G4's new video preview of Brink ends with a bit of bad news. The Bethesda Softworks-published game is now apparently due in the fall of next year, thinning the spring 2010 crowd by at least one.

While disappointing, after our positive impressions of the game from QuakeCon and E3 helped illustrate what makes Brink interesting, we're always happy to see a game given a bit more time to incubate in the name of getting it right.

Exclusive Brink Playing Smart Freedom of Movement Preview [G4]

The occasion was my interview last week at QuakeCon with Paul Wedgwood, founder of development studio Splash Damage, who had already provided me a marvelous description of his game and would later demo the game impressively in front of conference attendees.

But for me, to be honest, that might not all have been necessary.

I asked him about some recent hires to Splash Damage I'd read about. I recalled that the studio had brought in Dean Calver, the lead programmer of Heavenly Sword. That game had wowed me technically, so I thought that was impressive enough.

Wedgwood said there were other names attached to Brink he felt he should mention:

-Richard Ham, Brink's creative director, had been lead game designer on Fable 2.

-Neil Alphonso, also on Brink, had been a top level designer at Guerilla Games on Killzone 2, according to Wedgwood.

-Tim Appleby, lead character artist on Brink, was, in Wedgwood's words, "the guy who created Shepard in Mass Effect."

-Olivier Leonardi, also on Brink, was the art director on Rainbow Six Vegas and a Prince of Persia.

Hearing all that, did I need to know anything more about the game? Sure. But I was left wondering: Why aren't more games described in this way? Maybe some talented people on the team still don't get mentioned. Maybe some resumes get inflated. But this is neither the equivalent of hyping just one lead creator nor ignoring them all.

A creative ensemble worth getting excited about? Why not?

[PIC]

Brink is the Bethesda-published game from the makers of Enemy Territory Quake Wars, Splash Damage. The studio's chief, Paul Wedgwood, took the same stage from where John Carmack addressed the QuakeCon 2009 faithful earlier this week to drive the first public demo of the game.

Set in the future on Earth, Brink depicts two factions — resistance and security — at war over the floating and failed eco-paradise city of Ark . Maps from that city are the battlefields of the game, with major objectives associated with each map that comprises the game's two single-player campaigns. Any of the game can be played alone or with other players dropping in to take control of squadmates.

Wedgwood entered yesterday's demo in a map set at the so-called Container City, the one seen in the second screenshot here. An in-engine cut-scene quickly established the arrival of his character and two AI-controlled members of his squad. I entered the hall where Wedgwood was doing the demo too late to catch the main mission objective. But it was obvious that the squad was going to infiltrate a hostile zone, with orders to proceed inside. The Container City was full of corrugated tin walls and toppled shipping containers, a mess of a sector inspired by the favelas in Rio de Janeiro. Wedgwood was playing as security, decking his character in a blue uniform and face-paint, and shades, accoutrements that may be among the cosmetic unlockables that will show other players who is good at this game.

As an operative-class fighter, Wedgwood plunged into a firefight, using his sub machine gun to shoot at resistance fighters in the region. He didn't have to be an operative. And he didn't have to keep playing one. The essence of Brink is playing as a multi-class squad, taking on class-specific missions and changing class in the heat of battle if need be. An individual player's missions — tasks, really, that the player does within the context of the larger battle they've entered — are generated on the fly.

In the situation being demoed, Wedgwood pulled up a radial menu that showed several available missions for his character class, specific to the current fight. Missions grant experience points which can be used to get better items. One mission, for 300 experience points, involved interrogating an enemy. Selecting it produced an arrow at the top of the screen that guided Wedgwood to a downed enemy. Finding the enemy, Wedgwood's character produced an iPhone-a-like in his left hand and transformed it into something that looked more like an electric-shock device. He extracted his info; his character's right hand popped a thumbs up, and Wedgwood pulled up a menu to browse more missions.

Throughout the demo, the game sported the visual signatures of a first-person shooter, like the on-screen barrel of the player's gun. Less common was its adoption of a visual element seen in last year's first-person free-running game Mirror's Edge. Wedgwood's character could amble up a crate, vault over a wall, his hero more athletic and acrobatic than most first-person shooter protagonists.

Remaining an operative, Wedgwood selected a 10 xp/second mission to escort a bot. This led him to a large, golf-cart-size rolling robot. The longer he stayed with it, the more points he gained. Then he took a mission to change into an engineer, for 250 points. To do that mission, a guide arrow led him back to a controlled command post. He arrived, changed to an engineer and immediately selected a mission to repair a crane (500xp). Engineers have repair and construction abilities, and can lay mines. At this point, two other developers joined and took control of Wedgwood's two squad-mates.

Wedgwood explained that the game would keep generating contextual missions that suited the classes of the three controlled characters. They assisted each other until reaching a narrative choke point that cued an in-engine cut-scene and a cliffhanger — the three troopers discovering something surprising that we couldn't see.

Brink already looks very good. It boasts the level of graphical detail up there with a Call of Duty and approaching even a Killzone 2, but with a more diverse color palette than Sony's drab first-person shooter. The area Wedgwood was fighting in was densely packed, a tighter theater of war than seen in some of the flashy games just mentioned. It's a compliment to the art direction and graphical prowess that it was surprising to hear that game runs on modified id tech, Wedgwood said, evolved from what his studio developed with Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.

Wedgwood's demo concluded to rousing applause. It was fitting given the heritage of the project and the new corporate reality of the company behind QuakeCon 2009. Brink's development studio, Splash Damage, has long worked closely with id. And, months ago, Brink was announced to be published by Bethesda, the company that subsequently bought id weeks before the big show.

This may have been the ideal game for QuakeCon '09. The crowd loved it.

Brink is set for release in the spring of 2010 for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Yeah, RPG shooters. That blend elements of singleplayer FPS games, multiplayer deathmatchers and more than a few roleplaying customs as well. If that sounds confusing to read, don't worry, it is. It's such a unique cocktail of styles and influences that, having seen the game demoed earlier today, I'm having a little trouble getting my head around it myself.

But if you think Team Fortress 2, Mirror's Edge and Fallout 3, you'll be getting there.

Basically, Brink - from developers Splash Damage - is an FPS. With a few changes to the normal routine. Like Mirror's Edge, there's an element of parkour to proceedings, with fast runs and climbs able to be strung together. Interestingly, the devs have added an "autopilot" function to movement: point the cursor at a point on the map, hold down a button and you'll perform the necessary moves (jumps, slides, etc) to get there. And if there's danger in the way - like a camera - the player will smartly vault over or slide under it.

Gameplay is largely an objective-based multiplayer shooter. You and your teammates start at one end of a map and have to fight your way to the other end, satisfying a number of objectives along the way like clearing barricades, repairing technology, etc.

Only you can play this alone. Because you have AI teammates, and the game is objective-based, you can play the whole thing as a singleplayer title, working your way through a series of missions set amidst the last outpost of human civilisation following a global catastrophe.

But then, you can also play it with friends. Again, because of the nature of the level progression, real players can jump in and take the place of not only AI teammates, but AI opponents as well. And it doesn't change a thing, as the demo we saw seamlessly alternated between singleplayer sequences and moments involving several human teammates.

And all the while you're doing this, there are RPG elements at play. At the start of the game, you're able to create a custom character, which you then level up with every enemy you kill and every objective you complete (trickier objectives earning you more XP). New XP is able to be cashed in for new outfits, as well as mid-game "class" changes.

Like many online shooters (for example Team Fortress 2), players are able to select a "class" for their character. Soldier, engineer, heavy, etc. But you can cash in some XP to change class mid-game, should you want to switch things up, and doing so presents you with an all-new toolset, and all-new objectives tailored towards your new class.

Throw in the fact the game is already looking gorgeous, and it all sounds like an innovative take on a genre these guys already specialise in (Splash Damage having got famous off the amazing Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory). Certainly one of the fresher titles I've seen at the show so far.

We're going to get our first taste of the game at this year's E3, but Bethesda's European managing director Sean Brennan has already stoked the hype engines for the unannounced title.

"We're not announcing the name yet, but it's a first-person shooter," Brennan tells GamesIndustry.biz in a new interview. "That's a product that we believe is a genre-breaker, it's a real killer app. From a quality perspective we're pitching that along the same lines as Fallout 3."

Why the secrecy?

"We've kept it under lock and key, there are so many innovative features in there we don't want to reveal them too soon," Brennan explains. "We've spent significant resources developing the title. And that's a great example of our European work."

