Brute Force
Posted August 16, 2003
It's a well-worn cliché by this point to use "Halo" as a point of reference for pretty much anything vaguely resembling a shooter for the XBox. Bungie's first-person shooter set the bar for this generation of consoles, one so high that it had yet to find a worthy successor even a year and a half later, despite the frequency that the phrase "Halo-killer" is tossed around. 'The next "Halo"' also seemed to be coming from Microsoft Game Studios, courtesy of developer Digital Anvil. "Brute Force" became a hotly-anticipated title from word one, garnering glowing previews in the gaming press, an inescapable amount of hype online, and a massive advertising campaign that saturated the airwaves like no other first-party XBox title of recent memory. It went on to become, at least for a short while, the fastest selling title on the system. "Brute Force" is a good game, though one unfortunately saddled with expectations so astonishingly high as to be unattainable. The next "Halo" it's not, but "Brute Force" is a solid enough game that it should help tide fans of the genre over until a proper "Halo" sequel arrives.
Gameplay:
"Brute Force" takes place in the year 2340, when cloning technology has advanced to the point where the lengthy process of training soldiers is obsolete. The Confederation has found it much more efficient to take some of the most talented soldiers of the era and clone them repeatedly. "Brute Force" puts players in control of the four-person squad of the 23rd Special Forces Unit for a series of eighteen interplanetary missions.
The first of the four soldiers is gruff gunner Tex, a heavy assault trooper and probably the character that players will most gravitate towards in the game. His fellow human is OXM cover girl Hawk, a swift-moving scout with a background in disabling alarms and other enemy tech. Flint is a Synthetic sniper whose artificially-enhanced vision enables her to pick off targets from vast distances. The squad is rounded out by Feral alien Brutus, who has an array of supernatural abilities at his disposal. Speed, health, vitality, and other variables differ from character to character. The game begins with only Tex accessible, and the remaining characters ar added to the squad as some of the earlier levels progress.
There are several classes of firearms, including ballistic weapons, missile cannons, and laser weapons. As was the case with "Halo", each character can carry a maximum of two guns at any given time, and if one stumbles upon another weapon, it can be picked up and added to his or her arsenal. Different squadmates have varying preferences towards weapons, and accordingly, some are unavailable for certain characters. Other weapons include a variety of grenades, motion-detecting sensor mines, and spherical rolling bombs. Among the variety of additional items available throughout "Brute Force" are the expected assortment of healing items, organic sensors to reveal the location of hidden enemies, briefcases of cash, and DNA canisters to unlock characters in multiplayer mode.
If a mission goes awry and a character -- or hell, the entire squad -- meets a grisly demise, no worries, thanks to better living through chemistry. Squadmates can be tossed back into the heat of battle courtesy of the magic of cloning, limited only by cash on-hand. The costs can be offset by retrieving memory chips from the charred remains of fallen comrades. Dead squadmates are instantly recreated at the beginning of the next level. A single fallen character can't be revived in the middle of a mission, though if the entire squad is knocked off, players have the option of dumping a new batch of clones on the battlefield or restarting from an earlier spot in the level.
"Brute Force" plays like a first person shooter, despite shifting the perspective to the third person, and its control scheme is lifted directly from "Halo". Both thumbsticks are necessary to effectively move characters around on-screen, with the left controlling movement and the right determining where he or she is looking. Clicking the left thumbstick crouches, and pressing the right, depending on the weapon, zooms in. The left trigger uses a special item, and in the case of grenades, holding it down determines the strength with which it is lobbed. The right trigger fires the current weapon, and the Y and B buttons cycle between weapons and special items, respectively. Stored Medkits can be activated for a burst of health by pressing the black button, and the A button gives each character a modest hop in the air.
All four characters have a special ability that can be activated by pressing the white button. When Tex is in his 'Berserker' mode, he pulls out both of his weapons to wreak two-fisted havoc. Hawk can turn invisible, enabling her to sneak up to foes unseen and silently slaughter them with her PowerBlade. Flint's sniping talents are enhanced with the activation of her advanced targeting system, automatically placing enemies in her sights. One of the more interesting abilities is Brutus' 'Spirit of Vengar', which heals him and more effectively distinguishes foes from their surroundings. These abilities are limited by a stamina bar that is constantly regenerating.
