Afetr trying and trying with that awful mission Early Launch as security I think thats it for me with Brink.
Played Brink an awful lot but that one mission is just pathetic in all respects for security.

Really easy for resistance whether its played with bots on hard or online with people.
I'm really at my wits end on this one and its not enjoyable...at all.

C'mon, Carpet Stain! YOU CAN DO IT! HOLD ON THERE!

Don't really know what to tell you, Carpet, I've completed it tons of times as Security, I'm not sure what else there is I can say - just keep trying, eventually you will be able to do it

Remember, one side has to lose for the other one to win, and you just happened to be on the side not winning

What part of this mission are you struggling to complete? Also, what difficulty setting are you playing? What platform are you playing as well?

I've already played the whole campaign mainly on hard which was fun and enjoyable on resistance
and much tougher but doable with security. Problem was that I lost my character due to a bad crash.
So I started from the top again and played on and offline whilst dipping into the campaign.

This was still enjoyable, but I've reached an empasse with Early Launch this time round and I'm finding it
really tedious and pointless.

I love what Splash Damage did with ETQW and I really liked Brink until this point. But I think the actual mission design here
is very flawed and badly presented compared to the other missions and maps. Even Aquarium with its Security hostage escort is generally
achievable and intense.

"Early Launch" is easily the most difficult campaign to complete successfully, for either side.

More than anything it's based on the fact that the two objectives are open 360° to the opposition, and at multiple levels.

Secondly, the Resistance's spawn command post is closer to the the objectives than are the Security's. Not by much, but even with the crane "bridge" up, it's further/slower.

It truly takes a complete team effort/push to secure the two and cover all angles long enough to repair/hack, even when playing nothing but bots.

Its strange but the first time I completed the mission it was on hard with the bots. Its mainly the hacking part and sometimes both (repairing the crane)
I'm on PC and I'm using a sandybridge set up which I believe really allows the code to open up as regards bot intelligence.
(Its probably just raw brute power and allocation of threads to the AI routines)

I feel that the AI routines are really some of the best I've seen and its highly probable that the XBox and PS3 are not really capable of
allocating enough of their respective processor clocks to the AI. Which is probably why many people complain about the so called stupidity
of the AI.

I'm currently trying it on easy and alternating with normal just to try and complete the campaign.

Actually the bots on the 360 aren't as stupid as people think. Most people complaining about this were low level characters. I've noticed (as many others have noticed) that the bots will actually get more difficult as you level up. The same people complaining about bot stupidity were later complaining that the bots are ridiculously hard and are almost too difficult. I've noticed that as I near level 20, the bots and objectives are much harder to complete. I blazed through the campaign on my first go around, but now I'm struggling more and more with the missions (I'm level 18 now). Especially near the choke points, I'm having a difficult time when it is only bots. I've even had 4 human players on my team and we couldn't even beat out the CPU on some of the objectives.

Maybe your rank is affecting the difficulty of the bots as many others have noticed.

As for the hacking mission on early launch...my strategy is that I plant the hackbox and then run into that side room while it hacks. If I notice the percentage dropping, I pull around the corner and fire my under barrel grenade launcher at the missile and knock down anyone who tries to disable the hackbox, If the coast is clear, I'll run out, start the hack again and then run and hide in the side room.

This can take longer because the wireless connection on your handheld to the hackbox isn't as strong if you're in that room, but it is better than being exposed and victim of grenade spamming.

Not sure if that helps or maybe you've tried that already. That's just what I do, as I've beaten this level a few times now.

/\ This, worked for me as well. I have finished this mission a few times at different levels. (the bots do get better) I have not played Heavy that much, but I find that when I am having difficulty with this level, a Heavy Operative helps.

The one time I succeeded at this mission last night, out of four attempts, I actually gave up being the operative and stayed engineer after the crane repair. I placed a (medium) turret in the doorway of that same room I think you're talking about. The one with the doorways at both ends, and an opening in the ceiling/floor above? Aimed the turret right at the hack box so that it tagged any opposition that came up to the launch pad area, and I covered the other doorway. All I did from there is wait for an AI operative on my team to get to the hackbox, and my and my trusty turret protected him. This wouldn't work against humans of course, as they're not dumb enough to keep beating their head against a wall for that long.

Yes I use that exact strategy except the bots always find me and just hammer me down. I suppose eventually the game code will let me win through attrition...I hope.
Your correct about the bot ability scaling up with your leveling. I'm around level 17 at the moment and suffering for it.

