Remake This… Brute Force

When all else fails, use Brute Force

Brute Force was one of those original Xbox games that jumped on the success of Halo, showed exactly what the machine could do graphically (over the underpowered PS2 and Cube) and tied into the key demographic perfectly. Digital Anvil’s game offered unique (for the time) gameplay, with four characters each with their own abilities, and gave gamers the chance to play as all of them.

It was an early stab at the third-person shooter with squad mechanics thrown in for good measure, and we’re honestly surprised that this series has gone under the radar. It was a blast to play and, though it may look slightly crude now (okay, very crude), this could easily be updated to fit alongside any of the 360′s bristling sci-fi shooters.

Brute Force even brought with it some awesome co-op, which was something Halo was spearheading at the time and a feature many games on the rival consoles couldn’t compete with. Microsoft has always been about playing together, and has continued to place this at the forefront of the majority of its big IPs, and Brute Force was no different – its gameplay begged to be played with a mate.

Who wouldn’t want to stomp around a violent sci-fi universe in a squad with a lizard-man as a henchman? With tons of unique abilities each of the characters could utilise, gameplay flitted from all-out blasting to stealth, and though it was rough around the edges, Brute Force was surprisingly forward-thinking for the time.

Come on Microsoft, go back to your old favourites and remind everyone why they fell in love with the big black Xbox in the first place.