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A WWII shooter on the DS arrives with decent at best results

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: June 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Brothers in Arms makes it's way to the DS with the aptly titled Brothers in Arms DS, which finds the long running first person shooter set in World War II getting shrunk down and scaled back to accomodate the dual screens of Nintendo's handheld. The first thing you'll notice about Brothers in Arms DS is that the game features some pretty good graphics for a DS game that really push the hardware to a new limit. After that though, it's mostly downhill though considering everything that needed to be changed around in order for the game to appear on the DS. The style has changed from an FPS to a third person shooter that utilizes a "duck & cover" technique that actually works well. What really hurts the game however are the bad camera angles, annoying pop up enemies, and the control scheme which utilizes the directional pad, shoulder button, and touch screen as well. The controls are by far the game's biggest flaw, as you may in fact get used to them, but in the heat of battle, will be swearing on a consistent basis thanks to them. Four player multiplayer is included as well, and is really where the bulk of the fun is to be had here. Brothers in Arms DS isn't too challenging, and it's over before you know it as well, but it's not a bad game either by any stretch of the imagination. That being said, if you like WWII shooters and/or the Brothers in Arms series, and desire something on the go and you own a DS, Brothers in Arms DS is really the only choice there is at the moment.

disappointing

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 12
Date: June 23, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I had high hopes for this game, but the controls are awkward, such as lining up and aiming before you get shot!! It seems the DS is more suited to role playng and puzzle games

Short but lots of fun.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: July 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Brothers in Arms is the first WWII-shooter for the DS, and it sets a very high bar for any successors. While it's not perfect, any shooter or WWII aficionado would find themselves enjoying it from start to finish.

The game starts you off as another face in the crowd, so you won't be doing any commanding like the other BiA games. Your US Paratrooper is caught in tree in the hills of Normandy, after cutting yourself down you join with a another squad and rush into a French town to assault the German platoons. The controls the introduced quickly so you get right into the action. You go from point to point while using the various game play mechanics to advance with your squad. You'll be greeted by mounted MG-42s, Snipers, Grenadiers, Flak 88s and Tanks. Each poses a different challenge and various ways of disposal. For instance several shots to a tank with a Bazooka will take it down but if you brave it and go next to the tank, jump on it and toss in a single grenade to dispose of it. There will also be several missions where you take charge of a tank and .30 CAL mounted Jeep.

The game play is varied, but it's the standard WWII fare. You'll have to assault and flank fortified sandbags and bunkers, mounting TNT to valued targets, taking and defending positions. If you've played a previous WWII games you'll have done it before. It changes each mission so you won't have to do too much of the same over and over. At times many of these provide quite a challenge and you'll be replaying some parts several times over. Luckily for the player the game auto saves after every important accomplishment. Most of the game relies on the use of scripted sequences to immerse the player, and it works. It doesn't seem too robotic, yes you can memorize the enemy layouts, but it doesn't make the game easier. You truly feel like you're on the battlefront. The size of certain levels come truly as a surprise considering the abilities of the DS.

There's also a "Marker System" which tells you where certain objectives are or even just to tell you were to go. This might sound like you're being babied the whole game, but it's not distracting at very helpful. At times your "objectives" leave you wondering what to do or where to go but the markers will set you i the right direction. The Germans are clad in black so they blend well on the small screen, showing the player where the enemy is helps from time to time. It doesn't show you every enemy since that would cause clutter, but a single marker for a squad or certain soldier on a mounted machine gun.

Throughout the game you visit the desolate villages in Normandy, sandy airstrips and forts in Tunis and finally snow capped forests of Ardennes. The environments look great and definitely feel war-torn. Graphically the game is beautiful; and the sound compliments it. Certain, but scripted, environments crumble when hit with an Bazooka or run into with the tank. Search lights graze the skies as paratroopers fall in the beginning levels, and snowfalls slowly in the final levels. Tracers fly by and cause dirt to shoot up and fall, while explosions cloud the screen with debris. The sounds of commanders and soldiers yelling while reloading tells you to take advantage of the situation. Running next to tank, friendly or foe, will make you feel so minute as one false step and you'll be crushed.

