Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood Annoucned [PC/Current Gen Consoles]

[bapenguin]

Gearbox has announced the sequel to this years best WWII game, Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30. The game will feature an entirely new single player campaign, new vehicles and weapons, and new multiplayer maps.

Brothers was possibly the closest game I've ever played that felt like a movie. The narrative in it was absolutely amazing.
Press release inside

[bapenguin]

San Francisco — MAY 18, 2005 — Today Ubisoft, one of the world’s largest video game publishers, and acclaimed developer Gearbox Software, announced the development of Brothers In Arms Earned In Blood™ for current-generation video game consoles and for the PC. Scheduled for holiday 2005, Brothers in Arms Earned in Blood™ is the next chapter in the compelling Brothers in Arms™ story.

With its unprecedented combination of authenticity, compelling story and squad-based action, Brothers In Arms Road to Hill 30™ has established itself as a benchmark for military action games. Brothers In Arms Earned In Blood™ builds upon the elements that have made Brothers in Arms Road to Hill 30™ a runaway success by adding new features and game modes. Featuring a new single-player narrative, new multiplayer missions, an all-new cooperative-style game mode, and new weapons and vehicles, Brothers In Arms Earned In Blood™ promises to lead the way this holiday season.

“Based on a true story Brothers In Arms Road to Hill 30™ renewed the WWII shooters category by offering the most authentic and emotional trip into the brutal reality of war like no other competitors did before”, said Tony Kee, vice president of marketing for Ubisoft. “Considered as the most authentic WWII shooter ever Brothers in Arms™ returns and gamers can expect Earned In Blood™ to once again be the best this fall.”

Developed by Gearbox Software with the collaboration of Ubisoft Shanghai studios, Brothers In Arms Earned In Blood™ will be shown to select media behind closed doors at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, May 18-20, at Ubisoft’s booth, #1300, in the South Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Key Features:

• Next Volume of Brothers In Arms™ – The award-winning WWII shooter returns with more of the action, story and authenticity that has critics and fans raving.
• New Single-Player Narrative – Experience authentic WWII combat as Sergeant Joe Hartsock and lead your squad beyond Carentan to liberate all of Normandy.
• New Multiplayer Missions – Taking online tactics to new heights, Brothers In Arms Earned In Blood offers more unique multiplayer missions and improved online support on PC and consoles! (Including the bundled addition of modification support for the PC).
• Skirmish Mode – Brothers In Arms Earned In Blood™ features an all-new cooperative Skirmish mode that allows one or two players to take a tour of duty through a series of authentic and harrowing custom combat missions.
• New Weapons and Vehicles – Arm yourself with additional authentic weapons and command new vehicles like the M10 “Wolverine” Tank Destroyer.
• More Challenging and Dynamic Combat –Featuring close quarter urban environments and a new, next generation artificial intelligence system, Brothers In Arms Earned In Blood™ promises to take authentic military action to the next level.

Blues News (http://www.bluesnews.com/screenshots/games/bia2/20050518/) has some screenshots.

[KarmaGhost]

Loved the game and the narrative as well, but the load times (even on an SATA drive) killed it for me. It seems to be a problem with games based on the UT engine (I'm looking at you, SWAT 4).

[sTubbs]

Nice. I hope that they make it less linear on the next gen consoles [I understand it had to be linear to follow the true story, but still...]. Other than that, the first game was awesome. Very few games have ever put me 'in the moment' like Road to Hill 30 did, and the fact that real soldiers actually did the same crazy things that were in the game made it even more special and engrossing. It simply blows away all other WWII FPSes, and is easily one of the best WWII games available.

PS: I still have not got an answer as to why the M1 Garand was able to reload in he middle of a clip. It seems odd that everything else was so accurately modeled, but a weapon that is used all the time gets overlooked. Oh well - small potatoes.

[Vjornaxx]

I've recently put BiA back in my Xbox. It's a great game and really has a good feel to it when you play. Running across a field while mortar rounds are going off all around you never felt so dangerous in any other game. My only wish is that the same developing team makes a similar game in a more modern setting.

[slink-jadranko]

Must get round to finishing it soon. Got a new job just after I got the game...
Great game though. Load times aren't so bad on my new machine. SWAT4 is a bit worse than BIA though, and is just approaching an annoying length of time.

[goc_sin]

It's a great game that got pushed aside while on my WOW addiction, I'll have to make sure I finish this up sometime in the future.

[crazyfrazee]

The garand can be reloaded mid-clip, it is just slow. I don't recall if they made it slower to reload in clip or not.

[pdeupree]

We do have a custom mid-clip reload animation that shows you removing the previous clip and inserting a new one, versus the empty clip where, after the clip has sprung out, you only insert a new clip.

This is one of those things where "realistically" you would not likely do it in war, but technically it is authentic that you can do this, and from a gamers perspective it's better to "offer" mid clip reloads.

In previous games that did not offer mid-clip reloads I remember that my "tactic" would be to just fire the rest of my clip into the ground if I knew I wanted a full clip going into the next area. Not something a soldier would do, but we're gamers and the typical FPS strategy is to reload your gun during any lull you have.

[Furious Wang]

This game was great. Played a non-stop marathon all the way through it when I rented it. One word: Enthralling. The cathedral tower sniper mission was one of the most memorable in any game ever.

[Oblivion]

yeah, loved it. but the level with assaulting two tanks on foot nearly made me broke my kerboard in disgust. it was sooo hard. after that the last level was a breeze.

[aversion2k]

I really didnt like this game. The collision was terrible (so many times my bullets hit inivisible walls and my rockets flew through tanks) the ai sucked ass (My tank guy would blow me up, my men would run out from behind cover for no reason at all and get gunned down) And I just gave up trying to shoot at anyone from long range. Apart from when you use the sniper rifle which was incredibly accurate in comparason.
Your men would die, but dont worry, they arent really dead, they only die during scripted sequences.
The only things I liked about it where, the level design (which looked awesome) and the gory moments. I'm glad they didnt just cut it out because its a WWII game.
Ah well... all you guys seem to like it alot. Hope you all enjoy the sequal :) I might just skip it.