User blog:ConceitedJarrad/So that Brink game looks pretty awesome

Anyone else getting the ad for this on the Wiki's main page? I know it's (the ad) almost all just CG sequences, but Game Informer had a spread about the game a couple months ago, and I was pretty impressed. The theme of the game is basically about some sort of cataclysmic world-ending event, and there is only one habitable city left on Earth, called The Ark. Apparently the place is still pretty dumpy, yet it's full to the brink (hence the title, I am guessing) and there are constant waves of newcomers trying to get in. You pick between one of two factions: the immigrants trying to get in, or the current inhabitants trying to keep them out.

Character customization abounds, as you can spiff your chars up with whatever the heighth of fashion has to offer on post-apocalyptic Earth. You also define a body build when creating a new character, which determines the weaponry and skills they'll be able to wield. The game is tentatively pseudo-MMO, which will allow online play to consist of several members of each of the warring factions. Missions will be doled out by the central command for either side, along with prompts to change tactics during the heat of battle and mid-mission. Purportedly, Splash Damage did some research and concluded that online players are more likely to coalesce around a bot rather than a human player in a leadership position. My experience tells me that that's probably a solid conclusion.

What's interesting to me is how more and more, videogames seem to be tackling the broader social issues of our day. I'm sure I don't have to explain the social relevance of the plot-line of this game to anyone here, as the political imagery in Borderlands is hardly succinct and most of us seem to get it. Either way, it looks like Splash Damage will be putting themselves on the map with a great PvP faction shooter that gives decadent lazy lumps like us a chance to see both sides of the immigration debate from different angles, all in the comfort of our own homes. Looks like I'll have plenty to do while waiting for Borderlands 2, especially if Bethesda drops the new Elder Scrolls game in the interim as well.

Thanks for reading, Happy hunting.