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Brink Hands On
In the future, everybody will have to pick a side
Tags: Brink Categories: PS3 Previews, Previews, Xbox 360 Previews
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Sep 14th, 2010
A lot may be made of Brink’s “free running” application for movement, (SMART – Smooth Movement Against Random Terrain) where players simply hold down a button and are able to move from one location to the next by the shortest path possible. Examples of this include leaping over fences, jumping over gaps or sliding under low overhangs. This is all done effortlessly without needing to memorize complicated button sequences or layouts.
This is all well and good, but if the core gameplay isn’t fun, it won’t matter.
Brink isn’t a “free running” game, but a first person shooter. Set in the future, there’s been a devastating event and the planet is flooded. The Ark (obligatory Biblical reference ahoy) is a floating city that was meant to be a prototype, a model, not necessarily be the sole residence of every refugee and survivor. Now bursting at the seams players take on one of two factions in The Ark, either the government security forces or the resistance. Which side’s story is the correct one? What’s really going on? Turns out a lot of ammunition is going to need to be expended in order to find out.
On each side there are four classes. Soldiers are the typical shoot first and shoot later type of character. The Engineer is able to deploy turrets, fix mechanical issues (such as a crane that is needed to open a bridge). The Medic is actually able to revive downed comrades without having to wait to respawn. Operatives are able to disguise themselves as the enemy.
There are little tweaks to each character type as well, such as being able to enhance a teammate’s weapon, hand out ammunition. Additionally, there are several spots throughout the field where players will be able to change their class, weapon payout, and more. Changing up the player’s class will also modify immediate objective. While the overall goal (such as prevent the security forces from taking medicine away from the resistance) the methods of how to do this might change depending on which class the player is using.
With plenty of solid mechanics in place, Brink looks to be a very fun game for the first person shooter fan. The game will feature a lot of customization, starting with the character creation. Plenty of options will be available for players to create an in-game avatar that is unique and to their liking. Then there is character progression. Whether online of off, players will gain experience to unlock various weapon attachments and further abilities and more that will customize the character even greater.
Because of the customization, the ability to change up which class the player is, at times the controls may get a bit confusing. There is a lot going on in Brink, which is, I am sure, why the SMART system has been implemented. Each weapon comes with its own customizations and controls, so Brink may not be quite the “pick up and play” or “quick fix” game some might hope for. It is, however, a rather deep game with much more to unearth as time goes on, so the rewards may not be immediate, but they will be rich for those that stick with it.
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Tags: Brink
Posted by Daniel "monk" Pelfrey on Sep 14th, 2010 and is filed under PS3 Previews, Previews, Xbox 360 Previews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
