Maximize Strength, Minimize Weakness
By Alex McLain
Whether you're playing single-player, co-op, or versus multiplayer, the core strategy for Brute Force will remain very much the same. How well you know the strengths and weaknesses of your squad members—and when to employ them—will be what brings you to glory … or casts you down in defeat.
You have four characters: Brutus, Tex, Hawk, and Flint. For a detailed look at each character's back story and attributes, take a look at Cast of Characters, Part 1: Tex and Brutus and Cast of Characters, Part 2: Hawk and Flint. In the meantime, here's a quick tactical breakdown of each character:
Tex, weapon-wielding warrior.
Tex
Tex scoffs at danger and laughs at pain. He's the heavy-gun-toting man of deliberate action. He's at his best when used as the frontline combatant. He can deal out massive damage with grinning ease, and he has the fortitude to withstand a lot of damage himself.
Brutus, dangerously fast and strong.
Brutus
Brutus, like Tex, uses heavier weapons, but he deals with danger in a more cautious manner. Unlike Tex, he is the second fastest runner of the crew—and he's the fastest when using his special action. Brutus excels at providing covering fire, and because of his speed, he can draw enemy fire away from his comrades.
Hawk, the silent threat.
Hawk
Hawk injects Brute Force with some much-needed subtlety. She works in the shadows with a nimble quickness that serves her up-close combat techniques. She can creep up on an unsuspecting enemy, draw her energy blade, and do the deed nice and quiet-like. Hawk is best utilized to scout out an area for her teammates and to take out individual or small groups of powerful enemies with her energy blade.
Flint, cyborg sniper.
Flint
Every elite squad needs a marksman of some sort, and Flint fills that role for Brute Force with unerring accuracy. As a cyborg, Flint maintains a ridiculously cool head in combat. Nothing shakes her nerve or her accuracy.
Understanding the nature of each character's abilities and weaknesses is critical to your success. Moreover, you need to understand when and how to employ each character to net the most effective results. There is no irrefutable "right" strategy for every circumstance, but there are some techniques that work better than others.
Different environments call for different tactics. At its core,Brute Force has two types of environments: outdoor and indoor. Here are some tips that you may want to keep in mind when playing in each.
Outdoor environment require unique strategies.
Outdoor Environments
Outdoor environments will comprise the bulk of your Brute Force experience. The environments themselves can range from grasslands near the sea to volcanic, ashen wastelands.
- Outdoor marching order: Place Hawk up front, followed closely by Tex and Brutus, and have Flint take up the rear.
- Use Hawk to scout out the road ahead. She can move unseen with her stealth techniques, and she's quick enough to run and scope out the areas ahead. This advance intelligence is invaluable when mapping out a battle plan.
- You can find a lot of higher ground in the outdoor missions. If you set Flint up in these areas, she can put her sniper skills to use from an effective vantage point.
- There's no need to bunch up your characters when you're outdoors. Spread them out so that concentrated fire from the enemy can only affect one character and not the whole group.
- Large outdoor battlefields are optimized for crossfire. Try setting up Tex on one side and Brutus on the other (don't aim them right at each other, of course!). Catching the enemy from both sides will make it harder for your targets to find safety.
Indoor environments are even more tricky.
Indoor Environments
Fighting inside a building contrasts starkly with combat in the outdoor environments. Typically, buildings are very close-quartered affairs, and you'll have to adjust properly to be effective.
- Indoor marching order: Put one bruiser up front and one in the back. I recommend you place Tex up front, Brutus in the back, and have Hawk and Flint somewhere in the middle. Should you enter a room infested with enemies, or be ambushed from behind, you'll want your two strongest characters to deal with the threat.
- Maintain a much slower pace indoors. Every nook, cranny, corner, and room can hold some lethal surprise.
- Grenades can be much more accurate and deadly in a closed environment. Watch out, though; enemies can use this tactic against you, too.
- When you approach a room into that you can't see clearly, have Hawk use her stealth invisibility to scout out the room quickly. Be careful when using Hawk in extended scouting missions indoors, though; try to keep her close to the group.
These are just a handful of tips to get you started. There are many more that you'll discover along the way, and others that you'll invent all on your own. As long as you remember to make careful tactical decisions, you should be fine. Now, go out and put these tactics to good use!
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