Reviews
Dear Mom and Dad,
Sorry I haven’t written in a
while, but the Germans have been
fighting us tooth and nail, and I
just haven’t had a chance to sit
down and write. Hopefully, I’ll be
able to write more often in the
future, at least if my hand doesn’t
get blown off like old Jonesy’s!
So, here’s the latest update: Last
week we were supposed to sky dive
into this certain part of *redacted*,
but instead we landed in ***redacte
| .We’ve spent the last seven days
trying to make it to **redact where
we should be able to regroup with
our platoon. Since we dropped in,
the fighting has been nonstop. I
don’t know if I’m suffering from
shell shock, but it’s getting much
harder to hit the Germans. I have to
really take my time and aim to make
each shot count. My squad mates tell
me this is more “realistic” than the
fighting I’ve done before, and I sure
believe them! Apparently I’m doing
something right, though—the lieu-
tenant just promoted me to squad
commander!
Now that I have two squads under
my command, I have to take a more
strategic look at the battlefield. I’m
using one squad as a fire team—theypin down Gerry with suppressing
fire. Once the soldiers are pinned
down and unable to return fire, I can
send my assault team around the
enemies’ flank, letting them pounce
on the unsuspecting Deutsch-heads
and obliterate them with grenades or
small arms fire. It’s a simple formula,
really, but it applies to every single
encounter we have here in the bat-
tlefield. It doesn’t matter if I’m com-
manding soldiers, tanks, or a mix
of both, I always have to pin them
down and flank them. Even though
the suppression/flanking maneuver
is the smart thing to do, it’s already
become a bit repetitive. Sometimes
I just want to send the assault team
right up the middle of the battlefield!
My other gripe about command
is that the boys in my squad are a
little dim. I never noticed it before I
took over, but they need to be told
everything. When I give a simple
order—for example, “Shoot at that
**redacted**”—these guys can’t even
move to a spot where they’ll have a
clear shot. They just stand around
with their hands in their pockets
yelling, “I can’t shoot there Sarge!”
When that happens, I have to order
them to move to a new spot so they
will have a shot, even if it’s only
three feet! Luckily, my boys heal
really fast. If a guy goes down during
one mission, he’s right back beside
me at the start of the next.
While my boys are busy suppress-
ing and flanking, I usually settle
down behind some cover and try totake out a few Krauts myself. These
Germans might be a bit misguided,
and their leader is *****redacted*****,
but they’re damn good soldiers.
They’re difficult to kill when not
suppressed, and they use cover effec-
tively. Although I hate them and
want to kill them all, I’d go so far as
to say they’re the smartest battlefield
opponents I’ve ever faced (just don’t
let my CO hear this!).
Maybe the Germans are so hard
to kill because the only weapons
we’re equipped with are typical Army
gear—government-issue crap! The
only way to actually shoot a German
is to steady my aim by crouching
down, then drawing a bead on the
guy using my gun’s iron sights.
I’d better sign off. The first nine
days of this war have been hell;
hopefully it will get better in time.
We’re shipping out to **redacted**
on **redacted**. Thanks for the care
packages and tell Mary Jo I miss her!
Tell her I can’t wait to get back home
so she can ****redacted****.
—MATT “JOSH NOREM” BAKERThose boys up ahead aren’t lying down on the job, they took a few
shots when they charged non-suppressed Germans.Reviews
Brothers in Arms:
Road to Hill 30^
This war suddenly got a lot more realistic!
Tense gameplay, very realistic, and commanding
squads is fun.Almost too realistic, squads need micro-manage-
ment, and dead squad mates come back to life.
$50, http://www.ubi.com, ESRB rating: M9
SUPPRESSING FIREENGULFED IN FIREMA XIMUMPCVERDICT
Aiming and shooting is made extra difficult by the
blood and dirt that splatters all over my glasses.
If only there were some sort of laser surgery that
would correct my poor vision!78 MA XIMUMPC JUNE 2005