Brink
The Ark, a veritable Utopian bastion against catastrophe, was made to hold 5,000 people. It now houses well over 50,000 and, due to ever rising water levels, is stranded in the middle of nowhere. Supplies are running out, everything is running down, and there are only two options; join the Resistance and fight your way to what little is left and escape or join Security and defend this last beacon of hope from devastation. Both sides believe their way is right and just. Both sides could be wrong though, dead wrong. Welcome to The Ark, welcome to Brink.
After making your choice, it’s time to customize your character. The first options are face, voice, and skintone. These options can’t be changed later, unlike the others. Then it’s off to pick out an outfit and weapons. Over the course of the game, other hairstyle and clothing pieces will be unlocked. The same can be said of weapons and stuff for said weapons. You can also unlock build types which relegate movement speed, health, and what weapons can be carried.
Classes all play the same, save for their abilities. They get the same weapons, and the characters look never changes. Each class is needed for certain objectives during a mission, with most objectives requiring a specific class to complete it. Teamwork is key and each team of 4 is expected to use their class to support the others effectively so that objectives are completed quickly. You may need to play more than one class and possibly play one of each during the same mission. No class is better than another class, though each class has it’s uses that will outweigh another class in a particular mission. It’s up to the player to decide what class best fits the situation and how they can use that to better support their team. Doing well in a mission nets points which can be used to buy skills, some of these skills are shared between classes, but the rest are class specific. The points earned are split between all of the classes, and most of the good skills require having higher ranks. It’s impossible to have all the skills, so it comes down to preference and playstyle.
The game itself is comprised of several events spanning 8 days split between the two factions. Each mission has it’s own objectives for each side with one team on defense and the other on offense. The levels offer a lot in the way of obstacles and really make the use of SMART system. I have a complaint about the game here though; defending is far easier than attacking. This flaw seems to only be compounded by players wanting to be Rambo. Even if there is a good amount of teamwork involved, offense still has the harder way to go.
In all, Brink is a fun game if played with the right people. Enjoyment of the game boils down to how well the player is at playing each class and using the abilities they have effectively within the team. Hopefully there will be mountains of DLC which will help keep me in the game, until then I probably won’t be playing the game as much as I thought I would.
