAA ITS A VERY NICE!

ahh nostalgia

I really like this game's story a lot

Yes

i love this game for the tactical mechanics- truly incredible and always made for so much fun as a kid. As an adult, nothing has surpassed that level of greatness in single player ww2 tactical FPS.

I can appreciate what this game is trying to do but it just does not beat out the first two in the series. Gameplay is a little more or less the same. Graphics are better but it just don't hit the same as the first two.

Cool game, I like it :)

Back when Troy Baker was a serious actor

Really fun single player shooter with an intriguing story. Definitely worth a buy as the squad based third person shooter gameplay is pretty different to what you've played before and it works really well. Length is perfect, not too short not too long.

Classic

wow

Just a great classic WWII FPS.

the game is good so far but the only problem which completely ruined it for me is the chapters were broken, i played it for 65 minutes and completed the first 2 chapters and when i went back to check if it saved it sent me back to the start thus discarding my progress. Game is good but bug ruined it. if anyone could help me please comment.

While not as good as its' predecessors; this is a fun, albeit short game. As the multiplayer is obviously long gone, this will be a strictly singleplayer experience.

You'll notice the easier difficulty right away, which isn't helped by the inclusion of a cover mechanic. This is a slightly less tactical experience than the other games in the series, and more often than not I found myself handling most situations on my own without the assistance of my squad. Most objectives are rather repetitive; flank 3 groups of enemy, knock out an MG nest or two, then destroy a tank or FLAK 88. Not a fan of the vehicle levels either. These were dull due to the aforementioned easiness of the game.

The story is this games' strength, while nothing on the level of Band of Brothers, it isn't a bad imitation. Unskippable cutscenes, I might add; which gives me the impression that the devs wanted players to see their efforts at crafting a better plot in this game. Like I said, it's not bad.

Upon completion you'll be rewarded with an authentic difficulty, which removes your HUD. Stay away from it, the game's mandatory cover mechanic makes it essential for not taking fire, even if you are crouched behind cover in first person perspective. This means that you won't have a reticle while aiming from cover. This makes hitting anything a total guessing game; not fun.

I've played through this game about three times, once recently on PC, about ten years ago on the 360, and originally on the PS3 when it first came out. While aiming with the mouse is always better, I actually found that performance was better on consoles. If you care more about the quality of the port, then I'd go for the 360 version which is available for the Xbox Series consoles on the Microsoft Store. If you would rather have better controls, then nab it for the PC. Merry Xmas all

FIRE AND MANEUVER! (It actually works in this game) 10/10 even if the game is 16 years old. I hope they make a remaster or a sequel set in the Battle Of The Bulge but it's a shame that Ubisoft owns this franchise.

Play this game to get away from seeing wamen in combat. Only mans are given rifles and uniforms in this war.