Pros: Unique squad based gameplay, accurate recreation of WW2 Normandy, superb multiplayer
Cons: Bakers introverted thoughts mid mission, occasional dips in frame rate
The bottom line: This game is a treat to play. It comes up with the goods and surpasses expectations. Anyone who wants a brilliant WW2 FPS this is it. Experience it soon.
I was never quite sure whether this game would be a mainstream hit. Its very easy to dismiss this as "just another WW2 FPS" and lump it with other games of that ilk such as the Call For Duty and Medal Of Honor series. However this game shines above any expectations I held for it before buying it and beats all other competition in the WW2 FPS genre hands down.

Gameplay

What Brothers in Arms does that really outshines the competition is plays upon the weakness of every game of its ilk that has gone before. In games gone by such as Medal Of Honor: Frontline you felt like you were part of a team for about the first 2 levels before every sense of being part of the bigger picture faded into nothingness and the WW2 setting was irrelevant as you trooped off on your one man mission to Berlin. Brothers In Arms avoids this and adds an exciting new element into the mix. You play as Sergeant Matt Baker and you are a squad leader in the 101st Airborne Division. However instead of leaving your squad for dust you have to use them in a very unique way. Instead of bombing in guns blazing you have to think before you shoot. Using the simple technique of suppressing your enemy before trying to eliminate him can lead to many different eventualities. Sometimes flanking yourself is the best option or a long shot. You can also flank using your squad or sandwich the enemy between you and half your squad. These decisions aren't forced but are made by you by simply pressing L1 to move your squad. As the game progresses you reunite with your squad and are put in command of two teams. One is your assault team, used for flanking manoeuvres and direct assaults. The other is your fire team who provide covering and suppressing fire for you and your assault team. Using these two teams and the Situation Awareness view (akin to a mini map) you have to make quick tactical decisions that can either end conflicts quickly or end up in you or your men going down. Aside from the whole new squad based element Brothers In Arms does a much better job of recreating the feeling of war than any other FPS. By the end of the game you care if one of our men gets injured and not just because he can't help you finish the mission. This is helped by the solid AI given to your fellow soldiers and they cover each other, duck as they run, find cover automatically. It really is amazing how clever they actually are. The engrossing story of the 101st Airborne brings you in and each mission however small in the grand scheme seems momentous as you are risking your men as well as yourself. Over the course of the game you will undertake some simpler tasks such as clearing a road on the way to a rendezvous point or accompanying a tank to a cross road. Bigger tasks include taking towns, suicidal assaults on gun emplacements and preventing German counter attacks. And these tasks often involve more tactical decisions and require you to use your head as well as your trigger finger. Other mission variations include sniping, tanks and single man heroics but it never feels out of place. The occasional times when you have to go on your own you feel like any German could pop out and kill you and it all gets very nerve racking. All these elements produce a truly exhilarating and immersive gaming experience.

Graphics

The graphics in Brothers In Arms are in keeping with the theme of realism. Gearbox software has gone all out to create a game which isn't just a WW2 FPS but is almost like "being there". The graphics really help to create this feel. Aside from the fact that Gearbox has accurately mapped out a large portion of Normandy for the game the way in which it is done is very slick. You will see injured men, dead mean and animals dotted around. The grass moves with the wind. Water splashes as you walk through it. When Baker is taking fire blood splashes on the screen in the direction of fire. Everything that Gearbox could have done has been done. Given the limitations of the PS2 system I think they have done well to transfer a primarily Xbox creation to PS2 with virtually no hiccups. Sometimes when many men are on screen at once there are slight frame rate issues but other than that the PS2 performs very well; certainly up to the graphic standard of Medal of Honor.

Sound

Once again Gearbox has pulled out all the stops and sampled sounds from many of the real guns that were used. Bullets whizzing past, gun noises, recoils all sound just like they should. Baker's introverted outbursts in between missions are a little annoying but the in game banter with squaddies and the shouts of commands make up for this little annoyance. The absence of music in the fire fight is unsettling at first but this is intentional as there would be no music in real war and that is all Gearbox have gone for. However what little music there is befitting a WW2 game and therefore I had no problems with no in-game music.

Multiplayer

And yes unlike any other WW2 FPS Brothers In Arms has a well thought out multiplayer for 2 or 4 players (or online). Other than a tacked on Deathmatch or Capture the Flag mode, Brothers in Arms includes a multiple scenario
multiplayer in which on team plays the Germans and the other plays the Allies. Scenarios vary from blowing up bridges, finding and rescuing a codebook, blowing up a truck to escaping a party of Germans. This multiplayer adds a whole new dimension to the game and is very fun to play. Yet because of the squad based element included in the game it would take newcomers a little time to get used to.

Lifespan

Brothers in Arms is like many FPS they don't take that long to complete yet it isn't a short game either. However Brothers in Arms is a much more enjoyable journey than others I have played. The missions are varied and engrossing and have many memorable moments which you would want to replay. If played on normal setting you should expect about 12-14 hours on first play but given the unlockable extras you'll end up wanting to play through several times and even attempting the authentic difficulty setting. The multiplayer adds to an already brilliant game offering a slightly new adaptation of the staple Deathmatch situation.

Overall

The unique squad tactics, the solid FPS physics, the painstaking attention to graphical and audio detail and the superb multiplayer all combine to make Brothers in Arms a true WW2 recreation. It is a truly amazing gaming experience and you will feel such a sense of shock by the time you have finished you will just want to play it all through again. Bring on Brothers in Arms 2.