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Hands-on with Brothers in Arms 3 - taking cover, shooting nazis, and paying for grenades

War is hell. Is free to play worse?

Hands-on with Brothers in Arms 3 - taking cover, shooting nazis, and paying for grenades
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The Brothers in Arms series is known for its historical accuracy. It features real-world soldiers, painstakingly recreated locations, and the exact weapons used in World War II.

In Brothers in Arms 3 for iOS and Android, you can shoot a machine gun that's powered by lightning and spills bullets like a wood chipper spitting out tree bark.

Okay, so Gameloft might be taking some license with that one. But otherwise, this is surely a Brothers in Arms game. It has the sentimental cutscenes, and you have to work closely with your squad mates to survive.

There are 12 brothers - unlocked through missions or special events - and you can choose which one you take with you into most fights. And that's important, because each bro has a special ability they can use to help you out.

One chap is a crack shot with a sniper rifle and can cap an enemy of your choice. Another carries a walky talky and can call in an air raid. A slightly sociopathic bloke lobs Molotov cocktails at everyone.

Brothers in Arms 3

You'll need to pick the right soldier for the mission at hand. You could be attacking an area, or hunkering down and fending off an enemy siege. You might be stuck in a sniper nest, or launching rockets at incoming spy planes, or sneaking up on sleeping baddies in stealth ops.

The game is packed with content. There are eight chapters, and each one has story quests, side missions, time-limited events, secret stages, and more.

And in a few different missions I was outside in sunny France, sneaking through town at night, storming a castle decked out in Nazi flags, and planting TNT on secret enemy missiles.

Brothers in Arms 3

The game's all about getting into cover, and that works well for a touchscreen-powered game. Trying to move, aim, and shoot simultaneously makes most shooters impossible but when you're glued to the spot behind some sandbags you only have to worry about aiming and shooting.

Getting into cover is handled well, too. As you run through the battlefield, potential cover points will be highlighted so you know where to head. When you get close, simply let go of the virtual analogue stick to automatically park your keister.

One other area where the game strains its historical accuracy is in the monetisation. I'm no military expert, but I don't think soldiers could use dog tags and nazi medals to buy grenades.

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And that's not all you can buy. You can pay to upgrade your guns and train up your brothers. You can pay to hurry up wait timers, pay to revive your fallen comrades, pay to replenish your energy, and pay for a VIP pack that will stem your bleeding (but only for for a month).

You can buy throwing knives and health packs and gas masks and Molotov cocktails. And if you run out of stock mid mission, your stack of premium currency depletes with each grenade toss or health boost.

This is a staggeringly complex economy. Every mission you take reduces your energy, every grenade you throw costs you cash, every upgrade must be carefully chosen or you might not be able to afford the gun you need to play the next level.

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But if there's one silver lining, at least you can play this one without an Internet connection. So Gameloft is listening to some of your complaints, at the very least.

Brothers in Arms 3 - coming very soon to iOS and Android, says Gameloft - is a fun and competent shooter that works well on touch. It shares the thrills and spills of Modern Combat 5, but mixes things up with a slightly more deliberate pace, a third-person camera, and those all-important brothers,

But that game is buried under a heap of free to play shenanigans that will likely put off the hardcore gamers who fancy new mobile shooter.

Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer