Brink

 PC
User Score
6.0

Mixed or average reviews- based on 579 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 233 out of 579
  2. Mixed: 174 out of 579
  3. Negative: 172 out of 579
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  1. JackyBeans
    Jun 19, 2011
    3
    Brink is a game I wanted to love so much. Pre-ordered it on Steam. How I wish I haven't. IF YOU HAVE AN ATI CARD, FORGET ABOUT THIS GAME.. Or at least, I, among many ATI owners, are currently suffering with this game. I advise you not to pick it up, at least not for now.. I envy you Deific since you seems to be among the rare gamers running it smooth.. FYI, I own a 5870.. Even with driverBrink is a game I wanted to love so much. Pre-ordered it on Steam. How I wish I haven't. IF YOU HAVE AN ATI CARD, FORGET ABOUT THIS GAME.. Or at least, I, among many ATI owners, are currently suffering with this game. I advise you not to pick it up, at least not for now.. I envy you Deific since you seems to be among the rare gamers running it smooth.. FYI, I own a 5870.. Even with driver hotfix 11.5a,b,11.6 and latest game patch, the game still suffers considerably when it comes to frame rates, having sharp decreases and increases for no reason.. Engine feels unfinished. (mind you my system played Crysis 2 & Buletstorm at 1080p high fidelity without any significant problem) The graphics are weak, very weak. Art style is amazing only. Gameplay? shooting is dull (no recoil?), guns feel all the same, objectives are "classic", boring and repetitive and your character runs awkwardly. SMART system is forgettable and not really cleverly implemented.. Gunplay, again, doesn't feel as tight as it should feel. Offline gameplay is dull. This is interesting for online coop only. I didn't really have the experience to invest plenty of hours in the game (~5 hours) since it's barely playable but what a disappointment in the couple of hours I have played. I dont want to mention the nightmare when it comes to online gaming: lag, sound issue, matchmaking etc. So much hype, so much noise, so much style.. Shame, the game couldn't follow..… Expand
  2. DivideByNought
    Jun 17, 2011
    7
    The story ending makes it seem like there is to be a Brink 2. I hope there is. But if they do it I hope it's a lot more varied with more depth of game play (not just in terms of story perspectives).

    More specifically, I like what this game tries to do by combining types of game play (single player story + multi-player + shooter + leveling + parkour + team fortress) and the taking sides    The story ending makes it seem like there is to be a Brink 2. I hope there is. But if they do it I hope it's a lot more varied with more depth of game play (not just in terms of story perspectives).

    More specifically, I like what this game tries to do by combining types of game play (single player story + multi-player + shooter + leveling + parkour + team fortress) and the taking sides in a story with plenty of gray-area. However, in the end I was bored. The different character weights and classes didn't feel different enough; the depth just wasn't there so the differences felt hollow. I played through the campaigns from both perspectives, the extra missions, the training levels (all to 3 stars), and lots online. I felt like it took forever to level up to level 20. And with all the stuff in the game it never felt varied enough to keep me truly interested.    … Expand
  3. Arkveveen
    Jun 15, 2011
    6
    Brink isn't a bad game, but it has flaws that hamper the experience for me. Terrible performance, even after the patch (with my pretty good mid range gaming PC), way too repetitive level designs (even for me, who can take linear areas easily and not get bored), overlly generous experience rewards, and a kind of disappointment that settles in slowly over time after you defend the game toothBrink isn't a bad game, but it has flaws that hamper the experience for me. Terrible performance, even after the patch (with my pretty good mid range gaming PC), way too repetitive level designs (even for me, who can take linear areas easily and not get bored), overlly generous experience rewards, and a kind of disappointment that settles in slowly over time after you defend the game tooth and nail after buying it.

    This isn't like Duke Nukem Forever, which is a game I will defend tooth and nail because I am shocked at how NOT GOD AWFUL that game is. But for Brink, it just slowly lost it's fun factor over time, and I no longer am willing to play it, sadly. I understand what the designers went for, and it works for the most part; but even the over the top shooting or weapons can't fix the terrible performance issues that make the experience feel slow and drawn out. Maybe after I get that ATI 11.6 driver update that's supposed to improve the performance, then maybe I will give this game a try. But for now, it's a curious game that I will play occassionally and only cautiously reccomend.    … Expand
  4. corroded
    Jun 15, 2011
    6
    It's what should be delicious mix between Team Fortress 2, Mirrors Edge and Modern Warfare, but comes out with more flaws than abject genius, and is not as good as any of the above.
  5. StormCrow
    Jun 13, 2011
    9
    This is an excellent multiplayer FPS, and surprisingly it's still interesting to play solo, contrary to what some say. I have an NVidia card, so I never had any issues with the game, and I heard that a lot, if not all, of the ATI issues have been patched. However, for once there is a game with objectives, not a low-brow FPS which only require to have the maximum kill count. Plus theThis is an excellent multiplayer FPS, and surprisingly it's still interesting to play solo, contrary to what some say. I have an NVidia card, so I never had any issues with the game, and I heard that a lot, if not all, of the ATI issues have been patched. However, for once there is a game with objectives, not a low-brow FPS which only require to have the maximum kill count. Plus the objectives are dynamic, they change during one game, and they are not symetric, so playing in each of the sides is very different. The ability to choose your character and customize the weapons is great too, because as always you can't have the best of all, you have to choose. This is by far the best multiplayer game in my game library with TF2 and Left 4 Dead 1/2 (which are very different).… Expand
  6. CD001
    Jun 12, 2011
    8
    First off - this IS NOT TF2... think of Brink like TF2 and you will be disappointed - yes it's an FPS, yes it has Soldier, Engineer, Medic and Operative (Spy) classes BUT unlike TF2 the classes do not define the character type - they are merely specialisations. Your body type defines whether you're a heavy with big guns or a light speedy guy with smaller firearms and the body type can beFirst off - this IS NOT TF2... think of Brink like TF2 and you will be disappointed - yes it's an FPS, yes it has Soldier, Engineer, Medic and Operative (Spy) classes BUT unlike TF2 the classes do not define the character type - they are merely specialisations. Your body type defines whether you're a heavy with big guns or a light speedy guy with smaller firearms and the body type can be combined with any class specialisation; if you want to be a light soldier or a heavy operative, you can.

    Each specialisation comes with their own abilities, Soldiers can buff team-mates ammo, engineers their weapons and armour (and build sentry guns of course) and medics can heal, buff and revive team-mates. Operatives can disguise as enemies or (more usefully) "spot" them making them visible to your entire team. Each specialisation can also perform mission specific tasks, hack or destroy doors, or repair robots for instance.

    What's good about Brink - the S.M.A.R.T movement system that allows you to vault over barriers, climb and run along walls generally works very well and adds an additional dimension to the FPS team-game genre. Obviously this has greater impact for light, agile body types rather than big heavy guys.

    The "team" element is very good, you're rewarded greater for helping your team than you are for killing enemies - it actually encourages you to work together as a team.

    The character customisation is also excellent - with a wide range of outfits, hairstyles, tattoos and scars to mix and match as you please giving your characters a reasonably unique personal look. There is also a wide array of weaponry (and weapon mods like scopes) to choose from but this is NOT a game of spray and pray - accuracy falls off on most guns at range you really need to learn to fire in short controlled bursts; this, to me at least, is a good thing - especially on servers where Friendly Fire in on.

    The voice acting is decent, the settings and scenery are well done and I quite like "playing the story" with other people - which is pretty much what the online game is. Alternatively you can play co-operatively against bots, which is great when you feel like playing "easy mode" or want to train your characters up. Yes your characters gain experience (up to level 20) which is used to buy class points to specialise your character (bigger sentry guns for Engies for instance) and unlocks new clothing - it's not a perfect system and does act as a slight "barrier to entry" since you're better off trained than not, especially when playing online... but being a lower level doesn't automatically make you useless and it doesn't take long at all to get to about level 15.

    Gameplay, generally for a team-shooter is actually, overall, very good and not quite like anything else going... but the game isn't perfect.

    Whilst the team aspect is brilliant, if you're on a team that doesn't really know what its doing - you will lose. If your team attempts to go for "personal glory" rather than working as a team - you will lose. If your team doesn't pay attention to their objectives - you will lose. Then, of course, you can get stacked so it'll be a team mostly made up of people versus a team mostly made up of bots... and guess what, if you're on the team with mostly bots - you will lose. In short - a game of Brink lives or dies by teamwork so unless you get lucky on a public server... the game won't be particularly well balanced.

    Speaking of balance - the game could use some looking at in that aspect. Generally speaking, it's slightly harder (in player vs player) if you're on the Security team - their missions are slightly harder, when viewed overall, than the resistance missions - I've yet to see the Security team, on a public PvP server, win the Shipyard map. That's not to say there aren't some missions that are harder as resistance, there are, but there are slightly more hard missions for security than resistance.

    There's a good array of weapons and everyone gets to choose a primary and secondary weapon - but play it for a bit and you'll realise that there are a few that stand out as being somewhat better than the others - just watch the kill messages and you'll see that literally only about 8 guns are actually used by experienced players (depending on their body types).

    Oh, single player ... don't bother except as practice when you're first playing - seriously.

    So - if you want a team-based online FPS, one which has a good system of freedom of movement, one that's more Counter Strike with specialisations than Team Fortress - give Brink a go. If you want the next Team Fortress... don't, just play TF2 or Monday Night Combat instead.    … Expand
  7. Killahills
    Jun 11, 2011
    0
    Terrible. Worst game purchase I've ever made. I've played for 2 hours and can't muster any interest to play for any longer. There are so many flaws I can't even list them. But that all said, this is a love or hate game and I can see how certain gamers would love it. But I hated it :)
  8. Loten
    Jun 10, 2011
    0
    Brink started out great fun, but somehow became buggier the more I played. Enemies disappearing, sound entirely not working on some levels. A few patches on and nothing had really improved and last check only 2000 people playing on Steam at peak times. Feels dead right out the gates.
  9. King1600
    Jun 8, 2011
    10
    This game has some serious network issues. As a co-op game, you'd expect to be able to simply join a buddy with no hassle. This isn't so simple. However, even if I pardon this issue, Brink still doesn't have much to offer as a FULL PRICE game. Pick this up at 20$ maybe.
  10. AltView2
    Jun 8, 2011
    9
    Brink is a visually impressive game, with amazing original art! The character customization is great with lots of varied styles to choose from. The gameplay is fast paced and very well balanced. The levels look great and with a few exceptions are designed rather well. I personally did not experience any of the major bugs that some people had a launch, other than the issue with soundBrink is a visually impressive game, with amazing original art! The character customization is great with lots of varied styles to choose from. The gameplay is fast paced and very well balanced. The levels look great and with a few exceptions are designed rather well. I personally did not experience any of the major bugs that some people had a launch, other than the issue with sound cutting out on one map for everyone. Overall this is my favorite FPS so far of 2011.… Expand
  11. lilkillpappy
    Jun 7, 2011
    0
    the opening video is the only interesting part of the game, everything else is just boring, boring, boring sole less arena styled crap. Cell shaded graphics that run horribly on the PC?? What are they thinking with these shallow consollised crap games. I'm not buying it thats for damn sure.
  12. 3viscerate
    Jun 6, 2011
    10
    I normally abstain from team-based games, but after 65.5 hours with Brink I have changed my mind. The game may not have had a great launch, but not many do. Brink establishes more depth in a FPS than any I've ever played and I desperately want a sequel to this game, or another to come out and implement these same features, only better. PC gaming is suffering because our expectations areI normally abstain from team-based games, but after 65.5 hours with Brink I have changed my mind. The game may not have had a great launch, but not many do. Brink establishes more depth in a FPS than any I've ever played and I desperately want a sequel to this game, or another to come out and implement these same features, only better. PC gaming is suffering because our expectations are too high, but this is a game that should have fared better. I'm sure we'll look back on "What Brink could have been" when we're waist deep in games that are all borrowing from and improving upon its innovations, approach, and game-mechanics. I suffered few issues with the game, and I have had nothing but good times. Yes there are negatives, but it's mostly because of lack of teamwork among players, but that's kind of why I've always hated this genre.… Expand
  13. Kacey89
    Jun 1, 2011
    3
    The narrow corridors and choke-points completely ruin this game. Just sitting there buffing each other, getting off a few shots at the enemy, but don't really hurt him. 5 clips later you down an enemy then you get downed, the enemy gets revived, then you get revived. Repeat. That's the whole game in a nutshell.
  14. Envoid
    Jun 1, 2011
    3
    I had high hopes for this game to turn out to be something great. The idea was there, and the hype behind it had me quenching for more. During the first couple of hours in game play however I was sorely disappointed. The movement in the game feels rather clunky, which is something I didn't expect watching the movement system in action in their videos. The guns don't feel unique much atI had high hopes for this game to turn out to be something great. The idea was there, and the hype behind it had me quenching for more. During the first couple of hours in game play however I was sorely disappointed. The movement in the game feels rather clunky, which is something I didn't expect watching the movement system in action in their videos. The guns don't feel unique much at all. They're all pretty much Sub-Machine Guns and using anything other than that is just masochism. I was also quite disappointed with the customization of the character, though it wasn't too bad. I was a bit saddened by the simple fact that you couldn't make the face how you wanted it, you had an option between about 9 and it ultimately decided between those 9 what race you were. Sure you could change the tones, but only to a more tan/pale white guy, or a dark/caramel black guy. Overall I was very displeased. Those that say this game is 'just like' Team Fortress 2, have never played Team Fortress 2 (I'm sad TF2 sold out though..)… Expand
  15. ChocoboMan112
    Jun 1, 2011
    6
    This game is not what it claims to be, The SMART system just doesn't seem to mix too well and the AI (Considering this is an objective based game) were way too dumb and force you to race around having to change classes and tackle objectives alone and when you fix them too a certain objective they just walk away too go and do whatever they want (Usually a completely other objective likeThis game is not what it claims to be, The SMART system just doesn't seem to mix too well and the AI (Considering this is an objective based game) were way too dumb and force you to race around having to change classes and tackle objectives alone and when you fix them too a certain objective they just walk away too go and do whatever they want (Usually a completely other objective like capturing a command post when you don't need one) but having said that, This game has no bugs and is a welcome change from all the repetitive call of duty, The customization really makes your character unique and the online is fun, Good if you have the money but best to wait for a lower price in my opinion.… Expand
  16. Burty101s
    Jun 1, 2011
    8
    Well I am a big Team Fortress 2 Fan, so this was something I'd like anyway, to be honest it can be a right laugh, with the right people and as long as you all have a good internet connection it can really be awesome! The customisation is fairly epic to say the least, People who gripe about not being able to see alot probably have a low resolution screen. The SMART system works perfectlyWell I am a big Team Fortress 2 Fan, so this was something I'd like anyway, to be honest it can be a right laugh, with the right people and as long as you all have a good internet connection it can really be awesome! The customisation is fairly epic to say the least, People who gripe about not being able to see alot probably have a low resolution screen. The SMART system works perfectly aswell, Wish other games had a similar system, the Graphics are ok, nothing ground breaking, but certainly nothing to turn your nose down to, a few hicups but with decent hardware, is pretty much flawless.

