The Most Authentic WW2 FPS (A Brothers in Arms Retrospective)

[@GameTalesHQ]

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[@NeverHard]

Man, Troy Baker's voice is so recognizable. I had no idea he's been voice acting for so long, though.

[@GameTalesHQ]

I know he doesn't look it, but the guy's nearly 50!

[@NeverHard]

@@GameTalesHQ No way! I thought he was 40 max.

[@JustPassingBy90]

My boy out here just casually dropping a banger, so underrated

[@GameTalesHQ]

Eyyy, thanks for the support 🫶🏼

[@flamendless]

A game that doesn't rely on you to finish the whole enemy line to proceed with the story

[@tsfullerton]

A game that doesn't rely on you? That's funny.

[@blakefish80]

I loved the BIA games. They were so well written. Troy Baker in his early years as Sgt. Matt Baker (no relation, LOL) had a real sombre tone to his performance that added a real weight to the entire project. The gameplay was innovative and engaging too. I loved the "fire team" and "assault team" tactic too. I'd love to see a modern remake with maybe even a 3rd game too.

[@cikablyat6943]

about 27:05 me and my buddy played both the coop and multiplayer and can say its probably one of the best WW2 coop experiences you can currently play, especially if played on the tour of duty mode(ironman mode), we only played that and although its quite hard thus by proxy the gameplay gets a little bit repetitive (due to resets and losses) its an incredible feeling when you are able to finish a tour, its as if you actually guided your men trough the d-day invasion and somehow made it out alive, as for the multiplayer i didn't have to much fun due to my friend having already played the first two when he was younger, thus always having an edge on me in our 1v1s but i can say its probably fun based on the core gameplay elements.

[@songoku6425]

man seeing what development team did to give us this game that had a soul i don't think modern games do the same anymore

[@GameTalesHQ]

Gearbox was such a passionate and eager team back then, it's sad to see how they evolved over the years.

[@eaglelie9828]

Whatt a fucking masterpiece of a game, increadebly sad for not even 1 sequel to the franchise for more than 15 years now!!!

[@zbeena9942]

Really well made retrospective. Thank you for covering this series! I recently bought all three games in a bundle on Steam for about $10 and will replay them again sometime. I even remember finishing both games on authentic difficulty and raging becuase of the difficulty spikes on the last mission of Earned in Blood and Carentan level in Road to Hill 30. Anyway I'm really looking forward to the second part of the retrospective.

[@GameTalesHQ]

Yeah those final missions had a crazy difficulty spike, I've got no idea how those got past playtesters. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment, work has already begon on the Hell's Highway video!

[@notsocasualYT]

Almost missed that one! Well done! 🙌

[@GameTalesHQ]

Thanks for checking in :)

[@Tempuslight]

So many good memories of this game from when I was younger

[@GameTalesHQ]

Same here! Really made an impact back then.

[@ShamzeerMajeed]

I played and played a lot. Such a favorite one❤

[@LlIiAaMm]

My man even got sponsored 🎉

[@GameTalesHQ]

Thanks for the support

[@Addi_the_Hun]

Oh yeah I remember this glorious game

[@Nyllsor]

Here it is! Nice video mate!

[@GameTalesHQ]

Thanks bro!

[@Dimitri-tq8ti]

27:00 its been a while since i last play this series but i DO remember Red having the same ability of being able to throw grenades inside the tanks... Its just that you have to both have a spare grenade and kill the tank commander when he comes out to check the surroundings which leads to him leaving the hatch open when he falls inside, Also i do agree with the last level of EIB being a bit too hard and there are also 2 more "panzerfaust" crates apart from the one you showed (atleast as far as i remember), one is in the middle and the other is in the most northern part of the playable area behind the pz. IV on the left when they ambush you Awesome video my dude i remember my 9 yo self saying that there possibly can't be a more realistic ww2 shooter than BIA❤

[@GameTalesHQ]

Interesting! I guess that's more realistic. Wierd that they didn't explain it anywhere. And thank you :)

[@secretunlockablegoose]

I remember when I was playing this game after playing a lot of CoD and MoH and really not appreciating the squad gameplay. It was of course, not trying to be like those games! Every time someone now brings these titles up I think about how I really need to go back and enjoy what the game is trying to do without the assumption that it's an army of one style shooter and enjoy it's uniqueness. Also my gosh that score is incredibly good!

[@GameTalesHQ]

They are definitely worth a shot! As long as you set your expectations right! And I agree, the music is awesome.

[@kksan]

I played the first 2 games of the franchise in middle school. Back then I thought this was really hardcore and realistic with the aim accuracy and command system (before I met flashpoint and arma).

[@RunedeGroot]

It would be really cool to see a game with a realistic and cinematic take on ww2 with modern day graphics. Watching the video I felt like they just did not have enough budget or the technology was not yet advanced enough to get you fully immersed (mainly on the gameplay side). Once again great job! I look forward to your Hell's Highway retrospective 🙏🏻.

