Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood

"Great Sequal to an already excellent game."

This game is just as good as the original Brothers In Arms: Road to hill 30.

Gameplay: The gameplay is great. It is a fun game to play with little to no known glitches. The games difficulties feel just right. There are 4 difficulty levels. I can't remember the proper names but basically there is an easy, medium, hard, and realistic. There is a brief description that explains how difficult each level of difficulty is. The controls are very good, and the layout makes the game very easy to control. There is a simple command system that you use to command your squad.

Story: The story is told by Joe "Red" Hartstock. He basically explains his story of when he was a squad commander and his experiences. The farther you go through the game, the more of the story Red tells.

Graphics: Could be better, could be worse. The graphics are basically the same as the original game, with this game being slightly better in Earned in Blood. The characters in the game also seem to in be in sync with the words their saying, so it actually looks like their saying the words.

Sound: Absolutely amazing. It seems that the sounds of the weapons have been improved to sound more realistic. Its also great to be in a level with 3 enemy units firing at your squad, only to be able to hear the bullets whizzing by and hearing the remarks your squad members make as they are almost hit with a bullet. This is the category where BiA shines the most.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) : The AI has been improved since the last time. Your squad mates no longer stand out in the open, waiting to be killed (although I have seen it happen once or twice). Your squad mates can now find their own cover to stay alive, which is a nice touch. Your squad mates will also react to the bullets being fired around them, and you will see them duck their heads to avoid a bullet and they will wait until the enemy unit reloads to move to the next cover point. The enemy AI has been improved now. The enemies are a lot more smarter in Earned in Blood. The enemy will now flank you if you leave an enemy unit without any fire. And if you do happen to advance on the enemy, they have fall back points to run to to take cover and stay alive. Great touch of realism there.

Skirmish: Skirmish mode is a great addition to the BiA series. It adds great replay value and gives you many more missions to try to complete, if you have beaten the single player mode. In skirmish mode, you can choose which squad leader you want to play and you can choose to be axis or allies. There are also 3 modes to play on. One being where you play through 1 mission and then your done, or defense mode where you have to defend a position against waves of enemies, or a mode where you have to play through a 5 mission campaign without dying. You can personally modify the difficulty to make the game as easy, or challenging as you want also. Great overall game mode.

Online: I haven't taken the game online yet, so I can't review the online mode.

Overall thoughts: I would say this is a great overall action game for the pc. It is a great follow-up to an already successful game. I would recommend this game to any WW2 fan or and BiA fan.

Other games to consider: Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30. Call of Duty series. Sniper Elite (if your into sniping), Battlefield 1942, and Battlefield 2 (if your looking for some newer age combat.)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 07/19/06