Frank and I have been spending a bit of time playing System Link Co-Op, in addition to our semi-regular multiplayer sessions and on numerous occasions lately we’ve witnessed brand new behaviors from Halo 3’s principle foe – the Brutes. In Halo 3’s final stages, Brutes have begun to think. They’ve become acutely aware of you and your location, so much, in fact, that in areas where you are above them, they’ve begun to climb. Reaching up with their giant arms, they pull themselves up to your elevation, blast their way through your marine buddies and if you're lucky you might turn around in time to hear the squishy thud of a spike grenade ripping through your MJOLNIR armor.

Another way the Brutes continue to prove to me that they are in fact, smarter than I am, is in their ability to adapt and adjust to situations on the fly. Future Halo 3-owners can look forward to scads of moments where they’ll believe they are about to execute some grand strategy, only to have a Brute or a pack of Brutes show up and foil your plan, using the exact correct countermeasures. As fun as Halo and Halo 2’s Elites are to fight, the Brutes in Halo 3 have shaped up into something really special. I’ve had more fun fighting them, than any foe in previous Halo games. [Me too, I like 'em better than Elites, for fighting - last minute Frankie departing thought.]