Hellgate London: Beta Review

As you can probably tell from my copious entries about the game, I've been enjoying Beta for a few months now, I like the game and I definitely plan on subscribing. But that's not to say it's perfect and here's why:

--Story. The cut scenes and class story lines were not in the Beta. But to be honest, I didn't miss it too much with all the shooting and looting. I will be reading it in the full game however.

Also, I'm not going to lie that I wasn't slightly disappointed at first that I was in "Army of Darkness" when I was promised "Jericho"--if you watch the cinematic and visit beta--not the demo--you'll see what I'm talking about--but then again, it makes little sense to test a fuckin' cut scene/or unveil EVERYTHING during the Beta.

--Graphics. Hot! It was a good looking game in DX9 (I upgraded during the Beta) but is gorgeous in DX10. I think some of the effects are place holder effects however so I thought they were a bit chintzy. Plus my super lightning cloud didn't zap anyone. Boo!

--Customization. In the Beta I felt the customization was lacking for the bitches (not so much the guys) but I still managed to be ultra-sexy (or monkey like if you ask my bastard guildies). I wouldn't mind more faces and hairstyles for sure. And I also wish I could make a fat ass, but I couldn't. Thre's a good amount of armour selections, and I also love the colouring scheme where each piece of armour you have has a certain "colour" and you can pick which of them you want your scheme to be.



--Loot. EXCELLENT! And you even get loot by getting loot! (That is, playing a mini-game where you kill a certain type of monster with a certain effect or pick up certain loots.) And if you like one particular loots a lot, you can make it even better by using the Nanoforge to up its damage/shields/armour or add an effect using the Augmentor.

--Gameplay. Unless you're playing a Templar, you can go freely between 1st/3rd person mode. For Cabalist though (my preferred class), I use 3rd person so I can run around better unobstructed and/or keep an eye out for my pets (who like to hump walls sometimes). Carrying two weapons though clutters your screen in Beta so I only went into 1st person to shoot flying enemies or if I was using a 2-handed weapon.

--Instancing. The dungeons are supposed to be random, but play the game enough and they start to look/feel the same. Just like in City of Villains, there's just so much "random" that can be had. I would love to see more.

--Partying. A lot of bitches complained about the lack of partying, but I welcome that you have a CHOICE about whether you want to or not. If my guildies aren't on, I play solo, but when they or something else I know come online, we group FOR MOAR LOOTSZ. There is an Auto-party function in Beta where you hit "P" and bamn, if there's a party going in need of folks you're added automatically. I've done it on mistake so it works. ;)

All in all, it's a fun little action-RPG, and while I don't know for sure if "as-if" it'll have enough to keep me playing for years, worse case, I stop subscribing and re-open my subscription when new content comes out (you can still play on-line for free--you just don't have the subscriber perks). Hurray!

See y'all in game!