Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood
He ain't heavy… he’s my brother. In arms. And he’s paid his dues, alright?
Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood is promised to be “the most intense and realistic military experience available for mobile handsets” by Gameloft, who released the game for mobile phones last week. Whether anyone wants to be woken at dawn for a 10 mile run in the rain and to live on meagre ration packs for weeks on end is up for debate (we’re a bunch of pansies here at Pocket Gamer) but if you’re after a slice of guns’n’grunts action, Brothers in Arms should satisfy.
Set during World War 2, you’re a member of the famed 101st Airborne and will play a role in many turning points of the conflict, from the D-Day landings to securing Hitler’s roof-top Bavarian castle. Using a birds-eye viewpoint, you’ll soldier through Normandy, the African desert and through the halls and secret tunnels of a secret German headquarters, with a sizeable arsenal, to boot. Rocket launchers, grenades, rifles, tanks and even flamethrowers will be at your disposal, though Gameloft assures us that things won’t get overly-complicated. Your soldier is controlled via your phone’s joystick and will fire his gun with a press of the ‘5’ key, meaning you’ll have few distractions to deal with as you take on enemy trenches, air raids, minefields and more.
As you progress your soldier will also increase in rank, enabling you to carry more ammunition and take more hits from enemy fire before you bite the dust. In the later levels (there are nine in total) these hard-won extras will come in useful as you come closer to ending the Nazi threat in Europe. You won’t be on your own, mind; other members of your squad will fight and fall beside you on missions, each doing their best to complete your objectives. The makers of the game have tried to endow the game with the same level of tension and emotion of Saving Private Ryan, and we’re looking forward to reviewing it soon to see if that’s true!