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Brink, an immersive first-person shooter under development at Splash Damage, will be available in North America on May 17th and in Europe on May 20th. Brink was named as the 'Game of Show' at Eurogamer Expo 2010, while G4TV.com declared "Brink takes shooters to a whole new level." Blending single-player, co-op, and multiplayer action into one seamless experience, Brink features dynamic battlefields, extensive customization options, and an innovative control system.

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Brink Preview
We’ve been following the development of Brink with a keen eye for a little while now, so when publisher Bethesda offered us the chance to get hands-on with the game, we jumped at the chance. Developed by the London-based Splash Damage studio, Brink is a fierce multiplayer shooter that paints a stylish - if bleak - picture of the not-so-distant future.

Unusually for a multiplayer game, the storyline is a big part of Brink. The human race has been pushed to the edge of desperation by a global environmental crisis that’s seen the melting of the polar ice caps lead to rapidly increasing sea levels worldwide. As a last resort, humanity builds a self-sufficient city designed to float across the rising oceans - the Ark. Stargate Atlantis fans are probably shivering with anticipation already.

Brink picks up a long while after this event, however, with the Ark in a serious state of disrepair and drifting aimlessly. Cut off from the mainland and with diminishing supplies, the security forces aboard the Ark are struggling to keep the refugee population in check. Eventually the decision is made to put the dissenters down for good in an attempt to regain control of the Ark and salvage the situation.

This is where you join the fray - at the tipping point of the conflict between the security services and the armed populace. You’re immediately made to choose your loyalties too, with a stark, simple choice presented straight after the intro cutscene - Option 1: Save the Ark, Option 2: Escape the Ark.

Whichever side of the conflict you choose, you‘ll be confronted with a frankly bewildering array of character customisation options and choices, some of which affect the way you play the game and some of which are merely cosmetic. As usual, progressing through the game rewards you with XP with which you can unlock more options to differentiate yourself from the crowd in online battles.

One of the key ideas behind Brink is that it melds together the multiplayer and singleplayer modes seamlessly, enabling players to quickly switch from singleplayer, to co-op, to multiplayer, all with the same character.

Players cam also carry their XP and items across between the three modes, so any upgrades you earn while playing online can be used in your singleplayer campaign and vice-versa. This also means that those who choose to concentrate on the singleplayer campaign won’t have to drop down to the lowest rung of the XP ladder when they start exploring the rest of the content.

XP and equipment can be earned through a number of offline challenges too, rather than just through killing opponents. These are similar in nature to the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Special Ops mini missions and, while unlikely to be anything more than a distraction, they still offer a good way for rookie players to get to grips with Brink.

Brink Hands-On
While Brink does include offline challenges and singleplayer modes, the multiplayer mode is clearly where the real meat of the game lays. The experience feels slick and stylish, and has several neat touches that set Brink apart from the glut of other online FPS games clogging up shop shelves.

Movement, for example, is an important part of Brink, and players are able to perform a number of parkour-style moves as they navigate the colourful environment that the Ark provides. The obvious comparison here is Mirror's Edge, although the vaulting, jumping, sliding and leaping actions don’t quite feel as well polished as they did in EA’s 2009 release.

This isn’t necessarily a deal breaker, however, as most of the rough edges of the parkour movement are more than made up for by the fact that you can shoot while you’re sliding and vaulting. It’s undeniably cool to be able to dash across an open courtyard before sliding under a broken fence, all the while unloading with your assault rifle, only to hear it click dry just as you scramble back behind cover.

Splash Damage was also quick to draw our attention to the multiple objectives which are present in Brink's multiplayer mode - an evolved version of the system seen in Quake Wars. The way this works is that, while each team still has a single overriding objective which they need to achieve, there are also a number of other, optional objectives for each class - though there also some available to all players. Completing these will either hinder the enemy in some way, or make victory easier for your team.

These optional objectives take the form of small tasks, such as building machine gun nests or hacking through side doors to open up alternate routes to the main objective. It’s a refreshing approach to the increasingly predictable online FPS experience, and provides a chance for teams who are struggling to crack through a defence to attempt to break the deadlock.

There are some familiar elements to the online play, though, such as the four classes that are available to play - soldier, operative, medic and engineer. Each has its own range of special abilities and upgrades that, while being fairly predictable, are at least well thought out and balanced.

One fly in the ointment, though, is that online matches are limited to 8v8, which is disappointing for PC players used to larger matches. This is largely remedied through the size of the maps, however, which are smaller and more intimate than those seen in most online shooters. In practice, we rarely noticed this restriction as the action is concentrated and frantic, meaning you’ve got little time to worry about anything other than where to find the next bit of cover.

Brink looks like it’s shaping up to be a slickly fun shooter that, to its credit, also shows an attempt to offer interesting and innovative developments to the tired FPS genre. It’s not problem-free, but we still found ourselves sorry to give up the controller when our time with the game came to an end.

Brink is being developed by Splash Damage and will be published by Bethesda on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on 20 May 2011.

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New Brink Gameplay Footage Plus Pre-order Bonus Details
Customisation-a-rama.

To conincide with the release of a new gameplay video for Splash Damage’s Brink entitled “A Matter of Class”, Bethesda have also revealed the numerous pre-order bonuses now on offer in the UK.

Depending on which outlet you decide to purchase Brink from, your pack of apparel, tattoos, weapons and attachments will vary. Here are the details of the customisation options depending on whether you pick the DOOM, Fallout, Psycho or Spec Ops pack.

DOOM & Spec Ops Pack (GAME and Gamestation stores)

•Unique “Hellspawn” body tattoo
•Exclusive UAC (Security) and Cacodemon (Resistance) customised skins for the Bulpdaun SMG
•Exclusive UAC Marine Body Armour (Security) and Lost Soul Screaming Skull (Resistance) t-shirts
•Exclusive UAC beanie cap (Security) and DOOM bandana (Resistance)
The Spec Ops Pack contains:

•Exclusive weapon: the “Hockler” Machine-Pistol
•Exclusive “GreenEye” Combat Optical Scope
•Exclusive Security “Sloani” Combat Mask
•Unique Dogtag body tattoo
Fallout Pack (PLAY.com)

•Unique Fallout Vault 101 body tattoo
•Exclusive Vault 101 (Security) and Fallout New Vegas Vault Boy (Resistance) customised skins for the CARB-9 SMG
•Exclusive Fallout Vault 101 (Security) and Fallout New Vegas Vault Boy (Resistance) t-shirts
•Exclusive Vault-Tec beanie cap (Security) and Fallout bandana (Resistance)
Psycho Pack (Amazon)

•Exclusive weapon: the “Caesar” Revolver
•New attachments: The Resistance’s improved Soda Can Silencer and Security’s ArkTactical Silencer
•Exclusive Resistance “The Grin” Combat Mask
•Unique “Tortured Soul” body tattoo

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