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Brink adverts have been appearing everywhere lately, it seems like you can’t use the internet without being told about the struggle for the Ark. After seeing its Mirrors Edge/Team Fortress 2 stylings displayed in gameplay footage and pre-release cinematics, this game was one that was always on our wanted lists, meaning as soon as it came out we all bought a copy in very quick succession.
Id like to say now that our experience of purchasing Brink varied greatly, I went early last Friday to attempt to buy the game via Steam and was very surprised to see there was no purchasable content for Brink, just the videos. After exploring further I found that Game were selling it at a pretty reasonable price for digital download and after I purchased it, I then showed the same method to my housemates. In the couple of hours that had passed between purchase and their attempted ones somehow all digital download links appeared to have gone down, rejecting any payment method be it Visa, PayPal or a cheque written on the side of a disgruntled llama directed to Bethesda by a trail of corn.
Eventually, after a few days and internet hunting, we all got the game and have been playing a lot since.The art style is very impressive, with Bethesda’s favoured customisation shining through in the character creation suite, with each option (while occassionally limited) carrying a selection of original and well-designed kit that can make you look like an incredible badass or absolute bellend depending on persuasion, for both teams with unlock progression governed by completing content. After the download finished I had already created 3 characters I wanted to play, a Morgan-Freeman cross Jason Bourne styled escapee of the ark, a Chinese assassin and a cop who would break a skull as soon as he’d arrest someone, and their models truly convey their character.
The story isn’t the most compelling, with short cinematics bridging the gaps in the story and between missions with bizarre locations chosen by the developer for hideouts and bases like an aquarium (?!?), it certainly feels like the environments were designed to offer as much variability in a free-run-able environment as possible and they look pretty good as a result. The main focus of the game is certainly on Multiplayer, although the internet servers still have minor issues, this is for the most part uninterrupted once solidly in a game, except by the occasional laggy server. The classes however certainly feel like some are better choices than others for playing against players, the choice between being a god-like invincible badass, and an objective completer appears to be the main dilemma. All in all we’re really enjoying it so far, because lets face it, skidding into someone from balcony height before shottgunning them til they cant feel feelings is always going to leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling.
Matt & Tim
(Written in the weeks following Brinks release)
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