Brink reviews go live – get all the scores here

EG 8/10, that’s almost all I need from Metacritic.

wow !! I didnt see that one coming, Im not sure if I should get this or not

Think this is going to be one of those games where you need to just hit the forums and see what people say about it in a few weeks time.

Bunch more scores added there.

GamesVillage.it: 8.4/10 (Console version)

To be fair, it seems like mostly solid scores, just with the bad ones being really bad.

Shit, fuck, and balls.

I’m really surprised to see the complaints about actual game design. If anything, that’s always been Splash Damages strong side.

Gonna have to wait until Friday to see for myself, but this is pretty fucking worrying. This year was all about Brink for me.

Just been reading through ArsTechnica’s article and it’s terrible that games are getting shipped in that kind of state in this day and age. Have we really reached the point where we say “that’ll do, we’ll fix it in a patch” and just dump any old crap on the actual disc?

I will be getting this game for sure most of the scores gave it and 8 which is great in my book, you know how many good games we have played trough the years that have an 8 score, particulary this gen they are a ton of great games with an 8 score, therefore i think and 8 rated game deserve my money.

@58

Yup, it’s very poor show. Quite clearly a case of the release date being set, and the devs being told to deal with it. Although that said, wasn’t it already pushed back once?

Either way, PSN or no PSN, I’ll be steering clear of this at full price. It might be worth a look once it hits the 17.99 mark, and the inevitable barrage of patches have been put out.

I don’t really trust any of those myself. How did Arstechnica review say, the original Ass Creed? i know many claimed having no issues but that game was borderline unplayable when it’s been released.

if all is being fixed with an upcoming patch, then whatever really. i’d rather support devs making fun but rushed games instead of quality mundane crap.

really needed a demo

seems like most of the scores are around an 8, which is good for me. That joystiq review is almost laughable, I think a lot of peple expected cod+parkour, which is simply not the case. It’s hard to trust reviewers with a new IP that’s in a popular genre and not a clone. Will be buying in about 2 hrs. and I’ll post my personal reaction in a forum post.

@62 +1

I dont know if any1 felt this like me , but the older vids were better than the new ones , it looked more like killzone environment. PC footage ???

The Gametrailers review is actually really good. Basically, it’s a good game but still not quite the grand entrance into the mainstream that Splash Damage were hoping for. Brilliant but too rough around the edges with perhaps a little light on content for some and a sucky ass SP mode. Basically the same response Quake Wars got.

They also criticised the parkour in that there are places it should be used (climbing stuff) where for some arbitrary reason it just can’t be.

Gametrailers video review

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/review-hd-brink/713695

@58/60
Yeah but back in the good old days games were much smaller and easier to handle. Now they are huge with much more delicate and complicated engines/ just general code. So now there’s just so much more that can go wrong so much more crap that devs need to patch.
Anyway its all good to say that back when I was young there were no glitches or loop hole, but of course that’s just not true in the slightest. We got as many if not more problems but now we have a way of patching them after release.

Anyway as I’ve said before I’m really looking forward to this game and I hope that it brings out new and interesting multi-play. I’m wondering what the single-player parts will cover and where they will go.

The gamr review is a decent reference on game content – i.e. features, modes etc. Not particularly well structured or written but informative at least – something which gets lots in a lot of reviews which try to be funny or clever.

@65
Sounds a bit Shadowrun-y in some respects. That was a great little title, but a bit light on content for a full release. Really nicely balanced though.

Well, when you agree to a deadline, whatever it may be, you’re also saying you’re confident that your studio can handle it. There’s no doubt that publishers push and shove on things like that, and that they don’t take disappointment well, but the studios are also responsible for making deals that they can keep.

On the plus-side, if it is “just” a case of patchable content, then you really couldn’t ask for a better developer than Splash Damage. Their past titles have been some of the most heavily supported post-release that I can remember from any developer.

DAM, thoroughly disappointed with the review scores. was really hoping this would be a cod killer, so much for that.

i guess ill wait to get it.

Well 1UP and IGN are now the same company so you can expect those review grades to be pretty much the same, and Joystiqs was a bit of a surprise but everyone else scored it well…and I guess some are waiting to fully utilize the online component which is what the game was made for before submitting a score

Usually I’d say that any game that receives an 8 from EG, CVG and Videogamer deserves praise, but the Ars write-up is quite worrying. Good on them for being blatantly honest. Just waiting on RPS’s Wot I Think, now.

Also, is anyone thinking “Alan Wake 2.0″? Similar release date. High expectations. Mixed reviews.

