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Video

Launch Player

The Saboteur ³⁶⁰

Dark Void ³⁶⁰

Preview

Brink

Format Xbox 360

Developer Unknown

Publisher Bethesda Softworks

Genre First Person Shooter

30-Nov-2009 A global warning about global warming

1 Comments

If there were a prize for "best FPS set in a utopian city in the middle of the ocean" it'd be a fight between BioShock 2 and Brink.

The two share similar themes, not to mention an extremely cerebral storyline. However, their approach to combat couldn't be any more different.

Unlike Rapture, the oceanic city in Brink, known as the Ark is above water. It was also borne out of environmental concerns rather than political ambition. Splash Damage researched tons of real technologies designed to save our planet and create new sustainable ecosystems. Almost everything you see in this game has at least some basis in real-world science.

In the year 2045, the rising sea level has cut off the Ark from the rest of the world. "What started off as a lovely environmental eco-dream, had loads of refugees piled into it, cooked and stirred for twenty years with very limited resources.

It's now literally on the 'brink' of civil war," explains senior game designer Ed Stern. It's also a canny way of explaining why, if this place is so beautiful, doesn't everyone just leave?

Brink's bright and ultra-modern environments make a refreshing change from the usual "dirty sci-fi". The game's airport level is clean, crisp and really well maintained - a reflection of the Security forces' airtight control over this region.

If you look closely out of the window though, you'll be able to see burning planes off in the distance.

The game's environments are packed with cool narrative details that you might not notice at first. But it isn't just the setting that stands out.

Even more distinctive is the way Brink erodes the boundaries between single-player and multiplayer combat. The solo experience is exactly the same as taking part in a 16-player battle. Sure, that's been done before, but how about a 16-player battle that has exactly the same story, characters, secrets and unlockables?

It's much less complicated than it sounds. You start a game against AI, and then people from Xbox Live can jump in and out, taking over the roles of your enemies and allies. The transition is seamless and if the host quits, someone else takes over. There's no stopping and starting, and everyone earns experience as they play.

A new system called Sparse Virtual Texturing allows every player to have a character that looks completely unique, and for everyone else online to see custom characters without needing to download them. There are hundreds of thousands of outfit combinations available, usable across the three different body types: normal, light and heavy.

The characters look great, but we're slightly unnerved by all the rippling biceps and bulging six-packs on display. The future according to Brink is full of men who could easily crush your head between their pecs. It's an idealised vision for the human form, going against the current trends where people would rather sit around eating Pot Noodles than do a push-up.

Only the "normal" body type is available at the start of the game, but the other two are unlocked after the first few missions. This makes a massive difference to your play style, with heavies able to soak up the punishment and the light characters able to run and jump at an awesome pace.

Splash Damage is big on coming up with new systems, and it's using another one called SMART (smooth movement over artificial terrain) to allow players to free-run around the levels.

It's a little like the system in Assassin's Creed where you could hold one button down to auto-jump from one point to another. However, in this game the points aren't fixed, making it entirely freeform. There's also the option to jump, vault and slide around manually. This requires more skill but allows you to do actions more quickly.

Brink has so many fresh ideas, and backs them up with some equally heavy-duty combat. Splash Damage has a reputation for making really complicated shooters like Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, and while this game doesn't compromise on the amount of strategic options, it hopes to make them all so much easier to understand and use.

We'll let you know how that pans out when we get our first hands-on with the game.

Ben Talbot