Brink Secret Event at PAX East 2011

On the first day of PAX East 2011, iam8bit said "Let there be a not-so-secret Brink secret event!" And there was Brink. And it was good. Convention goers may have been greeted sometime during their Friday romp around the Boston waterfront with a poster similar to the one shown above. Those lucky enough to find the location were greeted by over 40 stations running the sweet looking team-based shooter, as well as free pizza and drinks. 

This was actually my first hands-on time with the game that might be tops on my list of can't-wait-to-play 2011 titles, and I was not disappointed. We were seated in groups and allotted around 30 minutes to go absolutely wild against our opposing team, which consisted of both human players and bots. Customization -- a huge part of Brink's allure -- was in full effect, however in my impatient eagerness to get on the battlefield, I completely missed customizing my avatar at all. I blame this on the fact that the group which played before mine didn't quit out to the menu after their game ended, the bastards. This may have been for the best though, as the options are so plentiful, I could have spent the entirety of my time allowed tweaking my characters appearance. 

Thankfully, it was only my appearance that was a residual of the player before me. Once the match started up, I was able to freely switch between any of the game's four classes -- medic, operative, engineer, and soldier -- as well as change my two-weapon loadout. I'm sure what was available to us wasn't even all of Brink's unique weapons, yet the options were still staggering. I'd say close to 30 choices of primary and secondary firearms. At the outset, my modus operandi was to frag, efficiently and viciously. This worked well, I racked up the highest kill total of anyone in my game, however taking this route caused me to miss out on what Brink is really about; teamwork.

A quick selection wheel with a layout of all objectives is available at all times during play, allowing you to keep track of tasks, as well as marking one of them for a waypoint. Classes come into play for teamwork as well, with each providing a unique set of skills necessary for a squad to emerge victorious. The medic can heal and revive teammates, operatives can interrogate downed enemies to reveal the opposition on radar, engineers can buff weapons and create turrets, and soldiers can dispense ammo. Of the above, I spent the most time with the soldier because ammo seems to go fast unless you have a steady and controlled trigger finger, which I did not. Spray and pray, baby! The ability to replenish my own ammo, as well as my teammates' was invaluable. For any action which benefitted my group, be it a frag, a class-specific assist, or helping to complete a map objective, the team was awarded points, and I was awarded experience, used to further pimp out my avatar's clothing and weapons.

Look, you can listen to me talk about Brink all day and not be swayed, but let me share a story with you. My producer (responsible for the fine video you will find at the end of this post) hasn't been about a first person shooter since Halo 2. That's a long time ago, and it was the last time I saw him emotionally invested in the genre. He sat down alongside me to play some Brink, because why not, right? Well ten minutes later, he was screaming enemy locations into his headset and ranting about protecting our VIP escort from an accosting squad of opposing players. Brink awoke a beast I thought I'd never see again. How's that for results?

Have a look at some of what we saw at the secret event below. When you're done, you may want to preorder Brink before it's too late. May 17 is right around the corner, and when you're navigating with S.M.A.R.T., that corner comes quickly.

Produced and Edited by Mario Gonzalez