When it comes to realistic war games, they don’t come much more authentic than the Brothers in Arms series. The franchise, which tracks the tales of specific soldiers during World War II, is a combination of Rainbow Six’s squad tactics with Call of Duty’s gritty realism. It’s also hard as hell, but with this game you’re expected to learn through trial and error, and realize that war isn’t the romantic thing it’s made out to be in games and films. Rather, it’s a horrible, terrifying affair where death lurks around every corner.

The latest entry into the series, Hell’s Highway, will be hitting consoles and PC later this fall, and those who are looking to download the game via Steam are in for a treat. Valve has announced that anyone who pre-orders the game before its September release date will get a copy of Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30, absolutely free. Even better, the free game is available immediately, so as soon as you’ve confirmed your purchase, you can go ahead and start downloading your complimentary game.

It’s a pretty cool and fairly unprecedented offer from Valve, and one which is likely to help boost sales of the PC version considerably. Perhaps, if this goes well, other publishers will offer similar deals for PC games, possibly slowing the inevitable march of consumers choosing to do their virtual Nazi hunting on the Xbox 360 or PS3 as opposed to the PC. So what do you think, is this a smart move to bring more gamers into the PC and Steam fold, or simply too little too late to make a real impact on sales?