Holiday Beta Impressions

In the last couple of weeks, I was able to play some early builds of up-and-coming games poised to take the public by storm when finished for their projected holiday release dates. All three betas focus on the multiplayer aspect, and give us a taste on whether or not they’re worth any investment of time or money in the future floodgate of software coming our way in October and November. I took it upon myself to play each offering and provide the insight on just how well they portray the expected performance on the final product.

I’ll start with Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, the first cooperative multiplayer entry by Insomniac. As the level began, I immediately took notice of the emphasis on symbiotic team play needed to advance, which is similar to The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords and in a setting related to Baldur’s Gate. The dynamic of multiplayer is built on the foundation of teamwork, but like Four Swords also encourages friendly competition for bragging rights amongst your fellow players, which really enforced this drive to succeed. Actions -- like being able to focus fire on a shared target -- have you and your partner’s gun shots fuse together to strengthen the power of your attack, which becomes necessary in order to take down bigger enemies boasting armor that repels single blasts with ease.

Determining tactics between enemy mobs will change constantly, but strategies can be seamlessly exchanged in situations, and without a strong emphasis on constant communication. For example, when you have two bigger enemies and smaller minions, you can have three players focus fire on a larger enemy while having the last one distract the other large enemy and their minions, or divide the assault evenly into teams of two -- whichever works best for your current team. The limitation behind this element is, of course, on the dependency of your partners, but by using each other to forward their own single agenda, Insomniac has provided a vague but effective cooperative formula for a genre that excels to the contrary -- though the formula is not without its flaws.

The required participation of cooperative movement became annoying at time when paired with players who didn’t get with the program, but the options to get around these circumstances eliminated most of the frustration. The root mechanics of the series remain intact, but certain components didn’t blend as well in a cooperative environment.

One of the main elements in Ratchet & Clank lies with the selection of several different weapons to choose from upon different weapon shops through the stage purchased through the currency of bolts. Bolts can be acquired from either defeating enemies or smashing crates in the stage, but there’s a major difference in All 4 One. Crates smashed by the player who originally smashed them are entitled to all of the bolts automatically, and without the possibility of the loot being shared with the others. This mechanic makes it too easy for a greedy player to ruin the Balance of improvement for the entire group towards new potential weapon upgrade further in the stage.

Despite the possibility of foul play, group advancement never truly felt fluid. Through numerous runs of the beta I found that least one player was always significantly behind a quote unquote “substantial” bolt count to be able to enhance their arsenal to fend off against the growing odds of the stage. Even through the most cooperative of efforts by our teammates, it was nigh impossible to avoid this outcome.

Overall, the early build has its work cut out for it, but between the ability for team attacks to cooperative progression that still retained the Ratchet & Clank charm, there’s still plenty to anticipate in the latest entry of Insomniac’s flagship series.

Next up on the Beta reel is Uncharted 3’s Multiplayer beta, and though I myself have often have romanticized the series on Press Pause Radio, my approach to the beta is as objective as the last. The second iteration of Uncharted 3’s beta is much more robust then it’s previous release back in July and is completely different from the first version. This means that all of your progress as far as acquired booster pay outs and completed treasure sets are useless, and not recognized in this updated build. Though progress within the new beta will carry into the completed copy of the game, some may be turned off by the loss of collected experience from its initial version.

However, considering the balancing involved with player progress contrasted between early and late adopters for the multiplayer may be the most discernable conclusion as to why it did not carry over. Returning to the additions, there are three more maps revealed with the London Underground, Syria, and the Desert Village. These stages are also present with their own variable environment dynamics and action prologues. For instance, the London Underground begins with two speeding parallel trains within a narrow tunnel players can jump between as they navigate through carriages, or on top of them with changing altitudes between the two trains factoring in. Other changing elements include a blinding sandstorm within the Desert village, which blinds any vision beyond close proximity for everyone on the map, or a raging helicopter missile assault in Syria will violently shake the entire stage and architecture itself.

