Brute Force

Probably one of the best looking games on the Xbox, no questions asked.

With outstanding graphics and well executed audio features helping to increase the game’s appeal, those who enjoy "Halo’s" style of action wouldn’t want to pass up Brute Force.

If you can get the multiplayer to work for you, or have friends in the room with you to play with, the game can really show its colors. Still, with the single player campaign only taking 8-10 hours to complete, this may be best played as a rental.

We'd not recommend an outright purchase solely for the deathmatch, but the multiplayer campaign mode is brilliantly done.

Brute Force reminds me of a number of girls I dated - Right off the bat, you're happy with how she looks and the fun that you having with her - but a few weeks later when you start to see how shallow they really are - you start to lose interest.

The cut-scenes will make you feel seriously embarrassed for the people who wrote them. [Aug 2003, p.32]

The elite unit's top secret missions are as one-dimensional and repetitive as their foes. And the four commandos...utter lines that would have sounded cheesy even on a '70s cop show. [18 July 2003, p.83]

This a classic in my eyes. When I was maybe 10-11 years old, I played this game with friends to death. Logged probably 500+ hours on this beast and would play it again in a heartbeat. I really need to buy an original Xbox again, regret selling it a lot.

An underrated gem that kind of got lost in the sea of shooter games being released around that time. Anyone who thought this game was going to be the next Halo was either being ignorant or disingenuous. The game is a fun, 4 player, co-op shooter where each character has their own set of abilities and weapon usage. Tex was always my favourite for his ability to dual-wield machine guns. You can play the game single player and swap between the different characters, depending on the situation. It doesn't really hold up graphically and the levels are kind of repetitive, but it's still a fun enough third person shooter that didn't really garner enough attention for it's time.

I finally got around to playing this, only about 10 years after its day. It seems like people completely forgot it existed now, and it's highly unlikely it'll get a sequel at this point. Because of this, you can find it very cheap, and I recommend picking it up if you're in the mood for a good budget game. It plays very similar to Halo, despite being in third person. The main gimmick is that you can switch between different squad mates who each have their own unique skills. It doesn't force you to switch, but it can be very useful to take advantage of each member's abilities. The story is a little corny and generic, and it doesn't look amazing by today's standards, but it does play in widescreen, and it controls as well as any game of this type.