OXCGN’s Brink PC Review

A Misunderstood Bundle of Fun

by exterminat

©2011 Nicholas Laborde

Modern society thrives around technology. The simple fact that so much entertainment and technology is released on a consistent basis justifies the presence of reviews and their direct effect on consumer purchases … and in the games industry, a direct effect on the people from which they come.

Every so often, a radical new idea comes out that people don’t truly grasp or understand. It becomes a topic of popular interest, and in some cases, hype forms around this breath of fresh air.

But when this idea gets in the trenches with the general public, the simple fact that it dared to be different offsets many purchases and warrants much hate.

Brink, developed by Splash Damage and published by Bethesda Softworks, is a misunderstood bundle of fun that is not getting the acclaim it truly deserves due to ignorant reviewers and misconstrued interpretations.

A case of misunderstanding…

A majority of Brink’s reviews, chiefly those of larger outlets, are being based on pre-release code sent to the press that had many inherent problems, most of which were fixed with a release-day patch.

While I am strongly against the “ship it now, fix it later” situation that seems to be prevalent these days, the problems were patched for the public as soon as they popped in their release-day copy. I can put my feelings aside and become okay with this, just this one time.

The title does have some technical problems that do weigh it down, such as poor optimization on the PC version, and these do decrease enjoyment of the title. But once you get past these superficial notions, Brink is just an awesome experience like none other. I do make my number-based verdict while taking these problems into account, even if it will be patched later.

Brink simply cannot be described in a way that properly justifies the title; it would only come off in a manner that doesn’t appeal to the senses in today’s games marketplace, which is flooded with generic shooters that people stop playing after a month.

For what limited words the human race has created for use in the English language, I will try my best to tell you exactly how and what this game really is, in the hard-hitting manner OXCGN is known for.

Get SMART

Brink is a cooperative first-person-shooter title built around teamwork and partner interaction.

Its primary innovation is a system called SMART: Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain.

Parkour, to put it simply. Remember that cool title Mirror’s Edge [that every "gamer" should have played]? Well, imagine the parkour concept it employed but fluidly mapped to a single button, and incorporated into a true-blue action scenario.

I spent my time with Brink on the PC, so all we have to do to get SMART is to hold the space bar while moving, or simply sprinting toward a climbable surface. That’s it!

Look at a ledge while holding it? You’ll jump up to it. Look under an object while running? You’ll slide under it.

While it is a very innovative idea, especially in a first-person shooter, and nothing quite beats sliding into an enemy and then blowing them away, it doesn’t always work. Sometimes your character won’t jump where he’s supposed to, et cetera.

It can also be somewhat difficult to interpret at first sight what you can and cannot reach. And other times, when you’re quickly moving across many surfaces, your character will go grabbing for the smallest ledges and things that shouldn’t be able to be grabbed to begin with.

Nothing is without shortcomings, but the faults within Brink’s primary vicissitude are forgivable and become commonplace after you get accustomed to the gameplay.

• Brink gameplay video

The story is a loose one, sort of in the style of Left 4 Dead in that it is extremely light and in a sense the story is what you make of the experiences you have within the game itself.

It takes place on a massive futuristic utopia called The Ark, which was built as a haven of splendor. Meant to contain five thousand people, it now holds over fifty thousand.

You are presented with a choice upon first boot: Save The Ark, or Escape The Ark. Two factions are playable: Security and Resistance. Security want to save and contain the Ark, while the Resistance wants to escape and send help to it. Security, as the name implies, are the typical police force that guard this metropolis. Resistance are your generic ragtag bunch of rebels that want change through violent means.

The choice in the long run makes no difference except for what faction your character appears as on the title screen. Either faction’s missions can be selected at any time from the main menu.

And that’s another way that Brink excels: you get both sides of the story, and get to see it from everyone’s perspective. The one thing that bothered me, though, is how nearly everyone had a Scottish accent in my game.

Gameplay is essentially about working together as a team to accomplish objectives such as escorting a bot, delivering information, blowing a pillar, hacking a mainframe or cracking a safe. These, though, are only the primary ones. Each class has specific side pieces they can accomplish on the side, such as constructing machine gun nests, disguising as enemies, repairing an elevator and much more.

It provides for an experience that is never the same each time you play it. And that’s what really diversifies Brink; it’s never the same twice, and never gets boring. I played the same level seven times in a row and didn’t get bored in the slightest!

If one word could be used to describe Brink, it would be different. My first experience with the title was nearly my breaking point.

I started the first mission with my buddy; we’ve both been excited for this title since we saw it in action at QuakeCon 2010. As soon as the mission begins, we run out and start attempting to defend our objective.

We die. Oh, we’re just new! We’re not familiar, et cetera… we keep dying.

We fail the mission. I look over at my friend, and say “…Well, what do you think?”

He turned to me in a somber tone and said, “I don’t know, Nick…”

So we tried it again, but this time, trying a different approach: hanging back and working together. Working and playing as a team. Functioning as actual teammates. Within minutes, Brink had become our favorite cooperative title.