Combat-wise, before starting matchups, you can customize up to four sets of load-outs, including your long gun weapon of choice, pistol gun of choice, your two booster perks, and choice medal kickback. The significant improvement within this version allows you to switch any of these load-outs in game, and whatever is changed will take effect on your next spawn, which adds an entirely different layer of determining tactics for any given combat situation. Another improvement is the customization of your medal kickback, in where you only had the option of an RPG Rocket in the initial build you can now change it to another weapon or even booster perk. The buddy system has also been refined with giving players perks based on cooperative actions, which can create a synergetic relationship that enhances team play. Boosters, like Kill Buddy, will refill your ammunition for every kill your buddy makes. Stealth Buddy, which adds to your Medal Kickback count on every stealth kill they make, encourages communication on an entirely different level, and provides a real sense of accomplishment when you and your buddy collaborate.

The beta, however, is incredibly buggy, and I have found myself looping unnecessarily between action cuts for no apparent reason before approaching the full stage, or watching entire textures within the stage disappear. Spawn points are also poorly managed as I’ve found myself spawning within a gathering of enemies frequently, which concluded to my murder before I could even pan the camera an inch. Overall, Uncarted 3 hopes to balance its strengths between its epic campaign and now refined multiplayer that will definitely please the completive player, especially if you’re getting tired of all those fucking military first-person shooters.

Finally, we arrive to the last beta played…which happens to be a fucking military first-person shooter.

All scorn aside, I am here to be objective, and Battlefield 3 is poised to give Call of Duty some competition. Battlefield 3 developer DICE worked their weight in sweat to update their Frostbite engine, and allow revolutions improving real-time physics and environmental destruction we’ve never seen before. But the question remains on just how successful this proves to be when apprehension mounts towards all of the beta’s shortcomings.

For starters, the beta offers only one mode and a single map, which cuts your time and introduces you to the mechanics and engine. The mode is called Rush, which will have you concentrating on set terminals across the stage where you'll either defend or destroy, depending on the faction you’re assigned to at the start of the match. The mode itself provides a frenetic approach to the capture the base concept, as you’ll find yourself switching strategies depending on squad tactics or spawn points to determine which terminal will demand your focus. The map is impressive, containing an outline of a giant central park sprawling in a large circular route, complete with natural trenches and destructible components to a contained labyrinth-like subway train tunnel with blown out walls and multiple stories. The available classes to choose from are Assault, Engineer, Support, and Recon, each with their own strengths and specific loud-outs.

The physics in the beta show how remarkable the Frostbite 2 engine is, and your movement has a sensitivity that feels realistically cognitive to the contextual action of your results; this creates an incredible immersion with the way you carry your movement, from running and jumping to initiating the chrome position. The effects of explosive combat towards the environment -- be it building architecture, natural structures (trees, mountainsides), or existing rubble -- will add to the immersion, along with a depth towards your tactics that change the way you perceive strategy within a first-person shooter. With all of this innovation, though, the execution is an entirely different story.

When the beta went public, and after the download was finished and software installed, The EA server was already down and inoperable; this prevented me from playing on the first day of release for several hours! When getting the opportunity to finally play, the matchmaking either put me in skill sets that were the polar opposite of mine, or seconds before the end of a round or match, where I’ve literally made no contribution to the screen jumps of results I’m then bombarded with.

The physics, as novel as they are, have the tendency to completely crap out and wildly throw off the intended sensitivity into something completely different. Several times I’ve fallen into spots in the map that felt like warped portals of quick sand that would slingshot me below the texture of the floor through some fucked gravitational pull that I could not escape no matter how hard I’ve struggled or jump until the sweet release of death. Entire textures, environmental architectures, or foliage would disappear and reappear in different spots even randomly appearing in front of me as I sprinted, blocking my very path leading to my demise from a propitious opponent. Character models have even been physically distorted to the point where there was one time I was approached by an opponent that resembled the character Mekaneck from He-Man and the Masters of The Universe. I’ve played the beta on both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 version and both have same consistency between the bugs and frequency in which they occur though I have yet physically experience the PC version, yet I’ve heard similar horror stories.

Though Battlefield 3 has the potential to be a first-class military first-person shooter with its innovative design, the several flaws in the beta point to the contrary. DICE has assured the public they’re aware of the buggy flaws within Battlefield 3’s open beta, and claims the final product will be greatly polished before the release of the final game looms within three weeks.