Brink

Brink could have been a great game, both solo and online if a little more work had gone into it.

There's very little question that Brink is highly geared towards the multiplayer crowd. The SMART system and the well done visuals are very attractive, but the level design imbalances and small map variety don't offer much in the way of longevity. There's a lot of promise in the game but only the most patient of players might be willing to see that promise realized.

The hype around Brink was huge and the game doesn't live up to all of the expectations. The campaign is extremely short and so it's the online gameplay that saves this game from demise. With the right teammates you'll have a ton of fun online.

The game really represents a missed opportunity for Bethesda. With a little more polishing and thought the game could have been great, rather than merely good.

Brink tries to present many good ideas, but it falls short and, in the end, it's just the same gameplay mechanics we've seen many times. The SMART system is not as dynamic as it should be; the game modes are all the same; the feeling, overall, is that we have a fun and interesting multiplayer game (even in its Campaign mode), but users are left without new emotions. Many customization options that, in the end, are nothing new.

In the end, Brink is another of those games that we see every so often; the games that have incredible potential and truly unique ideas but fail in their implementation. This could have been a great game, it could've been a hit and it could've given shooter fans a reason to return to a genre that has lost much of its originality over the last handful of years. Unfortunately for us and for its developer, the keyword here is "could've", because there's little here that makes Brink the genre redefining game some of us hoped it would be.

Quotation forthcoming.

Brink has quite a few flaws, but the most frustrating one is the spawn-die-spawn-kill-die repetition in single player mode. At best it's a little banal and tedious, and at worst, it's downright rage-inducing. Your AI teammates and enemies often act strangely, exhibiting poor awareness of their surroundings, but they will unleash laser-accurate gunfire once they notice an enemy. This makes playing the game, especially at the start of the Security campaign, a real chore.

Brink is not a bad game. If Splash Damage can stabilize the performance and fix some glaring omissions (like a pre-game lobby) with a patch, I'd gladly spend more time with it. But with only eight multiplayer maps, 20 progression levels, no clan support, and average gunplay, it's not a good value proposition. Especially considering many Xbox Live games offer a similar amount of content for a fraction of the price. [July 2011, p.86]

An online shooter needs variety, depth, and addictiveness to succeed over the long term. Brink might find a niche with some hardcore fans, but it isn't for everyone. The PC version feels more complete than its console counterpart, but my qualms over content remain the same. Brink has heart, but the overall package is lacking.

Who would have thought that this highly ambitious concept would turn out to be such a bland game?

It has a fresh look going for it, but Brink's fancy footwork and terrible AI Interfere with its fast-paced gunplay. [Aug 2011, p.70]

Complex without being deep, Brink is a hollow interpretation of Splash Damage's classic teamplay formula that speaks to the very core of what is wrong with multiplayer FPS today. [July 2011, p.58]

Loaded with shortcomings, not really generous in terms of content, Brink still remains an FPS with some really neat ideas, mostly in the way it promotes good teamplay. If you have several buddies with whom to share the experience, and take the time to organize your strategy, you won't be disappointed. But even so, the clear lack of polish, the not-so varied environments and average technical side prevent it from being an excellent FPS; it's only a good one.

On the lively and intriguing battlefields of Brink, design issues can be as deadly as enemy soldiers.

The setting is cool, the parkour is sort of neat, the focus on objectives over Team Deathmatch is admirable, but there's really nothing special about Brink.

With a few patches, it's certainly possible that Bethesda will clean up the network problems with the game and it will certainly be worth your time. As it stands right now, with laggy network performance and an abysmal single-player experience, this is a game that will push your patience to the brink. Take a pass, at least for now.