That mission is brutal man, I feel your pain. I tried it for 4 hrs one day as a level 15 or so engi. Didn't beat it though. :brokencomputer:

Tried it the next day and on the 2nd try everything just CLICKED. This was solo on hard mind you, the bots just kinda figured it out,
they set up a perimeter for me to repair the controlls, one even helped me repair it! :woot:

When it came time to hack I just switched classes,using my engi with no OP abilities. I managed to get the box on with like 2 min left,
and once again, the bots really came through for me. They stayed right there and ignored the CPs for once.
I will admit to having to shoot someone removing the hack, twice I think, but they were by themselves luckily.
I did use the side room a lot to hide in, but when the coast was clear I came close to speed the hack.
Finished with 22 sec. left! :rock:

I'm afarid the broken bot-AI balance adds luck to the mix, mate. If you manage the hack while the radar's a mass of white, you can pull it off, but if your mates decide to have one of their 'synchronised mass-extinctions' you'll end up alone and swiftly de-hacked or deaders.

I have tried that mission more than a dozen times before getting a result in the past - I feel your pain. My advice is to defend the Op, not BE the Op, but that's just what seems to work (eventually) for me. 'Luck!

Early launch is a pain... Especially while playing with full human teams :'(

I also tried that method of placing a turret in the doorway and guarding a team hacker op...but the bots were able to down my turret with grenades and down me. So far every tactic that you would think would fool the bots they have managed to counter. So the comment about not fooling humans is incorrect as far my games go.

I'm just going to do what everyone does and plough on with the chance that everything just comes together. It did once for me so it can happen again.......I hope.

Mentally breaking part is when u finally hack it to 80% percent or so, and you and your squad get killed: having to start the hacking from 0% again. :'( Did finish it eventually though.

Yes thats what just happened to me.

I've decide to give up with Brink now because I feel my life is going down the pan with that mission and its not worth the effort.

Gaming should be fun not work.

I played this on hard and it was my final mission because I used the Resistance first. For the security (at level 20) that mission was brutal. I don’t know how many times I’ve re-played it. I completed it by using the engineer thou. I had to wait for teammates to storm the areas where they build the barricades. Laid mines down in strategic areas, buffed teammates, and used a turret to watch my back while repairing the crane. I have the 3rd person’s ability so I could see where the enemies were coming from. At times I had to stop repairing to shoot them down…along with the help of my turret and approaching teammates. The key for me was to keep that area clear before returning to the crane to repair it. It definitely wasn’t easy…

Struggling with this one myself lastnight. Security side... hacking the missile is a real chore. Nothing stressed me out more than the spraying sounds coming from the enemy engies disarming my hack. Great, time to do it all over again with the same results. To be fair though, I am still relatively low level so friendly AI wasn't cuttin it for me. Rolling with a well coordinated wave and a little bit of luck seem to make the difference. As frustrating as this can be, I'm glad that it is difficult.

It will just be pure luck of the CPU if you do this. Even if your team are good and you get to 98% completion then the enemy team can rehack it back to zero in a fraction of the time.
Its just a walk in the park for resistance...it really is.

Its just totally unfair and very bad design. If a game says easy then it should be easy...it is not...not in the slightest.

Undeniably the worst map mission design ever conceived by any dev team. :brokencomputer:

(note to admin: I did not say which map or which dev team)

I'm trying to get this wrapped up for the new DLC in June. One because I'm hopelessly addicted and two I like this game sort of.
(I wish I could just drop the damn thing)

I've never really had much trouble on early launch as security (against bots).

STAGE1

ENGINEER
Take left route > get health station > buff it > attack through main barricade.

Having the buffed health station gives you a little more time to live and the wonderful thing about the main barricade is that it gives your team complete control over most of the resistance exits while someone repairs.

STAGE 2

ENGINEER
Take left ground route through drain > capture health station > buff it > set up mines or turrets in the general vicinity of the hack objective

OPERATIVE
Take left ground route through drain > go upstairs > throw out caltrops and a nade > jump down and start hacking > run inside of the ship while the rest of the team holds back the enemy

Again, you are getting a double health boost and you stand a better chance with all of the defensive measures. If you are relying solely on friendly AI, this might take a few tries, but if you have real people helping you, it shouldn't be too hard to pull off (even on hard).