Will Tuttle, Editor in Chief: I was a huge fan of the previous Brothers in Arms games, as I'm a sucker for a good tactical shooter. I was a bit surprised, then, when Ubisoft unveiled the debut trailer for Brothers in Arms: Furious 4. David, why don't you fill us in on what this new game entails?
David Wolinsky, Contributing Editor: First off, this is a Brothers in Arms game in name only. It's a Quentin Tarantino/Inglourious Basterds-inspired cartoonish salute to the war-buddies genre: The titular four soldiers set out to kill Hitler, but they also want to have fun blowing crap up along the way. Realism and attempts to play up the drama of war simply don't come into play here: Electric grenades, exploding bear traps, and a snarky narrator's wit are some of Furious 4's most enticing weapons. I also would think of it less as a "tactical first-person shooter" and more as a co-op FPS -- it's just more fun with Nazi-hating friends tagging along. Who hasn't wanted to blast Nazis with three of their closest friends?
Will Tuttle: I can definitely get behind any game that pays homage to Inglourious Basterds. From what we saw in the trailer, the four characters have fairly distinct personalities; can you introduce them to us?
David Wolinsky: Sure thing. We have Stitch, Chok, Crockett, and Montana. Their blunt names spill over into the personalities and weaponry, too. For example, Crockett's a Texan who totes a six-shooter and a cattle brand; Montana's a beefy, hulking beast who drags around an enormous minigun (I assume the latter is a better-late-than-never tribute to Arby's famous but sadly discontinued Big Montana sandwich). I wasn't given the impression that their arsenals supplement each other in any meaningful way... but hey, the more firepower, the better.
Will Tuttle: I was kind of partial to Chok, who seemed to be a Native American that had a penchant for burying hatchets in Nazis' skulls. I really liked the over-the-top, tongue-in-cheek presentation, especially the voiceover telling the squad's tale. I believe the presenter referred to it as "the stuff of legend and tall tales," which set it up perfectly as a sort of lurid revenge fantasy more than any sort of historical document. Anyway, what did you think about the actual gameplay? Did anything in particular stand out?
David Wolinsky: Nothing in particular leapt out at me, but all of it just seems like great bubblegum fun. I think they did a really great job of changing up the pacing within a single mission, like when the quartet had to suddenly down the fort and take a defensive position in a tavern, or deal with a German war plane when out in a clearing. I also really appreciated some of the subtler details in nailing the tone we've been gushing about. You can build towards achievements called "Last Call" or "Teetotaler," which can only be earned by assassinating enemies while they're drinking a nice hearty German beer. Fun fact: Hitler supposedly couldn't hold his own booze, so that might be a nice historical nod to anyone learned enough to catch it. That aside, I also really enjoyed the minibosses -- particularly the guy who came careening in on a homemade jetpack -- and how they force you to play with the environment by blasting ersatz cover from walls.
Will Tuttle: I'm a fan of the scoring system, which rewards you for kills, streak, and specials kills, allowing you to upgrade your gear during matches and offering up a tally at the end for bragging rights. As you mentioned, the game seems to have a ton of challenges; I like that each level contains a number of different ones that are actually tied into the mission at hand. In a lot of ways, Brothers in Arms: Furious 4 reminds me of a World War II-themed Bulletstorm. Although I love the Brothers in Arms series of old, I have to admit that it's nice to see developer Gearbox taking a brief detour from its realistic, thoughtful WWII series and giving us one of the loudest, most over-the-top shooters in recent memory.