Not really surprised about the scores. The game looked pretty good when they first showed it but the more and more I saw of it it just didn’t click for me. After getting burned by so many mediocre shooters this year that got solid scores I don’t think I will pick it up and risk it.

Too bad cause I really wanted a new online game to play before Battlefield 3 came out. Seems the average score is about 8 which is solid. Maybe I will get it when it drops in price if the community for the game can sustain itself that long.

@60: They’ve already pushed it back over half a year…

The nineties had so few 90+ ratings that they had to be played and nowadays there’re nothing but bitches and trolls waiting for a prize drop instead of supporting a good game.

@69: You do realize that Brink is what it is because of Splash Damage and Wedgwood?

Splash Damage don’t seem to have as much fortune as their Bethesda pals across the Atlantic. Those lads can always release a bug-ridden title and not have anyone refuse to review or downmark it.

#75 exactly, which is why you never know to what extent they’re actually telling a true story.

Unfortunately I think a game like Brink is a love or hate affair.

If you went in expecting CoD with parkour then you’re going to be bitterly disappointed. It’s not really about one man armies twitch pwning half a dozen guys in 12 seconds on one clip of ammo. It’s about the objectives and supporting the team to meet the objectives.

One of the poor reviews (the much criticised Joystiq review) suggests that players will gravitate towards certain classes (fair enough) then claims that any objective which does not directly relate to your class is a (frequent no less) “off-season” which clearly demonstrates that he Does. Not. Get IT. Each class has a supporting role when they’re not directly required for the objective. If you’re a medic dicking around because you don’t have a prisoner to escort then you’re doing it wrong, you should be on the front line making sure whatever class which has a bigger active objective stay in good health, or stay in ammo etc etc.

Also, a lot of the technical issues seem to be console related, therefore I do not give a fuck :p

Just finished the game(on 360), without seeing a single glitch so idk what those reviewers are whining about it being “buggy”.

The game’s great, but has a steep learning curve. So if you can’t handle it go back to CoD.

@77
Thank You! Finally someone gets it!

@35

That’s bullshit, man. 1UP rated Darkspore highly for actually trying to do new and interesting things with the action RPG genre, and it took balls for them to do that, since most kids these days are against the likes of Darkspore because it doesn’t have ‘kewl’ people (giant swords/guns) in it, nor does it have a predictable setting. 1UP usually tends to speak their mind, regardless of whatever the consequences might be.

Why did 1UP score it down? The setting is fantastic in Brink, yes, but the mechanics suck, the code is a mess, the game is buggy, and it all feels like it was released about a year too early, just forced out of the door before it was finished. There are everything from graphical bugs to netcode bugs, and it’s just not acceptable to see a game be released this buggy these days. It’s in a far worse state than New Vegas was as I understand it and New Vegas got slammed for its bugs.

I’m sure that many reviewers want and crave interesting games. Just take a look at how highly 1UP praised Okami for being different (and that’s one of my all time favourites in regards to strange, experimental games), but Brink is just a pile of shit dressed up in a pretty wrapper. It needed more development time, and saying that it’s just reviewers attacking the game because it’s interesting is ludicrous because the evidence is way stacked against you. At least in the case of 1UP, anyway.

(Please read the opening of the Okami review and you’ll understand why you’re wrong. Don’t just jump on me, click that link and read it.)

Also, nice to see that no one is tackling the content of the 1UP review, just instead going for defamation in regards to the recent IGN purchase. That tends to tell me more and more that 1UP are on the right track here, as they often are.

Oh Internet, when will you ever learn that wishful thinking is a bad thing? I’ll give everyone about a week after release to catch up with 1UP, that should do it.

http://www.giantbomb.com/quick-look-brink/17-4101/

This is also worth watching. And you can even see them playing it and picking out the problems with it as they go along. Entertainingly, a lot of the issues they have sound a lot like the 1UP review! So, honestly, do yourself a favour and check this out.

If you’re an Enemy Territory fanboy and you crave more ET like nothing else, then there’s stuff there for you. Otherwise… well, just watch the video. It’s like a Let’s Play. Giantbomb does those and they’re really good. At least watch that before you get suckered out of your money by the hype that the European (and I’m British!) reviewing collective is spewing out makes your decision for you.

after the reviews I pulled off my preorder, not because of US bad reviews. But for PSN. When PSN is back I’ll order this game.
Story Mode was REALLY designed to be played online! not single player:/

also only UK people and US in connection to UK like this game, straight people from US dislike this game

@81, they just spent an hour bitching about a lack of a single player campaign and about bots.