Splash Damage is best known for its work on Enemy Territory: Quake Wars and Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. While I wouldn't rule out Fallout: Enemy Territory, Bethesda's expansion into a wider range of products—and personal hopes for something new and truly killer app description worthy—would lead me to believe that the developer has something more interesting up its collective sleeve.

Bethesda's Sean Brennan Part One [GamesIndustry.biz]

Or the potential for donations. Where to? Why to Baird's Tapir Project which aims to save the wild Tapirs of Costa Rica of course.

The partnership will be for a "long-term development project," according to the press release. When contacted for comment this morning Bethesda said that it would not include work on their counter-terrorist shooter Rogue Warrior, but rather a completely new project.

Splash Damage, for those of you unfamiliar, is best known for their work on multiplayer shooters like Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars.

Hit the jump for the full release and to kick-start the rampant speculation.

Bethesda Softworks Announces Development Partnership with Splash Damage

May 22, 2008 (Rockville, MD) – Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax Media company, announced today a long-term development partnership with the award-winning U.K. studio, Splash Damage™.

Splash Damage has been recognized by the industry for the quality of its titles and particularly for its skill in creating cutting-edge multiplayer games. The studio has received numerous accolades and awards for Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory™, including Game of the Year nods from GameSpy, IGN, and PC Format. Their latest game, Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars™, won over 80 Editors’ Choice, E3, Most Wanted, and Game of the Year awards and nominations.

Bethesda Softworks continues to expand its development and publishing reach, with investments in a library of AAA titles and the opening of new offices in Europe and Japan in the past year. Best known for its 2006 Game of the Year, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion®, Bethesda has in development a number of compelling titles, including the highly-anticipated Fallout® 3 due in Fall 2008.

“Bethesda Softworks has repeatedly been responsible for outstanding games as both publisher and developer.” said Paul Wedgwood, Owner and Creative Director of Splash Damage. “Both of our studios share a passion for creating great games, and we’re confident that this partnership will result in even greater experiences for gamers. We’re really looking forward to working with Bethesda.”

“This could not be a more perfect fit,” said Vlatko Andonov, President of Bethesda Softworks. “We are extremely impressed with Splash Damage and the quality titles they produce. They are highly creative and innovative, and have demonstrated a high level of dedication to their projects. We are confident that gamers everywhere will be thrilled with the offerings from this collaboration.”

More details about Splash Damage’s brand-new project will be provided in the coming months. For more information on Bethesda Softworks, visit www.bethsoft.com. For more information on Splash Damage, visit www.splashdamage.com.

Even if you aren't the crazy, self-sacrificing DIY programmer type, any ETQW fan can appreciate that a full SDK means new, full maps and mods are on their way. Now if only those crazy, self-sacrificing DIY programmer types would get off their asses and do some coding...

Final ETQW Software Development Kit Released [etqw]

Anyone who completes the download, hit the comments and let us know the size, experience, etc. Because we want details. And we want you to do our job for us. Hit the jump for the full press release.

Download it here

The Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars PC demo is now available from the game's official site: http://www.enemyterritory.com/. Head to the "download demo" tab for a list of local mirrors. You can also view a list of available mirrors at this site:http://community.enemyterritory.com/index.php?q=node/130.

The Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars PC Demo (Multiplayer & Single-Player) comes with the final version of Valley, one of the larger battlegrounds in the game. Set in Yosemite, California, Valley has the Global Defense Force on the attack, as they attempt to foil a Strogg contamination plot centering on a water treatment facility. Valley features a great blend of close quarters infantry action, vehicle battles and aircraft dogfights, and the varied terrain combining mountains, waterways, tunnels and industrial structures allows for many different playing styles. To top it all off, there's a multitude of optional side missions and plenty of opportunities to try out the various defense turrets, artillery and radar deployables - Valley is a prime example of the frantic and diverse action you'll find in Enemy
Territory: QUAKE Wars.

If you want to learn more about Valley, read our Valley Map Guide
(http://community.enemyterritory.com/index.php?q=node/91) for a full run-down of the team objectives, secondary missions and a host of tactical tips for getting the most out of the various GDF and Strogg weapons, items, deployables and vehicles.

The Demo also features ETQW's bots, so you can explore the map and gameplay in single-player mode with computer-controlled opponents...

Gamers can play online multiplayer against humans or offline against bots as well as host their own online games or LAN shindigs via the Enemy Territory: Quake Wars demo. And speaking of shindigs, it won't get much more happenin' than the IRC party scheduled for Monday's kick off, which will be attended by members of id, Splash Damage and Activision.

