Alright so lets get this introduction out of the way before we get started. I won't get into any long-strung-out self promoting I've been gaming since Jesus was crucified bit, I will say however that I own a PS3, Xbox 360 AND a gaming PC... so I've been around the block. I bought BRINK for the PC and have logged 47 gaming hours according to the all mighty Steam timer since the game launched on Tuesday... yeah I know that is a lot of time.

Okay so this is where my review is going to differ from most... we are doing this from two different view points. They are the casual gamer and the competitive gamer, how I classify each is...

Casual Gamer – Someone who plays just for fun and to shoot [censored]. They don't care about winning or teamwork in general and play to relax.

Competitive Gamer – Someone who seeks out a team to compete in whatever game they are playing. They want to participate in ladders / tournaments with a set team to prove how big their E-[censored] is while they do their best to communicate with their team-mates to win the day.

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Okay so lets get this out of the way as well. BRINK is a game made for TEAMWORK AND COMMUNICATION in an online competitive environment.

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BRINK from a casual point-of-view:

Neat game, fun movement system... but frustrating beyond belief because no one is working together as a team and in public matches most people run around like a chicken with their head cut off. Single-player content is lacking due to poor storyline and the enemy AI is so terrible the ET game for Atari 2600 prides itself on being smarter... okay so the AI is not THAT bad.

Overall BRINK won't last long with a casual gamer. Why?

#1. Short SP like stated already

#2. Not having that carrot on the stick like prestige modes in CoD games

#3. Teamwork is scary and makes you talk to strangers.

#4. Lack of variety.

Overall for a casual gamer once you get over the novelty of the S.M.A.R.T. System the game will get old.

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Final Score for Casual Gamers - 6/10

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BRINK from a competitive point-of-view:

Wonderful game full of many tactics to learn and master along with trying to master strategies for each body-type / class with your clan-mates / friends / team. Single-player content provides a nice warm-up for the online action but will likely only be used to help power-level characters to level 20 due to the again lacking enemy AI.

BRINK will thrive in the competitive gaming world because of...

#1. Small-team-class-based-shooter that is well balanced and thought out

#2. Enough is different about BRINK (In a good way) to bring competitive gamers from other FPS titles

#3. Every competitive gamer will try the “I'm a ninja light body-type” build because we all think we are better than everyone else ever born... even Jesus.

#4. Fun and addicting objective team-play when communicating with your friends and working together to crush your foes.

#5. Dedicated servers for the PC + BRINK TV to broadcast live tournaments over the web

#6. Levelling a character doesn't take 36646456563 to the power of 9 hours

#7. Early after launch tournaments with cash prizes (For the PC players... maybe console, not sure)

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Final score for competitive gamers – 9/10

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The only reasons this game loses out on that last 1 point are the following...

#1 More maps would have been nice

#2 Minor glitches / bugs not allowing some people to get the great experience most of us get

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I felt looking at BRINK from two points of view were needed. While this game is the best thing to happen since sliced bread when I play with my team I plan to compete in tournaments with I sadly cannot say the same for when I am on alone and having to play in random servers with strangers who don't use team-work or communicate. Hell most of the time your team may as well be replaced with the enemy AI when playing single-player. Truth hurts.

I'm casual and I like it D=

Yeah, I consider myself a very casual gamer and I'm in love with the game.. in fact, I hate CoD..

I fully admit that being a competitive gamer myself I can't fully understand a casuals mindset. All I am going off of is my experiences in random servers with random people which is what a casual experience is and because I prize teamwork and communication so much those experiences tended to be pretty terrible. I feel most casual players will move on the moment another FPS comes out. I could be wrong, and I am certainly not the voice of all casual players.

Just to clarify about the teamwork and communication part. In a game such as CoD while those are wanted they are not NEEDED to succeed because everyone is the same and the objective is always the same. In a game like BRINK when you bring classes into the game-play... and not in battlefield numbers teamwork and communication become all the more important.

Well, I would say I am also very casual but I still love the game. Some people may be casual but still like to use teamwork, not lone wolf, do objectives etc while (many) others prefer to do what you described as the casual gamer.

:whistling:

I was an avid Enemy Territory player as I played it for three years before I moved onto Quake Wars, but I still consider myself a casual gamer. I don't go home and clock in five hours a day, but I still feel like I play enough to be classified as a gamer.

Ever since ET, I never really got into any other FPS..I have MW2 and Black Ops, but I played the multiplayer for a week on both of those and quickly lost interest. Here's hoping Brink can last for me.

I'm definitely going to try BF3 when it comes out though.

Uhmm not to burst your little bubble here and I am glad a competive player enjoys the game.

But your assesment of a casual player is... as usual for "hardcoe" players... wrong.

I am a casual player... i play maybe an hour or two a night, then skip a night then for 2 then play... blah blah blah. Yet I work well with a team, tend to support people even when its not my role, and I care about teamwork and winning. I dont use a headset often because i enjoy being sociable with my wife and do not make it my lifes mission to be the "best" in some stupid leaderboard or ladder ranking.


So... I am in the middle, as are most people. Bads are bads... casuals can be good teamplayers too!

