DoctorFinger
05-12-2011, 01:46 PM
Since no one else claimed it, I banged out a quick Brink review. I'll add assets and links tomorrow
Brink Review
Title - Brink
Platform - Xbox 360 (http://www.amazon.com/Brink-Xbox-360/dp/B002DC8GKE/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1305229500&sr=1-1), Playstation 3 (http://www.amazon.com/Brink-Playstation-3/dp/B002DC8GKO/ref=sr_1_2?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1305229500&sr=1-2), PC (http://www.amazon.com/Brink-Pc/dp/B002GDRPYI/ref=sr_1_3?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1305229500&sr=1-3).
Developer - Splash Damage (http://www.splashdamage.com/)
Publisher - Bethesda Softworks (http://www.bethsoft.com/eng/index.php)
ESRB Rating - T (Teen)
MSRP - $59.95
Editor - Michael "DoctorFinger" Chauvet
What's Hot: Fun team based combat. Lots of character customization options.
What's Not: Mostly useless single player campaign. No party system for online play. Online play is laggy and sluggish in a full 16 person game. Class and level system punishes you for changing classes, even when the objectives require it. In sports there are few things worse than a player with “potential”. Saying that someone has potential means basically that while they have the tools to be great, they just haven’t (yet) managed to pull themselves up to that elite level. Bethesda and Splash Damage’s Brink is pretty much the textbook example of a game which squandered it’s potential.
Brink is a shooter set a generation or so in the future aboard the Ark. The Ark is an artificial super city built to be a utopia, but a global war has left them, over-crowded, under-supplied and cut off from the outside world. You play as one of two sides in a conflict for control of the Ark, the Security forces or the Resistance. Both sides play the same, with differences in character models and campaign goals. You can play through the campaign - alone or online with friends - as either side. Frankly, there is no reason to play the game in single player once you finish the tutorial. You’re just playing against bots, and dumb bots at that. Even worse your teammates are bots, and pretty much useless. I’ll say this flat out: if you don’t intend to play Brink online, don’t bother picking it up.
After you choose your side and your look - and there are a ton of cosmetic options, with more unlocked as you level up - you choose you class. Soldier, engineer, medic and operative, each with their own special abilities and perks. As you play you gain experience and level up. Each level gained lets you open new abilities, some of which are general, but most are linked to one of the 4 classes. Here’s the first (but not last) problem with the game. You’re encouraged to put points mostly in the class-specific perks because that’s where the real interesting and powerful abilities lie. But the game’s goals are all class specific. You need an engineer to repair a crane, a soldier to blow up a gate, etc, etc. So you can change classes at any terminal in the game to complete that goal, but you quickly realize that you (probably) may not have any points in that class. You can technically complete any goal even with no points spent on that class, but you won’t have the combat ability you would with your primary class. A good squad should have at least one of each class on hand, but sometimes you’ll only have one, which makes things tough. Tying objectives so closely to the class seems to force you to either generalize - in which case you’ll never get any of the really good class abilities - or ignore the objectives, which seems an odd choice in an objective-based shooter.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3312/5714065008_e16b4ef413_z.jpg
The Ark was once a utopia. As you can see, it really isn't anymore
The actual shooting is solid. The weapons sometimes seem a little underpowered, but not absurdly so, especially considering the perks and buffs which can increase damage. Some gamers are going to be annoyed with the explosives and melee, which here are not the insta-kills they are in most shooters. Instead they’re supposed to knock you down and disable nearby gadgets. You’ll get kills with a single grenade or melee attack only if your target is already low on health. It’s certainly different, but overall I like it. This is not a game where your kill-death ratio should matter, so putting the emphasis on tactics and objectives is smart
The other major selling point of the game is it’s parkour-inspired SMART system. Hold down the left bumper and your character runs, jumps, climbs and mantles over obstacles. This mobility is key to playing a good game, as there are always secondary and tertiary routes to your objectives which can be accessed this way. After a few levels you can change your body type. A heavy body can absorb more damage and use the most powerful weapons, but can’t run as fast or jump as high, limiting their route options. Conversely you can take a small body and scamper almost anywhere, at the cost of health and offensive firepower. The SMART system mostly works well, but there are a lot of times where you get snagged on the geometry and stop, or bump into another player and slow to a crawl. Another place where the game really could have used a bit more polish.