A quick press on the D-Pad switches characters, and an extended press displays a menu that allows commands to be issued to as many squadmates as necessary. Characters can be instructed to stand their ground, cover their leader, fire at will, move to a specific location, toggle their special abilities, or pop open a Medkit. By default, squadmates will use Medkits as necessary, reserving the final kit for the player, but their AI-driven judgment might not be as exacting as the player at the helm.
It's this series of strategic elements that most noticeably differentiates "Brute Force" from the rest of the pack. At the default difficulty, it's easy to fall into the trap of running-'n-gunning with Tex and largely disregarding some of the other options available. Creeping up towards higher difficulty levels, taking advantage of characters' specific abilities and issuing orders becomes a much more integral part of gameplay. Managing characters and commands is simple and fast, and though the precision and power of a "Rainbow Six" title aren't to be found, the limited options are much more in keeping with the faster pace of this sort of game. Squadmates, even when not being controlled indirectly, are brighter than the cannon fodder often given as teammates in games like "Halo" or "Star Wars: The Clone Wars". They can usually hold their own in battle (though Hawk invariably seemed to be the first to die if I lost a squad member on a level) and don't inadvertently leap into my line of fire too terribly often. They're also not prone to falling off canyons or stumbling into pits of molten lava, which is obviously appreciated. My only quibble is that infrequently, a squad member would decide to break away from the rest of the group, standing still in the middle of nowhere while the remainder found themselves drenched in enemy gunfire. The enemy AI is a bit dimmer, but with the dozens upon dozens of opponents littering each level, they more than make up for it in numbers.
"Brute Force" addresses many of the complaints I often have about shooters. For one, ladders: admittedly, this isn't a problem that I hear mentioned all that often, but it's been a gripe of mine ever since I dove into this generation of consoles. Though rarely a problem back in the days when there were only two dimensions to deal with, anymore, it seems as if half the time I die in a first-person shooter like "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" or "Medal of Honor: Frontline", it's because I keep falling off damn ladders. "Brute Force" has no ladders, orienting its level design towards lots and lots of ramps. In all too many FPSes, I have a tendency to kind of lose my way and wind up wandering around aimlessly, waiting to bump into a group of enemies I haven't killed since that usually indicates that I'm on the right track. "Brute Force" has a small radar in the lower-left hand portion of the screen that indicates, among other things, the general directions of squadmates, enemies, and the location of the next goal. It's not mindless hand-holding, though -- even knowing the exact location of a destination, mountainous, obstacle-riddled levels like "Hostile Reception" ensure that it's often not just a vapid straight-shot from point to point. There are also no puzzles or key-hunting throughout "Brute Force". On the occasions where a console has to be located to open a door or raise a gate, its location is marked on the radar. The lack of puzzles, especially character-specific puzzles, is particularly welcome; although some of the secondary missions require a certain squad member's presence, the primary missions can be accomplished with any combination of characters.
One of "Brute Force"'s greatest strengths is the often-disregarded cooperative multiplayer mode, which is incorporated seamlessly into the game. Taking advantage of all four controller ports on the console, other players can join in at any point, splitting the screen and immediately tossing them into heat of battle. Some games seem to prefer to keep single-player and multiplayer campaigns separate, but switching back and forth from one to the other in "Brute Force" doesn't hinder progress.
The more traditional multiplayer modes pit players against one another, either individually or as squads. There are seven Deathmatch maps, designed to accomodate anywhere from two to eight players. In these maps, each player controls a single character, and players have the option of creating teams if they want to steer away from the "every man for himself" approach. The D-Pad controls don't come into play at all, and the radar display disappears from view entirely. Though the bulk of my multiplayer gaming was in the co-op mode, the few times I gave this type of Deathmatch a spin, even the smaller levels struck me as a bit too large for a two-player one-on-one battle.
The Squad Deathmatch is closer in look and feel to the campaign mode. The radar navigation display returns, and players can switch between or issue commands to the CPU-controlled characters in their squads. Initially, only the four main squad members of Brute Force are available, but as hidden DNA canisters are uncovered in the campaign mode, a variety of characters -- and eventually entire squads -- are unlocked and made available. Virtually every enemy and character in the game is playable if players are tenacious enough to track down all of the canisters.
Multiple consoles can be connected via System Link for either type of Deathmatch. Unfortunately, none of these multiplayer options are available for play over XBox Live. The game does offer some Live capabilities, though. A firm date for the first batch of downloadable content seems to have been pinned down for August 18th, when a pair of multiplayer maps and a new campaign mission that have long been lurking in the wings will be made available.
