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Brothers in Arms: D-Day Mini Review
Jon Wilcox
10/01/2007
Ubisoft takes the World War II shooter onto Sony's handheld, but does it fight them on the beaches or surrender at dawn???
Having secured a solid and strong reputation in the last couple of years thanks to the release of Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 and Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood on the home consoles, Gearbox's World War II squad-based shooter is now preparing to continue the assault with the upcoming Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway. But first, the developer (along with Ubisoft Shanghai) has turned its attention to the release of the franchise's debut portable outing, Brothers in Arms: D-Day for PSP.
Let's not build up the suspense, Brothers in Arms: D-Day just doesn't work, both in the sense of performing as a handheld title, and in its general execution. Picking missions from both Road to Hill 30 and Earned in Blood, players find themselves following Sgt. Matt Baker to Carentan, and Sgt. Joe 'Red' Hartsock to St. Sauveur, in the days surrounding the initial invasion of Normandy. As such, veterans of the franchise will definitely find themselves with a near-persistent feeling of déjà vu.
The series has always prided itself on creating a solid, squad-based experience, using strategic flanking of enemies and strong AI to create a good sense of immersion, something that's improved as the series has progressed. But not here. Of course, D-Day remains a squad-based shooter, but thanks to an uncomfortable, fiddly, and inaccurate control system, and AI that's barely left the primordial soup of intelligence, it's the weakest entry in the series by the longest of long shots (and we're talking about sniper rifle shots here).
Being an amalgamated port of the two current-gen instalments, D-Day continues to utilise the 'Four Fs' of infantry strategy (Find, Fix, Flank, and Finish) in the main crux of gameplay. However, mapping the control system for the squad commands to the cut-down buttons of the PSP makes the 'Four Fs' overly-complicated and cumbersome. Tapping and holding the Triangle button to issue and revoke commands, as well as using a combination of d-pad buttons, is a real chore, nearly always removing the player from any sliver of immersion created up to that point. An unwieldy control system is something that could perhaps be excused (just about) as long as you don't mind aching fingers and thumbs by the end of a gaming session. After all, Brothers in Arms has never been about fast, immediate action; it's a slower paced experience that emphasises the build up to an encounter with the enemy - something that has always been successful thanks to the AI of both squad members and enemy soldiers alike.
Sadly, it's the lacklustre and near omission of AI in D-Day that shifts it from being cumbersome to careless. Occasions where squad members would be stuck behind cover or fail to listen to orders occurred so frequently that if it were real life, they'd have been shot for either cowardice or insubordination. What's the point of having a squad-based system if the squad doesn't respond? Let's just say that with the combination of clunky squad controls and even clunkier squad AI, it's a whole lot easier to do the mission by yourself...
Besides the Campaign mode, D-Day also features a Skirmish mode, with standalone missions available as either Solo or Co-operative experiences. Featuring a small number of gametypes from Objective-based missions through to Timed 'kill as many as you can' missions, and complete Tours of Duty, the mode is nice enough in principal, but is let down by the same issues of the Campaign mode, which continue to seep into this area of the game too.
The bugs aren't exclusive to the gameplay however, with sound issues also plaguing the title. Soldiers talk over each other so often that you're forced to squint read the subtitles, which isn't ideal, and the music has a habit of cutting out rather abruptly, removing another essential facet of atmosphere in the game. There's also an issue with visual slowdown on occasions, another indication that D-Day isn't as well executed as it should have been...if it all.
Primarily developed by Ubisoft's Shanghai Studio, the strategy of 'outsourcing' the development simply doesn't work in this instance. A sluggish and cumbersome experience that distinctly lacks in any sort of atmosphere, D-Day is a real disappointment, which will hopefully act as a warning to publishers that they shouldn't treat Sony's portable with a slew of disrespectful ports.
