Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30Yes, Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 is another World War II shooter, but don't hold that against it. It's a disservice to think of Brothers in Arms as a Call of Duty wannabe, because it isn't your regular twitch-based action game. What developer Gearbox wants to do with Brothers in Arms is take the concept of Full Spectrum Warrior (however, you can actually shoot a rifle) and mate it with historical realism of the highest order. The result is a tactical shooter that combines real-world infantry tactics with artificial intelligence that acts and behaves as a real human being would. In Brothers in Arms, you'll follow the real-life exploits of an actual paratroop platoon during the D-Day invasion of Normandy. The amount of historical research that went into the game is staggering. Gearbox staffers scoured the national archives for maps and aerial photos of Normandy, and then they took several trips to France to see the terrain firsthand. The places you'll encounter in the game are exactly as they looked in 1944 (I've seen the photos to prove it), and the battles that you'll wage are all taken from historical record. How these battles unfold, though, is up to you as you play a squad leader directing your men on the fly. In between issuing fire and movement orders to your troops, you'll have to take up your own weapon to engage the enemy. The overall experience is nothing less than harrowing, riveting, and exciting. Brothers in Arms is the kind of game that will require you to use your brain to analyze the battlefield while hot virtual lead flies above your head. Of course, it helps that the game looks amazing. Gearbox built its own graphics engine for Brothers in Arms, and both the PC and Xbox versions are simply beautiful to behold. The sound effects and voice acting are also top-notch (the cast includes numerous actors from Band of Brothers, though the paratroop unit in the game isn't the same one featured in the famed HBO miniseries). Everything about Brothers in Arms screams that it's an impressive labor of love. More importantly, Brothers in Arms represents where the genre should be headed. Heavily scripted first-person shooters have hit a wall in terms of creativity, but by opening up the battlefield and letting tactics and AI rule, developers can create games that challenge gamers' minds as well as their reflexes. Nexus: The Jupiter IncidentNexus: The Jupiter Incident is the kind of game that's rarely made anymore, and that's a real shame. If you're a veteran gamer (basically, anyone approaching or over 30), you'll know that PC gaming was once dominated by space games like Wing Commander and TIE Fighter. However, the emergence of first-person shooters and real-time strategy games doomed the genre. That's why Nexus evokes such anticipation for me. Here's a jaw-dropping space combat game that isn't a glorified twitch-action game or a simplified RTS. It represents old-school tactical space combat (the kind that most of us only have fond memories of) but with ultramodern graphics. In Nexus, you'll get caught up in an interstellar war between various species, Earth's in danger, blah, blah, blah. Yes, the plot is fairly par for the sci-fi course, but what makes Nexus so special is its gameplay. You'll be given tactical command over vessels that range from nimble frigates to heavier battleships, as well as squadrons of fighters. You can jump from vessel to vessel while giving orders, such as to hammer on an enemy vessel's shield or to disable a certain component on another ship. The action then comes to life thanks to the gorgeous graphics engine. Nexus is a game that really lives up to the term "cinematic." The visuals are the stuff of a sci-fi fan's dreams, and you'll sit enraptured as you see capital ships and fighters trade fire in the depths of space. This is an engine so good it's screaming for someone to license it for, say, a Star Trek or Star Wars game. Between missions, you'll have the opportunity to refit each vessel with different weapons and components, such as better maneuvering thrusters, more-powerful engines, and stronger shields. Meanwhile, your main character and your crews will gain experience over time. Furthermore, you'll even be able to choose which of three fields you want your character to specialize in. With its blisteringly cool visuals and promising gameplay, Nexus is a modern-day vision of what used to be.

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