Becoming a Critic: Brink

In this blog I will be critiquing the game Brink. I will state that I played brink for the PC and will be critiquing it from this perspective.

Brink is a first person shooter developed by Splash Damage limited for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Brink is a first person shooter where the Security and the Resistance fight for control of a floating island called The Ark. The Ark is a floating city drifting above a flooded earth. Brink’s main selling feature is its Smooth Motion Across Random Terrain (SMART) system which enables a player to navigate rough terrain that would not be able to reach in other games. The system makes players move with a parkour style to them. When this game was first announced I was instantly hooked to the game concept, but when it came time to release I was disappointed to say the least. What made Brink a letdown?

Players:

Brink has a confusing player interaction and is better understood if you understand how gameplay is based. Brink is a game based on the story of the ark. When you are playing Brink in game you are playing one of the missions from the story. Each mission has two sides: The Resistance and Security. You can play as either side in a mission making the levels more interesting at times. As Brink is focused on story you could think of it as a single player game. You can play Brink as a single player game with no multiplayer interaction at all. This player interaction type would fall under player VS game system. If you want to play with your friends then you can play Brink multiplayer too. This is where Brink tries to do something different from other games and blur the line between single and multiplayer. Friends can join your current session and play with you in your mission. This is a private session where only people you know can play. This player interaction pattern would be classified under Cooperative play. If you wanted to play with others online you can join a public mission where other players are on both sides of the mission. This is where players fight against each other to complete their team’s objectives. This is called team completion as players are on two opposing teams as they fight to beat the other team.

When information about the game was being released, I was excited for the unique movement system that was demonstrated. At this time I skeptical about their planes for multiplayer and decided to sit on the idea for a while before I thought anything. When the game came out I was right with my initial thoughts as the multiplayer implementation did not feel right and was not inviting. I had difficulties playing with friends and found the system not intuitive and inefficient. I learned that single player and coop modes should not mix with public multiplayer. Overall did not enjoy multiplayer experience at all.

Objectives:

Brink’s objectives were not unexpected to say the least. There are two factions the Resistance that wants to leave the island and the Security that wants order. These are the overall objectives in the game but when I was playing the game I was not thinking about them at all. Instead I was thinking about the level objectives that ranged anywhere from defend a point to kill a VIP. This game has the standard shooter mission objectives but did not do anything that made them standout other shooters. As for personal player objectives Brink has a great unlock and customize system, but I could never get into it because I would have to play the game to level up my character. The Gun customization impressed me as I found it interesting how it was displayed.

Procedures:

Brink has a good set of tutorials labeled “Dossier” in the menu section with a series of videos to explain how the game works. They have good videos on all aspects of the game. If you are new to this game watching these are a must as it will explain all of the complex missions and what classes can accomplish them.

As for missions themselves, I found myself wondering around the map, as I was not sure what the best thing for me to do was. As there were so many options for me to choose I found myself overwhelmed at times. I got the hang of the missions over time, but this is not something that you should learn overtime rather understand from the start.

As for the combat system I don’t have a lot of good things to say. At first when I started to play the game, the first thing that got to me was when I killed someone it would knock them to a down state. When I paint an enemy’s face with bullets he should die, but no he is just downed and a medic has already revived him ( =/ ). I understand that you want the medic class to be able to pick up allies, but the time an enemy is downed is too long and I find that he just got back up. This makes the penalty of death worthless as long as you have a medic in the back. I quickly learned that medic is the best and most useful class by far. It is clear that there was not a lot of play testing, as this problem would have occurred eventually.

Rules:

There are many rules in Brink that make help make it function as a game (or try to). An overall rule is that all players have health. When a player health becomes zero he dies… I mean get downed and has to wait for the next spawning wave, or a medic to revive them. Once one of the two situations is met then the player can be revived into the game. These rules make the foundation of the game, and create the cycle of life and death (and respawn). The player characters must abide by the game’s physics (no fall damage) and must stay within the bounds of the level. The player must pick a class and body type before they can start playing. There are many other rules but these are the core rules of the game.

Resources:

Brink has the standard resources that you would find in any current shooter.  There is player heath, weapons, ammo and grenades. Players must make sure that they have enough of these resources to complete the level and engage in combat. You also have a class skill that is determined by the type of class you are. Once the skill is used it will recharge over time. As for out of mission resources brink has the standard experience and levels that you come to expect in a current shooter, as well as unlocks and upgrades. Most of this is the current shooter’s standard formula and I have to say that this is not a bad thing. Players want to be rewarded for playing the game and unlocks and upgrades are a good way to do this.

Conflict:

Brink has predictable conflicts within it. Two sides don’t like the other and they think that they are right. The conflict is not the selling point of the game as it is nothing special. As a current first person shooter, the types of conflicts do not change. When you play the game you are playing a mission that has an overall objective.

Final Thoughts:

When the first concept for brink was announced I was excited to play the game, and as more information came out about its SMART movement system I was sold on the idea. When the game was released I was sorely disappointed in Brinks performance and did not live up to my expectations. As I was looking online for a review that would portray my final thought, I found Zero Punctuation’s review. This is a good summery and review of Brink and I leave you with it.