Brute Force (13brute) is one of two recent offerings by sst13 based on the Sega Dreamcast split screen exclusive of the same name (dc_ss404). Rendering a game like Quake III in a 4-player local split-screen means the Dreamcast has to render the game world four separate times simultaneously on the one console, so the layout had to be kept simple, as with the texturing and lighting to keep the main system from crashing with its limited 16 Megabytes of RAM. As it happens, 13brute does not deviate much from the original: a teleporter has been added to the atrium with the Red Armour (RA), a Grenade Launcher and Rail Gun (RG) have also been added, and a Megahealth replaces the BFG featured in the original. While both the RG and the RA are only accessible by jumps, there is still a Yellow Armour accessible to both humans and bots available on the upper level.

Surprisingly, the author built the extended version of this level first and only later decided to make a version that was closer to the original for those who remembered the version for Dreamcast.

While a map pack of the Dreamcast exclusives for PC already exists for anyone wanting to satisfy their thirst for nostalgia, it is nice to have a version available with an item load suitable for duels. But, I am not sure this version needed a separate pack release; it would have felt more at home as a votable option in a consolidated pk3 along with its parent map Brute Force - Extended. This is already the case for many other custom maps like the TDM and FFA versions of Swiss Cheese Trickster by Q-Fraggel, or the Quake II version of The Chastity Belt Duel by JaLisk0.

As always, sst13 has included some cheeky Easter Eggs that are to be found in both the simple and extended versions of this map. And for those who are daring enough to go searching you will discover exactly what it is that Bones gets up to in his spare time. In the words of Bones himself: "I'm NOT gonna need to work my fingers to the bone to beat this crew."

Make sure you check out the extended version too! I can assure you that, unlike Bones, you will not be bored stiff!!!

Reviewed by HelterSkeleton