Brink is free to play this weekend, clan and tournament features added
The parkour driven multiplayer shooter, Brink will be free to play through Steam this weekend to celebrate the addition of Clan and Tournament support. That’ll let you create and keep track of clans on the Brink site. From there you’ll be able to challenge other clans and battle for position on the global clan ladder. The clan hub will also let clan members set up tournaments with custom rulesets, and keep track of each battle online.
Brink never quite got off the ground when it launched back in May, though it showed plenty of promise, with characterful avatars, spectacular settings, varied classes and some destructive gadgets. Find out more in our Brink review. It’ll go free at 10AM PST, in about an hour, giving everyone the opportunity to find out how Brink plays six months on. If you like it, Brink will be on sale at 75% off for the duration of the free trial.
Splash Damage working on new game based on ‘major entertainment brand’
UPDATE THE SECOND – It seems all this fuss has been over nothing, with Splash Damage’s Paul Wedgewood tweeting:
“We’re not working with Disney. We’re not building a pop culture IP. We’re only using BRINK tech for BRINK updates atm.”
UPDATE – Both Eurogamer and Kotaku are speculating this could be a Marvel comics game, based on the sentence “a company widely believed to have given up on the console publishing business”, which could well be Disney, who own the Marvel brand. The timing also fits with the ’50 years’ quote, as the Marvel we know first took off in 1961 with the creation of the Fantastic Four.
Could we see an Avengers game based on Brink? Would it resemble the awesome looking cancelled Avengers FPS from THQ (video above)? We can only hope.
Original post follows.
Hiding in the corner of an Industry Gamers article is a hint at Brink developer Splash Damage’s next project. Apparently the studio has “at least one unannounced project for a major entertainment brand”, which will be based on the Brink engine. Exactly which brand it is is still a secret, but the article claims it is: “One of the biggest American pop culture brands of the last 50 years.”
Speculation at the ready people! What could it be? What 50 year old pop culture license could lend itself to Brink’s technology?
Brink is free to play this weekend
Coinciding with both QuakeCon 2011 and the release of Brink’s first DLC, Steam has started a free weekend for Splash Damage’s parkour shooter. Spotted by Eurogamer, the offer has already started, and continues until Sunday evening, giving players a chance to experience the multiplayer shooter free of charge. The new Agents of Change DLC is included as well, which gives players a broader range of abilities, attachments and costumes, as well as two new maps to try out.
Brink: Agents of Change DLC arrives on Steam, free for a fortnight
Brink: Agents of Change DLC is now available to download for free on Steam. The new pack, which will cost $9.99 after the initial 14-day free period, adds shiny new bits to almost every section of Splash Damage’s shooter.
The biggest update included in the free-for-now DLC are the two new maps. Founder’s Tower takes place in the epicenter of the beleaguered Ark, and finally lets players inside the actual spire itself. Labs, meanwhile, has players fighting over an old research and development laboratory, which is submerged deep beneath the ocean.
Brink back on Steam in the UK
Why look, if it isn’t that handsome young shooter from Splash Damage, making a stealthy re-appearance on our UK Steam feeds. Where have you been all this time, Brink? We asked around to try and find out why you vanished, but to no avail. Whatever happened, whether it be a publisher spat, or something to do with the change in Steam terms of service that saw Crysis 2 withdrawn, it’s all in the past now. Let’s get together and go shoot some men in the face, preferably while sliding along the floor like a greasy-arsed badger.
RPS noticed the shooter lounging around on Steam as though it had never been away. It’s reappeared just in time, as the new DLC is set to arrive sometime this month. When that hits, the game will go free for two weeks to celebrate. The game’s currently 25% off at £22.49.
Brink DLC detailed. Will include new maps, abilities, weapons attachments and outfits
We’ve just got the details of Brink’s first (free) DLC, Agents of Change. It seems like the war for the Ark is going to be shaken up a little: “Secrets, lies and double agents. Nothing and no-one is who they seem as the Resistance and Security factions deal with the arrival of a mysterious ship from the outside world.”
Blimey, that’s different. Agents of Change is slated for June. Click more for the details.
Brink patch fixes lag and improves performance
Steam brings news that a new Brink patch landed last night. The update should clear up many of the lag and performance issues many players have encountered. According to the patch notes, the server browser is now easier to use, ambient occlusion won’t kill your frame rate and alt-tabbing won’t explode your game. You’ll find all the latest updates listed below.
Tweak Brink’s FOV, mouse settings and more with Brink Config 1.4
Brink isn’t a bare-bones console port, but it’s not the most accommodating of PC games either, lacking in Field Of Vision settings and lots of the options we love to tweak. Brink Config 1.4 lets you to fiddle with lots of settings you couldn’t previously. Lovely.
Click more for the full list of features and to download Brink Config.
Brink parkour challenge completed in 18 seconds
Here’s a dose of mad Brink parkour skills, via Splash Damage writer and designer Ed Stern’s Twitter feed. The freerunner defies gravity to complete the assault course in just 18 seconds. Impressive, no? The runner admits it’s not quite perfect, but says that “17s will be unbeatable,” which is a challenge if ever I heard one.
Brink disappears from UK Steam store. Customers unable to activate retail copies
Brink was due to get a UK release on Steam today, but its product page has mysteriously disappeared from the store.
Users who try and access the game’s official Steam page are informed that “This item is currently unavailable in your region.” Search for “Brink” and you get by the past few trailers but no download page.
According to posts on the Steam forums, most players who activated their copies soon after the 1am release this morning have been able to play. Lots of UK users, including those who pre-loaded or bought a retail copy, can’t boot it up either.
We’ve contacted Splash Damage and Bethesda for comment and will update as soon as we get some information. Lucky US gamers have been shooting each other up since Tuesday.
Brink trailer gets acrobatic
Brink is out very soon in the US, and on Friday in Europe. Splash Damage have unleashed the Brink launch trailer, full of fancy wall running, man blasting and a cardboard model of the Ark. If you’re not planning on picking up the game today, or you live outside of the US, you can get a good look at Brink on the official Brink website, and at Brink TV’s launch events.
Brink launch events to feature live matches and Quake pros
Brink’s set to launch in less than a day in the US, and Brink TV are running a couple of live online launch events to celebrate. The events will invite some of the best Quake and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars players to deliver feedback on Brink’s multiplayer mode, and shoutcasters will be commentating on a series of King of the Hill matches that will be open to anyone who wants to join. The whole thing will be broadcast live on the web.
Brink stat attack reveals 26,000 lines of dialogue
What do you call a figure that’s 18 numbers long? Apparently in the US it’s a quintillion, and in the rest of the world it’s a trillion. Either way, when it comes to customisation options in Brink, there are more than 102 of them. 102,247,681,536,000,000 to be precise.
Bethesda have gone mad with a calculator and released a list of numberical facts for Brink. Apparently there are 26,000 lines of dialogue in the game, more than 4,000 weapon sounds and 45 ways to die. Prepare your brain for some unfathomably huge numbers below.
Brink trailer has bumslides and handy hints
The latest Brink trailer is part four of a series of tutorial videos showing how best to use the game’s UI to keep track of your character’s numerous class abilities. There’s also more footage of the dynamic parkour system in action. The slide maneuver should make you especially hard to hit. The rest of the video series can be found on the official Brink site. Check out our Brink preview for more on the game. Brink is out next week.
Brink system specs revealed. Will use Steamworks
Brink is approaching fast. In fact, its official release is just four weeks away.
To celebrate, Splash Damage have revealed the system specs, and confirmed that the game will be using Steamworks (not the alternative we’re not going to mention because it upsets us too much).
