PAX East gave us the chance to get our hands on Brink, one of Splash Damage and Bethesda Softworks’s slated titles to hit later this year. With already a couple of years of work under their belt the game looks amazing to say the least. When I first heard of free running and a FPS mixed together my mind was blown. I was excited to see how the parkour integrated FPS would look and how it would play out. When I finally saw it with my own eyes and got to play, I almost wanted to cry because it was everything I expected and more.
If you don’t know the story behind Brink then let me get you back up to speed. The game takes place in the near future off a large floating island off the coast of San Francisco named “The Ark”. Originally created to save about 5,000 civilians from a flooded Earth, the Ark became over populated with almost ten times the original planned number. Citizens became irritated from the lack of supplies they needed, eventually forming a group called “The Resistance” and demanded more resources for the people. The Ark’s leader denied their demands and began arming themselves in reaction to the Resistance’s actions. Which begins the civil turmoil on the Ark.
With the SMART (Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain) system running the game, traversing the battlefield never felt better. The SMART system takes all the conventional rules a normal first person shooter and throws it out the window. Sure you can hide behind a large shipping containers, but it’s not going to stop me from climbing over the top of it and taking you out. The system also gives different entry and exit points to certain areas, openings in windows, fences, and even over railings to just name a few. Also the term sitting duck no longer exists, except for the people who choose to camp out in one spot.
Gun play and upgrades in the game work on the type of body you select for your character. The larger the body the bigger the guns, but also the slower you move. Also the weapons in the game are more based on a run and gun play, no gun nor weapon (knife and/or melee) will be a one shot kill. There’s really no point in having the SMART system if people are just gonna run around knifing people and getting quick kills.
As for customization in this game, it has by far the most customization in any FPS I have ever seen. Different body types, hair, scars, tattoos, clothing, facial accessories, body accessories, and voice style is just some of the customizable options. Then there are over 40 different types of weapons including it’s own customizations from gun butts, muzzles, sights, grips, and even magazine clips. If you think that’s it you’re wrong, there’s also different abilities for every each class in the game, from medic, soldier, operative, and engineer. This game is every boy’s and even possibly girl’s customizing dream, although there hasn’t been an option to select which gender you can be yet.
Everyone can expect Brink to hit PC, Playstation 3, and Xbox 360 May 17, and depending on who you pre-order from you’ll get special downloadable bonus skins for your characters.
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