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What do you get when you mix free running with team-based FPS gameplay? It’s not Mirror’s Edge on steroids, it’s Brink, an all new IP from Splash Damage. Brink is best explained this way: a first person shooter that, with a push of a button, removes the typical limitations FPS games have on movement. Using S.M.A.R.T., or Smooth Movement Around Rough Terrain, characters in Brink can hold down one button and run freely to areas previously impossible in your standard FPS.

Sure, it sounds good, but what does that mean? It means that when there’s a ledge that’s just a bit too high to jump to but you still should be able to reach, you can reach it. If there’s a rail that you want to jump over but couldn’t before, you can now. No area is out of reach with S.M.A.R.T. and after watching it in action, we think this FPS will be like the free running in Mirror’s Edge.





First and foremost, Brink is an FPS that uses a unique set of tools to allow the best gaming experience for all players. Besides movement, each level has a list of selectable missions that become available to perform at certain times. For example, the level we witnessed required the team of six to traverse through enemy territory and guide a cutting robot to a specific destination. If the path is blocked, a mission for a certain class will appear to remove whatever is blocking the path, or if a sniper is in the area, a mission may be to take it out. Some missions are critical and required while others are not. The point is, all are selectable based on your class.

Brink features the standard fare of classes: assault, engineer, stealth, sniper, and more. Each has its own set of available missions during any given level and there is of course some crossover. However, missions are updated in-game, so players need to pay attention to updates and follow their new mission objectives, should they accept the given assignments. Multiple players can complete the same mission by working together, and each mission is dynamic, so depending on your actions, they may appear at later times, or not at all.



These missions are also sent instantly to all players, so everyone can see them right away. This means that the storyline is driven by cooperative play, though obviously it isn’t required and players can feel free to play with AI counterparts, though the real fun is in getting a few friends and really going through the campaign together.

Competitive multiplayer pits players as the Rebels or Security, the Rebels who seek to cause chaos and disorder to what they believe is a poorly run society, and the Security forces who want to keep everything stable and quiet. Each player can completely customize their character, from tattoos on their arms and their hairstyle, to the armor they wear and guns they use.

Brink is still in its pre-alpha stage, and is set for release in spring 2010 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.