With a variety of options and characters, even if they go largely unused the first spin through, each run through "Brute Force" has the potential to be very different than the one before it. Players can blast their way through, selectively knock off enemies at a distance, try to figure out the best way to utilize each character in each mission, or any combination of things, though the levels do tend to push players to move to complete goals in a particular order and traverse through the environments in somewhat of a linear way. The secondary missions and hidden DNA canisters add some moderate replay value, but it's the diversity in characters and the mild strategic elements that'll have me popping "Brute Force" in my XBox for a while to come. The cooperative multiplayer mode is its greatest asset, and if gamers can rustle up a friend or two to tag along, "Brute Force" becomes a much more compelling experience.
Reception online has varied greatly for "Brute Force". Several of my friends from various message boards whose opinions are often in line with my own rank "Brute Force" anywhere from "[a] mess" to "pretty average", with precious few expressing much enthusiasm for the game. The critical reception has been substantially more positive, netting a 79% composite rating at GameRankings.com. I'd say I fall somewhere in between. There are a lot of aspects about "Brute Force" that I like, and overall, my experience with the game was positive. "Brute Force" is a pretty good game, but for my money, "pretty good" doesn't warrant shelling out fifty bucks. I'd suggest checking it out in some form first before delving into a purchase, be it a demo or a rental, and it might not be a bad idea to wait for the game's sticker price to drop an Alexander Hamilton or two first.
Also of note, "Brute Force" includes playable demos for "Tao Feng" and "MechAssault", along with videos of "Amped 2", "Fable", "Phantasy Star Online", "Sudeki", and "Halo 2".
Graphics:
"Brute Force" is definitely a sharp looking game, though I wasn't quite as bowled over by the visuals as most. Its characters are nicely rendered, even if some of the design is fairly ordinary. Brutus' head in particular looks a little goofy for what is presumably intended to be a threatening man-lizard. The handful of enemy models quickly become repetitive, occasionally taking the "Mortal Kombat" route and using a quick palette swap in a half-hearted attempt to add some diversity. Enemies may look bland at a distance, but the detail of the models becomes apparent when zooming in with certain weaopns. Sniping also helps showcase "Brute Force"'s use of rag doll physics, which makes wiping out the hordes of soldiers and assorted creatures even more of a blast. Animation as a whole is pretty solid across the board, from Brutus' stride on all fours to Seers flailing their arms around.
The design of the levels is similar to the minimal diversity in opponents, with the same few distinct types repeated incessantly. Admittedly, the missions do take place on a small number of planets, and even though some similarities are to be expected, it shouldn't be to the point as it is here where some levels are virtually indistinguishable from one another. Although there isn't a large assortment of environments in "Brute Force", what's provided sports occasionally impressive background detail along with some subtle flourishes unique to each. However, those sorts of graphical nicities don't inspire that same level of awe by the third rehash.
Cut scenes alternate between pre-rendered sequences and significantly less impressive animation courtesy of the in-game engine. The disparity between the two is a little jarring, most notably the decidedly plastic appearance of the humans in the latter. The pre-rendered videos are very cinematic, though, particularly the fatal imagery that accompanies the introduction of each character.
The framerate seemed to stay steady for the most part in single-player mode, though it did stutter briefly during particularly hectic assaults in "Kill Shadoon" and "Hostile Reception". Multiplayer struck me as incrementally more problematic in that respect, though not enough to really distract.
"Brute Force" is an attractive game, and the overall quality is very much in keeping with a first-party XBox title. The biggest complaint I have is that as great as portions of the game look, the repetition dulls the game's graphical impact.
Although the "HDTV 480p" box remains unchecked on the back of "Brute Force"'s packaging, the game does indeed offer a progressive scan mode, though a widescreen option has not been provided.
Audio:
"Brute Force" boasts expectedly decent Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, particularly the occasionally thunderous amount of bass that should rattle the walls and show off the strength of gamers' home theaters. The passable but largely forgettable score roars from the front speakers, and the surrounds provide a reasonably extensive amount of ambiance throughout. Directionality is immersive as gunshots breeze by, footsteps splash around in murky swamps, and squadmates spout off canned one-liners. These sorts of audio cues more effectively flesh out "Brute Force"'s virtual world, sometimes making the difference between a casualty-free mission and a dismal failure. The center channel is reserved more or less entirely for the game's campy, ham-fisted dialogue, both in-game and throughout the various cut scenes.
