OT BIA Hell's Highway

U

UK_Widowmaker

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Bloody 'ell!

If you like fps's, and you havent bought this yet..Go and get it!...amazing
 
Hey Widowmaker,

Picked it up yesterday. Quite different from the first two as it uses the UT engine. Really enjoying the destructable environment aspect of it. Just when Jerry thinks he's safe behind those barrels or that fence, BOOM!! Gotta' love that bazooka!!:applause:

Spectacular gore if you like that sort of thing. Headshots can be rather gratifying, as can a well placed 'nade.

Playing as veteran right now. AI seems to be somewhat improved over the last offerings. Easy to get cut down if you get careless. Still see the enemy do some downright retarded things though (as in, "I'll just stay here while you flank my ass and let you shoot me in the back of the head with a pistol"). I'm hoping that goes away once you unlock the hardened level.

Found the controls a little tough to get used to, particularly when you're on the run and hit the "strafe" key. Seems they want to "curl" in that direction instead of strafe. Weird to say the least, and it's got me killed more than once.

Haven't tried the multi-player yet, but I have a sneaking suspicion it'll be less than stellar. Overall, I'd say the game is worth the price of admission just to play single-player campaign. Quite enjoying it.


Cheers Mate,

Parky
 
I played BIA Hill 30 and there was an unreal aspect of it that really ticked me off. Quite often I flanked the Germans and was maybe 10 feet away behind a wall and they hadn't detected me. A can't miss shot, but the first shot always missed. Then of course, they were alerted to my presence. I'd still get them, but the first shot should've gotten one right away. It seemed you couldn't kill them unless they saw you as well. I hope they fixed that.
 
cpirrmann said:
I played BIA Hill 30 and there was an unreal aspect of it that really ticked me off. Quite often I flanked the Germans and was maybe 10 feet away behind a wall and they hadn't detected me. A can't miss shot, but the first shot always missed. Then of course, they were alerted to my presence. I'd still get them, but the first shot should've gotten one right away. It seemed you couldn't kill them unless they saw you as well. I hope they fixed that.
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I think you will find that Hell's Highway is vastly improved.
Earned in Blood was the most dissapointing one of the three (imho)
 
cpirrmann said:
I played BIA Hill 30 and there was an unreal aspect of it that really ticked me off.
Click to expand...

Yep. Just finished it moments ago. The accuracy of your own weapons is vastly improved over the two previous versions. You can snipe with rifles from quite long range now if you wait a few seconds for them to steady. They feel pretty realistic .

I have to agree that this is really good if you like fairly authentic WWII infantry games. The Unreal engine 3 is used to very good effect here. Really nice detail in men, equipment and environments, lovely ragdolls and some glorious lighting effects. One mission you might be in the lovely green fields of Holland on a sunny September day, the next fighting through a burning factory at night, followed by some lovely rain effects in a dreary Dutch village. There are some really impressive shader (advanced graphic) effects.

BIA:HH actually has a reasonable plot written by professional scriptwriters. It's not Oscar winning, but it struck me as about Band of Brothers standard. I was very pleasantly surprised - and I didn't find it excessively cheesy (not being American myself). There are aspects of Operation Market Garden that are shown in their grim reality..

Overall I would give it 9/10 as a WWII fan. Be sure to turn off some of the tactical aid if you like realism - such as the markers that indicate when enemies are suppressed. Any questions about it I am happy to answer.
 
FritzFraghof said:
Any questions about it I am happy to answer.
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Sounds like an interesting game. Might get it. Here are few questions that come to mind.

How linear and scripted is the game? Does it have good replay value for single player? Or is it a "play once, chuck it in the garbage" game

Do it have the ability to utilize TrackIR?

What kind of controllers can be used? (I am not good at those keyboard and mouse only games)
 
As long as it's no longer "Brothers in Fences" I might give it a go :)
 
I dont think it utilizes TrackIR (Which does not matter to me anyways, I have the mouse.)

Looks wise, its almost like MOH Airborne, good graphics, brings with it that same Unreal bug that I really hate, they stick their head up just alittle, maybe 5 cm over the edge of their cover, I take perfect aim, and fire, but nothing happens, it`s the same with MG`s, I fire at the Gunners head, but the MG seems to be acting as a shield, even though it`s not in the way of his head..
But physics are good too.

Unsurpassed gore for a ww2 game thats for sure (Can be turned off I believe. What gets me is you see bullet wounds on the characters in the story scenes, but not in the actual game, Exept headshots, kind of reminds me of Mafia exept Mafia didnt have headshot wounds either.)
Story wise it`s probably the best in any ww2 game I have played.

Weapon feel is very good, though it could be smoothened out, in both FP and 3rd Person modes, just seems that It skips 3-4 pixles horizontal wise, but is smoother vertically, really annoying when I want to do long range headshots. Doesnt matter how I configure my G5 mouse either.

But all in all, this game is better than MOH Airborne, and definitely better than the prequels.

If you like WW2 FPS, (As I do.) This is the game for you.


RH
 
Polovski said:
As long as it's no longer "Brothers in Fences" I might give it a go :)
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Well it IS sort of still "Brothers in Fences", Pol. Only difference is, this time you can blow the bastards up...along with what's hiding behind 'em...which I enjoy immensely:icon_lol:.
 
