Brink (video game)
| Brink | |
|---|---|
 North American box art | |
| Developer(s) | Splash Damage |
| Publisher(s) | Bethesda Softworks |
| Distributor(s) | Valve Corporation |
| Designer(s) | Paul Wedgwood (game director) Neil Alphonso (level design) |
| Engine | idTech 4 (modified) |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | First-Person Shooter, 8v8-player Cooperative multiplayer action |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Cooperative and Multiplayer |
| Rating(s) |
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| System requirements | |
Brink (stylised as BRINK) is a first-person shooter video game developed by Splash Damage for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It was released in North America on May 10, 2011, in Australia on May 12, in Europe on May 13 and in Japan on June 16.
In Brink, two factions, Resistance and Security, battle in a once-utopian city called The Ark, a floating city above the waters of a flooded Earth.
Brink has Steamworks integration, including Valve Anti-Cheat. It runs on id Tech 4 and has an updated rendering framework with improved support for multiple CPU cores. Brink is a first-person shooter with a focus on parkour-style movement. Online multiplayer servers hold up to 16 players; players can play cooperatively or competitively, or against artificially-intelligent bots.
Gameplay
Splash Damage developed the SMART (Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain) System. By noting a player's position and predicting what he is trying to do, the system lets players navigate complex environments without equally complex input.
There are four character classes: Soldier, Medic, Engineer, and Operative. The same class system could also be found in the previous titles Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. The Soldier resupplies teammates, can throw molotov cocktails, and can complete destroy objectives by using explosives. The Engineer buffs his teammates' weapons, builds stationary turrets, and can complete repair and build objectives. The Medic heals teammates, revives downed teammates, and buffs their teammates' health. The Operative interrogates fallen opponents to get intel on enemy locations, performs acts of sabotage, and disguises himself as the enemy. Players can customize their characters and buy items with experience points, which are earned by completing objectives. The same experience points can be earned in both single-player and multiplayer. Bethesda claims that players can create a total of 102 quadrillion unique character combinations, if minor variations are factored in.
The Squad Commander system gives players context-sensitive missions. A variety of factors—where the player is, how skilled he is, his overall mission progress, etc.—determine what missions will be available. During both on- and offline play, the player can defend one of his faction's command posts or capture an enemy's command post.
An Objective Wheel shows the main objective in yellow and will show a checkpoint which the player will need to go to to achieve that primary goal. There are also secondary goals. Each player has one in his inventory and will, on certain missions, be timed to achieve the goal that must be completed.
Release and marketing
Bethesda and Splash Damage originally planned to release the game sometime in spring 2010, but pushed it back to fall 2010, before delaying it again. They later announced a release date of May 17, 2011. In April, a month before release, they pulled the release forward a week to May 10, citing early completion of the game and a desire to get it in players’ hands as soon as possible.
Pre-order bonuses
At QuakeCon 2010, Splash Damage announced Brink's digital pre-order bonuses for several digital retailers in North America as well as Europe. These bonuses will help expand the players starting customization options, with the Doom (GameStop), Fallout (Best Buy), Psycho (Amazon.com and Direct2Drive) and Spec Ops (Walmart and Steam) packs. The "Doom" and "Spec Ops" packs are both available in Nordic retailers. Little is known whether the pre-order bonuses will restrict players who didn't pre-order from a certain retailer, or if the pre-order bonuses are just early access at the moment. In the United Kingdom, where Walmart does not operate, GAME released a "special edition" which, while costing more than the normal edition, included the Spec Ops and DOOM packs.
Patches and DLC
Bethesda released a day one patch to solve graphical problems experienced in the game. A patch was released a few days later in an attempt to fix the connectivity problems by limiting the number of human players allowed in a game. Bethesda has announced that the first DLC, titled 'Agents of Change', will include two new maps, new abilities, new weapon attachments, new customization options and will raise the level cap from 20 to 24. The DLC is planned to be released in June for free.
Reception
| Reception | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Aggregator | Score |
| GameRankings | 73 |
| Metacritic | 69 |
| Review scores | |
| Publication | Score |
| 1UP.com | D |
| Eurogamer | 8/10 |
| GameSpot | 6/10 |
| GameSpy |   |
| GamesRadar | 8/10 |
| IGN | 6/10 |
Brink received mixed reviews. Its Metacritic score varies from 68 on Xbox 360, 71 on PC, and 71 on PS3. Reviews from European and most American critics were generally mixed. Eurogamer gave it an 8/10, saying that Brink was "an exceptional team shooter, smart, supremely well balanced and with a unique, exciting art style." GameSpy gave Brink 4 out of 5 stars. Saying that "Brink has the potential to become your new favorite FPS." Videogamer.com gave Brink a 8/10 saying that "Splash Damage achieves the impossible: a game that feels fresh in the stalest of genres." The Guardian gave Brink 4 stars out of 5, they praised Brink by saying "Brink deserves to be ranked among the finest co-op games available." Official Xbox Magazine UK gave Brink 4 stars out of 5, saying that Brink is "A meticulously designed Live shooter." Gaming Nexus gave Brink a B+ saying that Brink is "the most solid and well-balanced core gameplay yet from Splash Damage." Other reviews were very positive, calling Brink the best multiplayer FPS since Battlefield: Bad Company 2 or saying that "Brink is no less than an excellent multiplayer game".
The game was also, however, criticized as being incomplete or unpolished, with GamePro saying that "Brink is about two or three updates from being one of my favorite shooters of all time, but I'm not reviewing the game I want it to be. I'm reviewing the game that it is, and what it is is something just short of being the awesome experience that I want".
Some reviews were very critical. Joystiq gave the game a score of 2 out of 5 stars, stating that "Brink's artistically compelling soldiers can sail effortlessly over obstacles, landing acrobatic maneuvers never before seen in the genre with effortless poise—unfortunately, just about everything else lands flat on its face." 1UP gave Brink a D, commenting that "Brink is unfinished. And that doesn't mean it's full of technical problems. Well, it's got those too. But mostly, it's just an unpolished, poorly executed mess of ideas." Giant Bomb also gave Brink 2 out of 5 stars, with site founder Jeff Gerstmann noting that "Flat combat and a lack of variety are just two of the things that make Brink such a disappointment."
References
External links
- Official website
- Analysis of Brink (Spanish)
Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brink_(video_game)
