Last week in this space you read about Star Wars Republic Commando, a game in which you find yourself leading of a squadron of space soldiers in the middle of a war zone, with teamwork and guns the two pillars of your survival plan.

Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 is a lot like that, except that (a) it is set in WWII France instead of a galaxy far far away, and (b) it is really very good, instead of boring and crummy.

As the action begins, you take the role of Sergeant Matt Baker, who is conflicted and tormented and keeps telling us that he never asked to lead the squadron. This would be interesting, except that we are in Normandy on D-Day and everybody is conflicted on account of the sheer volume of hot lead flying around.

Still, Baker is a sturdy enough soldier. He keeps his feelings in check. He fights and leads in accordance with his orders. He saves his inner turmoil for the cinematic cut-scenes. For this we are grateful, although not as grateful as we would have been if the developers had been good enough to allow us to fast-forward through those cut-scenes.

But back to the action. Yours is a paratrooper squadron, so we get an angsty scene in the sky, followed by a night-time drop, followed by a tangle with a tree that would have been funny if only it hadn't left you stranded without your rifle. But a friendly soldier is good enough to lend you a pistol, and within a few moments you will be able to begin raiding the bodies of dead Germans.

There are two kinds of play in Brothers in Arms. The first, as you would expect in a game about the Norman invasion, involves shooting. You see the world from Baker's point of view, and the control system is straightforward first-person. If you have played Halo, you will feel comfortable moving Baker and his guns around.

The second is more strategic. You are the squadron leader, so it is your job to give orders to the soldiers under your command. You can point at German targets and instruct your underlings to "suppress" them, which basically means shooting non-stop, disorienting your enemies and ensuring that they are afraid to come out from behind their cover.

You can send your soldiers over there or over there or over there. You can huddle them up. You can have them follow you around and do what you're doing. Wherever they go, they behave like the smart, well-trained soldiers they are. They are bright enough to find cover, they aim well and choose their shots wisely, and if you give an asinine command that is likely to get them killed, they will offer friendly advice to help you refine your battle plan.

The fighting is close-range and scaldingly fierce. You will be surprised many times by German units that seem to appear out of nowhere, and you will be lucky to escape with your life. Real, gut-stabbing tension follows you everywhere you go. Maybe this is because it all feels true to life, with real soldiers and real weapons and real history instead of aliens and rayguns. Maybe it's just superlative level design.

Either way, you understand intuitively that you are lucky to be hiding behind a barn, and you only poke your head up if you are sure you can get a shot off. There are no magic first-aid kits. If you get hurt you stay hurt. Being a cowboy will get you killed.

So you plan every step. You learn to trust your squadron. Somewhere down deep, you know that if you make it through all this, you'll owe it to your buddies. You will realize, of course, that you are feeling sentimental about software. That won't stop you.