Splash Damage cutting it fine with Brink launch patches

The launch of Brink's looking a touch.. fraught, with zero-day patches, poor net code, and more. But does this mean it's a bad game?

Steam codes for our copy of Brink dropped overnight, and we've got our very diligent partner at home setting up the download as we speak. 

She's an angel.

But at the same time, it's also emerging that the game's launch is anything but smooth. Ars Technica is flat-out refusing to review the game until it's patched up to launch quality, and telling readers to lay off buying the game for a few days, at least on Xbox. GameSpy's liking the game in their review, however, but they do mention the exact same flaws that seem to have Ars calling it unplayable.

(which also shows an interesting diversion between reviewing styles, but that's almost a whole other article!)

Another fly in the game's ointment is the fact that the PlayStation Netowork is still down, so on the PS3 the game's almost neutered into irrellavence. And, we've learned that on PC - the version we're downloading as we speak - there's going to be daily patches up to and at least a day beyond launch day.

As a rule, we really hate zero-day patches, and the idea that the PC game may well be as buggy as the Xbox version (possibly more so, given the greater complexity of PC hardware/drivers) really grinds our gears. We know that making games is far from a simple endeavour, but come on... if publishers won't folks to drop money on pre-orders, or even drop money on the game at launch, then gamers need to be met half way with a game that's actually playable at launch.

To be honest though, Australian gamers are likely to get a far better experience than North American ones. We won't be getting the game until tomorrow (my pre-launch copy aside), so hopefully patches today and overnight will make Brink much more palatable.

Assuming, that is, that these patches aren't a huge download.

So what do you guys think - should a AAA game get a grace period at launch, or do we expect a game to simply install and work right away?