Paul Wedgwood on Brink

Feature

Brink was one of our favorite games during GamesCom. We spoke to Paul Wedgwood to get more background information about the interesting features of this upcoming shooter.

October 1st, 2009 by Marjolein Verheij

Hooked Gamers: How did Brink originate? Was it always a game Splash Damage had on the back of their minds while developing Enemy Territory games?

Paul Wedgwood: I had the idea for the floating city around six years ago, and at the end of Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars in 2007 I really wanted to create something original� something new and unique.

I started working with Ed on the initial high concept, but we realized pretty quickly that this was not going to be an Enemy Territory game. We had been fans of Bethesda�s work for some years, and got chatting to them about our ideas and they were enthusiastic. However, I knew this would be a multiplatform game, and as a PC developer, we needed to bolster our team. In early 2008 we announced a brand-new partnership with Bethesda Softworks (the developers and publishers of Morrowind, Oblivion, and later Fallout 3), our intention to double the size of our team to allow for multiplatform development, and our goal of building out new facilities specifically to develop Brink. It�s been a great year, and we�re pleased to have achieved all these goals.

Some great guys came onboard as Directors at Splash Damage � Olivier Leonardi as Art Director, Richard Ham as Creative Director, Chris Sweetman as Audio Director, and along with Arnout van Meer as Technical Director, they�ve really shaped what was little more than a few pages of high concept into something truly immersive.

Hooked Gamers: It is possible to join any running game, turning a single player game into a multiplayer game. How does this work? How do people find each other when they are already playing? Is it possible to join a running game on either side of the conflict?

Paul Wedgwood: Yes � I�ll explain. In Brink you take on a combat role that suits your playing style, and then fight through different environments to complete big objectives as part of a coordinated squad. When you first start playing offline, you�ll play alongside an AI squad. When you see a friend come online, you can invite them in (up to seven of them), and they�ll join your game, replacing your AI squad mates. If later you then decide to start or join a full multiplayer game where everyone is human, with one team attacking and the other defending, you can do that too. You and all your friends, play with all your XP, abilities, items, tools, gadgets, weapon upgrades, and outfits, regardless of how you earned them.

Hooked Gamers: Will it be possible to play multiplayer games across platforms? (Xbox 360 and Windows in particular)

Paul Wedgwood: No.

Hooked Gamers: We've seen a lot of different clothing styles, some of which will become available as your character progresses. While they looked incredibly cool, they only change the appearance of your character. What can you tell us about the unlockables that have a more useful purpose?

Paul Wedgwood: Well, your outfits play one very useful role � they let other players know what level you�ve achieved, and therefore let them get a sense of your skill. However, you can also modify your body-type (skinny, medium, and large) and this has a significant impact; as a large body-type, you can take masses of damage, but your agility is penalized � you can�t run as fast, or climb high walls, but you�re great for shielding other players and get to use huge weapons. The medium guy is well balanced, while the skinny guy can sprint faster, jump further and climb higher than anyone else, but at the expense of his ability to take damage. You can select the body-type based on the type of role that you want to play, while all your unlocked apparel scales automatically to fit you perfectly.

Hooked Gamers: Thank you
Paul Wedgwood: My pleasure