Out This Week - 13/05/11

By Tom Phillips Published 9 May, 2011

Brink! LEGO Pirates! SBK 2011!

Long-awaited shooter Brink sits nervously in the dug out. Finger on chunky gun trigger, hand wiping sweat off oversized brow. It headlines this week's new recruits.

Developer Splash Damage has laughed in the face of its more monochrome military-based rivals. Gritty Homefront sold one million in a week. Will Brink's colourful cast of caricatured commandos catch on?

Oceans away in the mainstream, LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean lies anchored.

Proof of the LEGO series' popularity is Disney's decision to make LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean the official release accompanying fourth film On Stranger Tides.

Will Johnny Depp's wonky-walking Captain Jack Sparrow prove just as popular in plastic form?

Sports fans can choose between off-road racer MX vs. ATV Alive and SBK 2011's superbike circuits. There's also twin-stick shooter Gatling Gears on XBLA and Zumba Fitness wannabe Exerbeat, as if the chart needs another.

This Week in Shops!

Brink

  • Developer: Splash Damage
  • Publisher: Bethesda
  • Formats: PC, PS3, Xbox 360

What is it? An accomplished-looking shooter with a striking art style, hoping to wrestle control of the brown and grey-dominated genre. You crowned it Game of the Show at the Eurogamer Expo last year. What does Eurogamer think? Eurogamer has painted its impressions – we will publish them at an alarm clock-bustingly early 5am tomorrow.

Will Brink be to your palette?

LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean

  • Developer: Traveller's Tales
  • Publisher: Disney Interactive
  • Formats: 3DS, DS, PC, PSP, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360

What is it? LEGO-starring video game of the theme park ride turned film franchise. It encompasses all the movies to date, including the new one without pouty Keira and skateboarding elf Orlando Bloom. Expect the usual puzzle-based adventuring with over 60 Pirates characters and chests full of secrets to unlock. What does Eurogamer think? No need to brick it - Eurogamer's review gets a champagne launch tomorrow at 11.30am.

Swann song.

What Else?

  • SBK World Championships (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
  • MX vs ATV Alive (PS3, Xbox 360)
  • Gatling Gears (XBLA)
  • Karaoke Revolution - Glee Vol.2 (Wii)
  • Touch 'N' Play (DS)
  • Exerbeat - Gym Class Workout (Wii)
  • Zombie Driver (PC)
  • Hydrophobia Prophecy (PC)

Chart Predictions!

Each week one of the team steps up to predict the UK all-formats chart. The following predicts the outcome for the week beginning Friday 13th May (to be reported on Monday 16th May).

Wesley Yin-Poole, News Editor, Eurogamer.net

"Parkour shooter Brink launches this week supported by a meaty telly advertising campaign, but I can't see it dislodging NetherRealm's excellent gory fighter Mortal Kombat, Valve's superb first-person puzzler Portal 2 and, gulp, Zumba Fitness, in the top three. LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean, however, has a chance. Not only is it available for pretty much every platform going, but it's tied to the biggest movie of 2011. More importantly, it's proper good, from a developer that creates the best family-friendly game series of this generation."

  1. LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean
  2. Zumba Fitness: Join the Party
  3. Portal 2
  4. Mortal Kombat
  5. Brink

Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer Robert Purchese attempted to predict the future last week. We've put together a fancy table to show how well he performed.

Position The Truth The Prediction Result
1 Zumba Fitness Portal 2 NO!
2 Portal 2 Zumba Fitness NO!
3 Mortal Kombat Call of Duty: Black Ops NO!
4 Call of Duty: Black Ops Mortal Kombat NO!
5 LEGO Star Wars III Operation Flashpoint: Red River FAIL!
Picture of Tom.

About Tom Phillips

Tom joined Eurogamer in 2010 and has quickly made his mark writing news and columns and coming up with puntastic straplines. Questionable beard. @TomPhillips151 on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Phillips archive page.

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Comments (29) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • UkHardcore23 #1 1 year ago

    Oops Must Read Article!! :X
    Edited by UkHardcore23 at 09/05/11 @ 18:09

  • beastmaster #2 1 year ago

    5 am? I'm not getting up at that time for a review unless it's a 9 or a 10 ;-)

  • Machetazo #3 1 year ago

    A bit early for Zombie Driver isn't it, I thought Ubisoft were readying that for later this year.

  • Mister-Wario #4 1 year ago

    Lego Pirates is out? Woohoo! Furthermore, I hope Brink does well: it's a breath of fresh air in a largely stagnant genre.

  • evild_edd #5 1 year ago

    Keen to see Brink review.

