After years of developing games and additional content for the PC, Splash Damage – the studio that is best known as the creator of the Enemy Territory franchise – is trying to make headway into the console market with their latest genre defying title, Brink. Richard Ham, Creative Director of Splash Damage, was kind enough to chat with PlayStation LifeStyle in a tell-all interview. So, sit back, and enjoy this interview about a very cool game.
PSLS: Who are you and what is your position at Splash Damage?
RH: My name is Richard Ham and I’m the Creative Director at Splash Damage.
PSLS: Were there any games, that are available on the market now, that inspired you guys early on?
RH: Well obviously there are our previous games, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars. We developed both on the PC and they’ve enjoyed incredible success. We’ve won a bunch of awards for these two titles and they still enjoy a steady following.
So we knew with these games that we had something really special that people loved, and our next step was to introduce our gameplay to console players who’ve never experienced it. That’s where Brink comes in.
PSLS: How has the transition been from making add-on maps for games to developing your own game?
RH: We’ve been doing a lot more than add-on maps for games, but still, the transition to console development has been a challenging one. To help out, we’ve hired some of the best console developers in the business to ensure we’ve got a game that really rocks on console. For instance, we’ve got the lead coder from Heavenly Sword to help us squeeze the most out of the PS3. We’ve got the lead level designer from Killzone 2 to make sure our maps are awesome. And we’ve got the lead designer from Syphon Filter on the original PlayStation (that’s me) to ensure the game plays well on console.
PSLS: Which console was the lead platform for Brink?
RH: We’ve been developing across all three platforms (PS3, Xbox360 and PC) simultaneously.
PSLS: Exactly how deep is the player customization within the game?
RH: It’s very deep – we give you a ton of options to make yourself totally unique. There are all the outfits for starters, but you can also go in and change their colour tints and textures. There are face paints, tattoos and scars (which are permanent, by the way, just like real life), head gear, facial hair, you name it. And most importantly, there are three different body types (big, medium and small) which can radically change how the game plays, depending on your choice. So there’s a lot to play with!
