

Squads need to be talking to their unit leader, and unit leaders need to be informing their commander. There is no point to grand standing in this game and communication is essential for a chance at victory. This occurs when under fire, and the screen will blur and reduce the field of view, when a heavy machinegun opens up on a position you have ducked into, it feels like you are being blinded and deafened. This disorientation is further accelerated by the ‘suppression effect’. Once in the middle of it, it is a terrifying experience of complete disorientation. By the time I was on the verge of a fire fight, stray bullets were whistling past my head or impacting walls and trees around me. As I got closer, explosions and gunfire started to sound off in the distance – they were muffled but ominous. My first foray involved marching to the frontline, with only my character’s panting and footsteps accompanying me.

When in the game as a grunt or unit leader, mobilisation to battle points is supported by fantastic sound design.

Even though they have a physical presence in the battlefield, a large part of what they do is look at the 2D map and make strategic calls. Their role is unique in that they will be in charge of calling down airstrikes, providing supplies and attempting to convince unit leaders to move to designated points. The command squad consists of one person who will take on the role of people management. Apart from Command, each squad gets a unit leader and subordinates that need to fit into roles (sniper, spotter, riflemen, engineer etc). To do this, and to make the carnage more manageable, players split up into one of four squad types: Recon, Armoured, Command and Infantry. Kill counts are largely irrelevant and it is all about controlling zones and specific points on the map. It is a first-person shooter with giant 50 versus 50 battles, in which a single bullet can end your life. Set during World War II, across 9 maps that include Utah beach landings, Omaha beach storming and defenses of Sainte-Mere-Eglise. If there is a second thing to be concluded it is that writing netcode for something this ambitious must also be hell.
Hell let loose on xbox one trial#
Something that becomes abundantly clear in the opening 30 minutes of Hell Let Loose’s pre-release trial is that war is hell.