Other then that... i see your overall point and agree. But its not a casual vs hardcoe thing... its a "do you enjoy working as a team, or do you enjoy being the lone ranger and hero?"


And i love Brink

Yeahh, it's all preference. A casual gamer might enjoy playing with a team while a competitive player might enjoy racking up kills like in CoD. I'm a huge fan of objective-based multiplayer so this is fine and dandy for me.

I'm a skilled casual gamer who enjoys challenging himself, and who goes for teamwork, but is more about fun than victory.

For me, even though I'm not ultra-competitive, the competitive review sounds much more along the lines of my opinion.

Casual fans of modern shooters should steer clear. Casual gamers who like teamwork should take a pinch of the casual review alongside the competitive one - I'd rate the game 8 or maybe 8.5/10.

Great dual-perspective review though. I would have argued if you hadn't included the "teamwork doesn't matter" part of your casual description though - that's not really a defining trait of casual gamers (actually, it's more appropriate for the competitive gamers in some modern FPS games.

Brink feels like a step back into the older generation's fast-paced and aggressive gameplay, while retaining the things which make the new games actually better, and adding a few things which have never really been put together before.

I think until they get demo and FP spectate fixed, no real comp

Anyone reading this please keep in mind I took the very most basic outline of a casual gamer. I know some like to work as a team and so forth but I was also trying to inject some humor into the review if you had not noticed. Just because my description of a casual gamer doesn't conform to you personally doesn't mean I am completely wrong... nor was I talking about ALL casual gamers least of all you personally. Take it was it is... a humored review from a guy that tries to see both sides of the gaming world.

In the end I feel BRINK isn't suited well for casual gamers, that is all.

Meh review but at least you aren't bashing it like all the mythical creatures whom I am not supposed to name out there

Sorry but if you expect a good written review from me I'd need at least two days to re-read and re-write bits and pieces.. and since I wouldn't get paid to do that and don't have any intentions of trying to become a reviewer at this time lets just say I won't be doing that.

I'm tired and it was what 2AM when I wrote that? I say good enough haha

Same here. I was born to FPS with RTCW. Trying to play any of the COD games after that just didn't cut it. No substance.

Im somewere in the middles, used to play W:ET Pro ALOT for the pure teamwork and satifaction of wining a game properly. But i wanted a console (got the ps3) as, well... Good gaming pcs are becoming to expensive for me now )yea boo hoo lol) But trying to play teambased games properly on ps3 is a fkin joke! Moslty bloody kids online or people just dont ruddy listen arg!

and before someone says 'well why dont you play with your friends and blah blah' well when i do it works but its not often my m8s are online and atm im the only one with brink and as the psn is down and still will be alot of them left for xbox

But i can see this game will be gr8 for organised scrims and so on for sure.

Oh and i agree with many that cods a pile of [censored]e. teamdeathmatch and full of self endulgant egos and [censored]s, i think the nearst thing to an obj based game is demolition and lets face it, its pretty dull, a good obj game like brinks been a long time coming and is way overdue imo

The OPs definition of casual gamers and pro gamers is grossly inaccurate and is frankly vein and stupid. I want to call him a jerk, but the desire to do so will have to suffice for now.

The fact that he's provided definitions of what the terms mean in the context of his write-up should be sufficient to make his perspective clear.

He might be defining those terms in a very restrictive, or inaccurate way, but the fact that he's provided definitions BEFORE using the terms invalidates your criticism.

Which is, of course, why my comment included an "I don't quite fit your definitions" disclaimer before I gave my feedback.

Perfectly summed up the game from both perspectives, brother. Awesome review. I have been STARVING for a game like Brink and totally understand why a casual gamer would be turned off by it! I have yet to be called a ****** while playing Brink. I hope that SD and Bethesda continue to make this a NON CASUAL game! Gears of War was destroyed when Epic tried to make it a casual friendly game. Fingers crossed that Brink continues to deliver an awesome experience for gamers like myself who love teamwork. I hate the even concept of killstreaks to be quite frank. I'd also give Brink a 9.0!

To casual gamers: Definitely a 6/10 for a casual gamer. They should stick to Call of Duty Zombie. Please don't come here and ruin Brink.

I don't understand how what your saying is relevant to what I'm saying. The OP made sweeping generalizations of casual gamers, and he does it in a condescending manner to prop himself up and make himself appear to extraordinary. He insinuates the casual gamers IQ is not capable of understanding a game like Brinks incredible depth and intricacies and the pro gamer can. Which is silly for more than one reason. Whatever. I shouldn't have even responded to this foolishness. People have warped thinking.

i don't like being labeled a competive gamer. i play games for fun, but idea of fun in a shooter is working together with a team, and whether we win or lose doesn't matter one bit to me, so long as we all worked together and had a great time. death to stereotypes!

I enjoy brink a LOT however as a competitive gamer.. This game is not that category. Q3A is a competitive game.

lol

Hey OP. you forgot the pub-stomper point of view ( the in-between) but your generalizations are about right.

This is me. By the OP's definition I would have to be in between casual and competitive because I absolutely hate doing tournament ladders and such but I love working as a team. Good review though, nice job looking at it from two different views but not everyone is stereotyped into those groups. Still, good job.

Hello me!