So I went to the midnight release of Brink, super excited, first in line. Went home and played it for 26 hours...take about an hour out for eating a sammich and other things that needed to be done...but anyway. Reading reviews about the game, people are really disappointed in it. I can see why, most of it was about the character creation (which really didn't make much sense in what they did with it). At the beginning of the game when you start it up it asks to choose your side. To Fight for the Ark or Escape from the Ark. Then you get about 10-12 different archetypes to choose your face, and about 5 different tones of skin color for that archetype (not being racist but most of the archetypes were Asian or Black). But when in the character customization, you can switch between a Security and a Resistance character. Nothing is permanent for your character (except scars and tattoos and your archetype). At anytime at the character customization screen you can switch your body type (light, medium, heavy), what you're wearing, etc etc etc. Quick note, you can only be male, no females, though with the light body type and the proper equipment, you could look like a girl) I was playing it and noticed smaller characters and was thinking female in my head.

Gameplay is different. I wasn't sure how the SMART button worked (I later figured out you actually HOLD it the entire time you want it to be used) so I spent most of my time actually manually doing the parkouring in the game. The higher level you get, the more difficult and challenging the AI get. I could've leveled my character up to the maximum level when I was playing it but I had to respec my abilities several times (which you can do as many times as you want, nothings permanent, at the cost of a level). Teamwork is stressed about this game, but I didn't notice much support from my AI teammates who either 1. went off and tried to get an objective themselves or 2. were just lying on the floor waiting for a medic to throw them a revive syringe even though there were no medics or they were lying on the floor next to the other fallen soldiers.

The levels are pretty nice (albeit repetitive). There's 8 different levels, but the objectives are nearly the same. Hack something/blow something up/escort someone/defend against those previously mentioned. Each class does something different, Soldier runs around with HE bombs to blow things up, carry an extra grenade (Molotov) and hand out ammo. I wasn't too impressed with the soldier class and left that for the AI to be. Then Medic, who runs around with revive syringes and health buffs (which don't do much but help a tiny bit when its a one on one gunfight). Then Operator, who feels sorta useless at first since really all they are is the spies of the group, and can really just disguise themselves as enemies, but can't do much as such, cause performing an action removes their disguise. Then Engineers, who are pretty much a better Soldier. They can plant mines, turrets, repair turrets if they get damaged, remove hacks/bombs, buff weapons for stronger damage. There's not so much of a different other than that between the classes. Soldiers can get Kevlar vests in a later rank to make them a little stronger? but at the same time Engineers at a later rank can give out Kevlar vests to teammates. (So if you got a team of just Medics and Engineers, you'd do pretty good. And switch to a Soldier/Operator when needed). Which is a another thing that's kinda bothersome...you can switch class at any time in the game but only can unlock 20 abilities for anything. So I guess choose your abilities wisely, and don't wait til you're level 18 to finish the Challenges...

Storyline is kinda janky, you don't really know why things are happening. You've got the Resistance who's a bunch of religious? fanatics tired of these rich people keeping you in the slums and not giving out resources and want off the Ark to find the word that hasn't been heard of for 40 years. Then you've got the Security who's just doing their job and keeping the last of humankind alive from terrorists (Resistance). In cut scenes your teammates are like "I don't wanna be doing this, I've got family on the other side", but you do what you're told. At the end of the game you're like...I want more :( since it does leave it at a strange end. So hopefully more downloadable content in the future with more game play, game types (since it would be fun to do some more things with the game cause it's got a lot of potential, its just that Splash Damage hasn't fully tapped into it yet). The nice thing about it all, is that Splash Damage can adjust things straight from their studio to fix the game if things get too un-sided...like it might be nice if they took the Kelvar hand-outs from Engineers and gave them to the Soldiers to make the Soldiers feel a little bit useful...

Overall, I'll give it a 7.5/10. If Splash Damage does get their gears up and running, releasing DLC for it and fixing the character customization, I'll gladly give it a higher rating. I love the game, I enjoy it. It's not for everyone as IGN's review for it. If you're uncertain, get a pre-owned copy of Brink at your local GameStop (if you have one nearby) since I'm sure some people were disappointed and returned the game already, and try it out for a week, and if you're unhappy return the game and get your money back. I'm gonna keep my copy so if you're ever around on Xbox Live and wanna play and have someone with some experience in this game, just lemme know :3 I'll do my best to make it a fun time for us.

And that's my Brink review

Attachments => Me and 1st Copy of Brink

//Linkin