    The bad points? well the Bots are fairly simplistic (unlike the xbox ones which litterally run round doing nothing) It can be frustrating if other players have a bad internet connection and the story mode isn't really anything special at all. I feel its needs one big Patch to make it the game and polish it needs to really shine, almost feels rushed out the door for release, this could be fixed though with a nice jucy patch.    … Expand
  17. bullet
    May 31, 2011
    4
    If you liked Enemy Territory, avoid this game.

    I don't know what it wants to be but it certainly isn't working for pub playing. I spent 100s of hours in ET playing pub-only and had so much fun, but every single design decision in Brink seems to try to destroy pub playing. It SEEMS like anything and everything revolves around teamplay. That might be really great for clan players and    If you liked Enemy Territory, avoid this game.

    I don't know what it wants to be but it certainly isn't working for pub playing. I spent 100s of hours in ET playing pub-only and had so much fun, but every single design decision in Brink seems to try to destroy pub playing. It SEEMS like anything and everything revolves around teamplay. That might be really great for clan players and competitive league gaming but it simply isn't working with 15 strangers on a server.

    The problem is if your team is bad, you won't have fun. There is no way to move something as a single player. Why is that? Because the game pretty much keeps you alive as long as possible.

    The weapons feel like a joke. If you loved the arcade-y feel of ET, don't play Brink. Unless you have all the powerups there are, command posts and the enemy has nothing, you don't really deal damage. It frequently takes more than a clip to kill someone. There is almost zero chance for you to win a gun fight vs. two people. That means a strong player can't really turn the tide. The guns feel incredibly weak most of the time. The recoil is horrible and random, I don't see how you can adapt to the pattern and get better (even when burst firing, mind you!) over time because there just is no way to predict the crosshair movement. Iron sighting or crouching doesn't seem to really affect the "precision" if you may even call it that.

    All explosives are NOT meant to deal deadly blows. The regular nades or molotovs deal damage but it won't kill anyone, they rather get knocked down.

    Talking about knockdown. You'd think sneaking up on an enemy and knocking him down gives you an edge but it rarely is. It feels like the enemie's crosshair immediatly jumps to you once you knock him down. Combine that with the low damage and even knocking an enemy down usually comes to a coin flip of who wins. Most of the time it's better to start firing right away.

    The classes are mostly fun on their own but thanks to the fantastic design decision of not being able to change characters, you mostly can't adapt to the game. A lvl20 character has barely enough points to cover 2 classes. Another point that destroys pub gaming. In ET I was constantly switching classes to adapt, because it was fun AND helping my team. If you don't have a lvl20 soldier, you still can switch to that class but lack all the skills. No problem in clan play with designated classes, but it breaks pub gaming.

    SMART was marketed as being awesome and fresh and stuff like that. In reality, it's boring, clumsy and slow. You won't avoid any battle using SMART moves because the time alone it takes you to pull up somewhere gets you almost killed off. Enemy Territory and almost any other id engine based game had way better trickjumping and it wasn't intentional nor was it marketed as such.

    Right now we're on the 3rd (or 4th, I don't remember) patch since release. The game itself was unplayable in its release state and while most of the performance problems have gone, gameplay-wise nothing has really changed.

    I could go on and on about the big and small flaws of Brink but my overall point is: This probably isn't the game you want to buy. If you loved Enemy Territory, ET:QW (from what I read, I haven't played it myself) - don't buy Brink, it's frustratingly worse than this simple, free game I used to enjoy.

    The future of Brink doesn't look too good. There is a free DLC coming out soon, but at the time of writing, there were only about half a dozen servers with good ping and players on it, early evening. Most of the early adopters have already moved on and I really doubt the situation is going to be better.    … Expand
  18. OzRoo
    May 30, 2011
    0
    I just signed up to this site JUST so I could Warn/Explain what a terrible game this is. I have never felt so disappointed about a game in my life. It's times like these I wish steam would offer refunds. At $90, it is a high price to pay for an unfinished, clunky FPS that offers nothing new, or extra for the world of gaming. On launch day this game was unplayable. Broken menus, freezing,I just signed up to this site JUST so I could Warn/Explain what a terrible game this is. I have never felt so disappointed about a game in my life. It's times like these I wish steam would offer refunds. At $90, it is a high price to pay for an unfinished, clunky FPS that offers nothing new, or extra for the world of gaming. On launch day this game was unplayable. Broken menus, freezing, save game loss no servers available on-line to play MP.
    But, I gave it a chance, a good 2 - 3 weeks in fact. The game was patched, but it was too late. Most PC players have given up on this game. Even if you find a server, chances are it will be empty or contain only one other person, desperately trying to force themselves to like this game.
    So, why not play single player you ask?
    Single player is simply multiplayer with AI, however. This is the worst AI I have ever seen!! Unless you constantly switch rolls to actually do all the objectives yourself. The AI might as well not even be there. They just wonder around aimlessly, dying. They don't help AT ALL, It makes the single player mode completely pointless and frustrating.
    With titles such as Battle Field (bad company), Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Call of Duty. All these games listed are half the price, if not cheaper! (Sometimes on special for $8). Why would you bother with such a boring, broken game.
    You want to dress your character up? Go out and buy TF2 and put some hats on him.
    Because what you are spending money on ladies and gentlemen is a $90 dress-up simulator with a terrible FPS attached to it.

    You don't want a hardcore competitive game like Call Of Duty, I get that. But go out and spend your money on Team Fortress or Left 4 Dead instead. In fact you could buy both at the cost of Brink.

    People rating this game positive either have never experienced a casual FPS outside of this game. Or are convincing themselves they actually enjoy this because it cost them so much money.

    Next time, I won't fall for clever marketing.

    Brink, more like Stink.    … Expand
  19. Jokerfish
    May 30, 2011
    0
    Brink is an exercise in how not to release a game. PC Gamers have waited through a year of delays only to be greeted with weapon and class imbalance, poor tutorials, shoddy AI, and unclear objectives. Game-breaking technical issues kept the game unplayable on literally half the systems trying to run it for the first few weeks. Those who were unfortunate enough to put down money to buy thisBrink is an exercise in how not to release a game. PC Gamers have waited through a year of delays only to be greeted with weapon and class imbalance, poor tutorials, shoddy AI, and unclear objectives. Game-breaking technical issues kept the game unplayable on literally half the systems trying to run it for the first few weeks. Those who were unfortunate enough to put down money to buy this game at launch have been frantically trying to defend it and justify the gameplay since they're stuck with it, but this is a game that would have been returned to stores in mass quantities if most major retailers were still offering refunds on open merchandise.

    On the upside, the game has a slick design and very distinctive art style, which will please most people from afar for quite some time as it sits in the bargain bin this holiday season after the community abandons it to play better shooters.    … Expand
  20. orpheus
    May 29, 2011
    9
    I love this game but it is not for everyone. Brink is a class based online multiplayer team shooter that claims to be the next step.
    The day 1 game-breaking bugs were not exactly auspicious, however, they have since been fixed and free dlc should drop in June to ameliorate any sore feelings. Once the game actually worked, I discovered a genuinely innovative fps; fun, striking and worth    I love this game but it is not for everyone. Brink is a class based online multiplayer team shooter that claims to be the next step.
    The day 1 game-breaking bugs were not exactly auspicious, however, they have since been fixed and free dlc should drop in June to ameliorate any sore feelings. Once the game actually worked, I discovered a genuinely innovative fps; fun, striking and worth investing some time in.
    The visuals are distinctive and wonderfully stylish but in terms of graphical smoothness or crispness, Brink isn't the best (but not the worst either). Environments are littered with nooks and crannies and, though busy, are well designed. Perhaps more maps would have been better but more should follow with dlc.
    Gameplay is where Brink really shines with the need for teamwork being central. In fact, this can become frustrating when you are the only person on your team who recognises this and you end up being turned over with little effort by a coherent opposing team. Kills are not the important milestick by which success is measured but points for team actions are the key.
    The free-running aspect integrates extremely smoothly into the overall feel, with the three different body types (Light, medium and heavy) able to access different weapons and parkour skills which present different tactical options. There is a good selection of different guns that are defined allowing for different styles of play. The weapons feel well designed and meaty and the sound engineering is superb. For those who loved the attention to detail that went into Battlefield: BC2 in this regard should check this game out.
    Team play is enabled by the innovative (or at least I haven't seen it anywhere else) mission wheel that allows you to select objectives and see how many others have selected each objective. However, Splash Damage could have made it easier to see when it is appropriate to change class and each map's objectives can be confusing on the first couple of plays.
    One of the biggest features touted by Splash Damage was the 'seamless integration of online and offline play'. This is a crock of s***. Well partly; it would no doubt be an important feature if the ai players were not as stupid as a bag of hammers. Any team which gets lumped with ai players are doomed to lose. Fortunately, most servers do not automatically add ai players providing enough human players are joined. This was really a missed opportunity by Splash Damage as if they had nailed the ai, no doubt it would have been as innovative as they said. Having said this, providing a reasonably full server is chosen, this limitation is not an issue.
    All in all, you really have to try the gameplay for yourself if you want to know whether this team based combat mixed with parkour and meaty weaponry is for you.
    9/10    … Expand
  21. Deific
    May 29, 2011
    7
    The game has flaws but if you can get past them you'll enjoy yourself. However, you'll find yourself time and time again being irritated by those flaws and sometimes pushing yourself to keep with it. Customization is nice but not as in depth as they made it out to be. Body types add some depth to gameplay, but a in many ways unbalanced. The maps are poorly designed with many of them beingThe game has flaws but if you can get past them you'll enjoy yourself. However, you'll find yourself time and time again being irritated by those flaws and sometimes pushing yourself to keep with it. Customization is nice but not as in depth as they made it out to be. Body types add some depth to gameplay, but a in many ways unbalanced. The maps are poorly designed with many of them being a campfest on the objective, and the attacking team having to push through it. The gunplay is severely imbalanced, not only by the skewed gun stats which favor some weapons, but also by the ability buffs of various classes which makes the weapon damage inconsistent and infuriating at times - ignoring this however, the guns still seem completely random in the amount of damage they do at times. The whole objective system isn't as influential as SD made out, with side objectives having little impact on the main objective or map play. The SMART system is very fluent though, and works very well. It creates some very fluent and fast gameplay and basically makes BRINK what it is, and worth your time. It's a shame that it's often wasted on corridor areas. Overall the game is worth your time, and you'll get a lot of enjoyment out of it - but it might only tie you over until the game you're waiting for is released.… Expand
  22. konpyuuta_san
    May 28, 2011
    4
    False marketing of "innovation" and "blending online-offline-single-and-multiplayer" leaves a bad aftertaste.

    Unlike what the advertisement promises, there is no campaign or single-player modes; only matches with bots and the "blending" constitutes of showing cutscenes in multi-player and single-player alike. That's it. The game is plagued by connectivity issues and an objective system    False marketing of "innovation" and "blending online-offline-single-and-multiplayer" leaves a bad aftertaste.

    Unlike what the advertisement promises, there is no campaign or single-player modes; only matches with bots and the "blending" constitutes of showing cutscenes in multi-player and single-player alike. That's it.

    The game is plagued by connectivity issues and an objective system that punishes creativity by penalising completing objectives without selecting them first on the objective wheel. Teamwork outside of the predetermined roles is thus punished with an XP penalty; or not given an award at all! Quite a hindrance when levelling is so important in the game.

    The game promised to do away with "one-shot-kills" and endless camping, but dying from one or five shots within a 1.5 second timeframe makes no difference at all. Camping remains the most solid tactic, in particular since escort missions of very slow moving objectives are so common.

    You have to specialise in a class to be effective, and that completely negates the idea of being able to change classes on the fly. You loose a level by respeccing, which is a terrible price to pay and not at all worth it if your into competitive play. At the higher levels, they take a very long time to regain.

    The weapons lack tangible differentiation, despite behaving quite differently. Another issue is that you can only decide what weapon suits you by trying them all. Some are utterly useless, while others are similar enough to each other that it simply becomes a matter of preference. Then there are a few that seem to be entirely predominant online; those with highest damage and stability scores.

    The system of unlocks is tedious and punishes new players. You have to unlock necessary upgrades to be competetive by completing tedious and often outright boring Challenges; particularly egregious since you have to complete each of the four missions TWICE in order to attain those important ammo and scope upgrades. They also more or less have to be completed on early levels, since attempting them online will quickly prove frustrating and the difficulty is such at higher levels that the tedium becomes too much to bear. Starting a new character is because of all this a very unattractive prospect.

    The server browser is absolutely horrible, with no way of discerning what rules the match you are entering has if it doesn't conform to some limited preset of rules; a clear majority of servers are simply listed as "custom", which can mean just about anything. Are you going up against rank 5 (the most advanced skills) specialists that will pwn you over and over unless you have a solid team, is friendly fire on or off, and so on. Coupled with the incessant disconnects, despite rock solid performance in every other game I play, that sometimes gives you marginal XP and sometimes none at all, this provides a frustrating and quickly tiring online experience. As a team based multiplayer shooter, it is average; not as punishing as Counter-Strike, but neither as rewarding, not as difficult to learn as Team Fortress 2, but neither as dynamic.

