Brute Force *official*

[Javon_McCloud]

Totally agree with you soundwave. The game is very generic, but me and 4 friends had a really good time playing through the missions. I don't know it it was just us playing on normal, but the game seems too easy when playing with a group of friends. It seems you can respawn as many times as you want, and the likelyhood of all four of you dying at the same time is slim. I could of also used a little bit more mission variety.

The deathmatch is good, some weapon balance issues perhaps, but the maps seem well laid out. Lots of characters to pick from if you unlock them all.

[Prince Planet]

The reviews thus far have uniformly failed to mention that it comes with a nice color manual.

[soundwave]

Yeah I noticed normal seemed way too easy so we played through on hard--better AI, more enemies and they are take/give more damage. Respawns "cost" credits which are deducted from your total at the end of the level plus grabbing the memory chips is +2000 which is equivalent to cost of respawn and then some--we rally wanted the highest total possible.

One issue I have with the game is that it is easy to get lost. A map would have been nice. What we did was switch characters and call the lost player to a nav point.

[Dyne]

Originally posted by Javon_McCloud
It seems you can respawn as many times as you want,

i thought you used money everytime you respawn hence when the voice over says "do you realize how much it costs to clone you?" or something-or-other.

[burgundy]

No Live multiplayer = no interest here. It's like Live support is strategically being stripped from games that might otherwise interest me.

[EvilMog]

Well I'm back with my opinion. Overall the game is just ok. The 1 player mode lacks excitement. And the levels are sometimes bland. Some do look very nice though. The characters and enemies are nothing special either. Heres the good part. Co-op. Its just that much better to play with someone. I also like the music. It really fits the game and reminds me of 80's Ahhhnald flicks like Total Recall. The animation for deaths are nice since it uses the "Ragdoll" physics stuff. Hitting an enemy upclose with a shot gun is VERY satisfying for some reason.
Multiplayer is pretty damn cool it turns out. The levels are interesting and varied and having your own squad in modes gives you some nice strategy. The one character Hawk is neat using in mulit mode since she can cloak herself then get in close for 1 hit kill dagger strikes. Very cool. The game just screams for online play though. This game DOES work with xbconnect though.. so it is sorta online. I tried it for a while last night with my bro. Not bad, couldnt find any lag free games as of yet but it was still fun.

Overall the game is decent but disappointing. I really wasnt expecting anything great and I guess I was right. I would highly suggest it if you enjoy co-op, but if your by yourself pass on this one. I give it a 7.5 of 10

[Javon_McCloud]

Originally posted by Dragonmaster Dyne
i thought you used money everytime you respawn hence when the voice over says "do you realize how much it costs to clone you?" or something-or-other.

Yeah I figured that out, but I guess I had so much money that it never became an issue, perhaps to unlock certain stuff you need a certain amount of dough.

[Prince Planet]

I've played through about 11 Levels on Hard, and I have to say I'm having quite a bit of fun. I think Evil Mog's impressions are quite accurate, but here's a bit more.

What I like:

-Simple, "arcade" squad tactics. It ain't Rainbow Six. The commands are limited, mostly useful, and quickly become second nature. The command interface is actually well thought out, showing pertinent info like each member's health and present standing orders. The streamlined squad tactics don't slow the game down too much (which is good, because the game isn't action-packed to begin with -- see below).

-Actual need for squad tactics. I've seen some criticisms based on supposed "run and gun" gameplay, but I don't find that credible. As far as I can tell (at least on Hard and Brutal difficulties), your team will be promptly slaughtered with a run and gun mentality.

-Diverse abilities for squad members. Between scouting, sniping, flanking, and heavy-gunning, each member is quite useful depending on the circumstances. Switching smoothly, intuitively and effectively between appropriate team members is pretty entertaining.

-Polished. The game looks quite good, with smooth animations, good-looking and functional menus, nice particle, lighting, and other special effects (a few stand-outs, in fact), decent (if repetitive) voice work, and some nice cut scenes to boot. The game has some flaws, no doubt, but still shows that some time and effort went into its development.

-Occasionally surprising A.I. Yes, sometimes your team actually does what they're supposed to do. Sniper automatically taking the high ground, and picking off an (occasionally unseen) enemy who dares to take a shot at you. Heavy gunner positioned behind some cover, ready for an ambush. Your scout(s) flushing out enemies, while your gunners shred them. Pretty damn cool when it works, but it's definitely inconsistent (see below). One thing is certain: When you actually issue a command, your squad WILL react and immediately carry it out. Nice, if not always effective. Oh yeah, I've seen the enemies do some pretty clever things as well, like going back for reinforcements, outflanking your hapless squad, moving to take effective cover.

-Lots o' weapons.

What's not so hot:

-Levels. They're actually designed rather well, with plenty of cover, maneuvering space, ambush locations, and not-so-obvious routes that may prove advantageous for your scouts and sniper. BUT, they are indeed rather bland. The seemingly unending lava fields, swamps and forests are all hazy, repetitive, and become close to mind-numbing. Oh yeah, and they're littered with same boring little shacks, huts, and rock outposts. Some more diversity would have been much appreciated. Oh well, at least there's stuff to shoot.

-Occaisionally stupid A.I. I mean really stupid. Sometimes your squad will sit there and get ripped to shreds through sheer stupidity, and there's little you can do about it. Just because I issued a "Stand Ground" command doesn't mean not to run away from a freshly thrown grenade that's been sitting at your feet for 2 seconds. Ugh.

-Limited application of squad tactics. Often, there's simply not much to do beyond scouting for enemies, picking a few off, cleaning up with the gunners, and healing those who are still alive. This cycle involves you dealing with one character at a time, while the others largely just sit around. Maybe it's my crappy style, but there often doesn't seem to be much application for multiple, simultaneous commands to the various team members. A problem for a squad-based game.

-No LIVE play. DOH!!! A very bad call, as this game begs for it (the nicely implemented muliplayer game drives this point home). In my view, Xboxconnect (which is supposedly only decent at best for this title) isn't a substitute for the lack of dedicated LIVE play. I suspect that had LIVE been included, this game would sell incredibly well. Brute Force 2, perhaps.

Fun stuff, overall. Rent it if you're at all interested, but make sure to play it on Hard or Brutal, and at least play through a few levels with the whole team (Level 4 and beyond) to get the real flavor of the game.

[Prince Planet]

What the hell -- here's a follow-up post on a game about which no one gives a damn.

Beat the game on Hard earlier today. Playing slowly and carefully through the 18 missions (many with multiple chapters) took quite a while -- certainly 20+ hours.

It definitely grew on me. By the end, I was consistently pulling off some effective if not overly complicated squad tactics, and it was all rather satisfying. Also, while some of the earlier levels were indeed on the bland side, the last few stages were far more interesting, and actually featured some impressive (and occasionally beautiful) designs. Some tense combat as well, with cleverly concealed enemy snipers, and ambushes by heavy shock troops. It was even more entertaining when I turned the tables on them (drawing their fire with my heavy gunner, only to have my own sniper circle around for the head shot -- [click] zoom, [click] zoom in some more -- bang. Goodbye. Heh.

Final judgment: Maybe not AAA, but very polished, and ultimately entertaining.

[Flamble]

What the hell happened here? Are the XBox using masses starving this much?

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/action/...s_6030345.html

From Gamespot
The squad-based shooter becomes the fastest selling game for the Xbox

[mediacritic]

Also from Gamespot
...at the retail outlet known as GameStop.

What an asinine statement to put into a news story. Gamespot, keep your ads and your news separate please. Thank you.

[/mediacritic]



Edit: Just to be clear, EB is a major sponsor of Gamespot.