Reviewed: October 18, 2008
Reviewed by: Brice Boembeke

Publisher
Ubisoft

Developer
Gearbox Software

Released: September 23, 2008
Genre: FPS
Players: 1

4
3
6
6
4.7

Supported Features:

  • Nunchuk

    Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)

    		•
    Brothers in Arms: Double Time is not a new game, though the outer packaging may lead many Wii owners to believe so since there is a distinct lack of mentioning that the game is in fact a combo-pack of the two original Brothers-in-Arms games, Road to Hill 30 and Earned in Blood. While each of these games, when they were released several years ago, were groundbreaking FPS games with unique squad command and control, there is nothing about these ports to the Wii that brings anything new, save a few Wii controls, and in many ways, things are shaved off and sometimes just plain hacked away with a rusty hatchet.

    If you’ve played either of these games in the past, you know the premise behind the games. I won’t spend too much time going into them here, since you can find reviews of both games when they were initially released on other systems on the site, as well.

    The things that the Wii version gives the player is the ability for those of us who don’t have other consoles the chance to play a title that we may not have had the chance to play before. The other nice thing is that you’re getting two games in one. The flip-side to that is that the ports to Wii are both horrendous. Awful frame rates, chunky and confusing graphics, and a control system that is about as intuitive as wiping your butt with three sea shells.

    I have played a few FPS games for Wii now and I still have yet to play one that I feel really comfortable with, and this one is no exception. Perhaps it is from too many years of playing with a mouse and keyboard, but moving the screen around with the pointer is just weird to me. Someone really needs to come up with a new way of doing that. Please?

    The few Wii controls that you get are slightly cool, but really don’t outweigh the clumsiness of the other controls. You get to circle the nunchuck in the air in order to recall your troops to your position, which is pretty neat, and you get to make a throwing motion in order to toss a grenade. Other than that, there is nothing unique about the controls except, as stated already, they are difficult to get used to, at best.

    The graphics in this game are really something to behold. And not in a good way. The colors are supposed to be earthy and dark in the game, I understand that, but combined with the low-resolution and unforgivable frame rates, the game is almost unplayable at points due to the difficulty of picking out people from trees.

    The sound effects and voice acting (though B-rated in and of itself) add a level of immersion to the game that, without it, would have been an utter failure. Even with them, though, the game only becomes passable.

    I give this section a six only because you’re getting two games for the price of one. Perhaps Ubisoft knew there would be serious backlash if they tried to sell each game separately for Wii, considering they are not new, nor is there a Multiplayer option anymore. At least they tried to make up for it by giving you both games at the same time, as if they were trying to get it out there and done with, they were so ashamed.

    In the end, I would not recommend to anyone that they purchase this game for full price. If you find it on a used rack for like twenty bucks and you’re really into World War 2 FPS games…first I would recommend picking up another one that got a better review, like Call of Duty 3…but if you just really need it, I would recommend renting it first to see if you can stomach it.