VGR #1

[Makο]

Hi. I'm Sabotage/Mako109. And I'll be posting reviews for games every now and then.

This is from my own collection of games. And, unfortunately, I don't have too many. So these will be few and far between.


So yeah...let's get started.


[size="5"]Today's game to be reviewed iiiiiiis....[/size]



[size="7"]
Brink*.[/size]
[img]http://image.gamespotcdn.net/gamespot/images/2009/253/960407_20090911_640screen011.jpg[/img]


[size="5"]First thoughts.[/size]

Alright. I have been waiting for this game for months. Ever since I saw that first trailer, I knew I needed to have my hands on this game. Since then, I've been saving up, only to have all my funds depleted by Portal 2. So, to compensate, I now have to mow the lawn until I'm 18. It's not a bad job, but was it worth it? Let's take a closer look.

[size="5"]Story.[/size]

The story of this game revolves around two factions. These factions, The Security and The Resistance, have been living on a massive floating city known as the Ark. However, during their stay on the Ark, the water levels on Earth rose, covering all the land that could be seen from the Ark. These factions have two very different ideas about how to cope. The Security say they must save the Ark, and fight to defend it, while The Resistance fight to escape the Ark, in hope of finding remains of civilization that must be on the planet. After all, the entire planet couldn't have been covered, right?

Now, already, I see a major flaw in the story. Why are they fighting each other if The Resistance just wants to leave? Why not just let them? Now, I haven't played both sides of the story, so it might make sense after I play on The Resistance's side. [b]This section may be altered.[/b]

Right off the bat, you are given the option of either fighting for The Resistance or for The Security. Having a motor cop dad, I decided to go with The Security. But this choice isn't really significant at all, as you have the option of playing the campaign for The Resistance from the campaign menu. Although, I feel this was necessary so that people could play both sides. After all, if you are given two options, don't you long to choose the other one?

After you change things in the settings and such [b]<-I'll get to this later>[/b], you hop right into the campaign. From what I can tell, there is a police chief, and some squad members you hang out with. And that's about it. I could barely hear the dialogue [b]<-In hindsight, I should've turned the volume up>[/b], the character weren't memorable, and it was all around disappointing when I compare it to the very first cut-scene for The Security, which was pretty cool. You definitely cannot go to this game for a good, deep story. Because you won't find one.

[size="5"]Starting up.[/size]

After I chose my side, it was a blur from there. I think I was given the option to watch a video teaching me how the different classes work, with a prize of 1000 starting exp. But from there, I can't remember much. Although I do remember the option of character customization, which I am getting to now.


[size="5"]Game Features.[/size]

This games most impressive feature in my eyes in the massive amounts of customization you can do. From body type, to facial expressions, even to voice, almost everything is changeable. Now, it's not like you will have to spend hours making a good looking character, which makes this feature fun. You also can customize your weapons, and by golly that's a lot of custom guns. You can change top attachments, bottom ones, front attachments, and clips, as well as a few more I may have forgotten. You also have the option to purchase and turn on certain abilities to use in combat. Now, in this game, there is another feature called the SMART system, which stands for Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain. Clever. While this system is a good idea, it is not executed in the best way possible, causing some rather irritating stoppage when using it. A few tweaks to it and maybe some of the terrain, and it has potential to be incredible. There is also a Challenge mode, which you use to gain new weapons and attachments.



[size="5"]Gameplay.[/size]

Now, here is where Brink falters a bit. This game has the standard controls for a CoD-esque FPS, A to jump, X to action/reload, RT to shoot, LT to aim down sights, ect. Not that these controls are bad in any way, it's just that they can be a bit confusing at times. Thankfully, you can edit EVERY part of the control scheme, so that it is at your liking. In games, even with the smallest and nimblest body types, you feel as though you are moving around in a clunky way, which takes some getting used to. If you get killed by an enemy, instead of dying, you drop down into a second chance form for a certain amount of time, giving Medics a chance to heal you.[b]<-You are not invincible in this form. You can be finished off while on the ground>[/b]

And now, for the worst feature in Brink, and probably the worst in every game I have ever played that comes with this. The A.I. The AI in this game is abysmal. They move around the map in a horrible fashion, hardly ever making progress up the map. They will almost never do objectives, or attack clear and obvious threats. And with some, you can walk right past them without getting shot at at times, while other times you will get gunned down so fast you won't even know what happened. The only good these guys are is for meat shields and the buffs they hand out. Wait, what? Oh, yea. I forgot to mention that.


