| |
Multiplayer Innovation
By Violet Leigh
Those silly Xbox people—they just have to stay on the cutting edge of game development, don't they? Well, once again, they're infiltrating previously unknown territory, and we gamers are the folks who will benefit most from their campaign.
Co-op Coordination
The co-op play is what really shines in Brute Force. It runs so smoothly. Let's image that you and your three pals have decided to play. You get the game going. You're kicking alien butt, and suddenly … Bob's mom calls. He has to go. Instead of losing one of your fellow fighters, the A.I. takes over for Bob—Automatically, no problem. You can even give the character orders yourself, if you have some special battle plan up your sleeve.
Then, 15 minutes later, while you and your buddies are still kicking alien butt, your sister Tina comes in. She wants to join. So, she takes over Bob's character from the A.I. No hiccups. No whining until you pause and let her into the game. No change in power balance. You just keep on rockin' the house.
Co-op play really shines in Brute Force.
Strategy
Four characters, all controlled by you. Or, four characters, each controlled by four friends. No matter how you slice it, you have a game that lets you strategize. "What's that?" you say. "We don't just run around shooting whatever happens to get in our way?" You can if you want, but if you're looking for a more realistic, more cerebral experience, then you can take your cell of agents and plot your approach to enemy bases.
In Brute Force, you can utilize the special talents and skills of each character to maximize the success of your mission. You can choose which character leads the team. You can choose to send in the scout, or not. You can always, of course, rush in with guns blazing. In Brute Force, you have options. 
Form strategies that best utilize each unit of your team.
Learning from History
Doesn't everybody hate feeling clumsy when they first pick up a new game? Well, if you've played Halo, then you've got a head start on your friends who didn't. (And, shame on them. Their loss is your gain.)
When you start to play, you don't have to learn a whole new set of button and stick configurations. If you've played Halo it's a relief to sit down and know, without practicing, how to make your character navigate and look around.
Brute Force may move and target like Halo, but it's not a Halo clone. It's magnified by a power of four: four great characters that you control yourself or invite friends to control. In other words, it's the flesh hung on the Haloskeleton that matters, and that's what makes Brute Forcevibrant, sexy, and meaty! |
