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Brink: Parkour Plus Guns E3 Preview

By Tae Kim
June 09, 2009 17:58 PM PST
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One-button parkour plus guns equals win?

I normally associate Bethesda with RPG titles (they did Oblivion and Fallout 3, for example) but the truth is that they've developed a rather eclectic library of titles. Go look at their Wikipedia page if you don't believe me-they've done everything from NASCAR games to movie licenses. They're also somewhat prolific when it comes to acquiring titles to publish, which explains how BRINK, a first-person shooter, landed in their hands. The early impression is that it's just another FPS game with a gimmick but it might just bring out the little ninja in every FPS gamer.

Parkour Por Favor

The biggest innovation that BRINK promises to give gamers is the S.M.A.R.T. system. Now, my notes are a little hard to read (dark demo room plus bad penmanship equals fail) but I'm pretty sure that stands for "Smooth Movement Around Random Terrain." What this means it that...well, in most games, when there's an obstacle in your way, you have to walk up to it, hit the jump button and hop over it. In BRINK, there's a special action button that automates that process for you. All you have to do is aim your cursor and away you go; your character runs toward the obstacle and vaults it in one smooth motion.

The system is smart enough (excuse the pun) to recognize different types of obstacles and where your cursor is pointing. In the demo we were shown, there was a security kiosk with laser tripwires running across the doorway; pointing the cursor above the kiosk resulted in a quick jump up onto the roof and jumping over while pointing the cursor toward the floor resulting in a slick action slide under the laser beams. You can still run around the levels as you please but the S.M.A.R.T. system has the potential to turn firefights into a Matrix-like bullet ballet; either that or we all run around the levels like crazy cross-eyed monkeys.