Brute Force Impressions?

Anyone pick up Brute Force and give it a go? IGN posted their review and gave it an 8.1 saying:

Brute Force works well as a rich action-shooter but it just doesn't have the brains to get by as a tactical squad-based anything. The command system and other strategic elements Digital Anvil tried to implement end up seeming out of place because there's so much mindless fun to be had. What it does, it does well with a nice polished look, solid control and slew of other good habits inherited from Halo so it's definitely a good Xbox game to have in your library. It pushes the envelope of system link functionality and meets the multiplayer requirement with ease. I'm not sure if we'll still be playing this years from now the same way we all still play Halo, but this should get us at least halfway through the summer.

The review says that this isn't a tactical game by any stretch, it's just a flat-out action title pretty much.

Its IGN, they have the most untrustworthy reviews on the net. They either overscore or underscore by way to much.

According to their system, Brute Force is worse then Blinx and Tao Feng.

According to their system, Brute Force is worse then Blinx and Tao Feng.

To be fair, different games are reviewed by different reviewers. Also, when a game is in a different genre I don''t know that it''s fair to compare the scores.

True, Certis, but I never get that feeling of wild mood swings between reviewers from Gamespot for example. When I''m looking for a review I trust I look to Gamespot and PC Gamer. I feel like they are consistent and fair.

I really have to echo the sentiment that IGN''s reviews are not exactly stellar.

Picked this up yesterday, spent most of the evening playing it.
To clarify right off the bat- all the ""it''s the next Halo!"" hype is way off the mark. The only similarities I see are in the sci-fi setting and the control setup. That''s pretty much it.

After playing up to chapter four, my impressions thus far are actually somewhat in line with Gamespy etc- that it''s a fun action shooter, nothing more, nothing less.

Pros;
Graphics are purty as hell.
Control is smooth and intuitive, especially if you''re a Halo veteran.
The squad-based tactical control is fun to mess about with.
Co-op! With system link, no less.
Brutus is just neat. He''s a frickin'' giant lizard, for godsakes.
Cutscenes and whatnot are top-notch.

Cons;
Weapons don''t pack quite enough visceral ''oomph''.
There isn''t enough interface feedback in terms of enemy and/or squaddie locations. The radar in particular feels lacking.
The squad-based tactical stuff isn''t really vital. The missions are ''easier'' if you make efficient use of the commands- but you can just as easily charge in blazing. Probably a ''pro'' to many, but I would''ve liked more meat here.
The levels, thus far, feel too short. Then again, I''m only on chapter five.

Generally, fun as hell so far, if occasionally frustrating.
Caveat; the ''standard'' difficulty setting is actually more in line with ''easy''. Do yourself a favor and play it on ''hard''.

Thanks Gorey. I''m gonna give this a rent this weekend and make a decisions then if I want to spend the dough on it. From what I''ve seen, the reviews seem to be mostly positive so far.

I picked it up yesterday. So far I am having a lot of fun with it. It is pretty much a mindless blast fest so far, but its a pretty, fun mindless blastfest.

I particularly like the physics, watching a squad of badguys ragdoll through the sky from a well placed frag grenade is mucho satisfying.

Two things I wanted to add, after another night of Brute Force;
1. Many of the game''s previews talked about an ''money-based upgrade system'' that one could use to buy new guns, skills, etc. This system doesn''t exist in the game as it was shipped. Cash totals for killing bad guys, etc is purely a representative scoring system.
2. Although the bad guys rag-doll like hyperactive ballerinas when you kill ''em, there doesn''t seem to be much in the way of hit feedback. At least that I can see. Then again, they die purty damn quick, so it''s not that big an issue.

That sucks. You can''t buy upgrades with money. That was a key interest of mine.