One of the trademarks of playing a shooter is that you’ll be doing a lot of hiding behind boxes, waiting for your health to recharge or the enemy to expose themselves. Hell, even GTA IV uses this mechanic profusely. Over at Gearbox Randy Pitchford wants you to understand that Brothers in Arms Hell’s Highway will eliminate this with destructible environments. Maybe I’m the only one, but I’m tired of hearing about how destructible a game environment is. It’s a checkmark on the back of the box, and it’s never been true in any case. But Gearbox is hoping to get it to work as an integral part of the game.

”In Brothers in Arms Hell’s Highway, being able to shred the kinds of things soldiers hide behind is a big deal. Yes, it does look awesome to see bullets tear apart a wooden fence splinter by splinter, but it is about more than just looking amazing. You see, if the cover that the enemy is protected by is invulnerable (as it is in just about every game you’ve played before), then your only option is to wait them out or charge up on them,” Pitchford stated in a Q&A session.

He goes on to talk about how wood splinters bit by bit and that you can blow away sand bags with a bazooka. I’ll agree that is sounds cool. And it adds a great depth of strategy to a series that is already far more strategic than most shooters. I can’t wait to play Hell’s Highway, but I could do without hearing more mumbo jumbo on destructible environments.