Brink Preview

Earlier this month, Bethesda Softworks invited me to play their highly anticipated game, Brink. To be totally honest, from the first time I saw game play of Brink, I was pretty skeptical. I didn’t think much of what I saw and was ready to let this game pass me by. However, from what I played at the event, I am patiently waiting for May 20th for the game to drop.

The first thing I would like to speak on are Brinks graphics and art style. The art style of Brink is one of a kind. I don’t know what to call the it but it’s a mix between very clean industrial look and a very dirty punk look. The game itself is very sharp looking and the two levels that I played had two distinct art styles. One was very grimy and it took place in a ship yard. The other was in a very clean looking office building. I love the look of the characters now as opposed to what I first saw. I originally thought the way the characters faces looked was unappealing. After seeing more of the game and some of the customizations you can do with your character, I have warmed up to the art style and I have really come to enjoy the way Brink looks.

Now I will touch on the character and gun editor. Brink brings you two levels of customization: the first being your characters, the second being your guns. You have two types of characters in the game. There are the Resistance characters and the Security characters. As you might guess the Resistance group has more of a road warrior look and the Security force has more of a Security guard look. The player customization was great. There is a lot of detail in your characters and the models look amazing. You have the choice of editing your characters hair, face, head gear, under shirt, pants, over coat, tattoos, voice and size. You can also customize your guns. You can change the type of barrel on your gun, a type of scope, different ammo clips and a front attachment. There is also an abilities system that allows you to customize your character and give him extra abilities.

Playing Brink is a different experience. It’s not totally different because you still shoot people, but what Brink does is make you and your teammates work together in a combined effort to get past objectives. You will need people of all classes to be successful in your mission. You will need the Solider class to demolish objectives and resupply your team with ammo. The Engineer class repairs equipment and objectives, utilizes anti personal mines and gives teammates damage upgrades on their guns. As an Operative you will hack enemy objectives and security guns. They can also disguise themselves as the enemy. The last class is the Medic class.With the medic class you can heal your teammates and give them a speed boost.

One thing that people are hyped about in Brink is the movement. Brink brings us SMART (Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain). SMART sees where you are moving and depending on the size of your character (Small, Medium or Large), it will automatically adjust your characters movement in getting you around obstacles. If it’s a large wall, a small character will have no problem getting up and over it. If you have a large character, you will not be able to ascend that same wall. You can also do sliding maneuvers and shoot your enemy from the ground.

So after playing Brink, I have to say I am very excited for this games release. Personally, I will wait to see who else buys the game before my decision is solid. The reason I say this is because, as I stated earlier, you will be very dependent on your teammates. So if you have shit teammates your time playing the game might be a little frustrating. But other then that, Brink looks to be one of the best FPS games this year.