Conclusion:
"Brute Force" diverges somewhat from the usual run-and-gun fare so frequently associated with the XBox, though it's not the sort of must-have purchase that its glossy, multi-million dollar ad campaign would lead gamers to believe. Some great concepts and approaches don't necessarily gel into an essential purchase, and though I overall enjoyed "Brute Force", particularly in cooperative multiplayer mode, the end result falls short of the lofty expectations surrounding the title. I'd suggest a rental or playing through a demo before forking over $50, and it'd be a much more compelling buy when the price point inevitably rolls down a bit. Still Recommended, but I would wait until the list price tapers off by ten or twenty bucks.
Gameplay:
"Brute Force" takes place in the year 2340, when cloning technology has advanced to the point where the lengthy process of training soldiers is obsolete. The Confederation has found it much more efficient to take some of the most talented soldiers of the era and clone them repeatedly. "Brute Force" puts players in control of the four-person squad of the 23rd Special Forces Unit for a series of eighteen interplanetary missions.
The first of the four soldiers is gruff gunner Tex, a heavy assault trooper and probably the character that players will most gravitate towards in the game. His fellow human is OXM cover girl Hawk, a swift-moving scout with a background in disabling alarms and other enemy tech. Flint is a Synthetic sniper whose artificially-enhanced vision enables her to pick off targets from vast distances. The squad is rounded out by Feral alien Brutus, who has an array of supernatural abilities at his disposal. Speed, health, vitality, and other variables differ from character to character. The game begins with only Tex accessible, and the remaining characters ar added to the squad as some of the earlier levels progress.
There are several classes of firearms, including ballistic weapons, missile cannons, and laser weapons. As was the case with "Halo", each character can carry a maximum of two guns at any given time, and if one stumbles upon another weapon, it can be picked up and added to his or her arsenal. Different squadmates have varying preferences towards weapons, and accordingly, some are unavailable for certain characters. Other weapons include a variety of grenades, motion-detecting sensor mines, and spherical rolling bombs. Among the variety of additional items available throughout "Brute Force" are the expected assortment of healing items, organic sensors to reveal the location of hidden enemies, briefcases of cash, and DNA canisters to unlock characters in multiplayer mode.
If a mission goes awry and a character -- or hell, the entire squad -- meets a grisly demise, no worries, thanks to better living through chemistry. Squadmates can be tossed back into the heat of battle courtesy of the magic of cloning, limited only by cash on-hand. The costs can be offset by retrieving memory chips from the charred remains of fallen comrades. Dead squadmates are instantly recreated at the beginning of the next level. A single fallen character can't be revived in the middle of a mission, though if the entire squad is knocked off, players have the option of dumping a new batch of clones on the battlefield or restarting from an earlier spot in the level.
"Brute Force" plays like a first person shooter, despite shifting the perspective to the third person, and its control scheme is lifted directly from "Halo". Both thumbsticks are necessary to effectively move characters around on-screen, with the left controlling movement and the right determining where he or she is looking. Clicking the left thumbstick crouches, and pressing the right, depending on the weapon, zooms in. The left trigger uses a special item, and in the case of grenades, holding it down determines the strength with which it is lobbed. The right trigger fires the current weapon, and the Y and B buttons cycle between weapons and special items, respectively. Stored Medkits can be activated for a burst of health by pressing the black button, and the A button gives each character a modest hop in the air.
All four characters have a special ability that can be activated by pressing the white button. When Tex is in his 'Berserker' mode, he pulls out both of his weapons to wreak two-fisted havoc. Hawk can turn invisible, enabling her to sneak up to foes unseen and silently slaughter them with her PowerBlade. Flint's sniping talents are enhanced with the activation of her advanced targeting system, automatically placing enemies in her sights. One of the more interesting abilities is Brutus' 'Spirit of Vengar', which heals him and more effectively distinguishes foes from their surroundings. These abilities are limited by a stamina bar that is constantly regenerating.
A quick press on the D-Pad switches characters, and an extended press displays a menu that allows commands to be issued to as many squadmates as necessary. Characters can be instructed to stand their ground, cover their leader, fire at will, move to a specific location, toggle their special abilities, or pop open a Medkit. By default, squadmates will use Medkits as necessary, reserving the final kit for the player, but their AI-driven judgment might not be as exacting as the player at the helm.
