Review No. 82 Brink - Xbox 360 (16+)

Strong Points:
Good character customization
Balanced character size (Light/Medium/Heavy)
Cool Abilities
Smoothly integrated parkour

Weak Points:
Needs more difficulty settings (there are three but "easy" is hard)
Samey mission objectives
Identical characters in every mission
Location is implausible in a lot of ways
Uncoordinated AI
When doing a 'capture the flag' style mission, returning the 'flag' is ridiculously easy

Rating: 58%

In-depth Review:

Hello Banters and Bantresses,

Brink is a kind of parkour FPS that is the most rage-inducing game I have played. The success of your team depends on your performance and very little else. Unless, you put scope on a rifle and start sniping away. There are two campaigns that you can play through. They make no difference to gameplay at all and you can start one then complete the other with the same character.

The story is just stupid. Brink is set on a gigantic ship called 'The Ark'. It doesn't look like a boat and would have major problems sailing as some areas would flood every time some water comes aboard. In addition, The Ark is suffering. The economy is poor and  no-one ever visits. A great feat of engineering like The Ark would be celebrated and visited frequently unlike in the game where it is forgotten and neglected. This bugs me (a lot). So other than the ridiculous setting,  Brink's campaign features a conflict between two sides: Security and The Resistance. The Security aim to save The Ark and The Resistance hope to escape it. The two campaigns do not match up. In the Security plot, The Resistance come across as terrorists looking to destroy The Ark and in The Resistance plot, the security aim to keep all the 'guests' that The Resistance formed from as slaves or other means of cheap labour.

The class system is fairly standard but well done. There are four classes: Soldier, Operative, Engineer and Medic. These classes can be, wrongly, grouped into two: Assault and Support. This would be wrong because in Brink every class needs to shoot to kill and survive. Every class, except the medic, has an objective that they can complete. Soldiers can destroy blockades or passages that the Engineers can build or repair. The Engineers can break stuff open and Operatives can hack (both take time). Soldiers, at the start, aren't really buffed as a high damage or high protection character - you must invest perks in the soldier section of the perk screen to really experience buffs. However, A Soldier's unique ability is being able to throw Molotov Cocktails from the start. Engineers can set up turrets and mines and also have the ability to buff their teammate's damage and, with a perk, damage resistance. They also have to maintain a repair bot in an escort style mission.  Operatives have the ability to disguise themselves as the enemy but cannot attack whilst disguised. They can also, with progress and perks, switch the team of a turret and (in a different perk) control it.

Overall, Brink is a, to be honest, mediocre game with AI that makes it a one man show. I would recommend if you like a smooth parkour FPS that's a real challenge.

You've been reading an Olimg review, thanks and come again!

Also, I want to say thanks to the guys here at Games, Apps and Reviews for having me on board and I look forward to the highs and lows of gaming that I will experience here. Thanks guys!