Brink

[Treble]

2 out of 5 on Joystiq

There's something inherently topsy-turvy with its core game design: Despite its focus on rapidly-changing objectives, it rewards mindless dog-piling on the primary goal. It punishes players who invest in a single class that resonates with them. Its moments of triumph are unsatisfying, and far outnumbered by its moments of crushing frustration. At every turn, it doesn't just settle for mediocrity -- it runs towards it with ramming speed.

Brink's artistically compelling soldiers can sail effortlessly over obstacles, landing acrobatic maneuvers never before seen in the genre with effortless poise -- unfortunately, just about everything else lands flat on its face.

[JoeK]

Just watched the first 15 minutes over at EG. It looks desperately confusing. It also looks like it was rushed out. Shame, as whilst I don't think it was ever a game I'd anticipated picking up, from all I'd seen I rather liked the graphical style and the idea.

[Moz]

Oof, I'm out.

[mr_woo]

Roll on Friday, can't wait.

[Harsin]

So I'm assuming Bethesda only brought the release date forward purely because they were terrified of this getting mediocre reviews whilst L.A. Noire and Witcher 2 got showered in praise. I'll make my own mind up on Friday.

[Bleeders]

I'm out

[Harsin]

From Machinima:

I'm gonna be honest, the party system is confusing

and just plain bad

You join in on friends. Either you or he/she has to be

in a match, than they can invite you or you can join.

No party system.

Not sure there's a facepalm big enough for that. Starting to wish I'd Lovefilmed this instead of preordering now.

[Swallow]

I'll be interested to hear more rllmuk thoughts but for now I'm going to pull the trigger on Section 8: Prejudice and try and get better at Bad Company 2 on PC which I just picked up.

[Willei]

No Killcam puts me off quite a bit actually

You get downed in this game rather then killed outright, so there isn't really time for a killcam. Hopefully they do what MAG does and focus the camera on the person who killed you, so you at least know where they are when you get back up or respawn.

[Padlocked]

The more they've actually bothered to show the core gameplay, the less impressive it's looked. I'm not surprised by the extreme reviews - the gameplay videos from the last 2 weeks, which show the actual game and not whatever is being carefully managed by the developers, has looked flat and dull.

Kudos to them for trying something new but this looks like Monday Night Combat in some ways - a niche title that will benefit from a smaller and more dedicated audience than a blockbuster title.

[mackemansj1]

From Machinima:

Not sure there's a facepalm big enough for that. Starting to wish I'd Lovefilmed this instead of preordering now.

Sounds like you can setup a game get mates in get on the right team etc then open it up to people joining. Not the best system at all but looks like its the only way.

[fattakin]

Im disappointed at the varied reviews as, a solid 7 or 8 all round would be better.

Im definitely still buying it based on how ET & Quake Wars 'clicked' with me and brink seems like a continuation of that. I guess I have faith in the developer & the history.

The ars preview sounds unfortunate tho, but it really cant be that broken surely?

Oh and party mode sounds shit, which hurts me the most! Why cant developers all have the same party mode!

[papalazarou]

ive managed to play a bit more of the game and basically its ET reskinned - hell even some of the maps / objectives are lifted from the Original ET play list (goldrush im looking at you!!). So really it boils down to did you like ET if so then this is the game for you. If you didnt then move along because even though it has Brink in the title - it should have been called ET v2.

Also the free running bit is now gelling a lot with me more so than when i first played it - its simplistic but does do the trick when sliding to dodge enmy fire or using it to vault over walls to get behind the other team (yes i was sneakly engineer in ET when i played that)

Also which has been mentioned numerous times, this is not a game for John Rambo's. if you the type who wants to jump into a game by yourself to simply rack up your own personal kills then move along this aint the game for you, you and your team aint going to get any were and your not going to enjoy this game. A lot of the objectives are based round team working together protecing operatives while they hack or defending positions etc... no time for line wolves.

as i said in my original mini review on the previous page its a good solid 7.5 which im now bumping up to an 8 as ive had a change to get a proper play on it.

[Dave White]

I don't understand people who make these games, if something isnt finished or polished, or has a solid robust online element what do they think will happen?

Spent more time this year with spinning wheels, dysync disconnects, game cannot connect due to missing beacon messages than ever before. Online on the 360 seems to be really getting worse or developers can't be arsed.

I'm all for the new and funding the underdogs, the cool kids with a new idea and a fresh take on a genre, but if its a rushed half finished job, where the drawings and art work are the best thing about it they can do one.

