Video Game Review: Flawed ‘Brink’ Takes Time to Work Its Magic

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CHICAGO – After months of build-up in which we were promised a game that would finally merge several game types (single-player campaign, co-op, and multi-player combat) into one glorious package of endless hours of entertainment, Bethesda’s “Brink” is finally here and it’s… just OK… I think. I actually wrote another draft of this review that was much harder on this already-controversial title but just as I was about to give up on it, something clicked. It’s still a deeply-flawed and, ultimately, disappointing game, but as you get deeper into the title, it works its way under your skin.

Video Game Rating: 3.5/5.0

Only hardcore shooter fans or those who love to dive deep into customization possibilities will find enough to instantly like this game. For the rest of you, once you’re past the realization that it’s definitely not the revolutionary title that gamers were hoping to play, I urge you not to give up on it as I almost did. We’ll get into why “Brink” falls short of expectations, but perhaps we shouldn’t have allowed the hype to overshadow the experience as gamers so often do. Divorce yourself from games that “Brink” has been compared to (“Team Fortress 2,” “Borderlands”) and just try to enjoy it for what it is. Don’t be surprised if it clicks eventually for you too.

Brink
Photo credit: Bethesda

“Brink” is primarily about customization of combat & appearance mixed with parkour style gameplay and an emphasis on teamwork. It boasts millions of customization options (literally, millions once you add up all the possible iterations), many of which are unlockable by experience points earned by playing any of the game types. In other words, any play builds your rank, unlike most games that segment their single-player, co-op, and multi-player experiences.

Brink Photo credit: Bethesda

There are three big problems with “Brink,” so we might as well start there. First, it’s glitchy, buggy, and nearly-incomplete. The parkour-based motion simply doesn’t feel well-conceived or executed as enemy players often look like they’re not touching the ground when they’re standing right in front of you. I played a challenge level in which I had to guard a command post as waves of enemies came after me. Naturally, it starts slow. Slow enough that I could look at my downed enemies with some detail and it’s shockingly disappointing. One guy was stuck in part of the wall. Another had a leg that didn’t look like its partner. How could such faulty animation be put into such a highly-anticipated game in 2011? It’s shocking.

Second, it’s repetitive. By merging different gaming styles into one experience, it has kind of diluted them all. If you keep adding enough different colors of paint to the mix, it just turns to an ugly gray. The idea that you can have a similar experience that builds the same XP acrosss multiple gaming styles is a daring one, but this will not be the model. The goal should not be to make all of them feel the same, but to make them compliment each other.

Brink Photo credit: Bethesda

Third, the single-player campaign features some of the most annoying ally and enemy A.I. in a game like this in a LONG time. The campaigns are basically variations on the multi-player, objective-based missions but you’ll be fighting your partners as much as the bad guys. Just an example — Just today I was hacking a terminal, which meant I had to place something on it and then stand nearby, defenseless, while a machine hacked it. Of course, if there were semi-intelligent people around me then they would have guarded me. I watched two bot allies stand and WATCH an enemy kill me. That’s just ridiculous. And the enemy A.I. isn’t much better. I’ve seen guys standing in front me waiting to die while others seem to have a sixth sense about my location. Just be consistent with your A.I.

Brink Photo credit: Bethesda

The multi-player rules, right? It can, but it takes time (and probably a few upgrades to the servers that caused me regular problems over the first few days). The game plays not unlike the “Warzone” section of “Killzone 3” but the objectives don’t switch or flow as seamlessly as they do there and can often feel unbalanced. Still, here’s where the game definitely shines. Working together, especially in terms of player types, can be a blast. When you get that feeling that your multi-player really is a co-operative one, where each human player is not just twitching and shooting but using their brain to enhance the team, “Brink” can be a blast. With well-balanced teams, “Brink” finally works. And works well.

But it takes time. As I unlocked weapon upgrades and even interesting visual ones, “Brink” became more and more interesting. And once you become accustomed to the glitches in gameplay, the combat can get surprisingly addictive. It’s almost a guilty pleasure. I could write 2,000 words on things that “Brink” does wrong and I think many critics have taken that easy route, but the fact is that I keep playing it, and that says more than anything else, doesn’t it? It’s like that first beat-up car that needed multiple repairs and didn’t hum like other ones on the road, but you just loved driving it. Just make sure you give it enough time behind the wheel.

Check out this cool trailer before you join the Resistance:

By BRIAN TALLERICO Content Director HollywoodChicago.com brian@hollywoodchicago.com