Brute Force – XB – Review

Whether we like it or not, the Final Fantasy VIIs of the world cannot be
developed overnight.  That is why Bungie is still working hard on Halo 2,
which will not be released before the new year hits.

Around the time of the
first Halo’s release, Microsoft announced the shooter that was to be Halo’s
in-between game: Brute Force.  Little was known back then, and not much more
has been learned now.  Microsoft has been running ads telling us that "we are
Brute Force" for the past six months.  But the ads didn’t describe the
gameplay or give any indication of what this game would be like.

Finally though the game
has been released, and with its release comes the answers we’ve been looking
for.

Brute Force will surprise
most gamers.  It’s not a Halo clone like you might expect, but Halo’s DNA was
definitely used in the creation of this game.  The game is played from a
third-person perspective, yet the controls have a bit of Halo-feel to them. 
Only two weapons can be carried at a time; the zoom feature on sniper weapons
is activated by depressing the right analog stick; and the story has to do
with aliens, space and futuristic vehicles.

These Halo-isms are
counteracted by what may someday be described as Brute Force-isms.  There are
four characters in this game, and you get to control all of them.  The
characters aren’t dispersed as ridiculously as most games.  Rather than having
to select one at the start of the game, or being forced to use specific
characters for specific levels, Brute Force lets you command all four
characters simultaneously.  You’ll only have complete control over one
character, but you can assign tasks to your partners (such as "Cover Me" and
"Stand Guard") and switch to them at any time.

Changing characters is
easy: simply press the directional pad in the direction of the character you
wish to control.  For example, Tex is the character on the top, so you’d press
Up to switch to him.

Using each of these
characters individually and as a team is extremely important in this game, and
is one of the things that makes it so much fun.  It would be pointless to have
four different characters if all of them were exactly the same, because then
you’d only need one to finish the game.  I don’t think I even need to bother
saying that that is not the case here.

Tex, the leading male
character, is your typical-looking fighter: he’s big, he’s strong, and he
carries powerful weapons.  He, like all of the other characters, also has a
special ability: Berserker.  When berserkering, Tex can fire two weapons at
once, increasing his chances of survival in a heated battle.

Brutus is a lizard-like
character with the cool ability to see the heat generated from a living,
breathing thing.  It’s like a natural version of infrared goggles.  The
graphic effect here is pretty cool: most of the background detail becomes
white, while humans, aliens and other creatures appear to be an orangey color,
making them easy to spot.  Brutus can also heal himself while using his
special ability.

Every game must have a
quick female character, right?  Brute Force’s quick gal is Hawk.  Hawk’s
abilities allow her to move silently and invisibly.  While doing this, she can
then sneak up on enemies and cut right through them with her powerblade (a
lightsaber-type weapon).

Last but not least,
there’s Flint, a human cyborg.  Her ability isn’t as cool as some of the
others, but it is useful.  She’ll walk forward and check the area, and then
take out any enemies that appear to be a guaranteed kill.

Each character also has
different running speeds and different health meter sizes, and thus can take
more or less hits in combat.  Their weapons also vary: not every male
character will carry a weapon that appears to be too girly or too weak.  And
not every female character will pick up something heavy that’s going to slow
them down.  (Given the fact that these are video game characters, the game’s
explanation for weapon exclusivity is lame, but I guess it’s better than them
not giving any explanation at all.)

Brute Force is seamless,
but is set up differently from Halo.  The levels are somewhat linear, and you
have radar which always tells you where you need to go.  Most often the place
that you need to visit is filled with a few dozen enemies.  Visit the place,
exterminate the enemies and move on.  That is what this game is all about:
extermination.  Not to say that this is overly violent (believe me, it’s not),
but you will do a lot of killing.

Normally, this would
become repetitive very quickly and eventually get boring.  But somehow or
other, the developers managed to pace the game in such a way that that rarely
ever happens.  There are times when you’re wandering around, wondering when
you’ll get to blast another alien.  But for the most part there are tons of
enemies to battle.

Another thing that keeps
Brute Force from getting repetitive is the levels.  While the main task of
each level is almost always the same, the levels are quite different from each
other.  You’ll climb giant tree houses, infiltrate pyramids and hope you don’t
fall in a lava pit on one scolding-hot planet.

Gameplay: 8.5
If you love
shooters, but hate all the nonsense that comes along with some of them (locked
doors, confusing corridors, etc.), then Brute Force will feel like a breath of
fresh air.  The kill-kill-kill gameplay style is a lot less repetitive than
any other shooter I can think of, and the four-player cooperative mode is just
plain awesome.

Graphics: 8.6
Video game
graphics advance so quickly that it’s really tough to grade this game.  Most
everything looks beautiful, especially the backgrounds and the character
designs.  The explosions could have used some work, and the liquid animation
is terrible.  But overall this is a really good-looking game.

Sound: 8
Brute Force’s
voice acting turned out to be pretty good.  The music is also impressive, but
for some odd reason, it cuts off every time it gets good!  During some of the
more intense scenes, the music will really begin to pick up, and then it’ll
stop dead.  Maybe they thought it’d make the situation more intense.  But all
it did was make me want to deafen the gunfire and bring back the music.

Difficulty: Medium
Brute Force is
challenging at times, but for the most part, I don’t think anyone is going to
have a hard time playing through it.

Concept: 9
Brute Force is
one of the best squad-based shooters out there.  The developers really knew
what they were doing, making the game much easier to get into than most games
of this kind.  Seamlessness is key, and for the most part Brute Force has it.

Multiplayer: 8
Play through the
game with a few friends, or settle your differences in an exciting deathmatch. 
It’s not as polished as Halo, but it still rocks.

Overall: 8.6
Although this is
the official "in-between Halo" game, I wouldn’t recommend buying it as a
substitute to that game.  Brute Force is a great buy, but not if what you’re
really looking for is Halo 2.  There is no substitute for that.  However, if
you want a great third-person shooter, then Microsoft has got you covered.  It
was a long time in coming, but finally you have another great multiplayer game
to enjoy without having to sign up for Xbox Live.