Brink: The Best Class Based Shooter This Generation

Ruaidhri looks back at Brink from Splash Damage, for a game he loved so much why didn't it get the praise and attention he felt it deserved?

[dazzrazz]

Muhahahah ! Game was shit PERIOD ! Nothing else to say...

[Eiffel]

I can only wonder what happened to this game, it had so much going for it and the previews were a lot different from the final product, which confused me when I played the game.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Watching this a second time after having beat the game showed it had a different direction prior with an actual story. Seems that they took what they had for a new direction and scrapped the story elements and AI interactions all together for a rushed product with just the multiplayer portions for both offline and online with little polish. They set up Brink to fail.

[coolbeans]

Brink is probably the most respectable train wreck I've played of this generation (a weird award to give, I know). Given the moderate success this dev had prior to making this game, it's shocking to see how unrealized their initial concepts were.

To Ruaidhri: http://n4g.com/channel/brin...

I have to respectfully disagree with your adoration for this title.

[Oschino1907]

I put around 300 hours into the multiplayer which clearly was where are the focus went as playing offline was almost pointless. Having said that though I did get it mainly for the multi but it had a few key issues.

Lack of multiplayer lobbies/parties to get people together before the match starte.

Hardly any game modes that weren't just a variation of the main mode.

A.I. that filled in for players was nothing more then easy XP for human players and way to easy to stack sides and crush the other team especially with ability to switch during the match.

It was great fun if you really wanted to get into it. Me and others from the forums made Chats on each console to serve as lobbies and we made a Club on the official Dev forums for Brink players who were friendly to play with. Had a small community but a very tight nit one who were mostly all you could ask for in a Team/Class Based Objective Shooter. Although a few bad apples did try to ruin the bunch.

In the end I say it was probably the best idea in its genre and the best game of its type (not many out there) in terms of what it did right as opposed to wrong.

I put its failing to a lack polish allowed by the Pubs and not the Devs. Hell Bethesda even released it early knowing it would take muc more time to perfect the game. Devs had their hands tied and were the most uncomminicative I have ever come across as Bethesda had their hand tied. It wasn't until months of complaining from loyal fans on the forums till they let some from the Dev team talk openly about SOME things regarding the game and it's issues.

Patches also took forever and the DLC was delayed for a few months and it was mostly all silence from the Devs cause of Bethesda. By the time everything got right and they finally added the Clan features the game was all but dead or being quickly forgotten as a big Fall lineup hit that year.

Everyone I who I played with regularly is hoping and praying for a Brink 2 that adresses all the issues and expands things even further. It did sooooo much right but a few fatal flaws kept it from becomming bigger. As time goes though I see feature after feature from Brink being added to other games and working great. It gives me hope that one day they will make another (hopefully early next gen) and it will get the recognition/praise it deserves.

[jetlian]

brink has the best fps movement ever though. All it needed was basic MP modes. They could have gotten rid of the class stuff and had ffa and it wouldnt have gotten such bad reviews.

Id give it a 7

[The_Nameless_One]

Classic case of developer biting more then they can chew.

[TJRunsWild]

Team Fortress 2

[Jovahkiin]

Battlefield 3 by far.

[kwyjibo]

With the exception of APB, no game has deserved to fail more than Brink.

You release a game which is worse than Team Fortress 2, worse than other free to play games, and then you want to charge us £30 for it.

Turns out gamers weren't as stupid as you thought they were.

[taijutsu363]

Yeah Brink was bad. When I was playing I just had this same monotone look and feel O_O thats it! lol When I finished it I didnt feel satisfied nor unsatisfied it was just whatever I didnt give any thought to it besides "I wish I bought some other game instead".

[sandman224]

Was the game any good? It's on sale for 6.99 at best buy. I thought about getting it.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

There are many class based shooters that blow this game away. And at the full retail AAA price this game was not even close to being worth it. Monday Night Combat was superior and cheaper. TF2, BF3, GRFS... all out class this wreck.

[MizTv]

Sorry but kz2 shits on this game

[MysticStrummer]

I didn't play every class based shooter this gen, but I did play Brink and Battlefield 3. BF3 blows Brink off the planet. Brink was one of my biggest disappointments this gen.

Edit - @MizTv - Yeah, both KZ2 and KZ3 were far superior to Brink also.

[Oschino1907]

Of all the other games being mentioned as better then Brink none relied on or promoted class play and teamwork the way Brink did with its variety of objectives and map set ups.

You not only picked a class that could be vital to the mission in terms of abilities and equipment needed but also body size and that in turn narrowed down weaponry. In Brink if someone wasn't a certain class or playing it to help the team then you had ZERO chance of winning.

I have played or own almost all of the other games mentioned and although many are awesome and overall are clearly better games then Brink none were nearly as pure of a Class based game but rather FPS games with class based elements within them. Brink RELIED on them, others used them to bring balance while offering a variety of gameplay styles.

Brink is built around its classes and pure objective based gameplay. You can't play TDM in Brink, and its maps all have a variety of objectives that only a single class can tackle.

And to those mentioning BF3, I would say BFBC2 was the better Class Based game by far.

[fei-hung]

MAG did. It was imperative to people who could work as engineers, medics, gunners, snipers and team work made all the difference in winnig or losing.

Above all, it was the only game where you were able to get promoted not just for the sake of promoti, but where your promotion actually made a difference in gameplay and outcome of a match. A shit leader woud most likely lead you to a loss whilst a good leader could turn the tide.

[MysticStrummer]

"A shit leader woud most likely lead you to a loss whilst a good leader could turn the tide."

Boy that's the damn truth. I was playing a couple of days ago and the OIC was awesome, calling out what each squad should do at different points, gathering people in a certain spot to start a mass push in one direction at a certain mark on the clock. It was great fun and we triumphed despite the team members who threw grenades into the previously mentioned gathering. lol

[MysticStrummer]

You're welcome to your opinion, but few will agree that Brink was anything but mostly bad with some occasional moments of mediocrity. I went to trade it in and was offered 25 cents. No lie. But, one person's fast food is another's fine dining experience. Not too many people will agree with me that MAG was the best online FPS experience this gen either.

[Gridloc]

That's like saying Haze is the best FPS ever. Games that don't work on day one should not go unpunished ( I mean besides poor review scores and low sale numbers ). Fines should be levied against publishers and developers, until the game is fixed. Too many games this gen being rushed to market that needed more development time.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

I also think Brink's biggest failure was the "lie" of a single player game. What Brink offered was not a single player game, it was bot matches on the MP maps with a quick cutscene to try and dupe you into thinking there was a story.

HORRIBLE

[csreynolds]

TOTALLY true.

[urwifeminder]

I enjoyed the gameplay it was just a little clunky awesome art style, i may get it again on pc for kicks as i only played 360.

[csreynolds]

Who approved this article? And all its commas? Hmmm? Come on, own up!

Sorry, but this game was horrible - so horrible in fact I returned it the next day. It might have been improved with post-launch patches, but for me the taste it left in my mouth was too bitter to sweeten...