Lol Parky, I remember thinking in the original "I know I'll simply hop over this low 2 foot hedge across the 20 acres of open field and take em out round the back" er no ... then I remember shooting at two Germans behind cover and I left my guys suppressing them, then the door bell rang, 15 mins later went back and they were still there doing the same, probably about 5000 rounds of ammo later no one dead etc :).
Blowing em up may just make up for it :)
 
Polovski said:
As long as it's no longer "Brothers in Fences" I might give it a go :)
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He he. That drove me nuts about the previous ones too. The second BIA the levels were so boxy I gave up on because it felt very much like 3D Pacman.

...How linear and scripted is the game? Does it have good replay value for single player?

It is quite linear, depending upon your perspective. It's about as linear as say Call of Duty 4. You don't have the full freedom to move about the battlefield like Hidden & Dangerous or Operation Flashpoint, but there are almost always several ways of approaching the enemy. So it's not totally linear like the old FPSs. There are still fences et al constraining you from going our of bounds, however the realism and detail of the environments were so gorgeous that it made up for it for me this time. There was always enough variety in the mapping that it never bothered me that you couldn't go everywhere you could IRL. But if you are one of those people who would be infuriated by not being able to climb every fence you could IRL, this is not the game for you. Incidentally you (and the AI) can mantle over most barriers now, just not the out-of-bounds ones.

There are some really nice trees and hedges etc. (Speedtree!) The devs have recreated many battlefields in great detail - based upon photos and buildings still standing today. There are some stunning fire and rain effects. The lighting in this game really impressed me.

It's not a super long single player game. It took me a couple of days play to get through at medium difficulty level. People playing on easy have got through in six or seven hours. I am not sure I would bother playing the single player again, although maybe months later - since some levels were quite stunning. The multiplayer is not very well developed. If you are not sure about buying it would be a good game to get as a rental.

On the PC version I have not had the aiming problem that redhammer had. Whenever an enemy has had any of their body exposed, I have been able to hit it, including MGers. I have had more long range headshots strike home than I thought I probably deserved. Although I did have the crosshair on. =p

...15 mins later went back and they were still there doing the same, probably about 5000 rounds of ammo later no one dead etc

I did not like that about the previous BIAs either. Worse, even your own shots were pre-destined to miss if the enemy were behind cover in the last versions. Not now.

Generally your AI squadmates will not take out the enemy if the enemy are in the best cover (concrete, metal, earth embankments etc). I don't have a problem with that as it would be boring if my squadmates took out everything without any thought or action on my part. Your AI squadmates are also effective at taking out exposed enemies, so it is very effective flanking or storming the enemy to get them to displace and/or flee.

The destruction system is very impressive. I have not seen a better one on PC and certainly not in a WWII game. Wooden fences are chewed up by MGs. Sandbags fly everywhere with explosives. I doubt grenades do IRL what they do in BIA:HH, but it sure feels satisfying. =) There is, incidentally, quite a lot of gore (optional in settings), without being totally unrealistic. I was surprised how much work had gone into that.

The new cover system also works very well in game. I believe it is like Gears of War, in that you can take cover yourself behind anything and it switches to a third person view. From there you can move under cover and lean out or over things to look and fire. It works really nicely.

From me I would give:

Graphics : 9/10 Nicely optimised Unreal engine 3. Excellent animation.
Sound and Music : 8/10
Level Design : 9/10 Very impressive variety, but rather small levels due to PS3 512MB Ram contraints
Gameplay : 8/10 Very good at what it does. Only at the end did I think of a few things that could (and perhaps should) have been added.
Story : 8/10 Quite impressive for a video game.
Multiplayer : 4/10

Since I am a WWII enthusiast, take off a point or two if you are not.
 
Fantastic..just finished it on medium..and yes, I shall be starting again on unlocked veteran.
I could'nt compare it to MOH Airborne personally, as that (imho) was the very worst game I ever played...just totally unrealistic!

The cutscenes in Hells Highway realy added to the game!.. a bit like Wing Commander over X-Wing (better not argue the case for those two, or we'll be here forever......again!)

Cant wait for the next installment (which has defo been left open)
 
Be sure to take some time to shoot the chickens with your .45. Yes, you can pot the sheep, too, but the chickens are quicker and more random, and a better challenge. Sheep just tip over.
Is everyone having fun with their plastic action figure?

Hemo
 
Sounds good I'll give it a go.. just got a small matter to finish first aaaaaarg.
 
I did the first two as well... very good. I've been looking forward to HH, and hope it's a good one. My PC is too old for it though. Time to upgrade.

OvS

PS... here's some family history for you guys... my Uncle Ben was in the 508th with the 82nd, dropped on D-Day right into the Meredet River area. Fought there at the Meredet Bridge, then move further south into Picuville, and finally at Hill 30. So BIA:RTH30 was kinda special for me. During my trip to Normandy, I went there. It was really cool. It's a hill, with a farm on it, hard to tell, but it's there. The 508, mixed with some 101st boys fought there for 3 days. My Uncle won the Broze Star of Valor there, as well as his entire unit.

It was quite a story.
 
Just picked it up yesterday, I really like it so far. But then again I like WWII FPS almost as much as Flight sims.
 
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