If the patch really is a miracle then I will buy it, as it stands I doubt it

[Hoodedclaw]

been in development for 3 years ... you'd think they'd have it in some good shape by now

What's ET short for again ?

[Dave White]

been in development for 3 years ... you'd think they'd have it in some good shape by now

What's ET short for again ?

Enemy Territory

the much coveted Wolfenstein mp

[Moz]

I'll be interested to hear more rllmuk thoughts but for now I'm going to pull the trigger on Section 8: Prejudice and try and get better at Bad Company 2 on PC which I just picked up.

Hit me up on Steam for a game of BC2 sometime

[Kayin Amoh]

I don't understand people who make these games, if something isnt finished or polished, or has a solid robust online element what do they think will happen?

Spent more time this year with spinning wheels, dysync disconnects, game cannot connect due to missing beacon messages than ever before. Online on the 360 seems to be really getting worse or developers can't be arsed.

Mortal Kombat and Homefront spring to mind. Two games that really needed great netcode off the bat to draw in a new audience, and right out of the box were a complete and utter mess to play online.

It's not just a case of patching things - once your audience loses interest due to frustration or boredom, you'll have a very hard time drawing them back in.

[Swallow]

Hit me up on Steam for a game of BC2 sometime

will do. I've played a fair amount of BC2 on 360 but my experience with PC FPS online starts and ends with a spot of CoD4. As a result, the one game I jumped in to last night saw me die 6 times and lose 3 M-COM stations before I gave up. I'm gonna try to finish the SP campaign to at least get comfortable with the controls.

/apologies for off-topic post.

[Harsin]

At the same time they'll wring their hands about second hand sales killing the industry. No wonder so many games get traded in quickly when so many are utterly broken on release.

[Dave White]

Mortal Kombat and Homefront spring to mind. Two games that really needed great netcode off the bat to draw in a new audience, and right out of the box were a complete and utter mess to play online.

It's not just a case of patching things - once your audience loses interest due to frustration or boredom, you'll have a very hard time drawing them back in.

Totally, there is a limit to anyones patience and both of those games pushed mine to the max with their broken net code.

Purchasing this and then moaning for a week is a waste of time. I love the idea of a modern ET and some of those vids look promising, but no lobbies, no party system and if I read this right no online or after game stats with an unstable engine and shitty netcode is gaming suicide.

[Janski]

Feel for Splash Damage in a way, this is gonna totally bomb at retail

[Teeohbee]

I imagine that by the time it goes down in price and the bugs get ironed out, there'll be no-one left playing it

[HeyMykie]

Yeah I read the joystiq review. I think im out as well. Very disappointed. Ill still look up some thoughts and look at Justin.tv. But my enthusiasm is definitely gone.

[Rushy]

no lobbies, no party system and if I read this right no online or after game stats with an unstable engine and shitty netcode is gaming suicide.

These all sound like game breakers. Think I'll hang fire for now.

[Moz]

will do. I've played a fair amount of BC2 on 360 but my experience with PC FPS online starts and ends with a spot of CoD4. As a result, the one game I jumped in to last night saw me die 6 times and lose 3 M-COM stations before I gave up. I'm gonna try to finish the SP campaign to at least get comfortable with the controls.

/apologies for off-topic post.

It's a bit quicker than it is on 360, but generally speaking people tend to work in teams more and spot more etc.

Edit: err, thanks for the neg? Despite my point bring actually proven by the PC side completing the 'perform a million team actions' contest days before the console side did recently.

[Harsin]

Game shipped mine this morning (much earlier than usual).

[BubbleFish]

I had a feeling that might happen so thankfully cancelled mine as soon as I heard the review embargo was so close to release day. After all, it's not like they were holding back to avoid spoiling the story or anything. Can only echo the comments expressing disappointment; I was genuinely looking forward to this.

[deerokus]

Giant Bomb (not very) Quick Look. 48 minutes long! Jeff G's review isn't up yet but this seems as indepth as a review.

http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-brink/17-4101/

features latency!

[MK-1601]

I'll reserve judgement until I can play it for a bit, but I will say that that 1UP review is one of the most cretinous pieces of blah non-journalism I've ever seen.

Their complaints are basically: that you have to be certain classes to complete certain objectives, that running straight for the primary objective over and over again gets you killed, and that the AI is stupid. But it's ok, because they'll play "a few rounds"(!) with the patched version and modify their review. Unprofessional to say the least.