Speaking of needing polish...we come to the game’s greatest sin: online play. As I said earlier, the game is useless offline. Unfortunately, the online play is plagued by lag and poor decisions. First off, there is no party system. When you get 7 other people together to play this, you probably want all to be on the same team, not 5 on one team and 3 on the other. But this is the scenario Brink frequently handed coughed up. Once everyone got on the same team, we’d encounter the next big problem: lag. Playing co-op vs bots usually went smoothly, but almost anytime you want to play against other people things get choppy. Which usually meant quitting and starting over, which meant trying - again - to get the whole party on one team.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2478/3836054205_7830314a46_z.jpg?zz=1
See that tank thing in the middle? You're escorting it instead of the other way around
I know it sounds pretty bad, and it can be a frustrating experience at times. But at other times Brink really shows you how good it could have been. When you get into an online game with a decent group of people and a solid connection Brink really does shine. You’re running jumping around the level, aiding teammates, taking down the enemy and completing objectives. In short it’s the game Bethesda and Splash Damage have been so excited about for the last few years. But the stars align in this manner far too infrequently.
Presentation-wise I think Brink does a solid job, with occasional flashes of excellence. Your characters have a deformed, cartoony look. Like something out of a European comic book. Graphics are genreally smooth and the animations are mostly strong. I’ve heard complaints that the weapons sound off, but to me they sound fine.
The story is presented mostly via cut scenes in between chapters in the campaign. The story is nothing special, but it does a pretty good job of making each side’s case and giving them relatable motivations. These are further fleshed out by unlockable audio files, but these generally don’t add a whole lot.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3253/5713504817_3bfb8b30d5_z.jpg
Just some of the looks you can go for in the game
Some of the issues with Brink could be fixed with a patch down the road, but frankly these relatively simple, basic issues should never have made it to the retail version of the game. The amount of content you get for your $60 or $50 also feels a little light, especially when compared to the other big shooters of the last few years.
Score: (3 out of 5 Cogs)
http://www.colonyofgamers.com/images/CoG3.png
Michael says, "I really want to like Brink. It has a lot of the ingredients I look for in a game, and when you do get a game going without the network problems it can be an absolute blast. But games where the networking flows perfectly are few and far between. It’s also just no fun at all in single player, making the unpolished online play an even greater sin.”
* Review based on 360 version.
Brink Review
Title - Brink
Platform - Xbox 360 (http://www.amazon.com/Brink-Xbox-360/dp/B002DC8GKE/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1305229500&sr=1-1), Playstation 3 (http://www.amazon.com/Brink-Playstation-3/dp/B002DC8GKO/ref=sr_1_2?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1305229500&sr=1-2), PC (http://www.amazon.com/Brink-Pc/dp/B002GDRPYI/ref=sr_1_3?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1305229500&sr=1-3).
Developer - Splash Damage (http://www.splashdamage.com/)
Publisher - Bethesda Softworks (http://www.bethsoft.com/eng/index.php)
ESRB Rating - T (Teen)
MSRP - $59.95
Editor - Michael "DoctorFinger" Chauvet
What's Hot: Fun team based combat. Lots of character customization options.
What's Not: Mostly useless single player campaign. No party system for online play. Online play is laggy and sluggish in a full 16 person game. Class and level system punishes you for changing classes, even when the objectives require it. In sports there are few things worse than a player with “potential”. Saying that someone has potential means basically that while they have the tools to be great, they just haven’t (yet) managed to pull themselves up to that elite level. Bethesda and Splash Damage’s Brink is pretty much the textbook example of a game which squandered it’s potential.
Brink is a shooter set a generation or so in the future aboard the Ark. The Ark is an artificial super city built to be a utopia, but a global war has left them, over-crowded, under-supplied and cut off from the outside world. You play as one of two sides in a conflict for control of the Ark, the Security forces or the Resistance. Both sides play the same, with differences in character models and campaign goals. You can play through the campaign - alone or online with friends - as either side. Frankly, there is no reason to play the game in single player once you finish the tutorial. You’re just playing against bots, and dumb bots at that. Even worse your teammates are bots, and pretty much useless. I’ll say this flat out: if you don’t intend to play Brink online, don’t bother picking it up.
