There's a strong chance I'm just seeing things and being a bitter gamer, but, the alpha footage of Brink was amazing. It was a dark, gritty, excellent graphics, a new style of gameplay. What was released is just... it's TF2 with a semi-functioning freerun system.
Someday soon maybe we'll see a game that properly combines the freeform movement of Mirror's Edge (and what Brink aimed for) with tight gunplay. Maybe that sort of thing is just naturally better suited to a single-player or co-op experience than team PvP. In any case, I know I'd be thrilled to hear about a Mirror's Edge sequel at the very least.
With what's out there right now, what does interest you in the co-op/general multiplayer realm?
Just, in general terms?
Well, to be perfectly honest, most cooperative systems don't jive with me. I haven't actually played a co-op since I was playing Halo 2 back in the day with an old school buddy. I want to buy Portal 2, but knowing that a lot of work went into a co-op mode I'll never use and wouldn't enjoy, eh, its keeping me from putting the money into it. Left for Dead-style co-op doesn't interest me either, something about insular grouping just turns me off... probably flashbacks to Hunter: The Reckoning, or as I called it at the time, "Frustrating Cameras: The Game."
Multiplayer, I stick to my military FPS's. I get to be the butt of a lot of jokes around my friends, talkin' about it being unoriginal, never changing, etc. I don't see a reason to fix what ain't broke. BC2 was badass, BF3 has improved on the game's mechanics immensely. COD4 was good times, MW2 improved on the game. MOH was badass, multiplayer coulda used a little work I guess.
I dunno, I prefer a depersonalized multiplayer atmosphere. I can run around as an assault class, shoot whatever targets I find, loosely guide my team with my body language and the objective specifications, etc. If someone goes down, I clear the area and try to defib them. If they die, I'm not totally fucked and the team can easily keep moving forward. I mean, I vastly prefer at least being in a clan, because comms turn those games into ferocious experiences, especially once the squad dynamics come into play. Get one of each class who knows what they're doing, you can take every objective on your own. Not to mention, the maps are so damn open and there's so many options for approaches... vehicles and the like.
Thats my bag, anyway. I like to be a soldier with an objective, and I like shooting down other players. I don't like being heavily dependent on others.