    The SMART system works as a cool replacement for rocket-jumping and the likes, but the utility of the Light body type that can do wall jumps and more advanced manoeuvres is very much in doubt. The levels have a only few places where the Light type can pull off some cool stunts, but the only real gain is that you arrive faster at your destination by using those shortcuts; most often that means leaving your team behind and thus a quick death when you arrive at the enemy camp. Had the servers supported more than 8 players on each team, perhaps a strike team of Lights could do something useful, but as it stands those slots are needed for the core team to be able to complete objectives. All in all, I found Brink to be worth about 20hrs of gameplay, after which it became stale and restrictive. For a multiplayer shooter, that's appallingly short in terms of longevity.

    Releasing an unplayable game is also not acceptable, which was the state the game was in when my pre-order copy arrived. That's why it gets a '4' and not the '5' I would rate it as in its current state.    … Expand
  23. TomiToikka
    May 25, 2011
    9
    This game is worth every penny. It's a perfect mix of objective-based gameplay, character / weapon customization and parkour elements. And it works so well. You can contribute to your team in many ways, including doing simple side objectives like capturing command posts or constructing a shortcut to give your team an edge. Even simple things like reviving a dying player will give you XPThis game is worth every penny. It's a perfect mix of objective-based gameplay, character / weapon customization and parkour elements. And it works so well. You can contribute to your team in many ways, including doing simple side objectives like capturing command posts or constructing a shortcut to give your team an edge. Even simple things like reviving a dying player will give you XP which will unlock new items for your character, including abilities and visual gear.

    There ARE some flaws though. My FPS is jumpy even at the lowest settings (a result of poor optimization) and there's not enough maps to keep interest in the game.

    Overall, the game feels and plays great. I love it. Stealthing to the frontlines and taking out half of the enemy team with a molotov **** is a ton of fun. There's plenty of hidden spots for snipers too, if that's your sort of thing. The game is very rewarding to play and the sense of teamwork is immense. Get it.    … Expand
  24. sup299
    May 24, 2011
    6
    I had really been looking forward to this game. Since it was announced at E3 2010, I've kept tabs on its development. I watched all the game-play videos as they were released and read any info available. once it was released, I was GREATLY disappointed. Some of the original game-play videos showed lots of character interaction and conversation, like characters on your team describingI had really been looking forward to this game. Since it was announced at E3 2010, I've kept tabs on its development. I watched all the game-play videos as they were released and read any info available. once it was released, I was GREATLY disappointed. Some of the original game-play videos showed lots of character interaction and conversation, like characters on your team describing mission objectives IN-GAME, not just in an animation before the round starts, And then you just get placed on the map and 3-2-1, the game begins, a little too much like Team Fortress 2 I think. Also, the story doesn't flow at all, it just jumps from one badly designed mission to another. The game is somewhat fun for a little while, but it just gets boring. Some things were done well though. The customization options weren't exaggerated and neither was the stylized running/parkour. It's fun to try out different combinations of abilities and to just zip around the map with the fast, small, whatever, character type. Overall, I'm giving BRINK a 6/10, not any more or less than it deserves. I would have given it more if it had been released less altered from Splash Damage and Bethesda's original promises. Instead of buying this game, I would suggest using that cash to pre-purchase RAGE, which looks pretty nifty. Go check that one out, and when it is released, ill put upa review of it. Here's to hoping there aren't any more big letdowns for the gaming community.… Expand
  25. Apotheosis
    May 24, 2011
    9
    Alright do, I have played A LOT of shooters, from the original Call of Duty on PC, to Black OPS, and there is one thing that all those games don't have, and that's complete teamwork. In most games, if you have the right weapon and perks, you can take out the entire team with one clip. Where the teamwork in that? In BRINK, it's an Objective Based game, which makes it REQUIRE teamwork. And aAlright do, I have played A LOT of shooters, from the original Call of Duty on PC, to Black OPS, and there is one thing that all those games don't have, and that's complete teamwork. In most games, if you have the right weapon and perks, you can take out the entire team with one clip. Where the teamwork in that? In BRINK, it's an Objective Based game, which makes it REQUIRE teamwork. And a lot of people don't get that, they would rather go out and get kills and then try to get a small group and beat some face while the needed class works on the objective, I have lost countless matched because of people trying to get the reward of "Most Kills" than trying to win. I don't see a grinding process, because if you are doing your classes job, you will level. There is a huge differentiation between classes, and you see it. You will notice when your team is missing a class, it sucks. But people need to realize that you can't run around, and kill 25 people and expect something awesome to happen. There is no I in Teamwork. Now is one thing though, storyline is very bad. When you jump in, you really have no idea what is going or really how to play. Which isn't that good, but hey, they wanted to focus on online, and they hit it right on the nail. They could some more maps and some new objective, but these will work til they come out with some DLC.… Expand
  26. sistre
    May 24, 2011
    3
    Come on brothers, lets do this! First thing I do as a XP addict is watch the tutorial that tells me to hold tab to see and choose objectives.
    I start the campaign and immediately I get all confused about wtf to do. I hold tab.....i see no objectives. i hold tab again. no objectives instead I see a nice scoreboard. WTF do i want a scoreboard for in SINGLEPLAYER???? i don't care about the    Come on brothers, lets do this! First thing I do as a XP addict is watch the tutorial that tells me to hold tab to see and choose objectives.
    I start the campaign and immediately I get all confused about wtf to do. I hold tab.....i see no objectives. i hold tab again. no objectives instead I see a nice scoreboard. WTF do i want a scoreboard for in SINGLEPLAYER???? i don't care about the bots stats!!!!! I do care about the new SMART system though. Good idea if your maps where up4 the challenge. And omg the goddamn medics running around throwing syringes everwhere geezeez I just emptied 2 full mags in his head and all it takes for him to ress is 2 secs? srsly I have now uninstalled and when this is done im returning this piece of donkey **** they chose to call a game :) have nice day- witcher2 plz dont suck this bad!!! plz    … Expand
  27. soulbeyond
    May 23, 2011
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This Game is really good, opposing to what some people are saying. At this moment to me, metascore has lost my consideration and for all those sites and magazine critics that say brink sucks here is proof of how much it sucks: http://www.splashdamage.com/awards

    So shut up you haters!    … Expand
  28. Banjaxed
    May 23, 2011
    3
    Just terrible. Boring game if i wanted to play team fortress 2 then ill just play team fortress 2! Sure the sliding is cool but the game just lacks any fun imo.
  29. n20
    May 22, 2011
    8
    Brink ventures away from the common world of modern day warfare shooters with a breath of fresh air. It borrows elements from other shooters and mixes it into a solid game thats fun to play. TF2's emphasis on teamwork, BC2's class dependency, and a dash of APB's character customization. Its not your typical CoD gameplay where players get to lone wolf with a high kill/death ratio to winBrink ventures away from the common world of modern day warfare shooters with a breath of fresh air. It borrows elements from other shooters and mixes it into a solid game thats fun to play. TF2's emphasis on teamwork, BC2's class dependency, and a dash of APB's character customization. Its not your typical CoD gameplay where players get to lone wolf with a high kill/death ratio to win missions, and its the people that suffer from that mentality that likely hate the game. Gone is KD ratio records and the best players are rated by how many points scored by accomplishing objectives and team support. The SMART movement system is fun and becomes even more when you unlock the light body type for your characters. Character customization is fun and well designed, seeing your characters between missions cinematic is a nice touch. Sadly, a bad launch prevented Brink from becoming an exceptional game. Considerable bugs, odd camera movement at times, enemies not rendering, and such, hurt Brink in the eyes of many. The recent and impending patches go a long way to make up for it however. Brink is worth your time and money, but you wouldn't be wrong to wait a little bit to buy.… Expand
  30. Ainotna
    May 22, 2011
    0
    From Steam: Brink's advanced player customization offers a near-endless combination of looks for your character (unless you are a woman) â
  31. DingChavez
    May 22, 2011
    6
    Brink had me pumped to get my hands on it for about 7 months prior to its release. After putting about 17 hours into the game, I have found that I wish I would never had spent my money on it. Horrible classes that are bland and shallow, along with maps that lack creativity and balance make this game difficult to spend time playing. I would consider myself an fps gamer first and foremost,Brink had me pumped to get my hands on it for about 7 months prior to its release. After putting about 17 hours into the game, I have found that I wish I would never had spent my money on it. Horrible classes that are bland and shallow, along with maps that lack creativity and balance make this game difficult to spend time playing. I would consider myself an fps gamer first and foremost, having played everything from Counterstrike 1.6 through Brink and CoD: Black Ops and TF2 all with over 90 hours played. Never have I seen an fps game not try at creating unique and varied maps that are at least adequately balanced. It's frustrating to be bottlenecked into submission on a few of the like 8 maps there are and its dull seeing everything in the game a neon blue color or a rusted red. The classes want you to believe they are unique and useful at first glance, but after playing through each of them I found that the subtle variances weren't enough to really get me to play each of them consistently. I was also disappointed with the weapons not being restricted per class or anything. Brink does do a great job with the graphics and customization of your character in my opinion. I would only assume additional content for changing your characters look will be coming often enough which would be a plus. The S.M.A.R.T system works almost perfectly, with only a few hiccups for me as I play. Usually just get hung up on a part of a level when trying to hurdle or slide under certain objects if I don't do it perfectly. Nothing game-breaking or anything there.… Expand
  32. ethan26
    May 22, 2011
    8
    Brink is a relativly good game. It had a few errors because of the short campaign and AI players did not really cooperate. There were also a few glitches as to where a teammate would be carring a package and he would just freeze completly.
  33. Portal2Mapper
    May 21, 2011
    10
    After playing it for a few hours today... In my opinion, this game is super good... I honestly can't find anything wrong with it. The only thing they could of added more in, is more customization, but it's still good. Anyone that rates it a 0, or 1 just because they didn't see something in the game that they wished.. Is really retarded, It doesn't deserve it because a whiny brat doesn'tAfter playing it for a few hours today... In my opinion, this game is super good... I honestly can't find anything wrong with it. The only thing they could of added more in, is more customization, but it's still good. Anyone that rates it a 0, or 1 just because they didn't see something in the game that they wished.. Is really retarded, It doesn't deserve it because a whiny brat doesn't see something they like.… Expand
  34. SqueakyNoobCake
    May 21, 2011
    7
    Brink is a alot like marmite you'll either love the team based gameplay or loth it, the classes are broken into 4 different roles all with their own perks. The solider is the back bone of the team restocking ammo of allies and placing charges, the engineer repairs objectives and places mines,turrets and buffs the damage of teams weapons by throwing a spanner at them, the medic is selfBrink is a alot like marmite you'll either love the team based gameplay or loth it, the classes are broken into 4 different roles all with their own perks. The solider is the back bone of the team restocking ammo of allies and placing charges, the engineer repairs objectives and places mines,turrets and buffs the damage of teams weapons by throwing a spanner at them, the medic is self explanitory and revives downed team mates buffs health regerations, running speed in later levels. The last class is the operative who hacks objectives and has the ability to spot mines, hack turrets and disgues as the enemy. The game has a wide array of customisation from defining your charaters look to what kind of guns you want.You eventually can pick between 3 builds when your level 8 from medium, light to heavy the main difference is the bigger your build the bigger your guns. There are a total of 24 which might not seem like much but the amount of combinations with the attachments are mind blowing you unlock the attachments though doing the "challenege" mode which is nice as new players have just as much chance as the veterans. The level design is well organized but can get very boring as there are only a 8 maps at the moment If you can look past some its short comings there is alot of fun to be had. If you have team spirit I recommend this game to anyone.… Expand
  35. Kurushi
    May 20, 2011
    9
    I'll keep this short. Brink is possibly the most underrated game this year because people haven't really discovered the depth, beauty and dismissed it as another shooter. It really isn't - unless you hate shooters that is. It mixes the fast action run and gun shooting of the Quake series seamlessly with the more tense stand-offs of the more 'arcade-realistic shooters' made popular withinI'll keep this short. Brink is possibly the most underrated game this year because people haven't really discovered the depth, beauty and dismissed it as another shooter. It really isn't - unless you hate shooters that is. It mixes the fast action run and gun shooting of the Quake series seamlessly with the more tense stand-offs of the more 'arcade-realistic shooters' made popular within recent years.

    The movement will change the way you look at the FPS. Want to get to the other side of the room to get another angle at the enemy but know you'll get shot to pieces in seconds? Slide with SMART and you're there. It really does make you use the environment and use Brink's purposeful choke points to the max. With well over a decade of FPS experience I can honestly say these are some of the most fun shoot-outs I've ever had in a game.

    Something most other mainstream reviews failed to mention is you can knock people on their feet in Brink. If you're good enough you can take on crowds of players and come out on top, or at least escape! The skill ceiling is remarkably high which keeps you coming back, you just want to get better, taking more people on as you go.

    The map design is excellent. You can see Splash Damage tore them apart to make them just perfect. You can really see how much experience is behind the flow and layout of these maps. There's only 8 but plenty of depth there. Quality over quantity definitely pays off here.

    Finally, I shouldn't feel the need to mention negative reviews, but most, I can safely say did not get this game at all or give it a chance. To put it bluntly, they were bad and that's why they didn't like it. If all you play is FPS, get this game - it's a whole new challenge most can't handle. It requires lots of skill at patience at first but you won't want to go back after Brink.    … Expand
  36. Wik
    May 20, 2011
    9
    Great FPS. I really the world of BRINK. Weapons, characters and maps are great. Single player in no good, but it's a great multilayer game, with great group objectives.
  37. viibl
    May 19, 2011
    4
    The depth of my disappointment with the game cannot be overstated, but neither can its flaws.

    The primary issues are ones that relate to the elemental parts of a good FPS game. In these ways, Brink scores below average when compared to the benchmarks across the FPS pantheon (Planetside, Quake 2, Counter-Strike, Battlefield 2142 and BC2, TF2). Weapon Balance: Poor. There are two runaway    The depth of my disappointment with the game cannot be overstated, but neither can its flaws.


