The launch, especially on the 360 was all kinds of messed up. Incredibly spotty framerates, broken matchmaking, and technical bugs were all over the place. Games that depend so much on building a multiplayer community cannot afford bad word of mouth. Brink got it in spades.
The game was released very green, it needed two extra months of development to elliminate bugs, general polish, better balance, etc. Pity :(
flyinj
1603
I haven’t played online yet, but single player was pretty solid. Has the online been fixed post-launch?
I know it improved, but i suppose the problem will be right now the almost empty community. That’s why it’s important to launch the game properly, you can’t wait until it’s patched later like a sp game, or the community will dissapear and it won’t come back.
DLC is already out in console, still not on Steam :(.
LMN8R
1605
On the PC at least, Splash Damage could do something like a free weekend combined with a ton of promotion combined with a decent discount combined with the free new DLC to bring back the community. Dunno how likely all of that is to happen though.
I doubt a re-issue or free weekend would work beyond that free weekend. The launch was a giant poison pill.
Squee
1607
I’m still looking forward to the free DLC, though at this point I basically just play Brink against once in a while for kicks. A couple new maps and a few new toys to mess around with will be welcome though.
Imryll
1608
It was announced May 2009, though, so it wasn’t an unusually tight development cycle, and with Rage scheduled for a September launch, Bethesda really wouldn’t want to give Splash Damage two more months.
so is it out? is steam going to automatically download it? Bueller?
Still not on Steam. I’m bummed, in the end even if it’s released in the next 60 minutes, with the time needed to download it, it will be Thursday 0:00. Stupid Valve time!
LMN8R
1611
No, it won’t get automatically downloaded since they’ve specifically said it’s free only for two weeks. Meaning you need to manually go to the DLC page and click Download some time during those two weeks, otherwise you’ll have to pay for it. If it was an auto-download built right into the game they wouldn’t have a way to charge for it after those two weeks.
I mean, come on. Just look at Section 8 and Crysis 2. We all know that the best way to revitalize a dead or dying online community is to fragment it with paid DLC. Why would Splash Damage want to miss such an awesome opportunity?
The DLC is now on Steam… but it won’t install. It seems Valve is doing something wrong in the install method or in the validation system. Sigh.
Tomorrow, then.
Marcin
1613
Man, it’s like the launch for the base game just taints everything to do with it.
:/
Do people still get shitty MP framerates with solid SP framerates, or is it just me?
Just you, my overall frame rates in MP were the same as SP as of the last patch.
Kurina
1615
Anyone else getting a broken server browser on the PC after updating the game to the new DLC? I tried the suggestion in this thread, but getting nowhere. This game has been beyond frustrating. I was really excited about it, but one problem after another has kept it from being functional enough to enjoy.
mono
1616
I downloaded and installed the DLC and managed to join matches no problem. I played the new maps a couple of times, and they seem to bottleneck into tough choke points for the attackers. I don’t know the maps well enough to determine if there were other access routes, or if it’s just going to be super tough to oust an entrenched defense. It can be especially tough if the defenders set up shop w/ a lvl 5 medic or two w/ the new Lazarus Grenade (local area healing field).
Sounds like Brink alright! :P. Downloading.
Hum, I’m still not seeing any DLC up for download.
Doh, nevermind, just saw it’s on the store page, not on the “downloadable content” one.
I think i like both maps, Labs is a very nice looking map with the usual gameplay, the quality more or less like the average of other maps, with the difference of being a bit more straightforward and with a tendency to close combat except in tje two bigger rooms, and Founder’s Tower have the potential of being the best map of the game. Very complex, very distinct looking and with a focus on vertical advancement it makes it different to other maps.
Of course, it’s still a very first impression, they need to be played for some hours before knowing if they are balanced or not. Right now i have seen attackers and defenders win them.
They took your idea to heart. Free Brink trial to go with the Quakecon packs this weekend.