The PC system requirements have also been finalized, so check them out, just in case you find yourself in need of a quick weekend hardware upgrade.

Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars PC Demo Soon - Details Inside! [ET:QW Community]

And it makes sense, after all Splash Damage started out as a mod group, one that landed the multiplayer aspect of Return to Castle Wolfenstein. After completing the game, which was released for free, they landed the full triple-A retail build of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.

"When Wolfenstein Enemy Territory was released it proved there was a market for a pure multiplayer combat game," Wedgewood said. " Enemy Territory: Quake Wars tried to break down boundaries."

Wedgewood said the current office remains to their modding roots despite their triple-A aspirations.

"The office is still essentially a mode team culturally, though we are more efficient now," he said.

For instance, the team spent nine months "screwing up the technology " for this new game, as Wedgewood described it, before they went to John Carmack, hat in hand, to tell him they had screwed up the technology.

"He fixed it in about nine minutes," Wedgewood said.

He said that while both Quake Wars and Wolfenstein have a lot of core similarities, one is not simply a mod of the other.

The biggest difference is that Quake Wars is a much deeper game one that, while multiplayer, is still very story driven. Specifically, the map creation is all based on a pre-Quake storyline. The game will ship with 12 maps spread over four campaigns located each on different continents. Each of those maps will be based on key battles central to the storyline.

Wedgewood said he also hoped to create a game, with Quake Wars, that gave gamers an experience that was deeper than the typical shooter.

"The typical gamers' experience was that they would run around and shoot at people, and hope to hit them and then they stand by a flag for awhile," he said. "I always wanted to give experiences to games that matched what the outside of game boxes said."

In Quake Wars you can play the game and have fun without firing a bullet. You can build turrets, you can parachute from cliffs, you can drive helicopters and yes.. you can still shoot each other.

The entire is based on a strong infantry combat system, one that stripped away the complexity of the game by relying on a subtly deep interface that relied on a point and click command system.

The system automatically follows along with what's happening in the multiplayer matches to create missions for the right types of units. Telling them, for instance, when they need to take out specific targets, construct things like radar or anti-aircraft artillery or help transport someone.

But it's also not a game that nerfs the controls to the point that it isn't worth playing for serious gamers. Afterall, all of the design team, up to and including the president of the company, are hardcore gamers. Wedgewood himself was one of the original members of one of the original Quake Clans. And the team, all of the team, are constantly play-testing the game.

"They're obsessive," he said. "They'll count the number of footsteps between different points in the game."

Wedgewood showed off different maps in the game, playing, perhaps a bit more than necessary, through different classes to show that you can have fun in the game without even firing a gun. He also demonstrates, out of hand, how effortlessly good he is at wailing in the game with a gun. Wedgewood stops his play only once, after Mark and I get a little too obsessed with a mosquito buzzing the room and another Splash Damage team member flattens it with his palm.

"Hey, don't kill it, that's bad Karma. I'm a vegetarian," he explains, seemingly unaware of the irony.

As previously stated, you need not be a FilePlanet subscriber to take part in the public beta. However, if you're desperate to join and want to ensure that you're one of the lucky 60,000 a membership will certainly help your chances. Michael McWhertor

Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Beta [FilePlanet]

When the team-based first person shooter does ship, it will have one feature that will supposedly help pay for the half-decade of development—in-game ads. Neil Postlethwaite of Splash Damage says it's not all bad:

ETQW will feature appropriate advertisements in select locations of our levels. The ads aren't intrusive and you won't have to interact with them; they'll just be part of the normal environment. In fact, there are some places it's quite odd not to have an advertisement - the sides of container trucks, for example. Great care is being taken to ensure that all our ads are appropriate for the game world and we have absolute approval rights in this area. If it's not appropriate or it's distracting, it won't go in.

I feel ever so slightly soothed. It's better than swapping out gun meshes for tacos, that's for damn sure. Michael McWhertor

A Word About In-Game Ads [Enemy Territory: Quake Wars Community]

FilePlanet subscribers have first dibs on the beta, as they're given priority in the queue, but the ET:QW public beta is open to all.

While the beta should in no way be confused for a proper demo, anyone with an interest should read on for more details. This is the kind of thing that looks great on a résumé. Michael McWhertor

Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars Public Beta First Details [ETQW Community via 1UP]