Brute Force Review - VGLN.com Xbox Reviews

Brute Force…the game that was to be the next big hit on the XBOX…the game that was to be the next “Halo”…the game that was to, along with Halo, make the XBOX a force to be reckoned with. This is how the game was advertised. However, did its standards meet its promises?

In Brute Force, you control a crack-team of four commandos, Flint, Hawk, Brutus, and Tex, whose job it is to save the known galaxy. Each commando has their own characteristics and special abilities. You have the synthetic sniper, the feminist scout, the primitive, but noble lizard ally, and the “southern” berserker. Each has their own unique life bar, can hold only specific weapons, and own special abilities.

It is as if this game attempts to be third-person tactical. Unfortunately, it really comes off as an action/adventure. Though the point is to use certain members of your team in certain situations, you usually only end up using one or two characters most of the time, and the others are just in case your main choices get blown to hell. Eventually, one reaches a point in the game where it turns into a run and gun rather than a strategic game. The levels are very repetitive, for you visit the same planets numerous times. In terms of controls, this game isn’t half bad. Brute Force has given the gamer shortcuts keys for both medpacks (the black button) and special abilities (the white button). It also makes use of the directional pad, allowing the player to switch characters or give orders. The rest of the control scheme is oddly similar to Halo (Y switches weapons, X reload performs an actions, etc.)

Being able to give orders! Sounds like fun, huh? Well, not exactly. Let’s just say this is no Tom Clancy game. The ally AI is, dare I say, mildly retarded? Giving the “Fire at Will” command is like telling your teammates to go kill themselves and the “Cover Me” command is like telling them to stick like glue to you so they don’t die. This lack of intelligence is very annoying, and eventually, costly.

The graphics in this game are decent. Beautiful worlds and environments are sights for sore eyes, for a while anyway. Until you have been there ten times already. The animation on the characters is kind of stiff, but the frame rate is pretty good, on single player that is. When you hope into multiplayer campaign/deathmatch, it can become kind of choppy, but nothing too major. However, Brute Force does excel in graphics where other third person action shooters do…in explosions and weapons effects. It is always relieving to watch missiles explode in front of your eyes as you finish your final objective. In addition, the sniping system was well thought out. Flint, being the sniping expert, has the best zoom and control. The others can use the rifle, but they can have trouble aiming and can’t zoom in as far.

Sound-wise, this game is less than adequate. The music and voice-acting is cheesy and annoying after so many hours of gameplay. It doesn’t change when the action changes. It’s nothing too impressive, far from Halo standards. Some of the lines in the cinematics can be humorous, but for the most part, you begin to despise hearing Tex mumble, “I’m not going to last much longer…”

The cinematics are beautiful. The graphics detail and, at times, sexist lines make them very enjoyable to watch. Most of the cinematics are of the team getting briefed by their commander for their next mission. However, all of the briefings are vaguely similar. Brutus talks about how their “pack” is superior, Tex makes a sexist comment, Hawk defends the female gender, Flint wants to kick some butt, and the commander tells them to get to work. If you a feminist or defender of the female gender, you might want to cover your ears whenever Tex decides to talk. Overall, they aren’t too shabby.

The most impressive part of this game is how the developers set it up for a great replay value. The game can has three different difficulty settings. There are a ton of unlockable characters for deathmatch mode. You and up to three other of your friends can participate in either the deathmatch mode, co-op mode, or squad deathmatch, where each player controls an entire squad and hunts down his/her human counterparts. This is all good and fun, as long as you have the sound turned off. My advice, put the TV on mute and jam to your stereo. As long as you don’t have to listen to the game’s audio, it should be a great time!

Brute Force should not be compared to Halo in any sense. The graphics and audio are no match for the XBOX’s champ. I don’t advise playing single player mode for too long. It just gets annoying. If you have friends in the area, invite them over to play, but pull out your stereo and play to something you know is going to sound good. With Brute Force joining the Greatest Hits collection, it is probably worth the twenty bucks…if you aren’t a feminist that is.

--- Jeremy Gard

	Gameplay: [6.5] Controls are nice. Good use of shortcut keys. The levels are very repetitive. This tactical shooter actually turns out to be an action game. Campaign can get annoying and boring very fast.
	Graphics: [7.5] Not too shabby. Character animations can be stiff, but the explosions and weapon effects are very cool.
	Sound: [3.5] Less than adequate. Voice-acting and music get irritating. I advise you hit the mute button on the TV.
	Presentation: [8.0] ]: Cinematics are beautiful. However, like the levels, they are practically the same each time around.
	Replay Value: [8.5] This game offers a number of different multi-player characters and options, including co-op, deathmatch, and squad deathmatch. However, though it has a greater potential, it only supports four players
	Global Score: [6.5] Since joining the Greatest Hits collection, Brute Force is a decent buy for twenty bucks, but it is by far NO Halo. Exercise extreme caution when purchasing this game.

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