Brink The Game

As I sit here looking at the cover of the Brink game, I think holy ESS this is going to be an amazing game! When I read the reviews and comments of the other websites saying how it will be the game to change the first person shooter forever, I ESSED my pants even more. When I am finally standing at the counter of GameStop waiting to trade in two bad ass games (Marvel vs. Capcom3, Dead Space 2) for an even more bad ass game, I get a cold chill down my spine. I should have known that the chill was trying to tell me something. It was trying to tell me how big of an idiot I am for what I was about to do. I did not know!  Know what you may ask? I did not know that I was going to trade in two games that have already proven themselves worthy for one game that had been “promised” to single handedly change the FPS genre forever. But wait….There’s more! Not only did Brink not come close to changing anything that had to do with the FPS genre but I was boned out of two amazing video games that had the correct formula, which had proven themselves, that had provided me with hours of great fun. Not only was Brink in development for five years, Brink was made by Bethesda. The same people who made The Elders Scrolls, Quake Arena Arcade, Prey 2, Fallout New Vegas, and many more AMAZING titles! So you would think that Brink would be a great game.

Let’s get more into the game instead of just hearing me rant about how I was ripped out of two amazing games for one ok game. Brink starts you off with a little story about the Ark “Built in the near-future as part of a contemporary green vision, the Ark was a model for sustainable
living. The massive man-made floating city became a home to the scientists and thinkers focused on making the vision a reality, while its wealthy patrons built a recreational paradise. But soon the threat of a global environmental crisis became real: glaciers melted, sea levels rose, and the very survival of humanity was threatened. Thousands from around the globe fled to the Ark as a last hope. Refugees clung to survival however they could, while the original founders and their descendants struggled to maintain the island. Now, the Ark has lost contact with what remained of the mainland and exist in total isolation. As the Ark’s supposedly renewable resources dwindle, the balance of power threatens to unravel and throw competing social factions into a horrific conflict.”

It then lets you pick a side that you would like to join. You have the option of Security the protectors of the Ark “Back when the Ark was a floating five star eco-resort and R&D eco-science park, it only needed a small corporate Security team to perform risk management and VIP protection duties. But as the seas rose, and the trickle of refugees to the Ark became a flood, the Ark needed a police force. And then an armed gendarmerie. Ark Security has now expanded into a heavily armed counter-terrorism force. Most Security personnel have volunteered because they’re convinced that for the Ark to survive it must have peaceful order and conserve its remaining resources. And the extra water ration comes in useful too. Resistance provocations have forced Security to clamp down on Guest unrest, which has lead to the Ark teetering on the brink of outright revolt.”

Or

You could choose Resistance the fight for the Ark “When the seas rose and coastal nations fell into panic, boatloads of refugees fought to find the Ark’s secret location mid-ocean – only the lucky ones survived the trek. Initially, they were happy to have survived and gratefully acceptedthe cramped temporary housing, water rationing and dangerous maintenance jobs. But as the years passed, and conditions worsened, the Ark’s new “Guests” came to question the status quo. Are the Ark’s Founders really doing all they can to re-establish contact with the outside world?  Why are only the Guests on rationed water? If their work keeps the Ark afloat, why are they second class citizens? The Resistance formed from those sick and tired of being the Founders’ captive workforce; they want equal water rations for all, and to use the Ark’s dwindling resources to reach whatever’s left of the World. Growing Guest unrest has led to Security crackdowns, which have brought the Ark to the brink of civil war.”

After you select what side you want to choose, you will then be brought to a screen that allows you to customize everything from the tattoos you will have all the way down to the clothes you will be wearing. I can give this game credit on the customization aspect. It almost seems like there are endless customization possibilities. You can even customize your weapon. I did notice on some other reviews before the game came out that people were mentioning that you can even see the customization of your weapon while you are in game. For example: When you equip a grenade launcher onto your weapon you will be able to see it in game. Hasn’t that been done for about the last 10 years? Everyone has been talking about it like it is a new thing.

Once you are finished picking your side and customizing your characters you are put into the game. The story seems very well put together and it flows smoothly. But when it’s time to actually play, it almost seems like your are doing a bunch of submissions to get to the grand daddy which never comes. The missions are ok, mainly defending an objective or escorting a person. Nothing to serious.

There is a now S.M.A.R.T button that they have incorporated that lets you free jump, slide and shoot at the same time along with running faster. This button is merely a gateway to gymnastics. It’s a cool thing that they incorporated but it feels like they just took a whole bunch of things that should have been involved already and made a special button for it. Trying to make it its own little barrel of difference.

As the game goes on your character will level up allowing you to open up more weapons as well as clothing and other things to make you more unique than the other players. Another thing that I did like about this game that many games don’t do much anymore besides Phantasy Star Online, is the ability to bring the character that you made and leveled up offline into the Online world. Yes, you keep everything that you gained in the offline world. The problem with that is there is nothing really special about the online mode. It’s simply a few different types of games without Team Death match. This type of match would have probably made up for all the wrong in this game. Now the different match types are not bad, but there just is not anything special. You have your basic escort and defend with a couple of other un-notable game types. The online mode kind of feels like Bullet Storm mixed with a little bit of Borderlands. The whole game feels that way now that I think about it.

Brink feels like a bunch of great ideas done very poorly. Brink does have the potential to be a game changer, but not in this installment. I would rate this game a 7/10 for trying to be innovative but failing to do that. Maybe if I did not trade in two Amazing games for Brink I would feel differently about it.