Brother in Arms - The New Nokia N-Gage Game, A Detailed Review

Last week I was given a Nokia N81 mobile phone by Nokia for reviewing some cool games they have released in their N-Gage gaming platform. The first I got my hand on is Brother in Arms.

I have been an aggressive gamer in the past. So I had a chance to relive the jolly good times once again through gaming, courtesy Nokia and N-Gage. It took me 1 day to almost finish up the whole game, well almost. Let me write down my experiences below.

Brother in Arms Review

Overview

I hope we all are aware of N-Gage. Its a gaming platform for Nokia, especially maintained for mobile phone gaming. Brother in Arms is one such 3D action, first person shooter game based on the context of World War 2. You play as Barney, an U.S. soldier, who along with his entire group will try to stop the advancing German armies. For that you’ll work through a number of missions, getting closer to Berlin as you progress through the game and if you can do be victorious, then

you and your brothers in arms will go down in history as heroes.

The Pros

Simple Functionality

N-Gage platform needs a simpler control system and that is perhaps the best feature of it. Brother in Arms does not mess up the gaming experience by playing a memory game with the gamer to make a list of the keys at first. Its very simple to navigate comprising of Left/Right/Forward/Backward on the dedicated gaming pad of N81, sidestepping with a pair of number keys and hitting 0 to aim your rifle by peering down the barrel.

Graphics

That is perhaps the most important feature for today’s gamers. The graphics of Brother in Arms is quite good. You will have to keep in mind that its only a mobile phone gaming platform. You don’t have a dedicated graphics card and strong processors to expect the graphics to be anywhere close to even Prince of Persia- The warrior within. But within its constraints, N-Gage has done a wonderful job. The men look like men. The walls, guns, buildings etc are identifiable perfectly, especially with QVGA screen. I am satisfied with the graphics.

Movements

The movements are ok. Though developers haven’t given much of a thought on tiredness and other details, I would have loved to see the speed of the characters altering with task priorities. I mean, they run the same when enemy is behind or when they are on an afternoon walk.

Your Character

The camera is placed right behind your shoulders. So your activities can be seen by you too. The character will not ever have a crisis of health and ammunition. Thanks to N-Gage for that, lol (well unless you want to sacrifice your life to your enemies)

Game Levels

You have a variety of game levels for Brother in Arms. You will be walking, running, getting on to tanks, various other war-vehicles, meet different enemies with snipers, machine gun, helicopters, tanks etc. So you have all of what you have seen and wanted in other games.

The Cons

• Brother in Arms have a wickedly short demo. N-Gage could have had a longer demo version as its almost offending people (I said that from a personal experience) by providing a demo which is as short as 20 seconds! I hope N-Gage does something about it. Though we didn’t have any problem. Nokia was very prompt in sending us the activation code.
• Brother in Arms isn’t a vast game. The developers have left only the paths that are to be explored. Come on, we don’t want a Deus-Ex, but at least you could have had made the game a little bigger to confuse us with dead ends and all.
• The save game option is surely inadequate. If a gamer wants to save the game at any point of time. He must be given that liberty sire.

Some Cool Tips

1. Do not listen to your worthless teammates. Just let them be and surge ahead. or if you are a bit of a shy then go near the enemies and as soon as your troop reaches you, run backwards. Your brothers (read soldiers) will at least kill some. Come back and do the rest of the honors! But if you are doing that then you aren’t a gamer.
2. Hide behind a wall if an immediate enemy awaits you right at the turn. Tilt your camera position to see where he is exactly. Then choose the appropriate weapon  and come blazing down. Patience pays of, always.
3. The best tip I can share is, be brave, be reckless and finish ‘em off without wasting much time. Apply your brain, find out easy strategies and don’t really wait. You have infinite ammo. Keep using that. Nokia guarantees that your game-pad keys are not that fragile. lol.

Final Verdict

Considering all the options, I will say Brother in Arms is one of the better games N-Gage has produced in recent years. Though Asphalt still holds on to their biggest share at N-Gage games, Brother in Arms has every possibility to break that. Basically you need to be brave if you are a gamer. Brother in Arms is just about being brave, running around and shooting ‘em hard. A game is a success only when you feel like playing the next level as soon as possible. Brother in Arms has that in it.
P.S. - I really liked the quotes they shared between  different levels. To quote Albert Einstein,

As long as there are men, there will be wars

. And to modify him,

As long as there are games, there will be gamers like me.

Ciao!
You can get Brother in Arms here. There is a trial version. Activation costs $13.50.