Brink isn't a terrible game, I just expected something a bit better when it first came out. I think it's got some good ideas and some odd/bad design choices.
I really dislike the direction that most modern multiplayer shooters have gone in with unlocks and providing players with constant validation, patting them on the head with experience points, bars and levels rising because essentially all amounts to an artificial progress curve. You as a player may not be improving your skill but you've ground your character up for ten hours like it's League of Legends and have unlocked turret lvl 2. That said Splash Damage at least use these carrots dangled on a stick to try and at least encourage teamwork. I do like amorphous sub-objectives: things like capture forward command posts, escort a player and change class to complete main objective.
I think the cinematic, story-driven approach is a misguided way of conveying the struggle between the Ark security forces and the guests, there shouldn't be hackneyed cutscenes before you play a round of attack/defend or capture the flag. They could do more things in-game in terms of character interaction that would likely be more meaningful. Team Fortress 2 essentially made its classes characters, Splash Damage could've done something similar with the resistance and security forces. In the character creation bit you choose a voice to represent your character. The lines your character had with other members of your team or your opponents is where they could've done this. What strikes me as more absurd than having cutscenes before and after a round of objective driven team deathmatch are the amount of audiologs you can unlock and access in one of the sub-menus. You just sit there in a menu and listen to this elaborate fiction they've created. I guess it's neat that it's there, I just wish they found a better way to convey it all.
Edit: I would like to add that I do quite enjoy the art direction, I think the characters are are weirdly ugly in an awesome way and I think the overall look of the environments, especially the more pristine sections of the Ark, look pretty fantastic.
