Kaidfather

Brink Quickview

So yesterday I got Brink, a game that I first saw at PAX Prime 2010. The team mechanic/co-op play of the game had me very interested and really looking forward to its release. Well release day has come and I got to put in a solid 5 hours with the game yesterday and here is my quickview of it

My Initial Impressions:
Upon initially firing the game up I immediately skipped the intro videos and headed straight for some multiplayer action. For about the first hour I had no clue what I was doing. I tried playing the game like your typical FPS, see enemy - shoot enemy - move on. The shooting felt loose, almost wonky but I did hold my own. Graphically the game didn't seem to be breaking any new ground. Soundwise the game's guns all seemed to sound the same and again I wasn't impressed with the sound. After playing for about an hour and a half I put the game down and took out the manual so I could learn a bit more about how to play the game. After reading the manual I was more familiar with the UI and how the objectives in the game worked and I immediately started to feel better with the game. I started to look forward to playing it with my friends to see how much better it would be playing with people I know. Last night I was able to play with an entire group of friends for about 3 hours, we beat both campaigns against bots which was fun, however since we were playing against the computer it seemed that the bots had perfect aim and knew exactly what they were doing - we won both campaigns fairly quickly and easily. I would love to take my group of friends online and play against other people which we're going to likely do tonight.

So quickly, how does Brink work? The game pits you in the role of either the Security Force or the Resistance force in a battle to either control the island the game is set on or to escape from the island. The campaign mode features cut scenes after each mission. The game is 8 on 8 working your way through objective based maps similar to Battlefield Bad Company 2. In fact, the game very much reminds me of Shadowrun and Battlefield BC2. The game features 4 different classes - the soldier which can resupply ammo and blow up points, the medic which can heal and revive other players, the engineer which can set up turrets and machine gun nests as well as buff players weapons, and the operatives which can hack and disguise themselves. In order to be successful in the game you will need a fairly well balanced team. Luckily you can switch character classes by using a command post to do so. The game also features a great character dress up room where you can change the look of your characters. You unlock different attire by going through challenges in the game as well as leveling up. You get experience for pretty much everything you do in the game. Each class has their own set of unlockable perks, and the weapons themselves have unlockable attachments. There is a lot to unlock which is meant to keep the replay value high.

The game also features a new to the FPS genre movement system which they call S.M.A.R.T. The SMART system allows you to run through the level parkour style, climbing over terrain that gets in your way with ease. If you need to get to the 2nd level of a building you no longer need to take the stairs, you can jump up on some crates and jump to the 2nd level of the building, very smooth to do so.

My main concern for the game is that it is SHORT. I beat both campaigns last night with my teammates in a matter of 3 hours. The level cap for your character is set at 20, and after 5 hours I'm almost half way there just around 10. The game almost feels like it could have been released as a XBLA game instead of a full $60 disc based release. Hopefully Bethesda will release some map packs for the game or more campaign levels via DLC. My second concern for the game is that it is meant to be played online with it's community. My guess is that this game's lifespan will be very SHORT which means that once players complete it and move on to something else there will be no community to play it with, as FPS players tend to move on to the next big game quickly, as soon as that next game comes out I expect Brink's community to look like a graveyard.

If you were to ask me today "should I buy Brink" I would likely tell you this. Only buy the game if you have a group of friends that are dedicated to playing it, or if you can get the game cheap and buy cheap I mean $40 or less. I think the game will better suit most people if they rent it, go through it, and then return it.