It’s clearly a team based game but the guy insists on playing alone with bots instead of the 2 guys playing together and trying some actual teamwork out or even getting a whole team together to see what happens.

On top of that the guy doesn’t seem all that interested in learning how to play the game anyway. He runs headlong into massive groups of enemies, empties a clip and dies repeatedly without even trying to get in cover.

I guess TheWulf is a 1UP member. Hell tomorrow can’t come soon enough.

@81 “If you’re an Enemy Territory fanboy and you crave more ET like nothing else, then there’s stuff there for you.”

Indeed THAT’S the main target for Brink so please shut the fuck up and go play your shoddy scripted FPS.

@82 “also only UK people and US in connection to UK like this game, straight people from US dislike this game”

It’s called the “Activision Syndrome”, deal with it.

@83 “On top of that the guy doesn’t seem all that interested in learning how to play the game anyway. He runs headlong into massive groups of enemies, empties a clip and dies repeatedly without even trying to get in cover.”

What can you expect from people whose only FPS background seems to be CoD?
I bet only people who played the original ETs or even team based games like TF2 and any Battlefield (large maps and vehicles aside) will be able to understand the game.

You need a big old gulp of calm down juice.

Average game is average.

niche game is niche maybe?

after actually playing the game I must say that the negative reviews are complete bullshit , in my opinion. The game is fun and the mechanics work. I bought this game expecting a mp experience and that’s exactly what it is. I’d give it an 8.5. The game is fun.

How is the game in terms on content? I mean maps & modes. I dont care about the customization options.

Cant say i’m really up for paying full price for a game that pretty much doesnt have any real SP.

@90 there are 2 Campaigns, which consist of multiple missions/maps (haven’t played myself, so I can’t tell you how many)

@VG24/7 [Game Informer – Refused to review it]

Good Lord, learn to read before posting bullshit, Game Informer say their review will come soon, they didn’t refuse to review it.

The game is full on arena, team based game. Really its an overall mess its like the developer was trying to put as much as customization as they can which customization is great and all but not if its unfocused like this game.

The single player is a straight bot combat there is no plot its just complete the goals and defend/attack the enemy. If you have lots of friends to play with and have this game I would say play with them because the bots have crappy AI. SO think Borderlands minus the story and then toss as much customization as you can.

I personally wouldn’t put 60$ on the game its asking too much for a straight MP game because thats all it is.

GamingXP.com 85% (PC-Version)

Well, I ordered it, saw the reviews and was like “Shit …”.
But if the game is like TF2 and other team based shooters I’ll probably have fun with it. I hope the controls are good on the PC, because Bulletstorm’s PC version sucked ass imo.

It’s ok, but when will developers learn that a 360/ps3/4:3 aspect Field of View is unacceptable for pc widescreen games. It’s gotta be easier to build this into a game during development rather than now in a patch.

I see some good reviews here, unlike the metascore which is 69

xbox666.com gives it a 8 – http://xbox666.com/2011/05/analisis-brink/

6 is the score i’d give the game. Totally agree with IGN’s review.

Well, the RPS verdict is in and… it’s every bit as apologetic as I expected, airbrushing over issues and even going so far as to insult other reviews for having an opinion that differs from their own. No, I’m serious, they did! That’s very professional journalism that is, RPS, that’s real mature.

It reminds me of when RPS made a personal attack against Obsidian, the developer, in their New Vegas review and pretty much said that the developer ‘phoned the game in,’ and went on to imply that Obsidian was generally only capable of particularly shitty games. Yeah, this is why I don’t trust RPS. Never will. They’re pretty much the Daily Star of game reviewing.

I still can’t get over that, though… they didn’t think their review could stand on its own legs, they actually had to go out of their way to insult other reviews. That’s amazing. I’d expect a gamer who isn’t counted on to be professional to do that, because they’re not in a position where they’re supposed to exercise professionalism, but I think it speaks volumes about them.

Oh well, that just puts the nail in the coffin for me, I’m definitely avoiding Brink like the plague.

—

Basically, my personal system for judging a game’s worth based on reviews goes something like: Read the 1UP review, watch the GiantBomb QuickLook (and review, if available), and factor in how much RPS is trying to compensate for any negativity towards a game in their own review. The truth can usually be found, that way.

If RPS feels that a game can’t stand on its own merits without insulting other eviewers, and the 1UP review is awful, and GiantBomb slams it, then the game is probably going to be absolutely terrible.

I just hope other people realise that and aren’t suckered in.