Known best for their role-playing games, Bethesda Softworks have decided to try something a little different. Developed by their Splash Damage studio, Bethesda Softworks today announced their upcoming first-person shooter for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms, Brink.
Brink is an immersive shooter said to blur the lines between offline and online gameplay. Players will be able to develop their character across every available game mode, including single player, co-op mode, and multiplayer. Brink also promises to introduce revolutionary new controls to the first-person genre, such as the SMART button. When pressed, the SMART button will dynamically evaluate what you’re trying to do and makes it happen. While it may make navigating the battlefield easier, I hope that the combat remains skill-oriented.
Brink tells the story of a man-made floating city called Ark, made up of hundreds of floating islands. Originally built as an experiment, Ark is a self-sufficient and entirely “green” habitat. But with the rise of Earth’s oceans, Ark has become the last refuge for humanity. Overflowing with tens of thousands of refugees, the original Ark founders, and their descendants, the floating city is overcome with social unrest. On the brink of civil war, the future of the Ark will determine the future of the human race.
Key features of the game include:
- Blurring the Lines Between Offline and Online – Advance your character’s development across every gameplay mode: single player, co-op, and multiplayer. Gain experience points that you can spend on customizing and upgrading your skills and abilities, designing an entirely unique look and feel for your character.
- Groundbreaking Kinesthetics – Brink uses the familiar shooter controls that you’re used to, without frustrating, artificial constraints and takes advantage of a new feature: the SMART button. When you press the SMART button, the game dynamically evaluates where you’re trying to get to, and makes it happen. No need to perfectly time a jump or vault, the game knows what you want to do.
- Context-Sensitive Goals and Rewards – Objectives, communications, mission generation, and inventory selection are all dynamically generated based on your role, your status, your location, your squad-mates, and the status of the battle in all gameplay modes. You’ll always know exactly where to go, what to do when you get there, and what your reward will be for success.
- Virtual Texturing – Brink’s proprietary technology, Virtual Texturing, breaks new ground on current-gen consoles and PCs with an even greater focus on highly detailed characters, realistic environments, lighting, effects, and atmospherics. This competitive lead on the squad-combat genre helps thrust players into the gritty reality of the Ark’s epic secluded arcology.
Brink in scheduled for release in Spring 2010 for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms. Enjoy this teaser trailer from E3:
Richard Mitchell is a video game addict living in Toronto. He has been gaming for more than two decades, and despite multiple interventions, continues to game today. He has an Xbox 360, a PS3, a Wii, a Nintendo DS, a gaming PC, and a life, and does his best to juggle them all. 