Gearbox, UbiSoft Confirms Brothers In Arms

An anonymous reader writers: "On Blue's News, there's the official announcement of Gearbox's Brothers in Arms, a tactical WWII shooter with first-person action but the ability to 'command elements, which are your fellow squad members', to be published by UbiSoft, initially for Xbox and PC later this year (though 'PS2 and Gamecube [versions] will follow in 2005'). This was the Gearbox title rumored under a different name earlier this week. But better yet, UGO has the first in-depth preview with screenshots of the game. Looks sharp, sounds like it plays sharp, but we'll see - WWII games are a dime a dozen, but they seem to be getting better in quality recently."

Misread the title

[MachDelta]

At first I thought the title said "Brotherhood of Arms". I was like "NO WAY! TEAM FORTRESS 2?!?"

...then my supermodel wife asked me if I was going to pick up my Ferarri today so we could take it to the UN summit where I was to be honoured for ending world famine and finding a cure for cancer. And I realized what an idiot I was because in my fantasy world, TF2 came out 6 years ago! DUH!


(Sorry. I haven't taken my medication today.)

Re:Misread the title

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm waiting for Elite 3... or 4, I'm not sure anymore, it's been like 20 years since the last game.

Re:Misread the title

[Rexz]

Duke Nukem Forever, and ever, and ever, and...

Murdurgh.

[Rexz]

I'd love to know what the submitter is quoting - it isn't the official website, Blue's News, or the press release - because

"the ability to 'command elements, which are your fellow squad members'"

is one of the clunkiest things I've ever read. I expect in the original context, the game was described as a shooter with command elements.

Re:Murdurgh.

[Nasarius]

It's in the UGO preview [ugo.com].

As part of the leadership role, Baker has the ability to command elements, which are your fellow squad members, ordering them to attack a target, move to a position or follow him.

Re:Murdurgh.

[Babbster]

"Elements" is indeed a traditional military term used correctly in that sentence. Usually, it denotes somewhat larger numbers of troops as in "Elements of the 3rd Armored Division landed on Sicily today." It can, however, be used to describe individuals as "elements" of a squad, as in this case.

Ubisoft and checkpoints

[the_bahua]

I have been soured on Ubisoft games, and the company's name has come to be synonymous with frustration, for me. The checkpoint-style saving makes even the funnest games frustrating, and replay value drops to zero for me. This game look beautiful, but I'll wait and see whether I want anything to do with it, when the saving/loading scheme is unveiled.

Good point although

[SmallFurryCreature]

game companies seem to be learning that the PC is not a console and is played differently. Meaning we expect to be able to save anytime anywhere. Granted some companies still use the "limited saves" joke because they have consolitis but it is getting better.

The game is also developed for the X-box wich because of its HD shouldn't have a technical reason for not being able to save anywhere. Gearbox is also an experienced PC developer and at least the games I played of them had a proper save system.

So I am

Haven't played it so can't say

[SmallFurryCreature]

Doesn't it allow to save anywhere on the pc? As said never played it. Sorry but from the reviews (player reviews not paid for official reviews) I decided that it was not my kind of game.

Gearbox

[aliens]

Didn't they do the Halo port?

Now Infiniti Ward, that's a developer you want to hear is working with UbiSoft.

Re:Gearbox

[SuperMo0]

Didn't they do the Halo port?

From the Gearbox Website [gearboxsoftware.com]:

Gearbox Games:

• Halo: Combat Evolved
• James Bond 007: NightFire
• Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3
• Half-Life for Playstation 2
• Half-Life: Blue Shift
• Half-Life: Opposing Force
• Half-Life: Platinum Pack
• Half-Life: Counterstrike

The Perfect WWII Game

[superultra]

This is nearing silly. If the gaming industry hasn't created the perfect WWII game by now, I'm not sure they ever will. Maybe they're aiming for quantity: you make 12 WWII games and one of them has to be the perfect WWII experience.

I think it's obvious that Band of Brothers (the HBO miniseries based on Ambrose's book) served as inspiration for Call to Duty and perhaps also for this title. There's a scene, about midway through the series, in which Captain Winters runs over a hill and is confronted by a young German solider, barely old enough to fill the uniform. Winters shoots, the shot echoes, and the young man collapses in the field. The scene haunts Winters throughout the entirity of the series, and he sees that soldier's face everywhere.

In these games, you see the soldier's face everywhere but that's only because it's a generic skin, not because of any emotional attachment created by the game. So what is the gaming equivalent of that? Would it be feasible for the player to be in a "slow moment" in the game, say transversing between two friendly checkpoints, and for a similar scene to be flashed back or replayed? I think games like Call to Duty demonstrate that developers obviously have the technicalities of a modern war game, so why aren't we seeing these games breach emotionally and attempt to connect to the player that way instead of merely logistically?

Re:The Perfect WWII Game

[WormholeFiend]

I think they'll keep on making WW2 games until we have WW3, then after a few years, they'll start making WW3 games.

Re:The Perfect WWII Game

[vonklempt01]

But that's exactly what it seems Ubi/Gearbox is going for with this game. Didn't you read the part where the writer describes moments before missions, where you interact with the other squad members? I picture this like Half-Life, where you can run up to Barney, and he's grabbing a soda can from the machine and complaining about work. Gives you a glimpse into the character... a nice little touch. We'll see how far Brothers takes it.

Looks good!

[oldManSquad]

I too am a bit jaded with the whole glut of WWII games, but on reading about this and seeing the screenies(Love the draw distance!!) I'll be looking forward to checking this thing out come winter. Hopefully it will be a WWII version of the fantastic Operation Flashpoint. Now wouldn't that be something to look forward too?

Fingers crossed!