First, I really enjoy Brink. An objective based FPS is a welcome change from the monotony of endless Team Deathmatches. And aside from a few areas of imbalance, I think the maps are great and I greatly enjoy the various stages to each. I really want Brink to have a long and healthy life.
However, after leveling two characters to 20, I am shocked at how few real choices there are in the game. Especially for one that has so many options.
In fact, there is only one real choice and that is class (and for the majority of players the only real choice here is between medic or engineer).
Body type? Light. There are no disadvantages. With its ability to strafe, the light body type is easily the most survivable, The few hitpoints lost are meaningless. Add to that the ability to return to the battlefield more quickly, take all routes on the map and respond to the changing situations of the game more rapidly and there is no reason to play any other body type.
Weapons? Carb-9 and Sea Eagle pistol. Yes really good players can get away with some other combos, but for the majority of players these weapons answer everything. With the amazing accuracy and range of the pistol, it is as good as carrying a sniper rifle, so you are never out-ranged. And the Carb-9 is as good as, and probably better than, any of the heaver weapons.
Loadouts? Carb-9 with a muzzle break, laser or iron sight, front grip and high capacity or drum magazine. Put a Greeneye Scope on the Sea Eagle and you are set to go.
The problem here is that there are no disadvantages. The negative effects the loadouts have are so minor, that they are almost meaningless. The hugest effect is to equip speed, but since a light only ever goes from the SMG to the pistol during a firefight (and rarely if ever from the pistol to the carb), it really doesn’t matter how long it takes for the SMG to equip.
Because heavies are so slow to return to the fight, they spend a ton more down time not doing anything to help the objectives or damage the enemy. And since they cannot strafe at all, with the ease of headshots and the accuracy and range of the SMG/pistols, heavies right now are a deathtrap. And since assault rifles have no real advantage over SMGs, mediums end up being a mostly worthless option as well.
Because of this, there are just no hard choices in the game. No weighing of advantages and disadvantages. With the SMG/pistol the light body type excels at every situation except for the most extreme of sniper ranges. And those ranges are exceedingly rare in Brink.
To keep things fresh and feel like there are options and new challenges to overcome, there needs to be harder choices. The different body types and weapons needs to present real advantages and disadvantages so that everything has its place and each of the body types have their area of excellence, rather than one loadout being the best at nearly everything.
I have some personal suggestions to add these harder choices to the game. However, keep in mind, I am not a light/SMG hater. I have leveled two characters to 20 using light/SMGs most of the time. And I am regularly on the leaderboard as best in class, most kills and/or best overall.
But the game starts to grow stale and old when there is only one answer to everything. Here are my suggestions to make real advantages and disadvantages to the body types and weapon loadouts:
RANGE: The SMG and Pistol need to have their effective ranges reduced. Especially the pistol. Talented players in a light body types should dominate short ranges and be able to compete at medium range. Beyond that they should feel challenged. Right now, what is considered “long” and “extreme” ranges are so far, that they are meaningless 99% of the time. If ranges were made more meaningful assault rifles would take on a more meaningful role, giving medium and heavy body types a better reason to exist.
SURVIVABILITY: With the strafing of the light body type, the accuracy and range of the SMG/pistol and the extreme easiness of headshots, the light body type is infinitely more survivable than the others simply due to its ability to strafe. The alterations to range would help this some. There are other changes that would help as well. Make headshots more difficult, at least with a spamming SMG. Give medium and heavy body types more hitpoints. And the heavy weapons for the heavy body type should do more damage.
REAL DISADVANTAGES TO LOADOUTS: Choosing to equip something like the high capacity or drum magazine, needs to more negatively impact areas like range, stability and accuracy. Effecting equip time on the SMG has no real downside. 99% of the time the light starts with its SMG equipped and switches to its pistol. It rarely, if ever, switches back to its SMG until after its survived the fight. Really these equip time penalties on SMGs are much more devastating to mediums and heavies who are more likely to be switching to an SMG during a firefight.
So these are just my two-cents. Again, they come from someone who loves the game and wants to see it continue and grow. With real options, meaningful advantages/disadvantages and hard choices, the game can stay fresh and present real tactical challenges for a player and a team.
But with one loadout and one body type being the most effective answer to every part of the game, things start to grow stale.
Good luck Splash Damage! I wish you and Brink well!