This game has 4 different classes. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5eDGD7kwsxM&feature=player_embedded"]The Soldier, The Engineer, The Medic, and The Operative.[/url] These classes each have different abilities to use in combat.

The Soldier is the power packed fighter of the group. Their main tasks is to wipe out the enemy, provide suppressing fire, and to use HE DetPacks to destroy certain objects. They also can see the ammo levels of their teammates above their heads, and provide ammo for them.

The Engineer uses his welding tools and equipment to get past obstacles, eliminate enemy mines, and to set of defenses. The have the ability, if you turn it on in the abilities menu, to set down mines and auto-turrets, making them perfect for setting up perimeter defenses. They use their welding tools to fix/create objects, and can increase the power of teammates weapons in combat.

The Medic's main role is to keep your troops alive, and get them back up on their feet. They can dispense syringes to heal fallen teammates who have gone into the second chance mode I mentioned earlier.[b]<-The fallen teammate, once in possession of a syringe, must use it himself. Weird>[/b] They also can jab allies with stim packs the increase the amount of health that teammate has, until it gets shot away.

The Operative is the lone wolf of the bunch. He has no abilities that bolster other teammates, but they play an equally important role. The main goals of an Operative is recon and hacking. If there is a corpse of an enemy on the ground, they can transform themselves into that person until they do a major action, such as shooting or hacking. [b]<-Warning. If they enemy you turned into puts his cross hair over you, he will see his own name, going "lolwut" at first, then going "SPY!">[/b] Operatives use hacking devices to capture certain objectives, making them invaluable to completing a mission. They can also spot enemy mines, giving Engineers a chance to disarm them.
[b]<For all Buffs, you may use them on yourself.>[/b]

During the game, there are only a few set number of maps, each with only two gametypes. One is where one team is defending, and the other is attacking, while the other gametype is just them switching off the roles. This lack of gametypes and maps is a pretty big fault in the game. Each and every map may get stale after playing them over and over again.


[size="5"]Multiplayer.[/size]

This game does something I haven't really seen before. It lets you go into the campaign menu, and if you put privacy to open, other players will join your campaign game and replace the bots. You may also choose Freeplay, which lets you just play out one map with online players and bots. This, plus Challenge mode, and that's all you can really do. It is very disappointing.

This game encounters something that many other games encounter, except this is a bit more frequent. Lag. This game has an abnormal amount of lag, even with a good internet connection. This leads to random and jerky movements when walking or doing certain actions such as buffing a teammates weapon and the like. Hopefully, this will be fixed.

On good feature about multiplayer and the entire game is that it is focused far more on teamwork than one Lone Wolfing it. Doing takes that help teammates or relate to the objective will gain you far more exp, which is used to gain new levels to unlock new pieces of armor and new abilities, than that of just killing other players.



[size="5"]Graphics.[/size]

The art style of Brink is bold and refreshing, with decent facial animations and great scenery. Although, at certain points, the animation will be stoppy, and some objects will take a second to fully render, which can effect how the game looks overall.



[size="5"]Overall.[/size]

This game takes a bold step in a new direction, implementing many new and awesome features that lack at some points. This game, while still a fun time, has many flaws that are hard to over look and will effect your overall enjoyment of this game.

[b]The Good.[/b]
-Neat, new innovations.
-Tons of customization features.
-Great scenery.

[b]The Bad.[/b]
-Said neat and new innovations are not executed in the best way.
-Lack of gameplay modes, features, gametypes, and maps.
-Crappy AI.

[b]The Ugly.[/b]
-Some graphic features will take a second to fully render.
-Stoppy animation for certain things.



[size="5"]Overall, I give this game a:[/size]

[size="7"]6.8/10.

