Preview: Brink

The first time we saw Brink was when it was unveiled at E3 in June 2009 and since then we have not heard much (except for the delay of its release). However, when I was given access to the press vault of Bethesda Softworks, and I saw and heard more of this game, I had no choice but to preview it for us.

Locked and loaded.

Brink is Splash Damage’s first game not related to any franchise and I have to say that it is simply a piece of art. Backed by Bethesda as their publisher we should expect some really awesome things to come out here. The game is set to release in the fall of 2010 and has many people hanging on the edge of their chairs in anticipation.

Plot

I have nothing to declare.

The story has the typical good vs. evil concept. The game takes place in the year 2035, and the seas are reaching abnormal heights with something called “The Ark”, an experimental man-made island designed to be the last place of refuge. The city is designed to be self-sustainable and, a 100% “green” habitat is now forced to become home to not only its founders and their descendants, but also thousands of refugees. The residents rebelling against the founders resulted in two forces, the Security and Resistance forces, ending up locked in a heated battle for control of the Ark. So then, which side will you choose? Regarding gameplay, there are a few features of interest that I’d like to briefly discuss, starting with: “S.M.A.R.T” – The feature that sets this game apart from others is it’s SMART (Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain) system. What this does is it enables the game to dynamically evaluate where you are and plot a course to where you want to go. It’s not an autopilot, but rather a feature that analyzes where you are and assists you in scaling, sliding, vaulting, mantling and leaping across the map. While creating this feature, technical designer Aubrey ‘bezzy’ Hesselgren, would tie a camera to himself and video himself performing parkour which they would later use for the character in game. So if you are climbing a wall the game will assist you, but will also take into consideration the direction you are looking thus making the game more realistic and immersive. “Blurring the lines” Another really interesting feature is the ability to blur the lines between single player, co-op and online. “How?” you may ask. Well you can use one character on all 3 playing fields and continuously improve on them. The design direction was headed up by Richard ‘rahdo’ Ham who worked on titles such as Fable 2 and the Syphon Filter series. He worked hard on continuously trying to make a robust yet immersive online and offline playing experience, so that you could get a contiguous experience as you advance your character’s skills, upgrades, and alter his looks. “Context-Sensitive Goals and Rewards” This is a really nice way to improve the game overall. According to the devs, you will never feel lost at any time and you will be constantly rewarded for doing things. The rewarding part for doing things will hopefully make people feel less inclined to, say, camp in online matches for instance, because when a person completes an objective a small array of others will open up allowing you to also get a reward by completing the side objective.

Art Direction

Not another 9/11 pleaseeee.

When you see the videos you will immediately notice and be drawn to the game’s art direction. They have chosen a Hyper-realism or exaggerated reality if you may. Hyper-realism plays around with the scale of certain features (gigantic scale) and enhances particular details (sharp focus) in order to create the illusion of a reality that doesn’t actually exist. Thus they could design characters with a near total freedom but also with a realistic touch.

So the man behind all this genius is Olivier ‘nosebone’ Leonardi, the Art Director behind Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones and Rainbow Six Vegas. With him are Concept Artist Laurel ’Tully’ Austin, the Lead Character Artist Tim ‘spacemonkey’ Appleby (the man behind the lead character of Mass Effect) and his team. So we can establish here that they have a very well put together art direction team.

“Characters” Olivier explains that when they were working on the art direction for the characters, they wanted to first portray the differences in the lifestyle between the Security and Resistance. Secondly, they wanted the Resistance’s image as more of a scavenger as they are refugees without much money to fund themselves, so they wanted to get the look that they scavenged their armor. For the Security they went for a more traditional look with tactical combat gear and the likes. In doing so they tell a story without really saying anything: the conformity of the security forces to their bosses and the Resistance’s life on the intolerable poverty line.

“A Contrasting Reality” On this end they tried to create the game world 20 years after this utopia was created. The parts which are really hard are with the details such as: Where would the city have rust? Where would the paint be flaking? How does the inside of a building look if it has been disused for decades? They tried in each map to tell you about the city by showing you things which they refer to as Instant Deep Context. In other words: show, don’t tell. Because of this, the environment art in Brink is all about contrast. The Ark is a place where worlds collide — the disdainful wealth of the Founders is opposed to the ever-growing refugee population’s extreme poverty. This is a game that is set to rock the fall of 2010 without a doubt, from its art to its character movement this game will immerse you into it and completely steal you away from reality.

Let the invading begin.

They are taking over our bases.

Wrong button, oh noes RUNNNNNNNN!