In a market that seems to be churning out FPS games that so desperately want to be "the next CoD" that then copy most of CoD's features hoping that it might just work, it's refreshing to see that the guys at Splash Damage are happy to be a bit different. Although, technically speaking, I guess they always have been as they've been trying to perfect the class-based shooter for quite some time now. With both Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars tucked into their belts (as well as numerous maps and mods) you'd hope that they are experts in their field.
So we're looking at a heavy focus on multiplayer, objective-based gaming... so far so good, but what's to get excited about?
Firstly, shallow though it may be, it looks fantastic. While comparisons are bound to be made between this and the current king of class-based gaming, Team Hat-ress 2 (AKA Team Fortress 2) because they've taken a rather cartoon-like approach to the graphics; it's more of a caricature style rather than full-on cartoon and they've done a great job. Far from the colour overload of Bulletstorm, it seems at least a little more grounded in the colour stakes.
Then there is the objective-based nature of the gaming. Splash Damage have said a few times that, while you'll obviously score points for killing the other team, there are far greater rewards for team play... such as healing your team mates or completing objectives. And the objectives themselves are dynamic depending on the game and your class so no two matches are likely to be the same.
Of course there's also the heavily advertised SMART system. Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain (AKA parkour). Simply hold the SMART button while running through the maps and you will automatically leap, climb and slide across rooftops and up walls (depending on your body size), which should certainly keep everyone on their toes (and the map makers having nightmares).
Customisation seems to be a big part as well, and we're talking more than just hats here... there are 102,247,681,536,000,000 alleged unique characters possible (including variations in tint, body size and side). That's an insane amount of customisation... and even if you remove the tint, body size and side, you're still looking 4,530,240 unique combinations!
And, despite being a mostly multiplayer experience, there is supposed to be a reasonable single-player campaign that can be played from either perspective, Resistance or Arc Security.
And there's plenty more, but I need to leave something for me to say once I've actually played it! Now I just have to wait for it to be released this Friday... which is possibly my only complaint at this stage. Despite the fact that Splash Damage are, in fact, based in good ol' Blighty, the American's are already playing Brink while we have to wait three more days! Such, I'd imagine, is the downside for partnering with US-based Bethesda/Zenimax Why, in this age of digital distribution, they can't release it globally I'll never know...
In the meantime, have a look at the 'instructional' videos on the official website and get a feel for the game and how it plays. I'll be back some point soon to, no doubt, give my verdict
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