History VideoGame / BrothersInArms

** Authentic Difficulty in the first two games, no checkpoints and enemy accuracy is boosted to cheating levels, the game gets alot harder and a little bit of luck is required to win at all.

* UnwinnableByDesign: Of a sort, while the game isn't sadistic, as long as you aren't on Authentic Difficulty, continuing a mission with one squad taken out is very difficulty, late-game missions especially can easily be rendered practically unwinnable by losing your entire team, since Baker/Hartsock aren't very capable of taking on entire groups of enemies by themselves, generally losing your entire squad is only salvagable if you're very close to the end of a mission and only have to deal with a handful of germans.

* CallAHitPointASmeerp: In the third game, instead of "health," hit points are represented by "luck"; when taking enemy fire, a red tint will fill the edges of the screen, representing bullets flying close to the player as they're being shot at. If you don't get out of the fire soon enough, a bullet will hit you for an [[OneHitKill instant game over...]] Taking cover allows your "luck" to [[RegeneratingHealth recover]] so you can get back in the fight.

** The second takes place around a Shell gas station. Should the gas pumps be hit by a stray bullet, the "S" on the roof of the gas station falls off, leaving behind "[[{{Foreshadowing}} hell]]", appropriately enough.

* GoodGunsBadGuns: Somewhat averted in Global Front, where German/Japanese troops will occasionally be encountered using captured Allied Weapons.

* GameBreakingBug: Minor example but the Pew Pew/Saw Gun Easter egg in Hell's Highway will actually crash the game at least most of the time on 360 for some reason, rendering the Easter egg unobtainable to 360 players.

* UniqueEnemy: Only one Sturmgeschutz III Assault Gun is fought in ''Earned in Blood'', during the "Chateau Colombieres" level. Every other German tank encountered is a Panzer IV.

The third game, ''Hell's Highway'', puts the player back in control of Sergeant Matt Baker during the ill-fated [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Market_Garden Operation Market Garden]]. The events depicted include the failure of the 101st to take the bridge at Son before the Germans could blow it up, the liberation of Eindhoven, and the evacuation after the failure of the Operation Market Garden. Among all this, the game also explores the gradual deterioration of Baker's mental stability and the onset of PTSD, as Baker struggles with balancing his responsibilities to his squad, with his attempts to be "friends" with them, along with making some horrifying revelations about events from the previous games, which could destroy the trust between him and his men.

''Furious 4'' was originally set to be a sequel/spin-off. According to Pitchford, the game was a radical departure from the realistic and somber tone of the series and could had been best be described as ''Film/InglouriousBasterds'' meets ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}''. However, the game was cancelled in favor of the Hero-shooter ''{{VideoGame/Battleborn}}''.

* AndTheAdventureContinues: ''Road to Hill 30'' ends this way, with Baker, the newly-promoted Red, and the rest of 3rd squad moving out to retake the rest of Carentan. ''Earned in Blood'' shows us what happens from ''Red's perspective''.

* TheEnemyWeaponsAreBetter: Played straight in ''Road to Hill 30'', where, due to a shortage of resupply crates, your weapons can easily run out of ammunition, and you'll eventually be forced to switch out for a Kar 98 or MP-40 at some point. Also applies to some of the weapons themselves, as the MP-40 and STG-44 have higher capacity than their American counterparts, the Kar 98 in particular is the only high accuracy weapon that isn't a sniper rifle and is even a consistent one-shot kill in Hell's Highway, while other weapons in the first two games are very hard to hit long distance targets with.

* FacklerScaleOfFPSRealism: This series falls toward the realism end of the scale with authentic weaponry and squad tactics. Levels are based off of actual locations in Normandy and Holland and after action reports from battles.

** The third game, ''Hell's Highway'', starts at about the midpoint story wise and flashes back to the glider landings at the beginning of Operation Market Garden.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: In ''Hell's Highway'', Baker is haunted hallucinations of [[spoiler:Leggett]], whom interact with him in the final levels. Their final conversation suggest that [[spoiler:Leggett]] may be a ghost, as he hints towards the location of the next battle. It's left ambiguous.