[@kylederksen2903]

Look up furious 4 brothers in arms

[@eddiehanley4258]

I'm more of a "Hells Highway" kind of guy 👍

[@GameTalesHQ]

That will be the next video!

[@legendairenic6247]

Oh boy, Brothers in Arms. I came with good expectation but was left dissapointed and not even willing to finish both. They are part of that category of 90s and early 2000s games that were ambitious but lacking in polish. I agree that they needed to give more screen time to the relationship of the squad members because I really didn't care. I was told and expected to care rather myself coming to care about these characters. Like that Stuart tank commander guy that i'm told is one of Matt Baker's friend, only fight with him for 2 missions and then he dies. Baker's narration after his death is angry but I can't bring myself to care because I barely knew the guy. ''Oh, he died'' is all I could muster. Similar thing with the few squad member deaths I've seen. Gameplay wise, there's a few things I don't like. You mention recoil and weapon sway, but there's also innate weapon inaccuracy. You could have a really stable shot on an enemy's head and the shot would go way off target, even at medium range. Combined it with the fact that being behind cover stops anykind of shot (by that, I mean an enemy could have their head poke out and you can't hit them because cover), it doesn't help the realism they're going for. Speaking of realism, I got a laugh out of the manual saying ''No magical medkits are to be found here'' but when your squadmates ''die'', they just become alive again after an encounter. But when you die, it's for real. Damage YOU take is permanent, Damage your squadmates take is fine. It's harder to care about your squadmates when their ''death'' doesn't matter as long as you win the encounter. They probably could have fixed this issue by either including a medic squadmember (Like Medal of Honor Pacific Assault medic with limited healing) or having scripted healing places like a building where Baker orders the squad to patch up their wounds before moving on. The last gameplay thing is that the game didn't properly teach how to deal with machine gun nests. You can't suppress them, you can't shoot them, they're most of the time too far away to toss a grenade and they will rip your squad apart. It feels like you have dash through and take damage in order to avoid them. Maybe could have included a smoke grenade in the game for those kinds of situation? The level design is really repetitive, I'll agree with that. I stopped playing Earned in Blood because I thought it was gonna be the same french field over and over again. Overall, I'd Star Wars Republic Commando, which came out the same year and on the same day as BiA, is a much better FPS with Squad-leading element. I know they aren't excatly comparable, but I have much more attachement to Delta Squad than Baker's squad. I did play Hell's Highway and that did help redeem the series for me so can't wait for the retrospective on that one

[@GameTalesHQ]

- That cut prologue sequence is a travesty, it would've made a big difference in caring for your squad. I do think Earned in Blood rectified this a lot though! - I never noticed weapon inaccuracy myself when firing, just the heavy sway and recoil. But I have seen the comments about it (maybe this was worse on console?). - The cover system could definitely use some improvements agreed! - Having permadeath on your squadmates would be beyond the scope of this game, as it has a set storyline involving scripted deaths. But I do agree in that it makes battles feel like there are less stakes. Having a building where the squad could heal would also feel very video-gamey i think. - The way to deal with MG's is just to flank them, but yeah sometimes the game forces you to walk into it's firing cone before being able to flank them (which of course isn't great). - Earned in Blood does rectify the repetitive nature of the levels, there's better diversity there! I've never played Star Wars Republic Commando, I might check it out sometime! Alright cool! I hope to see you in the comments when that video releases :)

[@legendairenic6247]

@@GameTalesHQ No, I don't think there should be permadeath. My main point is that you only heal at the start of the level have to get through with 1 life bar while your squadmates can heal by going down (if they are in the red only). I'd only place those healing spots on longer level, so it's less of an endurance run. I think some gamey-ness is required with stuff like that. The medic idea is also gamey but It's actually what i'd prefer. Imagine having to cover your medic dragging a downed squadmate back to safety or if the medic goes down in an encounter, you can't heal or revive until it is over. One aspect of Republic Commando that enhances that ''you're part of a squad'' feeling, is that the game is only over once every member is down. When you're downed, you can't see what's happening, only blurry images and gun sounds. You have that tactical decison of: Do I order someone to revive me immediatly or do I let my squadmates secure the area and wait for them.

[@GameTalesHQ]

​@@legendairenic6247 Ooohh, I really like the idea of a medic dragging you or a teammate to safety, like a dynamic event! Yeah it's nice when a game gives you choices, even if you're downed.

[@tsfullerton]

@@GameTalesHQ Good stuff. Well articulated, throughout. 'Health' issues? Experiment: Select both Super squad and Inf'y Ammo. simultaneously. Cheers.

[@kylederksen2903]

Better than call of duty. Same furious 4 never came out.

[@GameTalesHQ]

I agree with you on your first point. I'm glad Furious Four was cancelled though, it had nothing to do with Brothers in Arms.

[@johnofbrabant]

The perfect games for the Steam Deck. Also, Randy? When are you going to say 2025?

[@ishitrealbad3039]

What is it that makes a great soldier? Is it his brain or his heart?

[@tsfullerton]

Trick question. Both.

[@real.jimmy23]

Total War