Of course, as is the way with the games industry and its seemingly never-ending ability to produce ever-improving visuals, and given the fabulous things we've seen over the last few months, Brute Force certainly won't be blowing anyone away or make their eyes pop out. Don't get us wrong, it's still a visually impressive game throughout, with textures that are sometimes even better than Halo's. It also keeps things moving along nicely with fast-paced action and violent explosions worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster. You simply have to look at it to see yet more proof of the Xbox's graphical grunt…

   

At the start of the game you play as Tex, the lead member of Brute Force, a 4-man (well, when I say '4-man' what I actually mean is: 1 man, 1 large mostly bipedal lizard and 2 women, one of whom is a cyborg) elite fighting unit that gets put together during the game's campaign mode. You play from a third person perspective but the controls are identical to Halo's - with the additional ability to control any of your team or order them around (ŕ la Ghost Recon and Desert Storm). The system may feel a little awkward at first, but with a bit of practice you will soon be ordering them all around and switching between them without a second thought. This is just as well, because you'll need to, as each character has their own particular talent and special ability vital to successful completion of the missions. In the 24th century cloning is easy, and dead squad members just get replaced with copies (you have to pay for them with your mercenary wages though).

The worlds are as different as the members of Brute Force, and you'll see sandy beaches, Inca style pyramids, dense forests with treetop dwellings (a bit like the Ewok village in Return of the Jedi), boggy wooded areas, bleak desert levels with nothing but oil pumps, and treacherous volcanic planets ravaged by spectacular lava flows. Waves crash against rocks on the beaches, bugs flit around annoyingly and the grass may just be the best we've seen in a videogame. Everything looks wonderful. These worlds have their own particular inhabitants that vary from aliens and sluggish mutants to highly trained and well-armed rogue marines. You need to use the squad's individual weapons and skills to master these levels as there are some well-designed ambushes and sneaky AI (that'll even see enemies hide when hurt).

   

As well as a decent main campaign mode, Brute Force also has an impressive array of multiplayer options; two, three or four players can co-operate on the main campaign game in split screen (and drop out or rejoin at any time - which is a very smart idea), or play solo or squad deathmatches. Those of us lucky enough to have access to 2, 3 or 4 Xboxes, system link cables and hubs are also catered for with deathmatches (with up to 8 players or four squads) and also the ability to play the main game co-operatively all linked up. In addition to various humans, all of the alien creatures found in the game can be unlocked and used in the multiplayer games, and as some are fast-moving hounds and some are floating eggheads that can teleport, you can imagine the possibilities…

Brute Force is an excellent single player experience that borders on greatness when you add more players and Xboxes. Only the repetitive nature of much of the gameplay stops it from scoring our maximum ten.