Brute Force looks to be one of those rare titles where everything seems to come together perfectly.

Billed as the next Halo for the Xbox, Brute Force certainly has a lot to live up to if it’s to gain that tagline. <br /> <br /> Played from a third-person perspective, Brute Force is a squad-based shooter that sees you take control of four mercenaries each with their own strengths and weaknesses. <br /> <br /> <IMG SRC= http://www.totalvideogames.com/images/BruteForce/FlintFullColor.jpg> <br /> <br /> <b>Flint</b> <br /> <br /> Flint is a cyborg whose skill with a sniper rifle is unmatched; her advanced targeting system makes her deadly at any range. <br /> <br /> <IMG SRC= http://www.totalvideogames.com/images/BruteForce/hawk2.jpg> <br /> <br /> <b>Hawk</b> <br /> <br /> Hawk is the scout of the group ideal for stealth and reconnaissance missions, her special ability allows her to turn invisible for silent kills. <br /> <br /> <IMG SRC= http://www.totalvideogames.com/images/BruteForce/brutus_pose2.jpg> <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Brutus</b> <br /> <br /> Brutus is the only non-human member of the group, his power and strength combined with his love of big weapons ensures that he’s a heavy hitter. His special ability is heat vision, whilst he can also regenerate his health when left alone. <br /> <br /> <IMG SRC= http://www.totalvideogames.com/images/BruteForce/tex2.jpg> <br /> <br /> <b>Tex</b> <br /> <br /> Tex is the powerhouse of the squad, a one-man wrecking crew with a penchant for big guns… lots of them. <br /> <br /> <br /> You can control either one of your squad by simply pressing the corresponding direction on the D-Pad. Whilst in control of a specific member, the clever AI takes over and controls the other characters. Our brief time with the game at E3 revealed some very advanced AI routines; characters never positioned themselves in stupid positions and followed paths without getting stuck behind objects. You’re also able to issue a surprisingly amount of instructions to your team-mates, simple commands such as follow and attack are available, whilst these can be evolved to such commands as ‘Follow Aggressively’. The wonderful element to this is the seemingly ease of how to do this, for example to get a character to move to a specific place you simply look in the designated direction and press the correct button. Controlling the team was arguably Digital Anvil’s biggest task; thankfully the intuitive system looks to be everything we could have hoped for. <br /> <br /> The missions take place across six vastly different worlds and involve a fair degree of variety, ranging from assassinations to reconnaissance, hostage rescue and espionage, to straight our guns blaring combat. Brute Force certainly looks to be a game where some thought will certainly aid the all-out attack approach. <br /> <br /> As with the other title that this is being compared to, Brute Force features some truly gob-smacking visuals. Digital Anvil has been paying particular attention to the dynamic lighting within the game, and boy does it show. Every light source within the game (with the exception of the sun) is dynamic and thus creates truly believable lighting effects; we took out a few and flooded the nearby area in complete darkness. Add in some fantastic looking environments, characters that ooze detail and a silky smooth framerate and you’ve got one of the better looking Xbox titles around. <br /> <br /> Perhaps the most intriguing aspect to Brute Force is the unique stance for multiplayer modes. Instead of having a different mode, it’s all integrated into the single player one. So if someone comes along at any point they can just plug in their controller and join in the action, the screen divides itself to accommodate the extra players view and you’re off and away. Unfortunately Brute Force will NOT be supporting Xbox Live!, which appears to be an opportunity missed for such a multiplayer orientated title. <br />