Buy if you find one cheap, but rent otherwise.[/size]


[size="3"]*This copy of the game was played on the Xbox 360 video game console.[/size]

[-Stoner-™]

[center][color="#FF0000"][size="1"][b]Pretty good review, figured Brink wouldn't be as good as the trailers made it look. I probably wont pick this game up for the 360.[/b][/size][/color][/center]

[Makο]

Thanks. I'll be waiting a while before I sell it to see if the developers fix any of the problems or add DLC that might make the game worth while.


*Added Mine spotting to the Operative's abilities.

[Raine]

Cheese H. Christmas, Mako. You should write reviews professional, I loved your view and I found it helpful. Repping.

I did have doubts about the game from the beginning because it DID have T.V. commercials

[Makο]

Thanks, Raine. It means a lot.



*Added the fact that you can Buff yourself under the classes section.

[Makο]

Bump.

[Wahrheit]

9.6/10 on my end, has beautifully flowing gameplay. Hope you bought it for PC, master race etc.

[Makο]

[quote name='Sabotage' timestamp='1305090528' post='5202461']

[size="3"]*This copy of the game was played on the Xbox 360 video game console.[/size]
[/quote]


Nope.


I don't even own a PC. Macs FTW.

[CeDeFiA]

Another game with that multiplayer feature is Resident Evil 5.

[Makο]

You mean the whole "Multiplayer singleplayer as one" thing?

[CeDeFiA]

Yeah, like, you could be playing in campaign and if you had it set to allowing someone to join your campaign, you could have them join in the next chapter and replace the NPC.

[Makο]

Cool. But how is that relevant to my review? It just seemed random and out of the blue. It would've been fine if you commented on my review...

[Flaring Rose]

Every game in America that Americans play always have lag. The yanks complained about COD, even though the entire teen population was playing it, so thats why they lagged.

I doubt the lag would have any effect on me, and I even asked my mate that owns the game, and tells me to buy it.
It all goes down to if you want it or not. Everyone has a different perspective on games, so ya. So after I receive my LA Noire, I might work up on the money to get Brink, or something else that tickles my fancy.

[Makο]

Honestly, the lag is getting a bit better. I've been playing a bit and it's slowly improving.

[Daft Punk]

[quote name='Sabotage' timestamp='1305090528' post='5202461']
Now, in this game, there is another feature called the SMART system, which stands for Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain. Clever. While this system is a good idea, it is not executed in the best way possible, causing some rather irritating stoppage when using it. A few tweaks to it and maybe some of the terrain, and it has potential to be incredible
[/quote]

Might I ask what body-type you are using?

[Makο]

I used all 3. Small, Medium, and Large. It's what I felt throughout.

[Flaring Rose]

I feel like buying it anyway after watching my mate play it.

[Makο]

I have been having more fun with it, even though some challenges are down right infuriating.

[Tentacruel]

Good review, are you gonna do anymore? (And if so, would you take suggestions?)

[Makο]

[quote name='ADHD-Guitar' timestamp='1305560216' post='5212863']
Good review,

[b]Thanks.[/b]


are you gonna do anymore? (And if so, would you take suggestions?)

[b]Mind explaining this a little further? I am a little confused by the statement.[/b]
[/quote]

[Tentacruel]

Sorry, I fail at English. What I meant to say was, are you going to write any more reviews?

[Makο]

Yes, yes I am. I'll take requests to a degree, as I'm not swimming in money.




In other words, I R BROKE.

I'll be reviewing what games I have with me right now.

But if there is a GBA, DS, SNES, etc. game you want me to review, I should be able to find a ROM of it.

[Daft Punk]

[quote name='Sabotage' timestamp='1305525562' post='5212416']
I have been having more fun with it, even though some challenges are down right infuriating.
[/quote]

*cough*bemoreobjective*cough*

[Makο]

Precisely. I've tried many times to do the level 2 Be More Objective, and failed every time. Can't get past the arming of the Hack Box.

[Flaring Rose]

Do a review of LA Noire. I can help a bit since I am getting it on Friday my time.