Dom Robinson reviews

Distributed by
Microsoft

Price: £39.99 Players: 1-8 Widescreen: No 60Hz: No Dolby Digital 5.1 sound: Yes Xbox Live-enabled: No System Link: Yes Somewhere along the line, Brute Force got touted as a match for Halo. I can't quite see why, though. Okay, so it's a third-person-shooter which begins with you as Tex, one of four members of an elite fighting force, the game being named after your bunch, blasting all and sundry and using the sniper rifle and grenades as appropriate. Along the way you need to rescue your colleagues Brutus, Flint and Hawk and then you can play as them as well. On the plus side, there are 18 single-player missions (plus support for System Link for one team of four players or two teams of eight, but not Xbox Live) and you can't die... sort-of. When you do, since you're all clones, you'll respawn as your character back at the beginning of the level so you're not playing the same levels again and again and again - any baddies you've already killed will stay dead.

Even starting as the lone Tex, as you progress you'll get a bit of help and if you die then you'll get to control them instead until you all snuff it. Along the way you can pick up DNA cannisters to unlock extra Deathmatch characters in that section. Brute Force looks great with lush landscapes, with some detail approaching similar quality to Halo, but still you'll find some jaggies about the place. Sound is okay but nothing special. Gameplay-wise, the control is like that of this feels like Red Faction with one control stick to move and the other to aim. Overall, this game feels like we've been here too many times before and, if you must play it, I'd recommend a rental first.

GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ENJOYMENT
OVERALL

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2003.