** In the first game, Leggett, Allen and Garnett are discussing which super hero is cooler, Batman or Superman, when mortars start going off around you. [[spoiler:They are having a similar conversation at the beginning of TheReveal scene in ''Hell's Highway'' showing how Allen and Garnett died.]]

** Inverted with the 88mm guns in ''Hell's Highway'', where they can now only be destroyed by either firing rocket launchers at their sides and rear, or by planting a satchel charge on them. The gun's shield now protects against anti-tank rockets from your bazooka team. This is contrast to their previous appearances, where a single anti-tank rocket could destroy them regardless of angle.

** While ''Hell's Highway'' downplays the difficulty somewhat, it still has portions which can be really punishing towards the player.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: In the level Objective XYZ, you're tasked with clearing a small french village of German troops with one soldier as back up. This based off an actual [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_C._Summers event]].

** Gearbox hired a US Army LT. Col. and military historian to teach them real world tactics and to help write the story with authenticity. They also fired every weapon that is in the game to accurately model them. Gearbox also took a massive road trip to France to photograph the locations of battles. Using these photos as well as old maps and photos from the war they designed the levels.

* ThereAreNoTherapists: A JustifiedTrope in ''Hell's Highway'' - you're a paratrooper who's deep in enemy territory. Plus, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder was not understood in modern-contexts until after the Vietnam War. You're in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII here.

* UnexpectedGameplayChange: The end of ''Road to Hill 30'''s final mission, "No Better Spot To Die" largely abandons the suppressing-and-flanking mechanics you use for the rest of the game, because you have to reach the allied tanks ''alone'' and there's three enemy tanks between you and them (and you have absolutely no anti-tank weaponry or grenades). If you waste time trying to suppress the Germans on foot in your way, a enemy tank is going to drive up to you.

** ''Road to Hill 30'' has a few "smaller" villages, hamlets, towns, and finally, the city of Carentan. The latter is ridiculously hard because of the tight-corners, tanks and the assault-rifle carrying Germans.

* VitriolicBestBuds: Allen and Garnett from ''Road to Hill 30''. They're always seen together, but bicker with each other quite a bit.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brothers_in_arms_logo_7205.png]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brothers_in_arms_logo_7205.png]]

* ItsRainingMen: Naturally, considering these games focus on the 101st Airborne division, as well as the 82nd Airborne Division in Earned in Blood. Taken UpToEleven in Hell's Highway, which is about the largest airborne operation during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, Operation Market Garden.

** Saint-Sauveur in ''Earned in Blood'' takes this UpToEleven. Apart from narrow corridors, machine gun nests, assault-rifle armed stormtroopers and a ridiculous amount of tanks, what could make it harder? Why, [=88s=] of course.

* ObligatoryWarCrimeScene: A few happen in ''Hell's Highway'', with Dutch civilians either being executed by the German occupation forces or being fired upon and/or bombed by German artillery and the Luftwaffe.

* ContinuityLockout: So much of the third game references important events like the deaths of certain characters. Without playing the first two you don't know the exact circumstances surrounding those deaths so it gets rather confusing.

* MissingEpisode: "Hour of Heroes" and "Global Front" have been pulled from digital store fronts, rendering them unplayable.

The ending of the third game hinted at a sequel taking place during The Battle of the Bulge. However, poorer than predicted sales and a surprise hit for developer Gearbox with ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' have likely put the title at lower priority for development. At [[Webcomic/PennyArcade PAX 2011]] Randy Pitchford, President of Gearbox, confirmed that a continuation of Baker's story is in the works. No further details were made available.

* TheEnemyWeaponsAreBetter: Played straight in ''Road to Hill 30'', where, due to a shortage of resupply crates, your weapons can easily run out of ammunition, and you'll eventually be forced to switch out for a Kar 98 or MP-40 at some point. Also applies to some of the weapons themselves, as the MP-40 and STG-44 have higher capacity than their American counterparts.

* MissingEpisode: "Hour of Heroes", "Global Front" and "Sons of War" have been pulled from digital store fronts, rendering them unplayable.

** By ''Hell's Highway'', however, this trope is deconstructed, when [[spoiler: Franky]] doesn't like receiving this kind of treatment from Baker, and ends up in a heavily implied case of SuicideByCop. Hartsock himself calls Baker out on it.