Don't listen to the reviews- Brink is a solid game that simply takes a bit more time to get the hang of.
Overview
Alright, so let's start with a basic layout of the game for anyone who does not know. Brink is a first person shooter set in a dystopian future where the rest of the earth has been covered by floods caused by global warming, and the last remaining human refuge, The Ark- A giant floating city in the middle of the ocean, is now being fought over for its resources between two main forces- The Security, who are attempting to liberate the Ark, and the Resistance, who see the Security as oppressive rulers who are hoarding necessary supplies from the rest of the Ark. Due to this, the Ark is on the brink of civil war…
How Brink Works
The game blurs the lines between single player and multiplayer, by making every level of the games campaign support full drop in / out co-op and versus game modes, where every character in the match starts out as a bot, and is then replaced by human players as they join. It works well, the teams are always balanced, and no team ever has a player advantage over the other.
Objectives can be chosen on the fly with the Objective Wheel, which is a very simplified menu that allows you to pick an objective on the fly and immediately start working towards achieving that objective. It was a little hard to get used to at first but after about half an hour I was slinging through objectives with ease.
When playing Brink, you have a choice between four character classes- Medic, Soldier, Engineer, or Operative. Each class has its own unique abilities and roles on the battlefield and most primary objectives in the game can only be completed by a certain class.
Another of Brink's strong points is it's customization- Your character model can be fully customized, along with multiple weapon attachments and abilities learned as you level up. Tremendous amounts of customization variety for the characters feels great and I have yet to even unlock all of the outfits.
You can also choose between 3 body types, light, medium, and heavy. Lights have low health but can zip around levels and climb up walls. Heavies are slow and can't "parkour" too much, but absorb a ton of damage. Mediums are obviously the middle ground.
Every time you level up, you not only unlock more customization options for your character, but you also unlock ability points that you can use to unlock awesome new abilities for your character. These range from general abilities like increasing your health meter, to class-specific upgrades such as a deployable turret for the Engineer, or the ability to extract enemy location intel from downed enemies as an Operative.
Gameplay- 9/10
Alright, the real meat and bones of the review! So of course I'm sure you know what a first person shooter generally plays like. However, this game does have a few tricks up its sleeve that sets it apart from other games in this genre.
The first one that we will address is the SMART system. The SMART system is basically a simplified movement system. Hold the button down and run forward, and the game will get you to your destination in the fastest and easiest way possible, whether that be jumping from a wall, vaulting over a railing, or sliding under a closing door. I'll keep it simple- the SMART system works great. I think a lot of people were disappointed because they expected it to be a revolutionary movement system, but that's not what Splash Damage was promising. They were taking a solid movement system that we have seen in the past and simplified it drastically by reducing the user input to simply holding a button and going. And that's exactly what they gave us. SMART gets 5 stars from me.
The next is the Objective and Team based gameplay. Splash Damage has outdone themselves this time, and have finally found a way to force players to work together without it feeling like a burden to assist your teammates. For example, getting a kill of an opposing team member wil generally net you about 25 XP to aid you in leveling up. However, one simple button press as an Engineer to buff your teammates' weapon damage not only provides a much needed stat boost to your team, but generally gives you about 50-70 XP (Depending on the buff). This combined with the complete lack of stat tracking (No more Kill/Death Ratio) actually combine to make a wonderful sense of team play that we have yet to see in a video game. A lot of people complain about the stat tracking, but that's not what this game is about. It's about completing objectives and aiding your team, something that cannot be tracked on a leaderboard.
The friendly AI can be a little…. Shall we say, unmotivated at times. The enemy AI is always pushing forward while friendly AI seems to enjoy watching you do all the dirty work. This can be a pain at times, but then again the more objectives you complete, the more XP you gain. And the game is not even near impossible even with some "slower" AI on your side, so I personally feel that the AI is not as much of a damper on your team as an incentive to be better at the game.
Controls are smooth, the game may seem a little clunky at first after playing some other FPS games out there, but after a short while you really get a good feel for the game and how it works. This is why I believe the game has been getting such shallow reviews, is because people expected one thing, and when it was different they just said "Screw it" and stopped playing. Trust me- after getting a hang of how this game works and plays, it's hard not to enjoy this game.
Graphics- 7/10
Alright, now the aesthetics. The game looks great, and lighting, color, and player models are very well done. The game does experience some minor graphical issues, such as screen tear and texture popping, but they are far from game breaking. The game could admittedly have benefitted from some additional polishing before release, but overall the feel of the game provides a great sense of beauty and chaos.
My only gripe with the visuals is thus- While in game, every enemy character has a lifebar above their head which you cannot turn off. While it is nice to know that I'm "x" close to killing this enemy, I feel like it detracts from the immersion of the game. Also all enemies have a red outline around their character model, which can detract from the character customization options. Instead of looking for a security enemy to kill, I'm just constantly looking for that red outline. Also at some points while playing online, your character model will not load right away and you will look like a generic Brink character for a couple of deaths before the game actually loads your character model.
Sound 9/10
Sound is great in Brink. Good score, and the in-game music is just enough to remind you that you're playing a video game but not too distracting either. Menu music is great. Sound effects are very well done. Guns pack a punch, and the sounds of your character sliding and jumping through the environment are smooth and crisp.
On a side note, one thing that confused me is the frag grenades- they do about the amount of damage you'd expect and are accompanied with a concussive blast sound to let you know you're currently blowing an enemy limb from limb, but when you watch the explosion… it looks like a firecracker just went off. How did that kill someone? 0_0
Replayability- 8.5/10
Brink has a ton of options to play through all of the missions on either faction's campaign, and every mission obviously has multiple ways that the level can progress. Your character's level maxes out at 20, but you can create up to 10 characters (200 levels total), so this game can really keep you pushing for that next level for a really long time. Each mission plays out differently and can be accessed in a myriad of ways, whether that be due to your body type, class, weapons used, etc.
Overall- 8.5/10
Sure, this game isn't perfect. But for everyone to expect it to be perfect was not fair to the game and resulted in seriously low review scores. This game is actually very well made and has some solid gameplay mechanics behind it, and should definitely be played at least once by anyone who is a fan of team play, objectives, customization, or first person shooters. It has some inherent flaws, but they are minor at best and easily overlooked when compared to the long lasting value and incredible entertainment that is Brink. Don't listen to the reviews- pull that media tube out of your brain and play this game for yourself. Soon you'll agree- this game is much more than it originally seems.