    The primary issues are ones that relate to the elemental parts of a good FPS game. In these ways, Brink scores below average when compared to the benchmarks across the FPS pantheon (Planetside, Quake 2, Counter-Strike, Battlefield 2142 and BC2, TF2).


    Weapon Balance: Poor. There are two runaway favorites - the CARB SMG and the Revolver. Because their accuracy, operating range and damage are only barely worse than the next tiers of weapons (and because combat happens at close range most of the time), these two guns are the most common seen and the most effective. There are no appreciable advantages to the Assault Rifles or Heavy weapons. The rest of the SMGs are, simply put, worse than the CARB. Don't bother. Class Balance: If some maps didn't require Operatives and Soldiers then you'd never seen them. Medic and Engineer are very well rounded and their buffing abilities outshine whatever skills the other two classes have. This, keep in mind, with the Engineer's turrets almost entirely crippled by incredibly slow target acquisition. The body types are visual candy at best; the differences in health are negligible in firefights, leading more to choose the Light type due to its mobility. Note that the Light can use both of the superior weapons above. The twitchiness of aiming and movement make it possible to tank damage simply by moving quickly.


    Map Design: Consider that one map has no sound, another glitches all player models into invisibility and a third can have one team's spawn locked down within 30 seconds and you'll see why the map design is disappointing. There are no CTF or Capture Point modes (near-requirements in the FPS space), instead relying on repeated objective-based tasks governed by timers and checkpoints. These are poorly balanced, with the defending team almost always at an advantage. Controls and Movement: Possibly the worst part of the gameplay. Yes, you can jump over barricades and slide into corners, but your character will also get tripped up on ground debris (breaking sprint - argh!), twitch uncontrollably when up against cover and mercilessly hesitate when transitioning between postures, aiming and sprinting. The complete lack of polish in control ruins the authenticity of the gameplay and makes you feel more like a ghoul clumsily floating over the landscape, occasionally snagging your pants, rather than a mongoose-like soldier weaving your way through a battle.


    There are too many controls given what you can actually do with them. For example, two keys are required to deploy your base ability - one for self-use and one for other-use. In a game where you can express intent by aiming your crosshairs, you simply don't need two buttons. Press the key - are you looking at something? Act on that. No? Act on yourself. Brink is only vaguely molded and not-at-all polished. There's probably a good game lurking somewhere in the design documents, but the just-barely-thought-out customization and gameplay design choices all smack of trying to do too much. What concerns me most are the issues at the core levels of gameplay, specifically movement, ballistics and game modes. These are hard things to resolve with patches, yet the game desperately needs help in those areas and more. It's hard to walk away from the glitz of different colored shirts and a few parkour moves, but I recommend you do. Check back in a year - if there are still people on the already-near-empty servers, the price has fallen and the game cleaned is cleaned up in the ways that matter then, well, you might be in for a treat. Apologists will predictably quip, "I'm having a ton of fun; if you don't like it then don't play it" and "You just don't understand what kind of game it is; go back to CoD." To which I reply, "Just because you think it's fun does not mean it's good."    … Expand
  38. SacredGray
    May 18, 2011
    9
    I've written more formal and detailed personal reviews on other sites and have only been attacked for them, so I'll keep things short and simple here.
    I'm seeing a whole lot of hate for this game, but I'm not feeling the hate. It has its flaws, most notably the single-player mode and the AI. Those should just be ignored -- the game is meant to be played online. And it's a blast when    I've written more formal and detailed personal reviews on other sites and have only been attacked for them, so I'll keep things short and simple here.
    I'm seeing a whole lot of hate for this game, but I'm not feeling the hate. It has its flaws, most notably the single-player mode and the AI. Those should just be ignored -- the game is meant to be played online. And it's a blast when played online.
    The best advice I have to give is to somehow try before you buy. You may love it, you may not. Only you will know that. But I gave it a chance and I'm really glad I did.    … Expand
  39. xetelian
    May 18, 2011
    10
    COD 4 + TeamFortress 2 + Unlocking character upgrades and personalizing class = Amazing

    This is a first person shooter that I'm very excited to play when I sit down. Got some friends and some time, this is a good time. Haven't experienced any game breaking bugs.
  40. Moonlighter
    May 18, 2011
    10
    Brink is a fantastic game; provided you're not someone having issues with it. The AMD issues seem to be getting better with patches and driver updates and there's still one issue at the time of writing causing issues for nVidia cards. But it does seem like most people are able to play with little problem.

    The game definitely focuses upon working as a team. Take the time to figure out how    Brink is a fantastic game; provided you're not someone having issues with it. The AMD issues seem to be getting better with patches and driver updates and there's still one issue at the time of writing causing issues for nVidia cards. But it does seem like most people are able to play with little problem.

    The game definitely focuses upon working as a team. Take the time to figure out how to join a fire squad and play with VOIP. If your only concern is your kill/death ratio, this is not the game for you. In Brink, I'll take someone who dies a lot and gets no kills, but supports the team and the mission goals over someone who kills a lot, doesn't die, but adds no additional support to the team. The classes may need some minor tweaking, but overall are balanced. There is an excellent variety of weapons and mods you can make to the weapons which can substantially alter their attributes. I can take or leave the number of cosmetic options, they include their own set of pros and cons.

    The graphics on a system that can handle it are fantastic. Game play is well-paced without being too frantic or too slow.
    Bot AI has been improved via patch to be perfectly acceptable. They do a good job of focusing on primary and occasionally secondary objectives.
    There are still some minor bugs (more rubber-banding lag than one would expect for a given latency, sound dropping out on one particular map), but with several patches already available within a week after release it suggests Splash Damage is working hard to resolve them.

    Overall, I'm very happy with Brink and enjoy my time playing it.    … Expand
  41. Seoh
    May 18, 2011
    7
    Not as bad as most people make out, a lot of fun for 60 minutes but doesn't hold my attention much longer than that.

    On the plus side few technical issues that i;ve experienced (Nvidia 460) and a solid feel to the fights but it has far too few maps.
  42. RMW_Critic
    May 18, 2011
    9
    Well, this is it. The Game I have been waiting 2 years for. I have probably anticipated too much, I have to say. I anticipated too much. Yet this game still gets a high review? What is this? Well, it delivers. All they ever told us is that it would be colourful, new, fun and a whole lot of parkour. And they gave us exactly that, a whole new artistic, playing style. The broad range of ATIWell, this is it. The Game I have been waiting 2 years for. I have probably anticipated too much, I have to say. I anticipated too much. Yet this game still gets a high review? What is this? Well, it delivers. All they ever told us is that it would be colourful, new, fun and a whole lot of parkour. And they gave us exactly that, a whole new artistic, playing style. The broad range of ATI cards not suported is a whole load of crap, your probably not running it right or just haven't gottten proper drivers or something else. I have a budget Gigabyte overclocked ATI Radeon HD 6850 and it runs fine in most parts. Some broad, open-ended corridors drop the FPS drastically but other than that there is no complaint. People jumping into it thinking "Ooooh, TF 2 mixed with CoD" will be seriously dissapointed. It is new, nothing old, doesnt use any old ideas. You guys just expected too much, as did I, but I knew what we thought wasn't going to happen. It delivers perfectly and I think that it deserves a 93/100. It is also greatly balanced by the way.… Expand
  43. Noobverest
    May 18, 2011
    7
    Brink is not an extremely unique game as they say it is. It revolves around team play, but there really isn't a lot of difference between Brink and a normal FPS game apart from the tossing around med kits part and supplies. The objective guider shows you where you have to go, which is similar to what every other fps game has with their way points. The game play is dull because all the gunsBrink is not an extremely unique game as they say it is. It revolves around team play, but there really isn't a lot of difference between Brink and a normal FPS game apart from the tossing around med kits part and supplies. The objective guider shows you where you have to go, which is similar to what every other fps game has with their way points. The game play is dull because all the guns are pretty similar, and it takes forever to rank up.… Expand
  44. LODE
    May 17, 2011
    9
    This game is a slow start in the community, but it is a real winner that is going to be around in the PC gaming community for a long time, i predict. Anyone who liked the old hardcore team games from TWL like RTCW : fast, team focused, and unforgiving if you try to lone wolf it. No vehicles. No queer killstreaks. XP comes from objectives and helping teammates much more so than justThis game is a slow start in the community, but it is a real winner that is going to be around in the PC gaming community for a long time, i predict. Anyone who liked the old hardcore team games from TWL like RTCW : fast, team focused, and unforgiving if you try to lone wolf it. No vehicles. No queer killstreaks. XP comes from objectives and helping teammates much more so than just dropping fools because you found a good campsite. Awesome game for old school PC community (REAL dedicated server code! whoohoo!) A couple of patches and a pro mod will make this game a sleeper legend.… Expand
  45. Dethstar
    May 17, 2011
    2
    Only lasted 3 hours with this. New levels of repetition for me. Its a console game and I suspect designed for a younger gamer than me to be fair. I like games with a bit of depth. Really bothered me that the environment is more or less completely indestructible too.

    I liked Bethesda a lot until I bought this. This game has made me nervous that they have lost their edge and I fear for    Only lasted 3 hours with this. New levels of repetition for me. Its a console game and I suspect designed for a younger gamer than me to be fair. I like games with a bit of depth. Really bothered me that the environment is more or less completely indestructible too.

    I liked Bethesda a lot until I bought this. This game has made me nervous that they have lost their edge and I fear for Skyrim when its released later in the year as that is probably my most anticipated game ever. Fingers crossed they dont make another shallow one weekend unit shifter out of that one too.    … Expand
  46. Zargham
    May 17, 2011
    2
    This game is not at all fun. There is nothing to do, all the mission are quite same and other then killing a bunch of soldiers there nothing else. i enjoyed the character creation more than the mission. i think the only good and different thing in this game is the character creation, other than that this game is useless and quite boring. i just started playing this game and after a coupleThis game is not at all fun. There is nothing to do, all the mission are quite same and other then killing a bunch of soldiers there nothing else. i enjoyed the character creation more than the mission. i think the only good and different thing in this game is the character creation, other than that this game is useless and quite boring. i just started playing this game and after a couple of minutes i bored. I think they could have really made is game much better.… Expand
  47. aFuYo
    May 17, 2011
    9
    (Disclaimer: a 9 is probably too high, but reading many of those "i looked at some vid and it's so stupid yo" zeroes are very unfair)

    Brink certainly is a good game. But it is not for everyone because it does things so much differently than all recent major FPS. Brink gives you a ridiculous depth of strategies and teamplay but at the same time this depth makes it hard sometimes to enjoy    (Disclaimer: a 9 is probably too high, but reading many of those "i looked at some vid and it's so stupid yo" zeroes are very unfair)

    Brink certainly is a good game. But it is not for everyone because it does things so much differently than all recent major FPS. Brink gives you a ridiculous depth of strategies and teamplay but at the same time this depth makes it hard sometimes to enjoy public, it seems like the game (and especially the maps) are balanced for two teams that know what they are doing. Scrimming with a real gameplan is OMG intense

    The easiest way to gauge how much you will like it is if you enjoyed ET and QW. If you hated those (CoD so ImBa!) then Brink definitely isn't for you. If you think SP should be a major part of a game then it will disappoint. Look at some YT videos, there are a number of really high quality reviews out there, don't write it off because one sucky review of someone that didn't now what he was doing.    … Expand
  48. Artistpawel
    May 17, 2011
    8
    Brink is a solid FPS with great stylized visuals. Simply put, I pre-ordered the game and have been playing it since release and can give it a fair review. Upon reading other reviews, I have been lucky playing the game with no bugs or graphical issues (running an older Nividia 9800GT).

    The game has a fun mechanic that me and some friends have been messing around with. I have not played    Brink is a solid FPS with great stylized visuals. Simply put, I pre-ordered the game and have been playing it since release and can give it a fair review. Upon reading other reviews, I have been lucky playing the game with no bugs or graphical issues (running an older Nividia 9800GT).

    The game has a fun mechanic that me and some friends have been messing around with. I have not played this game alone much, just been playing it with people because bots tend to get tedious and repetitive. I found that bots on harder difficulties do not behave smarter and act more aggressively, they just get stronger weapons and have instant head-shot abilities. This is a game made for multi-player and if you have friends that bump around in BC2 and you guys ran through Borderlands then this is the next game. It is very team based and if you can get a good bunch of bros with mics that can work together then there is a lot of fun to be had. The customization is really nice and the game has awesome animation and design that gives a nice polish the the game. This is no Team Fortress 2 for multiple class team-based FPS, but Brink has its own unique gameplay, challenges and flaws.    … Expand
  49. viking1
    May 17, 2011
    10
    I am fan of Enemy territory - it is my favourite game so i've waited on Brink and - to be honest Brink didn't disapoint me. That Game has a few defects - bugs (like a lack of sound sometime), big requirements but it's smell like a et:) If you play with good, understanding team against similar team there a lot of fun. Nothing can compare with this. Style of graphics is very interesting andI am fan of Enemy territory - it is my favourite game so i've waited on Brink and - to be honest Brink didn't disapoint me. That Game has a few defects - bugs (like a lack of sound sometime), big requirements but it's smell like a et:) If you play with good, understanding team against similar team there a lot of fun. Nothing can compare with this. Style of graphics is very interesting and I enjoy it. I recommend this game to all fans of classic MP shooters like a Enemy Territory.… Expand
  50. runbmp
    May 17, 2011
    4
    The premise of a waterworld with bothers is certainly an enticing idea and certainly had me interested. Once immersed the game play I quickly realized that the staying power would be short lived. Personally I love precision shooting with high twitch elements. I do genuinely think some people will enjoy the game immensely. Especially once a patch fixes some of its graphical glitches.

    I    The premise of a waterworld with bothers is certainly an enticing idea and certainly had me interested. Once immersed the game play I quickly realized that the staying power would be short lived. Personally I love precision shooting with high twitch elements. I do genuinely think some people will enjoy the game immensely. Especially once a patch fixes some of its graphical glitches.

    I think in terms of overall gameplay, TF2 is a better game over Brink.    … Expand
  51. letouriste
    May 17, 2011
    10
    teamplay 10, on doit obligatoirement jouer en équipe. Gameplay 10 plusieurs objectifs et des centaines de tactiques différentes. Un vrais jeux miltijoueurs, sans jouer comme un mercenaire en solo. Si vous vouler des jeux solo, ne jouez pas a ce jeux fait pour le multi. Pour moi c'est un référence pour le multi.
  52. fryzee
    May 16, 2011
    9
    Brink is a fantastic take on the FPS genre. Following similar style to TF2, Brink offers everything CoD doesn't, teamwork, full gun and character customization, class based combat and co-op. What's to hate? Majority of the critics are stupid fools playing on Xbox who have a mind set of, CoD CoD CoD CoD, Call of Duty isn't everything! Brink has one of the greatest weapon customization menusBrink is a fantastic take on the FPS genre. Following similar style to TF2, Brink offers everything CoD doesn't, teamwork, full gun and character customization, class based combat and co-op. What's to hate? Majority of the critics are stupid fools playing on Xbox who have a mind set of, CoD CoD CoD CoD, Call of Duty isn't everything! Brink has one of the greatest weapon customization menus out of any game I know, immense character customization, dedicated servers, co-op, single player, multiplayer, Single player and multiplayer that link simultaneously online and offline, and classes the offer different game play types each game, every time Brink is a step above. I recommend to true FPS fans who enjoy teamwork, playing with mates and not the 12 year old's that think everything but Call of Duty is bad. 9/10 Game.… Expand
  53. EsquireIII
    May 16, 2011
    7
    I really want to give this a 10. I really do. But with the bugs that should've never made it to the final release, I just can't. Quite a few times on multiplayer maps, all AI controlled characters decide to become invisible for the round and then, to top it all off, the sound cuts out. I'm pretty sure this bug only affects one player instead of a whole server, but I still don't understandI really want to give this a 10. I really do. But with the bugs that should've never made it to the final release, I just can't. Quite a few times on multiplayer maps, all AI controlled characters decide to become invisible for the round and then, to top it all off, the sound cuts out. I'm pretty sure this bug only affects one player instead of a whole server, but I still don't understand how they let that into the launch of the game. There are a few other bugs that I could mention, but they're really more annoyances than anything. In addition, the AI is horrid. Your teammates on offensive missions will run into a heavily guarded room only to be quickly gunned down. There are times when my teammates won't even help, they just randomly run around while I'm left to hopelessly battle my way to the objective, only to reach it and have 3 more enemies rush into the room and kill me. The cut-scenes play out pretty much the same way, to the point that it's maddening. That being said, I love this game. Unlike Call of Duty, where the focus is on the individual, Brink places the focus on the team while discouraging players to act on their own. For offensive teams, it is almost impossible to complete your objective if you don't band together and attack as a group. Defensive teams also need teamwork. They can't just leave one doomed engineer to guard the intel while everyone else runs around aimlessly. A variety of classes is required for the game to go anywhere. Different objectives need different classes to complete them, and in some instances, there are certain classes that can reverse the progress of the offensive team's objective. For instance, say a soldier plants an explosive charge. The defensive team has 40 seconds to get an engineer to that charge so he can disarm it. Each class tends to play pretty much the same with different abilities and buffs. Some people may hate this, but I tend to enjoy it, especially since you can switch classes at will at a friendly command post to suit the needs of the team. Customization of your character is great, with different options for faces, scars, tattoos, clothing, and hairstyles. You have only one character for both the Resistance and Security sides of the story. The character keeps the same face, scars, and tattoos, but the clothing and hair can be changed at will, each side having its own options for outfits. The game also has three body builds that can also be changed in the main menu. Heavy can use all weapons, has the most health, but moves slow and can't climb very well, while light is fast, has more options for "SMART" (more on that shortly), but is frail and can only use light weapons. As you might expect, average is a mix of the two. Regarding SMART (Smooth Movement Across Rough Terrain), the system works very well. holding down the sprint key will allow your character to climb and jump through the map. That being said, the maps are bland when you look at this amazing system they made to get through them. In addition, there are only eight maps at this time, and I imagine many players will quickly become bored of them. All in all, Brink is a solid game with a lot of room for improvement. Hopefully, in later patches, they will fix the shoddy AI, fix the horrid bugs, and add more content for players to enjoy.… Expand
  54. Kagd
    May 16, 2011
    5
    Entertaining. But doesnt have true staying power. You complete the campaigns and challenges in about 1 day. After that it's all about online play which can extremely unbalanced. Bugs and server problems don't really help the score either. If you feel like spending 50 bucks for a couple of day's fun, then brink is for you.
  55. seldomConvinced
    May 16, 2011
    4
    Brink will appeal to a very certain type of PC gamer.

    Above all, it will be the type of gamer that cares only about multiplayer, because despite it's claims to provide an 'innovative' mix of single-player, co-op, and multiplayer, BRINK simply reuses the multiplayer maps for single-player and co-op whilst adding bots into the mix. Unfortunately, with crippling AI shortcomings, these bots    Brink will appeal to a very certain type of PC gamer.

    Above all, it will be the type of gamer that cares only about multiplayer, because despite it's claims to provide an 'innovative' mix of single-player, co-op, and multiplayer, BRINK simply reuses the multiplayer maps for single-player and co-op whilst adding bots into the mix. Unfortunately, with crippling AI shortcomings, these bots provide a single player and co-op experience that is frustrating, tedious, but (mercifully) short. The game contains in total 8 maps, less than many budget games, and though these are accompanied by some attractive cutscenes and an interesting premise, they ultimately boil down to charging through one of two choke points to an objective, or defending these chokepoints against the opposing team.

    Secondly, it will be the type of gamer that likes the idea of teamwork, but dislikes engaging their brain too much. Teamplay in BRINK is achieved by spamming buffs, rather than careful positioning or depth of strategy. If you do take the risk of engaging your brain for a second, you might be taken aback by how incredibly patronising the game is in its desperate attempts to force you to focus heavily on buff spam - this is a game that literally rewards standing at your spawn buffing freshly spawned players more than running off and single-handedly obliterating the enemy team. Proponents of BRINK might be quick to discount people who are more interested in killing the opposing team as people who don't understand the true value of teamplay; however, when a major objective of said teamplay is to kill the enemy team, the bizarre way in which BRINK rewards the most trivial actions over the most significant ones makes it extremely difficult to identify the good players from the bad.

    BRINK is the equivalent of your manager grabbing you by the neck and slapping you in the face repeatedly screaming "BE MORE OF A TEAM PLAYER!". Subtle it certainly isn't in its efforts to get you to stop thinking about the fun of trying to rack up kills, and get back to your key role of pressing "F" and "X". You'll certainly be pressing these keys a lot, because you need to rebuff yourself every time you die (it's not fun in an MMO, and turns out it's even less fun in an FPS). The same goes for your teammates, who'll also need buffing constantly, and the objectives you'll be zerging to stand near and press "F".

    So, thirdly, BRINK's appeal is also limited to FPS players who aren't huge fans of, or very good at, the actual running and shooting part. Running is handled by a SMART system which allows you to hold a key to automatically jump/vault as appropriate, eliminating any need to carefully time jumps. Unfortunately, the parkour-based fun that might ensue is limited by the 8 maps that really don't allow the system to shine. Shooting is facilitated by a wide selection of broadly similar weapons, whose killing power is often affected more by the randomness of their huge bullet spread than the actual accuracy or tap-fire ability of the user. Aim is still required, and it would be wrong to suggest there isn't a degree of twitch-based action in BRINK, and I'm sure there are many subtle differences in the weapons, but it's still a game where the outcome of a firefight is mostly down to the number of people you bring to it, rather than their individual skill. A Call of Duty-style XP unlock system allows weapon upgrades and perks to be unlocked, but you'll get through this in about 10 hours of play, so it's yet another way for the developers to continue to hammer in the "TEAMWORK! TEAMWORK!" mantra by forcing you to complete the trivial team actions the XP system so richly rewards.

    Finally, BRINK will only appeal to the type of gamer who doesn't own an ATI card or care about 3D Vision support, since neither of these work with BRINK at time of writing. This is another buggy release, less so than the Xbox360 version, but still fraught with issues - a surprise given that this game treads no new ground in its graphics, netcode, or gameplay.

    Despite all this negativity, if you fit all these criteria, chances are you will at least like, though perhaps not love, BRINK. It doesn't innovate half as much as the hype might have you believe, but if you loved TF2, you'll find more of the same here. Yet these is one final proviso - BRINK is incredibly overpriced given the omission of true single player or co-op gameplay, and a meagre 8 (similar) multiplayer maps. As a result, Splash and Bethesda deserve poor reviews for pushing out so little content at a premium price tag. At $15 BRINK's peers would be Killing Floor, Section 8, and Breach, and it's comparable to all of these. At $50 it can only be expected to be compared to the big boys of the FPS genre, and it's far from their league.    … Expand
  56. Cytheria
    May 16, 2011
    6
    I like Brink. A lot. Ok its never going to make it into my top games of all time, but its a good game and I'm enjoying it a lot. I pre-ordered early and am pleased with the pre-order bonus's and hope to see a few more friends online once they sort out the UK online distribution issues.

    That said, I'm recommending my friends wait for some form of price cut on the title before they pick    I like Brink. A lot. Ok its never going to make it into my top games of all time, but its a good game and I'm enjoying it a lot. I pre-ordered early and am pleased with the pre-order bonus's and hope to see a few more friends online once they sort out the UK online distribution issues.

    That said, I'm recommending my friends wait for some form of price cut on the title before they pick it up, or for some of the additional DLC that has been promised by Bioware to be released before they pick it up.

    At present, if you can get the game to run (see some of the other posts here for an idea of the issues affecting users of some hardware) its a good shooter. Its not brilliant, but its ok.

    As others have noted, it feels slightly off pace, not quite slick enough and you feel like you're just slightly moving through treacle the whole time. Rubber banding will happen on public servers and lag really does have a significant impact on performance where other titles seem to compensate a lot more effectively for it.

    Some of the weapons feel more like re-skins of each other than independant weapons in their own right. The class system, similarly, doesn't provide any significant difference between classes at the moment and an often noted complaint is that more players play as engineers and medics than operatives or god forbid actual soldiers because the ability to self buff or self heal is far more beneficial to a player than the slight combat perks and broken armour skill that come with being a soldier, or the ability to disguise yourself as an operative.

    Additionally what appeared to be a pretty large palette of skins, clothes, faces and so on in the promo vids isnt nearly so large as all that and at present the game is painfully "samey" in almost all respects. The people you are fighting alongside or against almost all look the same, with the odd exception almost everyone is using the same combination of primary and secondary weapons with similar attachments and backup skills.

    The decision to include all the data about your character in an easily edited file on your local hard disk also means that those people who are so inclined, will start every map at max level and with all the skills available... something which most games have been able to prevent natively for ages through auto-detection and rebalancing. Beyond that, there's only 10 levels. Oh and 4 challenge maps. Thats it. There is the promise of more, but at the moment, its the same maps for both of the games campaign modes and whilst they appear very pretty and interesting, you'll quickly find that for most maps, about 80% of the area is just padding that you need to run through after a respawn in order to reach one of 1 or 2 choke points for any given map.

    Did I mention that features like online stats have been left out because they haven't built them yet? I've played games that were rushed to publishing before, but never one that basically advertised the fact.. its not a big thing, but its a concern...

    Have given this 6 out of 10 because whilst its a good fun game, it needs a lot of TLC to really make it worth the money at the moment, best advice, wait for a sale. If its worth buying there will still be enough of a player base to make it a viable multiplayer game when its come down in price a bit. If not you saved yourself a bit on what may have proved to be nothing more than a short, sometimes frustrating, distraction.    … Expand
  57. MyLittlePwny
    May 16, 2011
    8
    BRINK's game play design is excellent. There is always something helpful and rewarding to do. Teamwork is facilitated by game play and interface elements. Teamwork is not difficult because it's built into the core game design in a way that is much smarter than Left 4 Dead (for example). I am disappointed with the bad reviews this game has received - there is a finesse in the design thatBRINK's game play design is excellent. There is always something helpful and rewarding to do. Teamwork is facilitated by game play and interface elements. Teamwork is not difficult because it's built into the core game design in a way that is much smarter than Left 4 Dead (for example). I am disappointed with the bad reviews this game has received - there is a finesse in the design that must have gone over peoples heads.
    There are definitely some rough edges and bugs. I would consider giving this game a 10 if it were not for those.
    Still - the core of what makes this good is there and in tact. The bugs have not stopped me from enjoying this and perceiving the quality and cleverness that is in this game.
    It is, sadly, over hyped.    … Expand
  58. sle0609
    May 16, 2011
    8
    I enjoy the gameplay. it's unfortunate it's such a polarizing type of game and that people are people who love it or hate it and this effects it's score. But as someone who has learnt to love team/objective/class based shooters, brink is fun, challenging and unpredictable, requires skill and strategy. There is lack of polish here & there and are lots of great new ideas that could have beenI enjoy the gameplay. it's unfortunate it's such a polarizing type of game and that people are people who love it or hate it and this effects it's score. But as someone who has learnt to love team/objective/class based shooters, brink is fun, challenging and unpredictable, requires skill and strategy. There is lack of polish here & there and are lots of great new ideas that could have been executed a bit better,but the core gameplay is solid if you like team/ objective/class based shooters.… Expand
  59. RappScallion
    May 16, 2011
    8
    I was a bit sceptical about this game at first, seeing how it got some pretty bad ratings in the first round of reviews. However, curiosity got the better of me and I finally purchased it on Steam. Yes, this game has some issues but it's not all bad. Yes, there are bugs. I haven't encountered any major ones in the PC version, only font corruption and that the game occasionally freezes ifI was a bit sceptical about this game at first, seeing how it got some pretty bad ratings in the first round of reviews. However, curiosity got the better of me and I finally purchased it on Steam. Yes, this game has some issues but it's not all bad. Yes, there are bugs. I haven't encountered any major ones in the PC version, only font corruption and that the game occasionally freezes if you Tab to the desktop. However, these will most likely be fixed in a future patch. Yes, the single player part is kinda dull. Yes, the AI for the bots could use some improvements. And yes, the story sucks badly. The Challenge modes are pretty dull and unimaginative. There are some minor issues with the design on some maps, especially some objectives which turn into giant gunfire mosh pits where you can hardly stick your nose out without getting the head blown off. But there are also plenty of things that Brink does right. The graphics and design is top-notch. The UI is clean, simple, objective focused and fits the gameplay perfectly. The character customization is great and there are plenty of options to make your character look unique. My only complaint is that there are no female characters. In addition there are tons of unlockable weapons, upgrades, useful abilities and stuff for all classes. And the classes themselves are fun and balanced, each fitting the game perfectly. But what I love most about this game is the run-and-gun feel of the combat. It's fast, hectic and the parcour-like SMART-system makes it so fun, climbing over obstacles, jumping over rooftops, wall jumping to the floor, slidetackling your opponent and shoot him down as he knocked down to the floor. Secondly, this game STRONGLY encourages teamwork by rewarding XP for buffing your teammates, escorting or guarding objectives and sticking close to the group. In fact, being a lonewolf is counterproductive if you want to level up. The game scorebord tracks player by XP earned, not kills which adds further empahasis on teamwork. The top player is the one who was of most use to this team, not some idiot camping in a corner trying to get easy kills. Which brings me to my final point. No sniper class! No real sniper weapons! No wookies squatting in the bushes miles away! No airstrikes! No silly vehicles! What a breath of fresh air! In the end it's all about your team, the objectives and that SMG in your hand and isn't that great start? While BRINK does have it faults at least its a great step in the right direction and other gaming companies should take note.… Expand
  60. NearNihil
    May 16, 2011
    9
    I like Brink. There, I said it. I'm not in love with it as much as when I bought TF2, but I'm not as sour (not by a long shot) as the "ET" players.

    I love using the SMART system, and while the guns may be a bit bland here and there, the customization options for them are great. And while the bots are stupid, real players (usually) aren't. Again comparing it to TF2: the bots are there, but    I like Brink. There, I said it. I'm not in love with it as much as when I bought TF2, but I'm not as sour (not by a long shot) as the "ET" players.

    I love using the SMART system, and while the guns may be a bit bland here and there, the customization options for them are great. And while the bots are stupid, real players (usually) aren't. Again comparing it to TF2: the bots are there, but it's not what you come there for.

    My verdict so far: After seeing about 5 patches in release week that fix most of the problems I had with the game, I can say this game is for anyone who likes objective-based FPS gameplay combined with parkouring your way through the levels.    … Expand
  61. MB_
    May 16, 2011
    1
    Bugged to high heaven and when you finally get the game working, and configured correctly it's still not worth playing. It's like a dumbed down, closed in and awkward little brother of Quake Wars and I tired of that years ago.

    Basically it's team death match only. Really. So if you don't have seven dedicated players who are good communicators you are going to have a miserable time in the    Bugged to high heaven and when you finally get the game working, and configured correctly it's still not worth playing. It's like a dumbed down, closed in and awkward little brother of Quake Wars and I tired of that years ago.

    Basically it's team death match only. Really.

    So if you don't have seven dedicated players who are good communicators you are going to have a miserable time in the long run. Even if you do, you have to enjoy slow constrained movement, tiny maps and the same tired missions you've been playing since original Counterstrike.

    With the trailers I was expecting a story, but frankly there isn't one, theres a setting but its just a backdrop for tired old missions being re-run yet again.

    Try before you buy, or rather, try and don't bother buying.    … Expand
  62. danhaylan
    May 15, 2011
    8
    After a good amount of game-play i have come to the conclusion that this is a good game. I'm sure those who have marked it lower, including critics, have good reason. However i think this is a case of very high expectation and some features, that some people care a lot about but for many will be side issues, bringing the score down. The smart movement is fun, the objectives are good, theAfter a good amount of game-play i have come to the conclusion that this is a good game. I'm sure those who have marked it lower, including critics, have good reason. However i think this is a case of very high expectation and some features, that some people care a lot about but for many will be side issues, bringing the score down. The smart movement is fun, the objectives are good, the customisation is good, the maps are good and the setting, contrary to other reports about the story and art etc, has drawn me in. A lot of people have been concerned about the servers/lag etc and i am no expert on this so i defer to their judgement, however, again i'm enjoying the online experience and i have played a lot of games so it cant be a game breaker for the average gamer. I think this game does an excellent job of bringing the newbie up to speed too, as long as they put in the couple of hours asked of them. I think the challenges and the level up system is excellently thought out to get a good level playing field quickly.

    Smart Movement; I think the great thing about this is not so much the fact that you have one button that sprints, climbs etc. but that it opens up the map design. Soon you realise that the stairway/ramp you thought only had one way up, with smart, has other routes. This becomes an opportunity to surprise your enemies. Even if they know you can climb up, it is still a bit surprising in the heat of battle, simply because the ramp is a ramp, you expect people to run up it not climb up behind you.
    The best thing about this game is that it sets a hectic pace but maintains a clarity of purpose. You always know what you need/want to do. The multiple objective wheel is great and lets you know the primary objective but also other options. Finally; sliding around a corner and gunning down an opponent will never get boring.    … Expand
  63. sethjallen
    May 15, 2011
    8
    Spot on game, Great graphics, amazing play, the AI could use a little more updating though its not as bad as when it was first released, levels = new outfits, challenges = new guns and accessory's. multi-player is very enjoyable and there is a fair amount of maps, there is no death match which would be pretty fun but it gets you away from all the call of duty bull. BRINK is very team basedSpot on game, Great graphics, amazing play, the AI could use a little more updating though its not as bad as when it was first released, levels = new outfits, challenges = new guns and accessory's. multi-player is very enjoyable and there is a fair amount of maps, there is no death match which would be pretty fun but it gets you away from all the call of duty bull. BRINK is very team based requires some skill which is why people do not like it. at first i'll admit i was not at all very good. after 7 in game hours i have become very good, i love the fact that they added in Park-lour (free-running) this is a good turn, and makes the game very fun indeed.… Expand
  64. GiantJunkBox
    May 15, 2011
    3
    I keep waiting them to patch this game, the fun seems to be broken. I keep trying and trying to get the fun working correctly, but it is just not fun. Aside from that I am getting very tired of game crashing every 15mins and randomly deleting my save games. I would very much like my $50 back. If the price ever falls to the $15 range it might be worth it. Overall I give this game a big fat fail...
  65. CBZ
    May 15, 2011
    6
    Brink is a great game full of potential, with excellent graphics and gameplay. The quick switch between objectives and the special abilities make this game really fun to play. The game has captured many good aspects from other games such as Team Fortress 2 (abilities and characters) assassins creed (parkour) and Call of duty among others (weapon customization) to create one great concept.Brink is a great game full of potential, with excellent graphics and gameplay. The quick switch between objectives and the special abilities make this game really fun to play. The game has captured many good aspects from other games such as Team Fortress 2 (abilities and characters) assassins creed (parkour) and Call of duty among others (weapon customization) to create one great concept.
    I think the low scores are due to the high expectations of the players, however, it is true that the game needs some patching especially for the AI and the sound going away in MP. I recommend to wait a little until these issues have been solved for those who are hesitating on buying the game.    … Expand
  66. CKaP
    May 15, 2011
    9
    I don't understand how this game got so many low scores. The textures are beautiful, the AI is sweet, the Campaign is, well, that's the worst part, and it's good overall, the character customization is EPIC, and the S.M.A.R.T. system is legit. The bugs are pretty much fixed now. I recommend this to EVERYONE.
  67. Sebster
    May 15, 2011
    10
    Brink is not perfect, it doesn't deserve a 10. However it is great and I am disgusted at it's low score
    The teamwork is great, if your team does not have a mix of all the classes you WILL fail, however medics are overpowered. The SMART system works fine, occasionally bugs out. It is extremely fun with the light bodytype, however you are fragile with it.
    The plot is meh and the level design    Brink is not perfect, it doesn't deserve a 10. However it is great and I am disgusted at it's low score
    The teamwork is great, if your team does not have a mix of all the classes you WILL fail, however medics are overpowered. The SMART system works fine, occasionally bugs out. It is extremely fun with the light bodytype, however you are fragile with it.
    The plot is meh and the level design is meh. I still love this game..    … Expand
  68. LordOfDorkness
    May 15, 2011
    5
    The thing about game reviews is that they are supposed to be USEFUL in making a game purchase decision. I never, EVER trust a 10-point game review on the first day of a game's release. The problems with them are: 1) People who just shelled out a bunch of money NEED the game to be good to justify their purchase (this is called "confirmation bias");
    2) The amazingly positive and flowery    The thing about game reviews is that they are supposed to be USEFUL in making a game purchase decision. I never, EVER trust a 10-point game review on the first day of a game's release. The problems with them are: 1) People who just shelled out a bunch of money NEED the game to be good to justify their purchase (this is called "confirmation bias");
    2) The amazingly positive and flowery reviews that sound like commercials are just that, because they are being written by representatives of the company that produced the game.
    This is my first time on the MetaCritic site itself, and after looking at reviews for these games I have to say that the reviews are pretty much useless unless one looks at them with a skeptical eye. And the moderators for this site need to do a better job of monitoring and eliminating reviews that are obvious, cheesy, overly-glowing reviews written by game company representatives. I mean, GAWD, some of them are so obvious that it's cringeworthy.

    As for the game, it's okay. Bugs are to be expected on opening day. This is definitely not your average FPS game. The new control system is hard to get used to. I think it feels like they really tried to create a representation of the incredibly stupid "X-treme" sport fad known as "Parkour", or "Freerunning", which is incredibly retarded and reminds me of that stupid fad, "Breakdancing". Pretty dumb that they should invest so much time in the way you overexaggeratedly slide and hop and skip around. The fact that it's sluggish and sloppy and inconsistent certainly doesn't help. The gun selection is basically the classes of guns. You get a few selections, and then you are pretty much re-skinning them. That's it. As for the game browser, what do you expect? They are all a total failure at the beginning, with every game. BUT WHAT ELSE DO YOU EXPECT WHEN A GAME REQUIRES STEAM TO RUN??? Steam is completely evil in its managing to wedge its way into new games' releases and multiplayer interface. Look, folks. Steam has no business being required to run your new games. Steam is a third-party application that completely drops the ball in its responsibilities. If fails to help you connect to servers, it fails to remember your classes and achievements, and it fails to get rid of hackers. The only thing it REALLY seems to succeed at doing is LIMITING YOUR CHOICES. When you accept Steam as being a required third-party management system, you also give up your right to custom servers, custom maps, custom ANYTHING. Buy a game that wasn't developed by Steam, but requires Steam, and you get what you deserve. No choices, no creativity, no effective cheat-deterrents, and no customization. So, enjoy your game of "Cyber-Parkour", everyone. I hope that you don't expect too much from this game just because you dumped a bunch of cash into it, and I certainly do hope that reasonable, realistic game reviews are what you look at when you use this site to influence your decision-making process. :)    … Expand
  69. Glimmung
    May 15, 2011
    7
    Sweet graphics, weapons and overall mood. But single player campaign is a joke (map+bots+short intro). . Gameplay can be frustrating sometimes - you die too often and in stupid ways. I don't know, after initial disappointment I find myself enjoying Brink more and more. Counting on satisfying multi.
  70. commonperson
    May 15, 2011
    9
    Having played this game on multiple platforms the PC is clearly the best of the three the graphics really shine, the texture issues aren't there and it just flows. I had no issues with lag playing on Steam until the patch to fix lag came out. Hopefully SplashDamage will get this sorted soon.

    Mobility is an interesting new layer to the game, think Mirrors Edge with being rewarded for    Having played this game on multiple platforms the PC is clearly the best of the three the graphics really shine, the texture issues aren't there and it just flows. I had no issues with lag playing on Steam until the patch to fix lag came out. Hopefully SplashDamage will get this sorted soon.

    Mobility is an interesting new layer to the game, think Mirrors Edge with being rewarded for using guns. You really are rewarded for being on the move. The objective wheel gives you an easy way to see what needs to be done and rewards you for doing more then hunting down the other guys. Also interesting is the "body type" actually has a gameplay impact. Instead of being cosmetic a skinny character has increased mobility but less health and weapon choices, medium has a balance of the two while a heavy is fairly immobile but can heft very large very powerful guns.

    The AI does scale, while "Dumb" at lower levels it does smarten up as you gain experience (at least the enemy AI) though I did find friendly AI at times wanting but this will hopefully change as SplashDamage have said this was done deliberately and will be adjustable shortly. Now the campaign is fairly short, I have finished all campaign and "what if" scenarios but I have a feeling this will be a "living" game like Left 4 Dead where there's frequent updates. The ending does really set that up nicely.

    Any how, don't believe the hype, reading these reviews though I've come to the opinion dedicated PC gaming reviews are more necisary now than ever given the disparity in hardware between PCs and Consoles has crept up again and it appears that more and more games just play differently between the two (this had been a problem in the past but when the 360 and PS3 came out it had improved for a bit but we're back to the tech divide and judging a multi-platform game like this on one console's play through like Joystiq or G4 do is really not fair to the game or people who may be interested in other platforms.)    … Expand
  71. Kamikaze211
    May 15, 2011
    2
    This game is a piece of s*** I was playing for one hour and I got enough. Nothing new, just next shoot em all. Single player game is with retarded AIs and you cant control them.Multi player is better, but still fail. If you want waste fifty buck then you're welcome. But if you want good game, don't buy it after all.
  72. Yddraiggoch
    May 15, 2011
    9
    I was, in a way, dreading release of this game, which was gifted to me on steam (as a Christmas present by my little bro!).

    However, I was pleasantly surprised! Brink is a very fast-paced game, more akin to TF2 than anything else. The classes and abilities are very similar - a lot of which must be earned through experience and level points a la Battlefield 2 style. Whilst the ability    I was, in a way, dreading release of this game, which was gifted to me on steam (as a Christmas present by my little bro!).

    However, I was pleasantly surprised! Brink is a very fast-paced game, more akin to TF2 than anything else. The classes and abilities are very similar - a lot of which must be earned through experience and level points a la Battlefield 2 style. Whilst the ability to customise your avatar is nice, for an old school gamer like me it's pointless gimmickry - I'd rather see more weapons and abilities!

    I'm still getting to grips with the parkouring abilities (you'll need to select a "light" body type to be able to, for example, wall-run), but I feel that having the skills to use this ability will lead to some stunning kills in MP matches!

    Single player can be fun - but it's blatantly tacked on to the main game and serves more as tutorial than a game in it's own right. Buying this game for the SP experience only is like buying a high-performance car and only taking it out to go get the weekly shopping!

    Multiplayer still needs some improvement - games can be somewhat laggy, but not horrendously so. I'm on a 3.5Mbps ADSL connection (slow compared to my previous 50Mbps cable!), but it's still been playable, without too much grumbling.

    On the whole, would I recommend this game? Yes! It's a good game - it'll be awesome once the MP lag issues are sorted!    … Expand
  73. Arvuti
    May 15, 2011
    6
    Brink is an disappointment. It's not a bad game at all but it didn't live up to the hype and has too many annoying flaws. The story has a good concept but they don't do anything with it. There is barely any story telling, and only bits of story you get are the short cutscenes at the beginning of the missions. Graphics are good and stylish, kind of reminds me borderlands. The characterBrink is an disappointment. It's not a bad game at all but it didn't live up to the hype and has too many annoying flaws. The story has a good concept but they don't do anything with it. There is barely any story telling, and only bits of story you get are the short cutscenes at the beginning of the missions. Graphics are good and stylish, kind of reminds me borderlands. The character customization is pretty damn awesome, sadly there aren't that many customization options. Friendly AI is one of the worst I have ever seen, solo campaign of brink is one of the worst gaming experiences ive ever had. Despite that the multiplayer of brink, when it works is a blast. It's hard to be harsh on a game what tries something different. Brink is worth a purchase if you have friends who play it / are planning on purchasing it. Otherwise you should wait a bit until the price drops and DLC comes out.… Expand
  74. Panface
    May 15, 2011
    10
    This game doesn't deserve these low scores, many games have bugs, many games have worse AI than brink has, it shouldn't just be reviewed by people after 1 hour of played time. Brink gives you a lot, allows you to be able to get out of spawn before dieing (Unlike one reviewer said), it gives you addictive and compelling game-play (Which many FPS games are not doing) - MOH, BFBC2 etc.
  75. mackhina
    May 15, 2011
    1
    The PC gameplay is terrible. Running is clunky and unrealistic, the parkour content is terrible and very counter productive. The weapons are cartoonish in their handling. Grenades trajectory is frustrating. Map design funnels you, resulting in camp sessions were both teams just sit killing one another until time runs out. You cant refine server searches. Map design isn't balanced and theThe PC gameplay is terrible. Running is clunky and unrealistic, the parkour content is terrible and very counter productive. The weapons are cartoonish in their handling. Grenades trajectory is frustrating. Map design funnels you, resulting in camp sessions were both teams just sit killing one another until time runs out. You cant refine server searches. Map design isn't balanced and the heights allow a distinct advantage to camp opposing sides at different points. You can change weapons, but not perks during gameplay, so you have to log out of the server, to take advantage of upgrades, etc earnt during play. This is one of the games I have been most looking forward too this year, I've been following it since its announcement, yet I'm totally let down. Not worth playing yet. Need too much polishing. I dont believe this game had beta testing. Its just too clunky, and not intuitive enough to have gone through a proper beta test...… Expand
  76. teamjawbox
    May 14, 2011
    8
    Super fun game. Aside from the technical issues experienced on launch day (the devs have already released 2 patches within the game's first week which resolved most issues) I have had a blast with this game. It really reminds me of the character customization of an MMO + the character persistance and rewards of Team Fortress 2 + episodic mission structure of L4D2 + the teamwork of BadSuper fun game. Aside from the technical issues experienced on launch day (the devs have already released 2 patches within the game's first week which resolved most issues) I have had a blast with this game. It really reminds me of the character customization of an MMO + the character persistance and rewards of Team Fortress 2 + episodic mission structure of L4D2 + the teamwork of Bad Company 2. Honestly that's the best way I can sum up this game. There are plenty of weapons to unlock and choose from, and the character customization really is groundbreaking for the FPS genre. Also, I find the ability system very innovative for the FPS genre as well. You can purchase abilities for your class with "talent points". IE., if you are an engineer you can learn to build a turret, set landmines, or if you are a solider you can learn to shoot your own grenades after you have thrown them to make it explode when you want them to. And there are also passive abilities like: plus to healing, plus to armor, faster reloading, etc. There are tons of abilities to learn and it really keeps your character unique - not just in terms of aesthetics. The AI makes singleplayer challenging and there have been times where I honestly forget that I'm playing against bots instead of real players. But multiplayer is where this game really shines. The class design really encourages teamwork, and it actually works! Multiple missions can be active at any given time, so your team must communicate and work together to achieve multiple objectives at once. IE., there are escort missions where you escort a wounded NPC to safety, or maybe you need to break into the lab and steal some encrypted data and then make it to the transmission station to transmit the data back to your HQ. These are not just as simple as cap the flag or team deathmatch style found in the likes of Bad Company 2 or CODBOPS

    I upgraded my PC to a Core i5 2500k Sandy Bridge CPU and a GeForce GTX 560ti from a Core 2 Duo @ 3.6Ghz and a GeForce GTX 560ti and the game runs smooth as silk now. I have to say I'm extremely pleased with the performance as well as the graphics at this point. The art style is very appealing to me and is honestly quite a bit different than anything I have seen before. Also, the gun play is very fluid. I have been experiencing some strange bugs with the game's audio. For some reason the sound will mud out at times. But with as fast as the devs are patching bugs, I wouldn't be surprised if it's not fixed within a few days.

    Bottom line, now that the launch week technical issues have been patched and are behind us, you should have hundreds of hours of fun in Brink. If you like cooperative team-based game play with interesting objectives, NOT the plain ole team deathmatch, and persistent character growth that is rewarding and intuitive then get this game now.    … Expand
  77. DarkChaplain
    May 14, 2011
    1
    Simply over-hyped and does not deliver the fun you'd expect. Laggy, hardware issues that make you doubt it has been tested and too focused on online modes.
  78. Sparkz
    May 14, 2011
    8
    Good game just needs a bit of tweeking and it will be Great. I've already seen an improvement since day 1. This is my favourite fps game out at the moment but that could be because there is just a lack of good quality pc games. This is definitely worth a go if you are waiting for BF3. There are a few bugs but hopefully they will be sorted soon.
  79. nsane
    May 14, 2011
    1
    What can I say, I bought into the hype machine surrounding this game and I regret it. If I could only choose one word to describe this game it would be mediocre. The S.M.A.R.T. system is borderline maddening. Everything you see can and will get you killed when you jump over it trying to run by it. Do you want to fall while sprinting? Too bad! Enjoy your pull-up session as an enemy mows youWhat can I say, I bought into the hype machine surrounding this game and I regret it. If I could only choose one word to describe this game it would be mediocre. The S.M.A.R.T. system is borderline maddening. Everything you see can and will get you killed when you jump over it trying to run by it. Do you want to fall while sprinting? Too bad! Enjoy your pull-up session as an enemy mows you down. Grenades fly through the air with all the grace of a brick. Good luck getting them to go where you want. There are numerous, game breaking bugs such as the "how did I suddenly go deaf" loss of almost ALL audio. Hands down the worst thing I ever spent $50 on, and I once LOST $50 by dropping it.… Expand
  80. sum
    May 14, 2011
    2
    Over hyped and underwhelming. This is the anti-FPS FPS. There's nothing really new here, just a bunch of things inspired by other games. Character customization (no female model!), weak weapons, and cartoony characters from Team Fortress 2. The parkour system is just a revamp of COD4's climb system bound to the run key, along with the default melee key being "V" like in COD4 (whichOver hyped and underwhelming. This is the anti-FPS FPS. There's nothing really new here, just a bunch of things inspired by other games. Character customization (no female model!), weak weapons, and cartoony characters from Team Fortress 2. The parkour system is just a revamp of COD4's climb system bound to the run key, along with the default melee key being "V" like in COD4 (which this game was supposedly trying to move away from). Plus the Parkour system goes into effect in the worst places at the worst times, and doesn't work in the best places and the best times. It's more like a "this is to help the console gamers do what the big kids do on the PC".
    Graphics would be unimpressive for a 2008 game, but this is 2011 and it's very underwhelming. Could have looked okay if it had been released back in 2005 or so.

    Oh wait, they didn't beta-test and you can tell. You lose sound consistently on one map, and you have to wonder how they released it with such a glaringly obvious problem. Oh wait, it's because they released it a week early. That's a week they could have used to finish developing it, or testing it for problems before release. The choice in weapons are lackluster, with poor handling and crap damage. This game is the bastard child that would have been born if Team Fortress 2, COD4, and Borderlands had a gang-bang and managed to give group birth into one form: getting all the recessive genes and being born retarded. Have I mentioned that the cut-scenes are cheap, and poorly done?

    The menus are not intuitive. The server browser is laggy and clunky.
    The whole thing is amateurish, like Punkbuster. If you're going to drop $50 on something, go buy a better game, have a nice dinner, or better yet, keep it for upcoming games like Battlefield 3 or Guild Wars 2. At least those two games had people lining up for it for real at PAX, instead of having the developers claim people were lining up for it.    … Expand
  81. Cagar
    May 14, 2011
    2
    This game is good at nothing.
    Parkour game where you can't jump (or can jump 1 feet high)? Is this some kind of a sick joke? The gameplay feels clumsy in every way, the camera is shaking all time, there are MILLIONS of bugs, and... you can't shoot while you run. All character types are soooooooooooooooooooooooo slow, and sprinting is useless while fighting. "Move more than you shoot" more    This game is good at nothing.
    Parkour game where you can't jump (or can jump 1 feet high)? Is this some kind of a sick joke? The gameplay feels clumsy in every way, the camera is shaking all time, there are MILLIONS of bugs, and... you can't shoot while you run. All character types are soooooooooooooooooooooooo slow, and sprinting is useless while fighting. "Move more than you shoot" more like "Move and you'll get shot" . Also, you don't really feel like you're killing somebody when they just fall on the ground, and the weapons feel not powerful at all. parkouring, moving over obstacles is slower than running past them. The only thing I give this game 2 is the smoothness of the menus, and the solid level up system. This game doesn't do anything better than some other game.    … Expand
  82. Danlo
    May 14, 2011
    10
    Really liked this game, its not about going around by yourself and kill everything you can, you need to stay with your team and focus on the objectives, the SMART works perfectly, the customization is great, the only bad thing is that the game has some bugs, which I hope will get fixed with time.

    THIS GAME IS NOT A 6.7 OR A 7.1, ITS ABOUT 9, not 10 just for the bugs.
  83. Jimbob2k666
    May 14, 2011
    7
    Game is fine. Im using ATI and with a bit of tweaking and rolling back drivers I achieve a solid 60fps on a 4 year old pc with a q6600 and a 5770. As for people giving this game "0" because of reasons not to do with the game need to stop posting - after all this for reviews, not opinions about the fact you live in Australia or wherever and can't buy the game at the prices elsewhere inGame is fine. Im using ATI and with a bit of tweaking and rolling back drivers I achieve a solid 60fps on a 4 year old pc with a q6600 and a 5770. As for people giving this game "0" because of reasons not to do with the game need to stop posting - after all this for reviews, not opinions about the fact you live in Australia or wherever and can't buy the game at the prices elsewhere in the world.

    The game just needs a few bugs ironing out and to be fair to SD, they've managed to get a game out at release that is very much playable and fun.    … Expand
  84. Giaguaro
    May 14, 2011
    9
    The singleplayer is really difficult due to AI issues on player's team. However MP is totally worth it. The hole idea of a team based game, where nobody can handle the match alone is awesome. Every game developer should keep that in mind.
  85. MOMOFTW
    May 14, 2011
    10
    Well i've only played this game for about 3 hours but i can say its epic to the max. And Splash Damage is showing they're support releasing 2 patches in 3 days and making a DLC free
  86. primL
    May 14, 2011
    9
    Not much to say, besides this is an amazing game with no other game like it atm. Ofc its not perfect by any means, with an AI that lacks in parts and objectives which are much to simple. Slight issue with server not responding that is easily fixed by forwarding the right ports. It is a shame that we can't freerun around a massive stable map, but it's ok, ill live. I'd say on face valueNot much to say, besides this is an amazing game with no other game like it atm. Ofc its not perfect by any means, with an AI that lacks in parts and objectives which are much to simple. Slight issue with server not responding that is easily fixed by forwarding the right ports. It is a shame that we can't freerun around a massive stable map, but it's ok, ill live. I'd say on face value it's TF2 but with improved gameplay, guns, graphics, storyline and customisation. yay… Expand
  87. Maxi_steam
    May 14, 2011
    9
    Hi I have a few days Brink, it is actually a very good game but there are a few problems with the server search a total lag is because the game with the number of servers is not clear why I ask it very quickly to fix
  88. Auctane
    May 13, 2011
    9
    When you first start out, all the classes are pretty much the same, they can do a few different things. As you level up you unlock different things you can do to make your character better, which also separates the classes even further. This game is a fast paced FPS with a great artistic style that separates it from the rest.

    It does have an RPG element to it so do not jump into the game    When you first start out, all the classes are pretty much the same, they can do a few different things. As you level up you unlock different things you can do to make your character better, which also separates the classes even further. This game is a fast paced FPS with a great artistic style that separates it from the rest.

    It does have an RPG element to it so do not jump into the game and expect to be l33t. There are a lot of things you can unlock by leveling up that will make you a better killing machine.    … Expand
  89. bigT
    May 13, 2011
    1
    Worst game I have ever played hands down! I wasted $50 on this game. Tf2 was actually fun and exciting this game is lack luster and boring. After a few hrs you have done all you can do in this game so it really has no bring back playability. Do not buy this game til its $20 its not worth that either but if your curious. This game will be dead in 6-9 months.
  90. DGDSN
    May 13, 2011
    6
    +Cool / different art style. Looks pretty good.
    +I haven't had any technical problems. Controls well / runs well.
    +Character / weapon customization is fun.
    -Single player experience is really boring. Think Tf2 w/ bots and holding E on objectives.
    -Multi player experience is dodgy. Server browser isn't so good and its laggy even in
  91. kentMOsabe
    May 13, 2011
    0
    First of all this is the machine I am playing this game on: Phenom II 965 BE, 8GB 1600 DDR3 RAM, HD5770x2 Crossfire, it is a brand spanking new PC that has 42 other games currently installed all running extremely well. None of my components is damaged, all were previously tested before assembly. Ok, so this game performs badly, and the graphics are heavy, laggy and sluggish. First order ofFirst of all this is the machine I am playing this game on: Phenom II 965 BE, 8GB 1600 DDR3 RAM, HD5770x2 Crossfire, it is a brand spanking new PC that has 42 other games currently installed all running extremely well. None of my components is damaged, all were previously tested before assembly. Ok, so this game performs badly, and the graphics are heavy, laggy and sluggish. First order of business, updated the driver, so framerate issue was fixed, yet it was still laggy! it was running at 70-90 fps and the game still looks like its running at 10-15fps!. Second of all it doesn't keep my graphics settings. For example I would click for high quality post processing or anti aliasing or even soft particles, I would exit the graphics menu, then go into the game...problem?game still looks the same. I go back into the video settings only to find out that the video settings are not sticking. I try to change them several times, even tried rebooting the game, graphical settings still do not stick! Look, I understand that this is an OpenGl game, but for gods sake why would you use it knowing that there are incompatibilities with hardware that uses directx for everything!! Most hardware out there is directx at its core, why use OpenGL?, I have absolutely no idea, but it was a bad decision. Ok so on to the game...the only plot in this game is you are trapped in an island city with no way out, that's about it. Single player is horrible, it's supposed to be like a cooperative as in Left4Dead, but greatly fails because you can't control your team and it doesn't help you. You die every second with 1 or two shots, while you have to empty 5-10 full clips of ammo into them to kill them! When you are down you just sit there and nobody revives you, medics are off doing their thing, at that point I exit the mission and just restart it because there's no point in just sitting there doing nothing and unable to move. For the SMART button all you do is hit space bar, there you go, spacebar to jump over almost everything. The problem is, it really doesn't help you do anything other than jump over everything, enemies still kill you with one shot anyway. Also the music in this game is horrible, someone with a piano sat down and put the soundtrack together in about 30 minutes, horrible. Plot is shady at best, there are no character intros, there is no background, there are no protagonists or antagonists, nothing to help you identify the game at all or where the plot or the story is going. This game deserves all these negative reviews and more, this game utterly fails at everything. There is no good thing I can say about it at this point, hopefully I do find something good, but from the looks of it, I am probably not. Save your money, and if you don't believe me, there is no demo, but there is The Pirate Bay.… Expand
  92. Borkus
    May 13, 2011
    7
    It has potential, with patches, and a Mod tool kit, it should really open up the game. It feels old school like Quake 3 but with objectives and classes like more modern team based shooters. With some patches, and if they deliver the tools to mod it, I think it will kick ass. I find it fun, but it is pretty buggy, I thought the AI Was actually pretty decent compared to some games, they willIt has potential, with patches, and a Mod tool kit, it should really open up the game. It feels old school like Quake 3 but with objectives and classes like more modern team based shooters. With some patches, and if they deliver the tools to mod it, I think it will kick ass. I find it fun, but it is pretty buggy, I thought the AI Was actually pretty decent compared to some games, they will do objectives and help out, but they also sometimes go off into la la land and forget about it.… Expand
  93. CrockD
    May 13, 2011
    3
    I had to wait several days before I felt I could give this game a fair review. The reason for this was due to the very large amount of hype Bethesda and Splash Damage attached to this game to the extent that in Brink's facebook page they heavily exaggerated the amount of interest in Brink at PAX East (I was there, which is why I know they weren't telling the truth) and the large fanboyI had to wait several days before I felt I could give this game a fair review. The reason for this was due to the very large amount of hype Bethesda and Splash Damage attached to this game to the extent that in Brink's facebook page they heavily exaggerated the amount of interest in Brink at PAX East (I was there, which is why I know they weren't telling the truth) and the large fanboy following which is evident in many of the games positive reviews on here (the wording of the reviews, not the fact that they have positive reviews). The simple truth about this game is that even if you put aside the fact that there are serious lag and connection issues in multiplayer the game itself is barely mediocre and frankly wouldn't be one of the top games if it were released in 2004 let alone 2011. The ID tech4 engine (which was released in 2004) looks abysmally outdated even despite the changes they made to it for this game. The developers highly touted use of parkour for traversing terrain using their SMART (Smooth Movement Around Random Terrain) system would be an imaginative addition if the maps weren't so bland and simple. The weapons feel like blunt instruments not precision ballistics and the nades are an absolute joke, their trajectory doesn't look remotely bound by any rules of physics and the explosions are laughably bad. The plot and voice acting for the single players game and the multiplayers characters feels like something from a cheesy low budget 80s sci-fi movie. In multiplayer there are lag issues and issues where every player on a server will lose sound all at once (happens on multiple servers). I could go on but there's no need for me to completely bury this game. Without the multiplayer problems this game is no better than a 4, with those issues this game is a 2 but I'll give it a 3 under the assumption that future updates will fix the multiplayer bugs. A highly disappointing game.… Expand
  94. DJDag
    May 13, 2011
    5
    The Good:
    -Character and weapon customization.
    -SMART because it really does work well and adds to the gameplay at times. -The great potential for teamwork. This game absolutely encourages teamwork which will make the game all the more fun while playing with your friends. -art style is nice, I like it. The Bad: -Poor performance on PC. This game is just simply not optimized well    The Good:
    -Character and weapon customization.
    -SMART because it really does work well and adds to the gameplay at times.
    -The great potential for teamwork. This game absolutely encourages teamwork which will make the game all the more fun while playing with your friends.
    -art style is nice, I like it.


    The Bad:
    -Poor performance on PC. This game is just simply not optimized well enough. I get these incredibly low frame rate dips for what seems to be no reason. This shouldn't happen because a high frame rate is so important in an fps.
    -Incredibly laggy control input. There is this strange delay between a key or mouse press and what appears on my screen. As an fps, smooth controls are an absolute must. There cannot be any lag input.
    -Absolutely worthless single-player campaign. Playing with and against shoddily programmed AI bots is no fun at all. There is no reason to play the campaign when you can play the same maps online, against other real people.
    -Random bugs. While playing some maps the sounds just ceases to exist, why? Comments: I really wanted to like Brink because my brother hyped me up for it. The great fall from strong hype to strong disappointment really motivated me to write this review. I;m giving this game an honest rating of 5 but I really would like to give it a 0 to counteract of all these ridiculous 10s and 9s. How can you possibly give it such a high rating? It has game breaking bugs. No it's not OK for developers to release a buggy game. Giving such perfect ratings is tantamount to giving the nod of approval for developers to release buggy games. If you are interested in buying this game please wait until you here news of an update.

    tl;dr It's a decent game but lacking in some serious aspects.    … Expand
  95. helwrj28
    May 13, 2011
    9
    There's a lot to say about the game, but I'll keep it short and sweet to avoid redundancy. Sure the game has some issues, but give it some time. As for the good: the classes seem very well balanced, with each class offering a unique play style, versatility, and variability. The movement is spot on, I have no issues with the SMART system. The campaign is fun, each level has numerousThere's a lot to say about the game, but I'll keep it short and sweet to avoid redundancy. Sure the game has some issues, but give it some time. As for the good: the classes seem very well balanced, with each class offering a unique play style, versatility, and variability. The movement is spot on, I have no issues with the SMART system. The campaign is fun, each level has numerous primary and secondary objectives encouraging teamwork. And lastly, the aesthetics, the game is very well done graphically, and just the overall atmosphere is exciting. Now the bad: virtually no single player. This however, is not problematic for me, as virtually all time spent for fps games is multiplayer anyways. As for the multiplayer, there are lots of bugs. But like I said, give it some time and these will be resolved. In sum, this game is fresh and creative. It offers lots of opportunities for fun and compelling teamwork. Just wait for a few patches to resolve the current multiplayer issues and this game will really shine.… Expand
  96. KuramaBingyi
    May 13, 2011
    8
    The only thing I was really disappointed about was the exclusion of free-roaming, because the game just seemed perfect for it. The world developed for Brink was imaginative, to an extent, and had plenty of potential to be explored a la Borderlands. Overall, however, the game is a worthy title that shamelessly "borrows" a few concepts from other IPs and builds on them, melding together aThe only thing I was really disappointed about was the exclusion of free-roaming, because the game just seemed perfect for it. The world developed for Brink was imaginative, to an extent, and had plenty of potential to be explored a la Borderlands. Overall, however, the game is a worthy title that shamelessly "borrows" a few concepts from other IPs and builds on them, melding together a very decent shooter that, fortunately, isn't another CoD clone. Definitely worth at least an 8/10, and worth a try.… Expand
  97. Jazzaroo
    May 13, 2011
    10
    Love this game! Brink takes a number of great ideas and throws them together into one great shooter. Brink can be played offline, but is definitely better when played in coop mode with friends or in versus. I'd have to say I completely disagree with some of these reviews on this site and some of the professional reviews. Did that IGN reviewer even look at IGN's scoring guidelines beforeLove this game! Brink takes a number of great ideas and throws them together into one great shooter. Brink can be played offline, but is definitely better when played in coop mode with friends or in versus. I'd have to say I completely disagree with some of these reviews on this site and some of the professional reviews. Did that IGN reviewer even look at IGN's scoring guidelines before reviewing the game? I am sorely disappointed in him. Anyhow, I would say that the graphics are gorgeous and objectives make for a more fun experience than straight deathmatch games can deliver. The movement system is very fluid. Now I find myself wishing that all games had it. I love being able to advance my characters whether I play in SP, Coop, or Versus games. The game definitely rewards teamwork as you will find that players who are better team players will find themselves higher on the scoreboard than a lone wolf who just kills lots of things. Weapons are customizable and feel very responsive. The game does have a few bugs atm, but nothing too serious and patches are on the way. For some reason this game seems to be polarizing. If you look at the distribution of reviews here and around the web, it seems that some people hate this game, but many more love it. You won't find many in between. I've been playing this with a few friends since it launched and we all agree- Brink is a blast. If you like cooperative games, I don't think you should pass this one up.… Expand
  98. ruttunen
    May 13, 2011
    9
    A great team based FPS shooter.

    I gave it a 9 , although atm it is a 8 , but after a few patches it will be a solid 9. Sure you might have read it has horrible AI and bugs but keep in mind this is supposed to be an multiplayer game and bugs are fixable and many have already been fixed. Some of the weapons do seem a bit too similar to each other , but it does really not bother me so much    A great team based FPS shooter.

    I gave it a 9 , although atm it is a 8 , but after a few patches it will be a solid 9.
    Sure you might have read it has horrible AI and bugs but keep in mind
    this is supposed to be an multiplayer game and bugs are fixable and many have already been fixed.

    Some of the weapons do seem a bit too similar to each other , but it does really not bother me so much because this is not supposed to be an super realistic MW clone where you can be killed by a bouncing knife scratching your leg...

    So a solid team FPS that can only get more better by time.    … Expand
  99. nielz
    May 13, 2011
    4
    Great potential, but i don't know what's happened with the engine - there must be something gone horribly wrong. I like the multiplayer aspect with buffing mates, missions, storyline in multiplayer wich grants more xp than just killing stuff. The character class customization options are very good, the range of possible speccs makes this game a long-term fun. Many Weapons, "perks", (IMHO)Great potential, but i don't know what's happened with the engine - there must be something gone horribly wrong. I like the multiplayer aspect with buffing mates, missions, storyline in multiplayer wich grants more xp than just killing stuff. The character class customization options are very good, the range of possible speccs makes this game a long-term fun. Many Weapons, "perks", (IMHO) good balanced maps, graphics with a unique atmosphere, well made interface for multiplayer action.
    But back to the Engine. All drivers up2date, gtx580 and i7 980x - and it's stuttering like hell. The FPS are good but every second it feels like it's freezing. Laggy as hell, too, but not as bad as PS3 and XBOX360 Players are reporting.

    For me it's definitely not playable, i hope there is a patch very soon. Don't buy it before someone reports the bugs as fixed. Save money and many frustrating minutes.    … Expand
  100. Jamieson
    May 13, 2011
    9
    As a Wolf ET and ETQW vet I can say the game is a lot of fun. As anyone remotely familiar with Splash Damage will know Brink like ET and ETQW is a team based, objective based class FPS. The main focus of Brink is teamwork with all 4 classes supporting one another to achieve the objective. Without going on to much I can say the game is very good, the guns/shooting customisation, visuals,As a Wolf ET and ETQW vet I can say the game is a lot of fun. As anyone remotely familiar with Splash Damage will know Brink like ET and ETQW is a team based, objective based class FPS. The main focus of Brink is teamwork with all 4 classes supporting one another to achieve the objective. Without going on to much I can say the game is very good, the guns/shooting customisation, visuals, the new SMART system are all top notch. The only negative was some tech issues such as no sound in 1 game and the game crashing once I first installed. Other than that it has run fine and considering most the tech issues will be resolved with patches I think it would be harsh to knock to many points off the score, therefore I give Brink a Strong 9.0/10… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

23
#23 Most Discussed PC Game of 2011
37
#37 Most Shared PC Game of 2011

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
70

Mixed or average reviews - based on 38 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 19 out of 38
  3. Negative: 2 out of 38
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Oct 19, 2011
    84
    Brink is destined to be a cult classic (on PC), for us fans of Quake Wars. Has no single player value but high entry difficulty due to tight team focus and sprawling maps. Good, but not nearly as damn good as Quake Wars. I like Brink but it is no wonder that most gamers don't. [June 2011]
  2. Absolute Games
    Jul 26, 2011
    60
    Who would have thought that this highly ambitious concept would turn out to be such a bland game?
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  3. PC Games (Russia)
    Jun 24, 2011
    75
    Brink's unique visual style and great customization options save the day. Although its core gameplay needs some polishing, it's a solid multiplayer-only experience nevertheless. [July 2011, p.81]
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