Today is the Only Day You Can Get a Special Achievement in a Ubisoft
Eighty-two years ago to the day, on a sunny day, the quiet skies over the occupied Netherlands roared to life as Allied C-47s, supported by fighter-bombers and bombers, dropped around 35,000 troops behind enemy lines…
Eighty-two years ago to the day, on a sunny day, the quiet skies over the occupied Netherlands roared to life as Allied C-47s, supported by fighter-bombers and bombers, dropped around 35,000 troops behind enemy lines. Operation Market Garden had kicked off.
September 17 marks the beginning of what was then the largest airborne operation of World War 2, an event eternalized on the big screen by Richard Attenborough in A Bridge Too Far (1977), and later in video games through Gearbox Software's Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway (2008).
To mark the occasion, the developers included a special achievement called 'Remember September '44'. If you want to platinum Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, today is the day.
All you have to do to earn the Remember September '44 achievement is to launch and play the game before the day ends, while being connected to either the PlayStation Network or XBOX Live.
Remembering September 17
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway is named after a narrow stretch of Highway 69 near Sint-Oedenrode, where German counterattacks stalled and eventually doomed Operation Market Garden.
The operation aimed to regain momentum after the liberation of France, push deep into the German heartland, and end the war by Christmas '44. Airborne troops under the command of Bernard Montgomery were to land behind German lines and secure the bridges over the Lower Rhine until relieved by Allied armor, led by James M. Gavin.
The bridgehead would then be used to drive straight into the industrial heartland along the Rhine, crippling the German war machine.
September 17 marks the beginning of what was then the largest airborne operation of World War 2
Many still argue whether Market Garden was a case of bad luck, hubris, stupidity, or a mix of all three.
The airborne part of the operation went down fairly smoothly, with the first party of the British 1st Airborne Division establishing positions by the bridge at Arnhem on day one, and similar successes by the US Army's 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions around their objectives. All they had to do was wait for Gavin's armor to run the gauntlet along 100km of Highway 69 to relieve them.
Allied planners severely underestimated German resistance in the Netherlands, and crucially, did not account for the 9th SS Panzer Division. Tanks pinned down the 1st Airborne around the bridge in Arnhem, but the paratroopers held out in the hope that Allied tanks would come through.
Along Highway 69, the breakneck pace of the XXX Corps quickly ran into trouble against repeated German ambushes. The 101st Airborne Division, as depicted in Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, had landed around Eindhoven, and moved to secure the Son crossing, but German engineers demolished it.
The 101st linked up with XXX Corps and joined its attempts to drive to Arnhem, but the advance stalled along Hell's Highway. Although the repeated German counterattacks failed to control Highway 69 and suffered catastrophic casualties, they disrupted the operation schedule and contributed to the 1st Airborne Division's demise at Arnhem.
Following nine days of dogged resistance, 2,398 surviving British paratroopers managed to evacuate on the night of September 25, but the 1st Airborne Division suffered 1,485 dead and 6,414 captured. Arnhem would eventually fall into Allied hands, but only on April 16, 1945, less than a month before the German surrender.
Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway was the last in the franchise before Gearbox Software ditched gritty war stories for the colorful chaos of Borderlands. It was also one of the last hurrahs of the 2000s World War 2 shooters, which helped define the modern FPS genre with Medal of Honor and Call of Duty, but were quickly being replaced by fictional, present-day shooters, spearheaded by Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
Unfortunately for PC players, neither the Steam nor Ubisoft Connect versions of Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway have achievements at the moment. This may eventually change, as Ubisoft has recently added achievement support for some of its older titles. Maybe you can remember September '44 next year, if you're lucky.