Brink
Brink looks like it could well be a surprise hit upon its release in the fall.
A cinematic trailer for Brink gives a strong impression of the game’s unique visual style and scenery-grappling dynamics.
Paul Wedgwood, owner of the game’s developers, Splash Damage, is certainly enthusiastic about
the game, and from the looks of it that enthusiasm
is warranted.
Aside from by-the-numbers sci-fi setting (“floating city,” “rival clans” and “2045” is pretty much all you need to know), Brink looks like it will be a breath of fresh air for the well-trodden FPS genre.
Pitched as a more cerebral, co-op based alternative to Call of Duty and the like, we were shown an hour of gameplay across a number of locations.
One of the most immediately impressive aspects of the game is the fluid mix of on and off-line game modes. Unlike your standard FPS, with separate multiplayer and single-player settings, all of Brink’s missions can be played with the same character, gaining experience points whether or not you are connected to the Internet. Even if you’re just waiting for your friends to fire up their Xboxes and playing with AI teammates, they can still jump in at any time to assist you as all the game’s levels are co-op-based.
The missions themselves are fiendishly clever, dynamically changing at in-game checkpoints depending on your priorities. Attacking a power plant won’t just simply involve running in, planting a bomb and running out again, as you’re regularly given opportunities to switch your objectives and gain control of new areas, earning experience as you go. What this means is that while there are a finite number of missions in Brink, you never need play one out the same way twice.
Different classes are available to make up your team, again meaning more opportunity to play through the game in a variety of different ways. Those willing to take less glamorous roles like medic or engineer will be rewarded with extra experience points, meaning team strategy is cleverly incentivized.
Customization is also one of Brink’s key features, as your in-game character and weapons can be altered in hundreds of ways. Clothes, weapons upgrades and new abilities are unlocked as you progress, with the idea being to use them across a group of customized characters, each suitable for different situations. A fat character can carry larger weapons, while a thin, agile character can leap over obstacles and climb scenery.
The interaction with Brink’s in-game landscapes using the SMART system (Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain) is another great new feature. Simply hold down the SMART button and run towards an obstacle and your character will vault across or climb up, thankfully saying goodbye to the horribly imprecise world of FPS jump mechanics.
While the graphics aren’t particularly impressive (with the smoothness of online play clearly a priority), the stylized, colorful art design goes some way to make up for this. The characters’ elongated faces and distinctive outfits contribute to giving the game a truly distinctive atmosphere. Combined with such a fresh approach to the co-op based FPS, Brink looks like it could well be surprise hit upon its release.
Brink is due out on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC this fall.
Rage
Rage could well be the best-looking game ever released.
Another game that I knew very little about, Rage was once scheduled to be released by Electronic Arts, but id Software has been working on the title for quite some time, and it looks to be in fantastic shape.
Tim Willits, who guides us through about 45 minutes of gameplay, seems pretty pleased with its progress. His company created first-person shooters, he says, and this title, he believes, will propel it back to the forefront of the genre.
Borrowing heavily from both Borderlands and Fallout, Rage adds story-driven RPG elements and vehicle combat and racing to a pretty standard FPS template. Your character wakes up in a post-apocalyptic world (called, um, the wasteland) and has to shoot his way through mutants and bandits, stopping to talk to human characters in junk-filled shantytowns along the way to pick up missions and plot exposition. Sound familiar?
To be fair, it would be harsh to criticize a game that’s been so long in development for any seeming originality. Mad Max is probably just as much of
an inspiration.
As you’d expect from such FPS heavyweights, the in-game action looked solid and hugely entertaining. Weapon-mounted-buggy racing looked a pleasant diversion from the more straightforward shooting action, but even this had its clever touches, with an interesting array of weapons and fun toys like turrets and remote-control car bombs to play with.
The graphics are simply stunning. The high
frame-rate and gorgeous textures of the new idtech5 model have to be seen to be believed — if it came
out now, it would probably be the best-looking game ever released.
Despite lacking originality in some areas, id Software look to have created another classic single-word franchise (Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein), it’s just a shame that we won’t see Rage until some time
next year.
Rage is due out on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2011.
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