As resources dwindle, the residents of the near-future Ark split into first-person-shooting factions composed of security goons and resistance fighters. You’ll start your game of Brink by pimping out your wardrobe, watching an unnecessarily long tutorial video, and then jumping into short campaigns that tell both sides of a tale that goes nowhere.

What the game lacks in narrative appeal, it could’ve made up for with some pretty cool ideas. Engineers, operatives, medics, and soldiers unlock sweet special abilities, from deployable turrets and enemy disguises to speed and damage buffs for comrades. Complete four surprisingly brief skill challenges to unlock bolt-on parts for weapons that at least sound powerful, even if they sometimes handle like jackhammers. Coolest of all, a parkour system promises to let you quickly and easily traverse obstacles using the left bumper.

Tragically, most of that potential dissolves on the battlefield. Each lifeless map is a tangled mess of halls that too often makes pathfinding a complete pain. You’ll curse the whole concept of parkour every time you accidentally rub against a piece of furniture. And heaven help you if you play alone: enemy bots operate like clockwork, but your allies are drooling simpletons who stroll past opponents and ignore objectives.

Not that playing with friends helps much. Repeatedly protecting or destroying the same VIPs and generic scenery becomes excruciatingly painful when it so often leads to 10 full minutes of fighting over one stretch of carpet, and taking breaks to capture neutral command posts offers little relief. Gearheads might keep coming back for the toys and outfits, but everyone else will run like hell.

On Xbox 360

+ Four classes, 50-plus abilities, an arsenal of customizable weapons, and plentiful dress-up options.

+ Atrocious A.I.; objectives offer little variety; maddening parkour; pointless story.

- Maps favor clutter and sprawl over organic flow and well-crafted choke points.

? No female fighters on the Ark?

4.5