It's this series of strategic elements that most noticeably differentiates "Brute Force" from the rest of the pack. At the default difficulty, it's easy to fall into the trap of running-'n-gunning with Tex and largely disregarding some of the other options available. Creeping up towards higher difficulty levels, taking advantage of characters' specific abilities and issuing orders becomes a much more integral part of gameplay. Managing characters and commands is simple and fast, and though the precision and power of a "Rainbow Six" title aren't to be found, the limited options are much more in keeping with the faster pace of this sort of game. Squadmates, even when not being controlled indirectly, are brighter than the cannon fodder often given as teammates in games like "Halo" or "Star Wars: The Clone Wars". They can usually hold their own in battle (though Hawk invariably seemed to be the first to die if I lost a squad member on a level) and don't inadvertently leap into my line of fire too terribly often. They're also not prone to falling off canyons or stumbling into pits of molten lava, which is obviously appreciated. My only quibble is that infrequently, a squad member would decide to break away from the rest of the group, standing still in the middle of nowhere while the remainder found themselves drenched in enemy gunfire. The enemy AI is a bit dimmer, but with the dozens upon dozens of opponents littering each level, they more than make up for it in numbers.
"Brute Force" addresses many of the complaints I often have about shooters. For one, ladders: admittedly, this isn't a problem that I hear mentioned all that often, but it's been a gripe of mine ever since I dove into this generation of consoles. Though rarely a problem back in the days when there were only two dimensions to deal with, anymore, it seems as if half the time I die in a first-person shooter like "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" or "Medal of Honor: Frontline", it's because I keep falling off damn ladders. "Brute Force" has no ladders, orienting its level design towards lots and lots of ramps. In all too many FPSes, I have a tendency to kind of lose my way and wind up wandering around aimlessly, waiting to bump into a group of enemies I haven't killed since that usually indicates that I'm on the right track. "Brute Force" has a small radar in the lower-left hand portion of the screen that indicates, among other things, the general directions of squadmates, enemies, and the location of the next goal. It's not mindless hand-holding, though -- even knowing the exact location of a destination, mountainous, obstacle-riddled levels like "Hostile Reception" ensure that it's often not just a vapid straight-shot from point to point. There are also no puzzles or key-hunting throughout "Brute Force". On the occasions where a console has to be located to open a door or raise a gate, its location is marked on the radar. The lack of puzzles, especially character-specific puzzles, is particularly welcome; although some of the secondary missions require a certain squad member's presence, the primary missions can be accomplished with any combination of characters.
One of "Brute Force"'s greatest strengths is the often-disregarded cooperative multiplayer mode, which is incorporated seamlessly into the game. Taking advantage of all four controller ports on the console, other players can join in at any point, splitting the screen and immediately tossing them into heat of battle. Some games seem to prefer to keep single-player and multiplayer campaigns separate, but switching back and forth from one to the other in "Brute Force" doesn't hinder progress.
The more traditional multiplayer modes pit players against one another, either individually or as squads. There are seven Deathmatch maps, designed to accomodate anywhere from two to eight players. In these maps, each player controls a single character, and players have the option of creating teams if they want to steer away from the "every man for himself" approach. The D-Pad controls don't come into play at all, and the radar display disappears from view entirely. Though the bulk of my multiplayer gaming was in the co-op mode, the few times I gave this type of Deathmatch a spin, even the smaller levels struck me as a bit too large for a two-player one-on-one battle.
The Squad Deathmatch is closer in look and feel to the campaign mode. The radar navigation display returns, and players can switch between or issue commands to the CPU-controlled characters in their squads. Initially, only the four main squad members of Brute Force are available, but as hidden DNA canisters are uncovered in the campaign mode, a variety of characters -- and eventually entire squads -- are unlocked and made available. Virtually every enemy and character in the game is playable if players are tenacious enough to track down all of the canisters.
Multiple consoles can be connected via System Link for either type of Deathmatch. Unfortunately, none of these multiplayer options are available for play over XBox Live. The game does offer some Live capabilities, though. A firm date for the first batch of downloadable content seems to have been pinned down for August 18th, when a pair of multiplayer maps and a new campaign mission that have long been lurking in the wings will be made available.
With a variety of options and characters, even if they go largely unused the first spin through, each run through "Brute Force" has the potential to be very different than the one before it. Players can blast their way through, selectively knock off enemies at a distance, try to figure out the best way to utilize each character in each mission, or any combination of things, though the levels do tend to push players to move to complete goals in a particular order and traverse through the environments in somewhat of a linear way. The secondary missions and hidden DNA canisters add some moderate replay value, but it's the diversity in characters and the mild strategic elements that'll have me popping "Brute Force" in my XBox for a while to come. The cooperative multiplayer mode is its greatest asset, and if gamers can rustle up a friend or two to tag along, "Brute Force" becomes a much more compelling experience.
