Publisher: Microsoft
Ages: Mature
Parental
Advisory:
Violent shooter
While Xbox owners wait for the next version of Halo, the platform's signature shooter, Microsoft's Brute Force may be worth a look. This third-person shooter doesn't live up to the expectations that serious players have for Halo 2, but it's an entertaining and solid shooter in its own right. And as one would expect from a shooter, this is a very violent game.
Brute Force lets players control any one of four specialized super-commandos. Players choose from a sniper, an assault trooper, a scout, or an alien. One character can use high-powered weapons, another can accurately fire weapons at long distances, while another relies on stealth, and the last is a creature that regenerates its health.
With the tap of a button, players can switch between commandos, and select the squad member that is best suited for a particular situation. The game come with some 30 different weapons that include grenades, miniguns, sonic cannons, rail guns, sniper rifles, bio-rifles, and more. While the game presents lots of exciting action, the levels are rather straightforward with few surprises. This game basically presents shoot-out after conflict after shootout in various settings. The game is all about killing, or be killed.
The game has a single-player mode that offers six worlds, and there's fun cooperative play with up to four via split-screen or System Link. The game offers the ability to download new content, including campaigns, missions and maps via Xbox Live. Interestingly, the game doesn't support Xbox Live for matching up players.
The graphics are good and do a great job of presenting the environments and lighting them. Also, the interface is easy to learn and use, and does an effective job of letting players control their on-screen characters.
Is Brute Force the next great shooter for the Xbox? It's not, but it's entertaining and has good multi-person play.
6/16/03 www.daytrum.com Editorial Staff
