Also, here;s something Bioshock did with multiplayer (which I guess they may have gotten from the Hitman games now that I think about it) that was kind of useless but still pretty cool. See, when you started up multiplayer, the game put you in a little apartment in Rapture. You could move around and interact with things like a weapons chest which would let you customize your loadout or the wardrobe to customize your character. When you were ready to play you went to the biosphere in your little apartment, selected which gametype you wanted to play, and off you went. A lot more interesting then navigating menus.
For Brink they could put you into a little apartment on the Ark, a rust one that looks like the Megaton house in Fallout 3, and something more modern for Security. it could have a little wardrobe to customize your character/s, an armory to customize your weapon, and maybe even a little gun range to test your weapons. Then when you were ready, you could go to a door or elevator or something like that and jump into a game. Like I said, kind of useless, but it's a lot more interesting then going through menus.
A video of what I was talking about (Not mine): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77h1RglfDUo
I think more games should include stuff like this in lieu of menus.