Then there’s the feel of Hell Let Loose: it’s an emotional rollercoaster. Land yourself in a decent squad with an effective officer, pulling off daring maneuvers around enemy flanks, and you find yourself experiencing a level of camaraderie unmatched by any other game. While the whole teamwork thing may initially sound like a bit of a buzz-kill to those used to chasing personal deathmatch glory, it’s actually incredibly enjoyable. You have to think before you act, and even then you’re probably going to die.

Every step must be considered, else certain death. Waltzing into a road or open field will get you shot instantly. Standing up in a trench will get you shot instantly. Charging guns-a-blazing into the enemy lines will get you shot instantly. If you're not shot immediately upon reaching the front line, you soon will be without taking some time for measured thought. Then, even when you get to the action, the game forces you to slow down. If you play Hell Let Loose, you're going to run. The maps are huge, so missing a transport truck at the start or losing your respawn point to the enemy leaves you with one option: go on foot. Unlike other shooters, where a one-man-army can decide an entire game, in HLL, only teamwork makes the dream work. The efficacy of a team depends on each squad performing its role, with each player pulling their weight. Under the officer are players, each of whom has a role to play in their squad, like medic, heavy gunner or engineer. Each squad is led by an officer (usually military fantasists that like shouting at you a lot), who takes the commander’s orders and turns them into squad tactics on the ground.

There are recon squads for sniping, artillery suppression and general nefariousness tank squads for heavy firepower and anti-tank support and infantry squads to do the grunt work of attacking and defending en-masse.

You play within one of two teams of 50, each led by a commander, whose job it is to set an overall strategy, directing and supplying subordinate squads of players accordingly.

Green hell map