That breaking point we both approached within the first fifteen minutes of gameplay is the point where Brink is turning people off. It proposes a playstyle quite contrary to the modern shooters that infest our market. The simple fact that it is so different accompanied with the realization that you can’t be a one-man-army will turn off many purchases, and will cause even more returns.

But if you get past this point, adjusting your views and convictions about traditional gameplay, Brink will prove to be one of the most enriching experiences of your gaming career.

Variety is the spice of life

What truly makes Brink different is a certain intuition about working with your partners that no other game has really achieved yet.

There are four classes to play as: Soldier, Engineer, Operative, and Medic.

Soldiers are your typical troops that dabble in explosives and typical defense situations. They are your general purpose buddies hitting the front lines, to put it simply. Their class-specific ability is throwing ammo to other comrades.

Engineers are very  standard, but have come to be one of my favorite classes. Not unlike Team Fortress 2, they can repair objectives, construct turrets and are your overall defensive players. They can buff other teammates’ weapons for a damage boost.

Operatives are Brink’s take on a combat-centered stealth class. Operatives can disguise as dead foes, plant hackboxes that, as the name implies, hack objectives as well as turrets and other emplacements, along with many other upgradeable abilities.

Lastly, we have the class I always end up playing in cooperative games, the Medic. Medics are very self-explanatory; their ability is to heal teammates and buff their health.

As with most current action-oriented games, you can be down-but-not-out if taking too much damage. When in this stage, nearby medics can throw you a Revive Syringe that you can inject yourself with to get back into the action. Nothing is quite as awe-inspiring as a medic charging through a warzone just to throw you a syringe!

Apart from these classes, players can choose one of three body types: light, medium or heavy. Light can use SMGs, shotguns and some assault rifles, and can do the full range of parkour. Medium can use all SMGs, shotguns and assault rifles, and have standard parkour. Heavy has access to all weapons and greater health, but is greatly limited in the parkour it can accomplish.

Brink absolutely nails an air of curiosity within its design that encourages ample playtime between all four classes. Every level has different ‘stages’ of objectives that have their own side-objectives, usually aimed at each of the classes respectively. Essentially, creating each level as a persistent semi-open world that promotes class diversity and exploration of different approaches.

And the best part? You simply walk up to a Command Post and can change on the fly! It’s that easy and seamless.

Every action you do in Brink, save walking, is rewarded with experience points. These all add up for a leveling system, which allows you to customize your character very deeply and further identify your bad self in the dangerous online world of Brink.

It’s safe to assume by this point that Brink is all about different approaches. That’s the entire premise of the game, and also the most rewarding aspect if you can figure it out. Every level has many hidden and out of the way areas and shortcuts that the average player will miss. Finding and taking use of these areas can make or break a game session.

The title essentially has three modes: campaign, free play and challenges. Campaign is the central story and its missions for up to 8 people to play. Free play is the same thing, but with the ability to play them in any order with up to 16 people. It makes for an excellent, unparalleled experience.

Lastly, challenges… yeah. These are quite difficult, but are required in order to access any customization for weapons. Things like advanced parkour to strategic objective accomplishment comes into play, and all are substantially difficult. I tried to avoid them in my review sessions in order to give Brink the score it truly deserves.

• Brink screenshot slideshow

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Superficial notions…

Brink has a very distinct art style, and I really enjoy it. It blends realism and mild comic portrayal into an even medium that ultimately results in the title we have today.

It’s also quite a looker. Beautiful vistas, detailed environments and an atmospheric backdrop all combine to envelop the player. Every level diversifies itself to create individual worlds you will become very familiar with your time with the game. You may even call them home after some time!

My biggest beef is what I consider the most important part of a game; the score. Brink literally has no music. It’s the same theme essentially repeated. It doesn’t subtract from the overall experience, but so much more could be added for having a full score that matches the moment.

Other than that, the sound is top-notch. Everything has a sound effect that is consequently brilliant. Firearms echo a large boom that evokes a feel of tremendous power, while simple things such as sliding sound just right. It all adds up to make a phenomenal experience.

Revolution begins

Brink is all about evolution and innovation. From the philosophical revolution of the Resistance and their rebellion against the Security forces to the actual evolution and revolution of the title’s gameplay, Brink is a title that innovates.

Not only does it innovate, but it revolutionizes what a shooter could and can be in a world where anything slightly different from the norm is criticized for breaking tradition and thinking outside of the box.

What could have been a 9 or 9.5 (OXCGN’s esteemed Platinum Award) title unfortunately received a 8.5 (still a Gold Award though) from me due to the developers over-promising on aspects of the game, and then shipping a game that lacks a certain layer of polish (ATI is winning the GPU war, there is no excuse for the game to be released with no optimization for ATI products on the PC – we’ll look at the console version separately soon).

With all of that being said, Brink is a title for the open-minded who want a refreshing experience that breathes life into the shooter genre.

OXCGN’s Gold Award

“8.5/10

PC Specs

* AMD Phenom II X6 1090 T @ 3.2 ghz
* Sapphire Radeon HD 6970
* 8 GB RAM DDR3 @ 1600 mhz
* Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

©2011 Nicholas Laborde

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