You may have gotten the impression that Spash Damage's agile FPS, Brink, is all about lanky mercenaries shooting each other in the face. But did you know that the plot actually explores concepts of diminishing resources and environmentalism? You will after you've taken a look at the first developer diary, embedded after the break.
#bethesda
There ain't no good guys, and there ain't no bad guys. There's just the revolutionaries and the security forces, and they just disagree with bullets in this first developer diary for Bethesda's Brink. More »
In Brink, Splash Damage has created a world of two perpetually warring sides: the Security and the Resistance. Each is fighting for its own slice of a very small pie called the Ark, a floating city that remains the last bit of "land" on a flooded Earth. It was built to safely support a few thousand, but its ranks have swelled into the tens of thousands -- overpopulation and the two warring sides naturally brought about a conflict.
Each side has four different classes. There's the Medic, the Engineer, the Soldier and the Operative. The Medic doles out health and revives downed teammates, the Operative can disguise himself as a person on the enemy team, the Soldier can replenish his teammates' ammo, while the Engineer is tasked with maintaining the hardware. Every in-game action nets you experience points, which can then be used to purchase specific abilities (things like damage buffs, extra ammunition, etc.) and customize weapon loadouts -- quests are accessed through an in-game radial menu, which allows players to choose from a set of ongoing objectives on the fly.
#bethesda
Brink, Splash Damage's promising take on blending single and multiplayer gaming, has now been delayed until 2011. Bummer. To get us all through the wait, here are some new screens for the game. More »
#republished
Once again, we're talking about why we can't play war games as female avatars. This time, guest blogger Brad Gallaway weighs in on the male-dominated Brink. More »
The recent eruption of the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull (pronounced as ... uh ... never mind) may have prevented Splash Damage from properly showing off its latest game at a Bethesda press event, but at least the internet remained functional. We've got some new screenshots of Brink in our gallery below -- just think of it as a collection of "I'm sorry I couldn't be there" cards.
Brink, which promises to embed player customization, first-person shootering and elements of parkour into a futuristic world, is due on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC this fall.
#bethesdasoftworks
Why the long faces? Because this is our only new look at Splash Damage's first-person shooter Brink, a game that we would've had a brand new look at, were it not for one attention starved volcano. More »
Whomever compiled this Brink trailer must have enjoyed themself some Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, because we swear we've only seen dudes stylishly dodge projectiles like that in a Hideo Kojima game. But, we digress.
There are plenty of other noteworthy things, but if you're looking for actual in-game footage, you won't find it throughout the three minutes of video above. But, hey, if the CG is any indication, there will be lots of action to look forward to in Brink. That and curiously tall, acrobatic gentlemen wearing a variety of neat masks.
#clips
Splash Damage's Brink, your bright blue shooter for a rainy day, won't be out until later this year. Until then, all you've got are trailers. Trailers like this one. More »
Initially appearing to be a bit more official than the standard placeholder date, a Brink sweepstakes page on GameStop's website declares the first-person shooter's release date as September 7, 2010. Publisher Bethesda Softworks tells Joystiq that the date should be "considered speculative." A representative for the company explained, "Often times retailers will assign a release date for a game that falls within the game's announced launch window. While we have announced that Brink is due out in Fall 2010, we have yet to announce an official release date for the game."
GameStop now notes on its Brink page: "Official pricing and release dates have not been announced by the publisher. These are estimates only and subject to change."
#dated
A sweepstakes promotion by GameStop and Bethesda Softworks says the upcoming FPS Brink will be available Sept. 7. The promo also shows some box art for the game but it's unlikely that's the final version. More »
If you're as intrigued as we are by Splash Damage and Bethesda's co-operative FPSRPG Brink, you'll probably want to check out the video above, which shows the many options you'll be afforded when customizing your personal freedom fighter. For instance, what kind of full-torso tattoos would like? And how many mohawks do you want perched atop your skull? Three, you say? Wonderful, wonderful.
Though all of the characters designed in the video turn out horrifically homely, there certainly seems to be a lot of depth in the customization tools. We just hope there's an option to shorten our characters' arms, as all of the soldiers seen in the trailer above probably do a lot of tripping over their own forearms.
Back at E3, we were briefly shown Brink's S.M.A.R.T. system for navigating around the Bethesda-published FPS' environment. Our play session was mainly focused on the combat and quests of the game at the time. Now, Splash Damage's own Paul Wedgewood has been kind enough to demonstrate how it works in-game, courtesy of the G4 video past the break.
Another interesting item brought up in this video is Brink's new release date: Fall 2010. Last we heard, it was destined for a Spring 2010 release. Not so anymore!
Are you one of these folks who don't even realize there's a "multiplayer button" in your first-person shooters? After spending hours with the single-player campaign, you shelve the game and press onward, eschewing time with multiplayer for other, more solitary experiences? Splash Damage head Paul Wedgwood wants to change your attitude, telling Eurogamer in an interview that his studio's upcoming FPS Brink will do just that. "It's our goal from the outset to incidentally teach people to be good at multiplayer shooters while they're playing our single-player shooter," he says. Apparently, Brink will offer in-game rewards (double XP, for instance) to players willing to take their game online. "At a certain point in the game we say to them, 'Why don't you just try co-op and see how you go? For this next mission we're going to give you twice the number of experience points if you play co-operatively with somebody else.'" Thankfully though, he assures the internet-less among us (how are you reading this?!) that there's plenty of game in Brink without having to go online. "Your experience through it, imagining you have no internet connection should, for us to have achieved our goal, be as compelling as any other triple-A shooter." We'll find out if his plan works when Brink arrives sometime next year.
