As much as I enjoyed Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, I think I liked its sequel even more. Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood is that sequel, although it feels somewhat like an expansion pack. My appreciation for the sequel was probably due to the decreased learning curve. After playing Road to Hill 30, there was no need to ease into things with tutorials and simple missions early on. Instead, I was able to dive right into the action. Replacing Sergeant Matt Baker as the protagonist was Sergeant Joe “Red” Hartsock, a squad member featured in Road to Hill 30. The game unfolds via flashbacks with the framing story an interview between Red and an army Colonel. The missions occur on and shortly after D-Day. Enemies seemed a little more intelligent this time around. They used cover better and were more dangerous opponents overall. Gameplay didn’t change much in the sequel, thankfully, with a focus on tactical assaults based on the 4-F concept: find, fix, flank, and finish.

June 2019 marked the 75th anniversary of D-Day. I’m very glad to have finally gotten around to playing Brothers in Arms: Double Time. It definitely ranks as one of my favorite World War II games and one of my all-time favorite first-person shooters.


Sergeant Joe Hartsock Interview

My future of playing first-person shooters (FPS) was in doubt. I didn’t fare too well with Half-Life the first time because of motion sickness. I returned to it months later with similar results. Last month, I tried playing Half-Life 2. I enjoyed the game but after a handful of levels I abandoned it for the same reason. Subsequently playing ivine Divinity">Divine Divinity, a computer RPG, was a welcome change. This month, however, I decided to give a different FPS game a try. The game was Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30. I didn’t expect much from it but I was extremely impressed. First of all, I was able to complete the game without any extreme motion sickness. Along the way, I was treated to a World War II FPS that I found as enjoyable as the previous best I’ve played. In addition to standard FPS gameplay, Brothers in Arms featured tactical elements. As Sergeant Matt Baker, you have command of your squads. By giving orders to your fire teams and assault teams, you position your men to succeed in the 4 F’s of combat: find, fix, flank, and finish. Suppression of the enemy is key to victory. The game doesn’t typically reward one-man Rambo tactics.

I thought the length of Road to Hill 30 was just about right with 20 missions. I own the Brothers in Arms: Double Time collection, which also includes Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood. I’ll be playing Earned in Blood next. Hopefully, it is as good as its predecessor or better.


Members of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment