I remember seeing Brink for the first time way back in 2009. It was at that year’s EGX in London, and Splash Damage’s Paul Wedgwood had taken to the stage to show off the game. I remember being very, very excited about what he was showing, everything about it seemed original and interesting.
Although the game’s multiplayer focus was certainly something that felt a little fresh at the time, it was really the SMART parkour-esque system that shone out as being truly special.
It was over a year and a half before the game finally found its way to shelves, hitting almost exactly a year ago. For a game with a multiplayer focus that release date in May absolutely crippled it; in case you’ve forgotten, May last year was the time of the PSN outage. Fortunately Brink was released at the tail end of the outage, but even so it just seemed like terrible timing for the release of a multiplayer title.
Release troubles aside, it was Dan who took to reviewing the multiplayer shooter. He was also keen to praise the game’s fantastic SMART system, going as far as to encourage other developers to build the system, or something similar at least, into their games. I’d like to second this opinion, the system is fantastic and it would be brilliant for someone else to bring it into their game.
Whilst Dan was largely praising in his review of the game, he did feel the game lacked some variety. He also found that the game had a few graphical issues, even though many of these were fixed by a day one patch.
Ultimately Brink weighed in at 9/10, and here’s what Dan had to say in conclusion:
Brink will live or die by the community it attracts. Whilst it is so much more accessible than MAG, you’ll still need to put the time in to stay relevant. Despite a bit of lag, playing online is a fantastic affair, with the potential to be made even better with the addition of more variety by way of DLC. Looking for a deep and meaningful single player story? Then step away. Looking for an intense online shooter with more guns than Texas? Come on in, the water’s fine.
So there you have some of Dan’s thoughts on the game, as well as a couple of my own. Now it’s time to find out just what you guys in the community thought of the game. That’s right, we want to hear your opinions.
If you feel like taking part in this opinion sharing extravaganza then all you need to do is drop a comment below, telling us exactly what you think of the game. Once you’ve converted your thoughts on the game into comment form remember to attach your verdict of the game.
Rather than using a numeric scale to rate the game, WeView uses that Buy It, Bargain Bin It, Rent It or Avoid It system. Just pick which of those labels best represents your thoughts on the game and include it in your comment.
Finally remember that you need to get all of this done by Sunday afternoon at the very latest if you want to be included in Monday’s verdict article. Any later than that and you’ll probably have missed the boat.
gaffers101
I loved playing Brink, but also found that unless you had a really good group of people playing, it quickly turned into a free-for-all. I think you’d be hard pressed to find a decent lobby nowadays but everyone should at least experience the excellent SMART free-running system and for that reason I’m saying “Rent it”
teflon
Ugh. Where to begin?
Firstly, i loved the art style, and the degree to which you could customise your character. Secondly, I quite enjoyed the premise and plot, which would nicely set up a Brink 2. Thirdly, the free running mechanic was nicely done, and tied in well with the different classes and load outs.
Really, though, I didn’t get on with it too well. Compared to the developer’s previous game, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, which had a similar MP progression structure, all of the maps were far too enclosed and full of horrible choke points for my liking. Several maps had this to such a degree that the attacking team could simply be bottled up inside their base, constantly picked off as soon as they came around the corner. That’s no fun.
The engine also felt rather ropey. I can’t 100% remember if it was similar to Rage’s texture pop-in, but it wasn’t that great. Then there was the lag, which was also pretty horrible far too often. The connecting to friends was also messy, I think.
At the end of the day, the core game was sound, but there were too many issues with it on the PS3 for me too get much enjoyment out of it. Even if you would enjoy it, the game’s player base will have diminished quite heavily, so I’d have to say to Avoid It.
Haydar
Technical problems killed great, great, great ideas. I’m very unhappy that Brink didn’t manage it. I have respect for Splash damage since Wolf:ET and Brink was really a gem considering it’s atmosphere and unicity.
But i’d pre-order it again if they’d say that they are gonna make Brink 2.
Pritchie101
Brink was an amazing idea. Yet, the game didn’t feel like the game I had saw on YouTube and Machinima. I didn’t feel for the Resistance or Security, i didn’t care who won. The campaign was short, completed in a few hours. However, the customization feature was great. I’m going to give Brink a RENT IT.
Rocket_345
Brink was a great game. I bought it for a fiver and played it for about half hour and wasnt too fussed. I came back to it to play with a few TSA’ers and it was fantastic. At the price point now i’d say BUY IT whether your playing SP or MP. At the current price point now its great value.
cam_manutd
Brink is at the end of the day another FPS. Elements of COD, Mirrors Edge, Borderlands are all there. What Brink does is integrate single and multiplayer modes together seamlessly that it is stupid that no other FPS does it in the way Brink does. It may have below par visuals, it may not stand out through its similarities but its a fun game with a megaton of optimization options for customising loadouts.
I think the game got off to a rocky start but steadily improved and is by no means perfect but it does well to integrate technical elements that makes this game conceptually unique and refreshing. I have been busy with uni for the past 2 months but I look forward to getting back into it.
Cheap as chips BUY IT
Foxhound_Solid
My brother took it back within the hour. He said he was on the brink it was that bad. Gonna read everyone’s opinion as may give it a go.
Kreisash
Loved the concept, but the execution was bad along with a load of bugs on release, network issues and mixed reviews sent this game to its premature death.
I actually had a good time playing this and really liked the way they tried to stick varying objectives in. However, the crowd just wasn’t in the mood for an objective based FPS and cried for CoD style TDM instead.
AI was sporadic, jumping from cakewalk to obscenely hard between difficulty levels which made it hard to get a good game. Although in saying that, given the complexity of the game, it didn’t do too bad a job.
My favourite feature of the game was being able to jump and climb up walls/ledges though and it’s something I sorely miss on every FPS since. (Even now I find myself bounding up and down against walls that are ‘too high’ in BF3.)
It’s a shame that it didn’t hit its real potential but was good while it lasted. The other issue is that on PS3 it isn’t LAN able. because of this and the diminishing player base I’d have to say RENT IT/AVOID IT. (If it was LAN capable I’d say BB it.)
Tomhlord
AVOID IT
While visually it struck a chord (I loved the menu design, like a combination of Mirror’s Edge cool white crossed with Codemasters’ finest slick UI) and while it was, and still is, very cheap to pick up, you have already missed the boat with Brink. The single player is a built up tutorial, which I have no problem with. But Brink’s strength is team play, with knowledgeable players all with headsets that you know and I’m afraid no one plays it any more and sadly, that was the case after a few short weeks after release.