Brink: Notes from Twitter

Brink is exactly a week away from release and I honestly can’t believe I was ready to wait another week for it just a short time ago (Brink’s US release was pushed up to the 10^th from the 17^th). I was trolling their Facebook page and nearly had a fit when I came across a wall photo from inside a warehouse where pallets upon pallets of copies of Brink waited to be shipped out. Is it bad that my initial reaction to this picture was that I wanted to find it, break in and get my copy now?

All I can do until then, really, is just keeping surfing the net for tibits of info or some new screenshots until May 10. Earlier, I decided to check out the game’s Twitter feed (@brinkgame) to see if there was anything of interest and I actually found a ton of helpful nuggets of info. The following are questions posed by fans with the response from @brinkgame, followed by my thoughts (denoted by GG).

-@finallyhavename Yep, you can still lean around corners in the game

GG: This is one feature I didn’t even realize would be in Brink. While I’m not the type to be stealthy and lean around corners to minimize my damage taken (I’ll generally be the big guy in the front absorbing bullets for my team), leaning is a nice addition to those who take a more measured approach.

Q: Can you use a weapon when you're downed? Do you get a kill when a medic revives the enemy you downed? Thanks.

@DelusionalKraut there's an ability that lets you use your secondary weapon while downed, at the expense of having less incap health

GG: Not many abilities have been discussed in developer diaries or trailers but there seems to be a plethora for each class. If you check out Brink’s Facebook page, there are a handful of pictures of different class abilities posted to see what’s in store. Some of these abilities, like Scavenge (getting ammo and equipment from dead enemies) and the Cortex Bomb (basically Martyrdom from COD), will be familiar to shooter fans while others (like Grenade Shooting – being able to shoot down your ‘nade mid-flight so you can choose where it explodes) are pretty unique.

-Totally! RT @Rossko93 @brinkgame Sounds awesome. So I could invite a friend, adjust the settings and then just play with the A.I?

GG: One of the big selling points for Brink (especially on the PC) are the many options for customizing games. Not only will gamers be able to create games with custom objectives, but you’ll be able to host your own game server as well. This was actually a question I had in mind and was thrilled to see someone else had already asked about it – you can basically play private games with a few friends and fill in the empty spots with bots and not have to put up with annoying randoms. Nice.

-does this mean I have to swap my clothes? Say I was medium then went to heavy would my clothes and abilities stay the same? Thanks

@Cart3rz Your player abilities and outfit don't change when switching body types

GG: Sometimes I feel like I have OCD when playing shooters – I’m constantly switching classes and weapon sets to try and get an edge in the match. This news is great for a gamer like me who is constantly tweaking his loadout mid-match that my character’s outfit and attributes won’t be changing along with them.

-How does assists work? Do the assisting killer get full XP?

@GamerOfFreedom That particular type of XP is based on damage dealt, so everyone involved in a kill gets their share

GG: This is something I’ve often wondered about, not just in Brink but in all shooters – just how are assists awarded? It’s a vague area in most games, where you’ll sometimes feel like you should get something for helping take down an enemy only to walk away empty handed. Great to know that XP for assists will be doled out based on how much damage you actually dealt.

-is the grenade launcher going to be a problem (spam)

@Umut77 The grenade launcher is more of a support weapon that's all about knocking people off their feet rather than killing them outright

GG: I’ve made mention of this before but I felt like it needed to be pointed out again. Grenade spam isn’t too big a problem in games like Halo or Battlefield but when it comes to COD (especially Modern Warfare 1 and 2) eating a randomly thrown grenade is something that will happen. Like, a lot. It still happens in Black Ops, though, not as often. Brink, thankfully, is leveling the playing field by making the grenades concussive and not fragmentation – meaning they’ll be used mainly to throw enemies off balance but not necessarily have the power to kill.

-Thanks also wondering that if the smart buttons is A for the xbox 360 wouldn't that make you not be able to aim whilst running???

@Cart3rz SMART is LB by default on the 360. Got several control schemes to pick from, plus you can fully remap everything if you like

GG: Customizable control schemes is a polarizing issue to gamers. Many gamers (myself included) don’t usually make this an issue while others will make it out to be the end of the world if they can’t map the “reload” button to whatever it is in whatever shooter happens to be their favorite. So while I’ll be perfectly fine getting used to the default button layout, there will be plenty of other players painstakingly creating their ideal control scheme and hopefully taking some time to thank Splash Damage for thinking of us little people.

-hey brink just wondering if you can switch between heavy to medium body type at a command post? Please reply!!

@Cart3rz You can switch body types (once unlocked) in the appearance customisation menu in between missions.

GG: Ok so it seemed to me before you could change your body type mid match, but I guess you’ll be stuck using the same type throughout a single match. Still though, being able to switch classes mid matches should be more than enough.

-are any of the classes a little too overrated. like will there be a limit of syringes if your a medic or is it unlimited?

@IM_A_GEEK11 it's limited by your Supply bar. Every time you use an ability, that bar goes down a pip. It slowly refills over time...

GG: Pretty self explanatory. Definitely glad to see that you’ll only be able to use your abilities sparingly. Getting constantly firebombed by molotovs from soldiers or having enemies have a steady stream of revive syringes would get pretty annoying.

- Looking at the achievements, what are 'What-If' missions? Just the name for freeplay missions?

@JoeArchy What-if missions are a rather radical view of both sides.. sabotage and such stuff.

GG: Wow, what a great question. That dude must be really smart and knowledgeable (and handsome, I’m guessing). For reference, I had seen “What-If” missions listed alongside campaign missions for various completion achievements but, honestly, I’m still not quite sure what they are. I’m guessing maybe it’s reversing the roles for the teams or giving either side a new set of objectives that give the mission a new twist but I’m not sure.

Lots of great info there that I wasn’t aware of before, like how switching classes was handled, if bots would be available for games with fewer human players, the impacts grenades will have on games and even if you’ll be able to customize your control scheme. I love FPSes but I hate how stale the genre has gotten, with games treading and re-treading the same deathmatch, CTF, etc. territory over and over again. Brink looks ready to give gamers a great alternative to the typical COD shooters and with its dedication to PC gaming (allowing players to host their own game servers), Brink could easily become the “next big thing” in the genre.