Brink

This game would be enjoyable if you could play with the full multiplayer compliment of 8×8 players. However I've never seen that happen. You will typically end up playing against bots and a small compliment of humans, possibly with lag.

Like many other gamers, I fell in love with the idea of Brink. Eating up all the trailers, developer diaries and such. The idea of smooth parkour-style movement, jump-in & out combat between online & offline play and a solid single player experience… Who could resist-

Unfortunately, this is one of those fresh I.P.s that falls short of what it sells.

The S.M.A.R.T. System is great when it works and alternatively frustrating when it gets you stuck in strange areas or ledges.

The story- You might as well forget it. It boils down to 2 factions fighting themselves in arenas with objectives. if you've played Halo Reach, it's sort of like Invasion with larger teams.

That can't be bad, right- Until you realise that you MUST play with human teammates and because of the netcode at the moment… It's near-nigh impossible. If you decide to try go solo with A.I. Squad mates, you will find yourself in a pit of misery.
They act like complete idiots, completely ignoring the task at hand, usually not helping when you are incapacitated and doing strange things. (Like standing on a handrail spinning in circles while you get slaughtered by the entire opposing team!)

But hey, you have the ability to unlock customisations and upgrades for your weapons, character and skills.
Again, this is pretty easy to unlock within a few hours. The “Challenge” tutorials will have unlocked all the add-ons for your guns just like that snaps fingers and the rest come from leveling up your character. Which is relatively fast given that even Challenge mode contributes to this.

So to sum it up, the game is good with friends (but without split-screen support, they will need copies too). The netcode is broken right now until a patch emerges. Unlocks come so easily that any sense of achievement is gone. Frustrating A.I. Hampers any kind of solo attempt.

The good news- Splash Damage and Bethesda have apologised to their fans for it's poor performance and are giving away their first DLC for FREE, when it's ready.
So, if you have some other players to join you, you'll be ok… I hope.

But for me, it's such a shame to see something so ambitious turn so wrong.

By the above statement I refer to new IP's not existing ones with sequels releasing this year.

The below preview is based on information released by the developers. It does not take into account any changes made to the gameplay that has not been released to the public

At first glance the concept for this game may not appear that orginal. Set in the near future the earth is dying from overpopulation. The last hope of humanity the Ark, now overburdened with refugees does not have enough resources to support everyone too.

The concept that makes this game so different from anything else is the campaign.

The idea that there are no bad guys or good guys either is not that new. But here the developers seem to have actually done the concept justice.

But what this game does bring that is new and fresh is the 8 player co-op campaign which also doubles as the multiplayer. If you want you can play your Campaign with human players playing the enemy. With up to 16 players in a mission/objective based vs mode. With each player able to pick and choose what sub-missions/objectives they wish to pursue in order to gain points towards advancing their character.

For me, this concept makes this game the most anticipated game of 2011.

And I believe if they can deliver on the promises made during development this game could be a cult sleeper hit

My boy thinks it ok,but to short .

The gameplay is good and interactive and definitely immerses you in th action. Although has multiple points where is could be improved (repetitive gameplay, limited A.I. Capabilities etc) it is a good game for those who like just getting into the game and new concepts around the gameplay.