That Brothers in Arms finds it difficult to hit the right tone has always been evident from the eccentric double-act that presents it to the press. On the one side you have Colonel John Antal, military advisor to Gearbox Software, commending the game’s accuracy, detailing the extensive research into the exact weather conditions on September 22 1944 in the Dutch town of Veghel. “It rained that day,” Antal says. “We have rain in our game.”

Then on the other side you hear Gearbox president Randy Pitchford exclaim with glee: “Oh man! Did you see a piece of his head fly off there? That was gross!”

Even without Pitchford and Antal, our recent playthrough of the game’s opening act suggests that it’s still a little confused as to how to present itself. This section sees the 101st Airborne’s arrival in Holland (which had very agreeable weather at the time). A close confrontation, run-and-gun shooter this is not – move in too quickly without your squadmates correctly positioned to provide suppressive fire, and you’ll be cut down in seconds. The AI is in no more hurry to die than you are: entrenched enemies are largely impervious to your inaccurate weaponry, and battles consist of a race to manoeuvre your squads into positions where they can lay down crossfire.

So, in a game that rewards careful tactical thought and minimisation of risk, it’s jarring to have the camera zoom across the battlefield to see someone’s brain explode or their dismembered corpse cartwheel away from a grenade explosion in slow motion. It feels unusually exploitative of death for a title that otherwise claims to celebrate the memories of those brave soldiers.

It’s not without its adrenalising moments, however. Seeing German troops flood down a grassy slope into a field gives you only a matter of seconds for you to get your men into defensive positions before you are overrun. The enemy AI, at least in this section of the game, rarely comes unstuck, pulling back when assaulted and taking advantage of weakened flanks with alarming speed.

Console controls are somewhat of a fudge, however. There must have been a better compromise than putting squad selection on the same button as the rally command – confusing the two under fire is disastrous. Nonetheless, when the controls are mastered, Hell’s Highway puts a powerful toolset in your hands – although sections which require you to go it alone are discordant with the emphasis that the game otherwise places on its squad dynamic.

Despite the confusion the game seems to have with its war theme, Hell’s Highway does much with its squad dynamic to commend itself – there’s a compelling challenge in getting through a fire-fight without unloading a single shot yourself or losing a man. If the full game can continue to throw up new and interesting tactical propositions, hopefully scaling up the enemy AI’s ability to dynamically out-manoeuvre you, then much of its clumsiness will be forgiven.