The controls are fluid and natural. Anyone who's played Metroid Prime Hunters should be able to get right into it. Switching weapons and reloading requires a simple drag and drop motion but throwing grenades is very unique. Upon pressing the grenade icon, the camera shifts to a semi-top view and a bar you drag the stylus on appears. While in this mode an aiming cursor appears on the ground before you and the higher on the bar you drag the stylus the farther it goes. It makes using grenades easy but satisfactory since laying a grenade right on a squad of 4-7 feels great. On the upper right of the screen you'll find the "fine-aiming" button, which will give you increased accuracy(and/or scope) for your weapons for distant targets but limits your movement. Finally, the game has a duck-and-cover system similar to that found in Gears of War. Get next to a wall and you'll put your back to it and you'll be able to look around corners and aim before you shoot. Same goes for sandbags or something low to duck under. Unlike Gears of War it's automatic rather than manual and at times it can get a tad buggy. I found myself firing without the use the system because I failed to turn the corner when I tried to. This hardly happens though and won't bother you much. Finally, the fine-aim button will turn into a context sensitive button for planting charges, getting in/out of vehicles and dropping in a grenade on tanks as mentioned before.

The game doesn't go without it's faults, among all this good there rests some bad. The most obvious is the game lacks in multi-player, there's no online Wi-Fi or DS Download Play. So you probably won't be putting the multi-player to use unless you have another friend with the game. There is also no Bots to play against. The game is also considerably short and will only take the average gamer 5 to 6 hours of straight play through. You'll unlock two new weapons after completing the game, and a two new difficulties. The new weapons are a nice addition, but they're dumb down versions of the Thompson and Bazooka. You'll also get a new tank for the tank missions, but it doesn't feel any different. The vehicles take a little getting used to, and feel strange at first. There will also be several moments where you're left wondering what to do, causing you to retry the area over and over. Missions also reward you with "fame," which is a rating of your accuracy/time/kills/etc., and medals for certain achievements. Sadly, none of this information is saved for your to review or attempt to beat. There is an Award option on the main menu, but this only shows the player if they've beat the game on every difficulty.

It's a decent package any shooter fan will enjoy a great single player experience. The multi-player is probably great as well, but the lack of ability to play it easily is bothersome. The missions, while mostly short, are very fun and will have you playing them over and over. It's a great addition to a gamers' library.

OK, but takes some time

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: February 12, 2008
Author: Amazon User

When I saw this game, I knew it would be great for my 13 year-old son. I was right. He is telling me what to write right now. The game is too short with only 3 regions to go to: Tunis, Ardennes, and France. It takes very little time to beat. after about 5 1/2 hrs I beat it.You get a Thompson throughout the whole game, which is good. You cannot pick up the dead enemy's guns, but you won't need them. You can get in tanks, snipe the enemy, and almost anything that a soldier back then could (on the battlefield). The aimiing control takes a while to get used to. After 4 or 5 missions, you should be up to par. This is a great game and I(he) highly recommend(s) it.

Short Action Packed Fun

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: June 21, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I have only one other DS shooter: Metroid Prime hunter which gets off of the shooting aspect and more to the search and scan aspect. With Brothers in Arms: War Stories it skips all the crap and gets down immidiately to killing Germans. Although the game is short (16 missions, 3 difficulties per mission) it is quite fun. I found myself in constant battle and killing people on at a good rate. This has definately set the non existant bar for NDS shooters fairly high. The graphics for a DS game are amazing and i was quite impressed that no matter how much action was on the screen the game never slowed down. Although you get to some missions where the objective is insane, such as running from a Panzer tank, this doesnt take away from the fun. Despite the fact that your first play through the game only gives you a total of three weapons (your trusty M1A1 Thompson, a nice bazooka and a Kar98k with a scope) after completing the campaign once you unlock the 1918A2 light machine gun, better known as the BAR and the M7 grenade launcher. For what the single player campaign left out the multiplayer death matches make up for it. I got this game on a recommendation from a friend and we got some buddies to play together. It was constant action and extremely fun, we had more fun than we did on COD4 for the 360. Overall, the game is well built and extremely well done for a handheld title (you dont see that often enough) and i highly recommend it along with COD4 for the DS.

great graphics

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 13, 2008
Author: Amazon User

the graphics in this game have got to be in the top 3 hand held games list

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