    My chart predictions:

    1. Brink (core buyers will get it the #1 slot)
    2. LEGO: PotC
    3. Zumba Fitness
    4. CoD Blops
    5. Mortal Kombat

    Would like Portal 2 to stay up there but just reckon most who want it will have it already. LEGO: PotC will stick around for a long while but wouldn't surprise me if it fails to board the top spot...

  • Sar #6 1 year ago

    I can't believe Brink is touting that it has over 102 quadrillion unique characters but not one female model?

    Did the devs not think we could've "made do" with 51 quadrillion for male and female each?

    Pretty disappointing tbh.

  • jonbwfc #7 1 year ago

    @UKHardcore23 'Where is the Brink review?'
    You didn't actually read the bloody article at all did you?

    Come on though Wesley, seriously now...

  • Sniper_007 #8 1 year ago

    I still think rather than saying yes or no, he should be giving a CLOSE! if only one spot away!! What does everyone else think?

    4 NO's and a fail is a bit harsh when he got the top 4 right, just in the wrong order

  • captain_Carl #9 1 year ago

    Am i the only person not looking forward to Brink?

  • Spanky #10 1 year ago

    No you are probably not alone, but you're the fudd who has to shout about it.

  • metalangel #11 1 year ago

    Don't make me choose between MX vs ATV and SBK!

  • asphaltcowboy #12 1 year ago

    @Sar That is not AT ALL how the maths of adding a female character works. AT ALL.

  • Tryhard #13 1 year ago

    I have been watching some Brink streams.And already hate the words Command post.You will understand if you buy it.

  • aplsin #14 1 year ago

    Zumba Fitness isn't a game so shouldn't be on game charts even if it sells really good!

  • captain_Carl #15 1 year ago

    Uhh i wasn't shouting about it. I was asking if anyone else isn't looking forward to it >.

  • O11Y #16 1 year ago

    ^^ this. Anyone who buys brink is a sexist c**t

  • UkHardcore23 #17 1 year ago

    Do we really want women in shooters?

    Nope, Zumba on the other hand is far more suitable!

  • Nithron #18 1 year ago

    Anyone else think of Snow Crash's Ark when they see Brink?

  • JorgeLuisBorges #19 1 year ago

    I always worry when agame embargo pushes so close to the release date. Isn't brink due out at 12pm in the US?

  • WinterSnowblind #20 1 year ago

    Review embargo's are stupid, and the main reason I haven't pre-ordered Brink. I don't rely on reviews to tell me if a game is good or not, but sometimes I do want to read a professional opinion, especially when I'm not sure if I'm going to like the game.

    If the game is going to be good, they shouldn't need to worry about holding back reviews.. But gameplay videos and player impressions for Brink have been less than stellar, even on the official forums, people don't seem particularly impressed with the game. I predict it's going to be a disappointment.

  • bifbert #21 1 year ago

    Brink..........please be good, you have promised so so much but I have a feeling you will be a slight let down. Hopefully not though. You will keep me tided over till BF3 in terms of multiplayer anyway.

  • Jonny5Alive7 #22 1 year ago

    Karaoke Glee is finally coming out, get in!

  • Daeltaja #23 1 year ago

    Anyone else have a sinking feeling about Brink? We shall find out in just over 5 hours!

  • UkHardcore23 #24 1 year ago

    I have a feeling it's going to be great, Eurogamer is famous for it's 8's so im going for an 8!

  • _tangent #25 1 year ago

    im interested in brink on the PC, but i fear the review isn't going to tell me that much about how the game plays on my preferred platform! So often an 8/9/10 experience on console does not translate into one of the same quality on PC. Hope you guys have included some stuff about how much effort has gone into things like controls/control and graphics options for the PC and whether the whole thing feels dumbed down in that way console shoots so often unfortunately do.

  • arcam #26 1 year ago

    Hope you guys have included some stuff about how much effort has gone into things like controls/control and graphics options for the PC and whether the whole thing feels dumbed down in that way console shoots so often unfortunately do.

    Eurogamer won't even play the PC version, much less detail the difference between the it and the console versions.

  • AOFanboi #27 1 year ago

    Another thing that is (still) out: PlayStation Network, with the latest recovery estimate apparently May 31st.

    Personally, this makes me wait with buying any PS3 games in case there is some last-minute patch or trophy list update that I will be missing because of the downtime. Especially for an online-heavy game like Brink surely the PSN debacle must be fatal to its sales on that platform?

  • dingo75 #28 1 year ago

    Would like Portal 2 to stay up there but just reckon most who want it will have it already.

    Nah we wait for the Steam deal of it which will come (maybe in the Summer Sale if not in the next X-mas Sale).

  • dingo75 #29 1 year ago

    A bit early for Zombie Driver isn't it, I thought Ubisoft were readying that for later this year.

    It's been out for a year on Steam. They've just released it as a boxed PC game though, inexplicably.

    He was jokingly refering to the Driver reboot coming out later this year. :)