In another similarity with Full Spectrum Warrior, small icons appear above the heads of enemy units indicating their level of suppression. Red circles indicate the enemy unit is free to move and fire at will, whereas the more grey that fills the circle the more the enemy unit is suppressed. When one of your manoeuvrer elements is ordered to fire on an enemy unit, a symbol will appear above it indicating that it has been targeted. These suppression and fire order symbols may give away the position of enemy soldiers, but they can be turned off at anytime. Likewise, the symbols are unavailable when playing on Realistic difficulty.

A unique feature to Brothers in Arms is the Situational Awareness View. It is designed to simulate the intimate knowledge commanders have of areas they plan to patrol after studying maps and intelligence reports.This view pauses the game (or slows it down in multiplayer) and adopts an adjustable birds-eye view of the battlefield. Players can then assess their situation and look for possible flanking positions or cover from enemy soldiers. Some may come to rely on this quasi-keyhole satellite view, while others may choose to work things out looking down the length of their barrel; it's a personal choice really.

Gearbox claimed early on in Brothers in Arms' development that during the course of the game, players would form a bond with their fellow squad members and learn each of their specific personalities. In practice this isn't the case, and would have been quite a feat for a game of only 12 or so hours in length. Interestingly, the reason for this is explained in an unlockable deleted cut-scene that details the original intent and problems with pacing that resulted. Additionally, there is no penalty for any of your squad mates dying during battle as they are resurrected at the beginning of the next mission. An interesting design decision seeing as the major selling point of the game has been the attempt at bringing you a realistic World War II experience.

The graphics in BiA are great, but not as mind-blowing as you may have been expecting. Some textures are less than fantastic and you will notice 'jaggies' on many edges. Character models lack a distinct shadow and this gives them an appearance of floating just off the surface of the ground. Running animations also suffer from the occasional sliding or gliding effect and don't be surprised to see the odd dead German soldier floating a few metres off the ground. The character models are unique and well rendered, but suffer from some glitchy lip-synching, blank expressions or askew eye lines.

The map design in BiA however, is top notch. Gearworks' designers have slaved over reference material and even taken trips to Normandy in order to provide the most accurate three dimensional representations of French battlegrounds of World War Two ever. The similarities between photographs and sketches taken during the war and the final in-game product are astonishing and once again Gearbox should be commended on their effort, dedication and obvious love of their creation.

The sound design in BiA is astounding. Presented in glorious 5.1 Dolby Surround, every crack, near miss or ricochet off a nearby rock will have you ducking for cover behind your lounge chair. Explosions sound apocalyptic, and if you get too close for comfort, a ringing effect will fill your speakers as the screen blurs to simulate your disorientation. Likewise a similar effect is used if you take a German rifle butt to the head. The positional audio is truly spectacular and you will easily be able to tell what direction enemy fire is coming from or locate your men from their screams. Some players have reported a glitch of a persistent gunfire sound during gameplay, it does exist but I didn't experience it myself.

The music used in BiA is of an equally high standard and has a real Band of Brothers or Saving Private Ryan sound to it that compliments the game perfectly. However, in another nod to realism, this orchestral accompaniment is restricted to menu and loading screens only and there is no music whatsoever whilst battling through the games missions.

An indication of just how much research Gearbox undertook in the development of BiA is show by the vast amount of bonus development and historical material on the disk. This bonus material is unlocked as you complete each mission on various difficulty settings. This includes historical details on the battles you fight in the game including actual After Action Reports from the real commanders on the ground and pre-production renders and tests. These features are a fantastic addition and help to reinforce the validity and historical accuracy of BiA.

Commanding a computerised squad of soldiers is all well and good, but taking to the fields with family and friends is always a whole lot more fun, so Brothers in Arms naturally includes a multiplayer component. Unlike most first-person shooters, BIA takes a different approach to game modes, forsaking the traditional deathmatch and capture-the-flag variants in favour of a more mission oriented experience. There are 10 missions all up, and both the Allied and German fire and assault teams have their own objectives. Objectives include setting explosives, delivering sensitive documents and preparing ambushes. Unlike Return to Castle Wolfenstein's similar style, BIA missions are single objective only, making for a tighter, but simpler experience.

Your brothers in arms will be a tight-knit bunch, as a maximum of four players are permitted per game via system-link or Xbox Live, and only two in split-screen mode. This may sound rather restrictive, however the multiplayer mode operates on the same principles as the solo campaign, so each player will actually command a four-man squad. Splitscreen is functional, but has the obvious drawback of being able to see exactly where your opponent is going. This actually isn't much different to Xbox Live, which includes the situational awareness view of the singleplayer mode, allowing you to suss out where your opponents are going at any time, provided they're nearby. The AI bots are unerringly accurate online too, and it's not uncommon for your men to drop like flies if you don't stay behind cover. Game performance was solid, but voice was quite laggy and it got to be quite difficult to communicate with your allies, which is a big no-no for a game that relies on co-ordinating attacks.