Reception online has varied greatly for "Brute Force". Several of my friends from various message boards whose opinions are often in line with my own rank "Brute Force" anywhere from "[a] mess" to "pretty average", with precious few expressing much enthusiasm for the game. The critical reception has been substantially more positive, netting a 79% composite rating at GameRankings.com. I'd say I fall somewhere in between. There are a lot of aspects about "Brute Force" that I like, and overall, my experience with the game was positive. "Brute Force" is a pretty good game, but for my money, "pretty good" doesn't warrant shelling out fifty bucks. I'd suggest checking it out in some form first before delving into a purchase, be it a demo or a rental, and it might not be a bad idea to wait for the game's sticker price to drop an Alexander Hamilton or two first.
Also of note, "Brute Force" includes playable demos for "Tao Feng" and "MechAssault", along with videos of "Amped 2", "Fable", "Phantasy Star Online", "Sudeki", and "Halo 2".
Graphics:
"Brute Force" is definitely a sharp looking game, though I wasn't quite as bowled over by the visuals as most. Its characters are nicely rendered, even if some of the design is fairly ordinary. Brutus' head in particular looks a little goofy for what is presumably intended to be a threatening man-lizard. The handful of enemy models quickly become repetitive, occasionally taking the "Mortal Kombat" route and using a quick palette swap in a half-hearted attempt to add some diversity. Enemies may look bland at a distance, but the detail of the models becomes apparent when zooming in with certain weaopns. Sniping also helps showcase "Brute Force"'s use of rag doll physics, which makes wiping out the hordes of soldiers and assorted creatures even more of a blast. Animation as a whole is pretty solid across the board, from Brutus' stride on all fours to Seers flailing their arms around.
The design of the levels is similar to the minimal diversity in opponents, with the same few distinct types repeated incessantly. Admittedly, the missions do take place on a small number of planets, and even though some similarities are to be expected, it shouldn't be to the point as it is here where some levels are virtually indistinguishable from one another. Although there isn't a large assortment of environments in "Brute Force", what's provided sports occasionally impressive background detail along with some subtle flourishes unique to each. However, those sorts of graphical nicities don't inspire that same level of awe by the third rehash.
Cut scenes alternate between pre-rendered sequences and significantly less impressive animation courtesy of the in-game engine. The disparity between the two is a little jarring, most notably the decidedly plastic appearance of the humans in the latter. The pre-rendered videos are very cinematic, though, particularly the fatal imagery that accompanies the introduction of each character.
The framerate seemed to stay steady for the most part in single-player mode, though it did stutter briefly during particularly hectic assaults in "Kill Shadoon" and "Hostile Reception". Multiplayer struck me as incrementally more problematic in that respect, though not enough to really distract.
"Brute Force" is an attractive game, and the overall quality is very much in keeping with a first-party XBox title. The biggest complaint I have is that as great as portions of the game look, the repetition dulls the game's graphical impact.
Although the "HDTV 480p" box remains unchecked on the back of "Brute Force"'s packaging, the game does indeed offer a progressive scan mode, though a widescreen option has not been provided.
Audio:
"Brute Force" boasts expectedly decent Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, particularly the occasionally thunderous amount of bass that should rattle the walls and show off the strength of gamers' home theaters. The passable but largely forgettable score roars from the front speakers, and the surrounds provide a reasonably extensive amount of ambiance throughout. Directionality is immersive as gunshots breeze by, footsteps splash around in murky swamps, and squadmates spout off canned one-liners. These sorts of audio cues more effectively flesh out "Brute Force"'s virtual world, sometimes making the difference between a casualty-free mission and a dismal failure. The center channel is reserved more or less entirely for the game's campy, ham-fisted dialogue, both in-game and throughout the various cut scenes.
Conclusion:
"Brute Force" diverges somewhat from the usual run-and-gun fare so frequently associated with the XBox, though it's not the sort of must-have purchase that its glossy, multi-million dollar ad campaign would lead gamers to believe. Some great concepts and approaches don't necessarily gel into an essential purchase, and though I overall enjoyed "Brute Force", particularly in cooperative multiplayer mode, the end result falls short of the lofty expectations surrounding the title. I'd suggest a rental or playing through a demo before forking over $50, and it'd be a much more compelling buy when the price point inevitably rolls down a bit. Still Recommended, but I would wait until the list price tapers off by ten or twenty bucks.