Brink: The New Way to Play an FPS

One of the most interesting games that I really haven’t payed attention to, until now, is the new FPS game Brink from the makers of The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, developed by Splash Damage.  Details on the game were announced during this year’s E3 and it is looking to be a shooter that is taking steps to innovate and advance the genre.

Brink looks like it is going to be a mix of Borderland’s RPG elements and exaggerated art style, with the action of shooters like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and the parkour freedom of movement of Mirror’s Edge.

The premise behind Brink is that in the near future, the polar ice caps have melted and all of humanity is on the brink of civil war on the last remaining life sustaining artificial island called the Ark.  Refugees from the worlds continents are seen as terrorists to the original inhabitants, as the refugees see the security forces of the Ark as greedy oppressors.  Each faction is in constant conflict over control of the Ark and its resources.

Players have a completely customizable experience with Brink.  The character creator in Brink allows players to determine even the most minute details of their character, from what they wear, to their body type, what armor they will equip, to which side of the conflict they will fight on. The amount of items available looks unlimited.  Whatever outfit you choose can be further customized with colors and accessories.  No two players will ever look the same.

The weapon customization is also very intricate.  What weapons can be used is determined by the character’s body type.  The big guys will be able to carry heavy weapons like large machine guns and rocket launchers, while the medium to light characters will most likely carry assault rifles, sniper rifles, and pistols.  The lighter characters will also be a lot more agile than the heavy characters and have the ability to use Splash Damage’s SMART system (Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain) to traverse the game’s environments.  Whichever character type and weapon you choose, you will be able to customize your guns with accessories such as scopes, silencers, grips, and extended magazines.  All of the customizations are made available to suit your personal play style.  If you like to be in the thick of it, create a Goliath with a heavy machine gun– if you like to take enemies out from afar, a lightweight sniper might be your cup of tea.  The choice is up to the player.

Other customizations will also be available to players in the form of character abilities.  Not many details have been given on too many specific abilities, but you can expect some abilities that are really out of the box.  One particular ability notifies you when an enemy is aiming at you, while another allows you to look around in third person perspective while diddling with an objective object, like when you are disarming a bomb.

Brink is a game that will set a new bar for the FPS genre and multiplayer.  It is good to see a developer looking outside of the box to find ideas to make an enjoyable game.  We will be able to see if all of Splash Damage’s promises come to fruition when the game is released in spring 2011 on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.