After you choose your side and your look - and there are a ton of cosmetic options, with more unlocked as you level up - you choose you class. Soldier, engineer, medic and operative, each with their own special abilities and perks. As you play you gain experience and level up. Each level gained lets you open new abilities, some of which are general, but most are linked to one of the 4 classes. Here’s the first (but not last) problem with the game. You’re encouraged to put points mostly in the class-specific perks because that’s where the real interesting and powerful abilities lie. But the game’s goals are all class specific. You need an engineer to repair a crane, a soldier to blow up a gate, etc, etc. So you can change classes at any terminal in the game to complete that goal, but you quickly realize that you (probably) may not have any points in that class. You can technically complete any goal even with no points spent on that class, but you won’t have the combat ability you would with your primary class. A good squad should have at least one of each class on hand, but sometimes you’ll only have one, which makes things tough. Tying objectives so closely to the class seems to force you to either generalize - in which case you’ll never get any of the really good class abilities - or ignore the objectives, which seems an odd choice in an objective-based shooter.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3312/5714065008_e16b4ef413_z.jpg
The Ark was once a utopia. As you can see, it really isn't anymore
The actual shooting is solid. The weapons sometimes seem a little underpowered, but not absurdly so, especially considering the perks and buffs which can increase damage. Some gamers are going to be annoyed with the explosives and melee, which here are not the insta-kills they are in most shooters. Instead they’re supposed to knock you down and disable nearby gadgets. You’ll get kills with a single grenade or melee attack only if your target is already low on health. It’s certainly different, but overall I like it. This is not a game where your kill-death ratio should matter, so putting the emphasis on tactics and objectives is smart
The other major selling point of the game is it’s parkour-inspired SMART system. Hold down the left bumper and your character runs, jumps, climbs and mantles over obstacles. This mobility is key to playing a good game, as there are always secondary and tertiary routes to your objectives which can be accessed this way. After a few levels you can change your body type. A heavy body can absorb more damage and use the most powerful weapons, but can’t run as fast or jump as high, limiting their route options. Conversely you can take a small body and scamper almost anywhere, at the cost of health and offensive firepower. The SMART system mostly works well, but there are a lot of times where you get snagged on the geometry and stop, or bump into another player and slow to a crawl. Another place where the game really could have used a bit more polish.
Speaking of needing polish...we come to the game’s greatest sin: online play. As I said earlier, the game is useless offline. Unfortunately, the online play is plagued by lag and poor decisions. First off, there is no party system. When you get 7 other people together to play this, you probably want all to be on the same team, not 5 on one team and 3 on the other. But this is the scenario Brink frequently handed coughed up. Once everyone got on the same team, we’d encounter the next big problem: lag. Playing co-op vs bots usually went smoothly, but almost anytime you want to play against other people things get choppy. Which usually meant quitting and starting over, which meant trying - again - to get the whole party on one team.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2478/3836054205_7830314a46_z.jpg?zz=1
See that tank thing in the middle? You're escorting it instead of the other way around
I know it sounds pretty bad, and it can be a frustrating experience at times. But at other times Brink really shows you how good it could have been. When you get into an online game with a decent group of people and a solid connection Brink really does shine. You’re running jumping around the level, aiding teammates, taking down the enemy and completing objectives. In short it’s the game Bethesda and Splash Damage have been so excited about for the last few years. But the stars align in this manner far too infrequently.
Presentation-wise I think Brink does a solid job, with occasional flashes of excellence. Your characters have a deformed, cartoony look. Like something out of a European comic book. Graphics are genreally smooth and the animations are mostly strong. I’ve heard complaints that the weapons sound off, but to me they sound fine.
The story is presented mostly via cut scenes in between chapters in the campaign. The story is nothing special, but it does a pretty good job of making each side’s case and giving them relatable motivations. These are further fleshed out by unlockable audio files, but these generally don’t add a whole lot.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3253/5713504817_3bfb8b30d5_z.jpg
Just some of the looks you can go for in the game
Some of the issues with Brink could be fixed with a patch down the road, but frankly these relatively simple, basic issues should never have made it to the retail version of the game. The amount of content you get for your $60 or $50 also feels a little light, especially when compared to the other big shooters of the last few years.
Score: (3 out of 5 Cogs)
http://www.colonyofgamers.com/images/CoG3.png
Michael says, "I really want to like Brink. It has a lot of the ingredients I look for in a game, and when you do get a game going without the network problems it can be an absolute blast. But games where the networking flows perfectly are few and far between. It’s also just no fun at all in single player, making the unpolished online play an even greater sin.”
* Review based on 360 version.