DArtagnan
July 6th, 2011, 13:07
You can sign up here: http://hellgate.t3fun.com/
I've played the "open beta" for a bit now, and they've had a lot of trouble getting it stable. However, at this moment - it seems like they've solved most of the initial connection/login issues. A few days ago, I was ready to give it up entirely. Also, there's an issue with ATI cards and "holes/seams in textures" that I've yet to fix. Hopefully, they'll get around to dealing with that.
It's the same old Hellgate with a few changes here and there. It's unfortunately limited to DX9 mode - which means it doesn't look as good as it once did. However, once you progress beyond the first few areas - it starts looking better and more interesting. The first building textures are incredibly blurry and bad - but they always were. Not sure why, but the game doesn't look that bad overall.
Also, for PITY's sake - DON'T judge the game on its tutorial. It's bad in the worst way :)
The gameplay is fantastic - like it always was.
For the genre, it's the most "pure" game in terms of the focus being on the very core aspects of killing/character development/loot/cooperative questing. It EXCELS at these things - and has the best melee class I've ever played: Blademaster. At least, it's like they designed it for me :)
No other game in the genre compares with Hellgate when you're in a room shock full of beasties - fighting for your life, side by side with a few friends. It's incredibly hectic - once you get far enough into the game to meet real challenges.
Don't expect a single challenge before level 20, though. It's a slow burn game in this sense - and you'll be bored if you expect differently.
The sidequests are very bland and samey - but it doesn't matter too much, because they get you to some place where you can slaughter enemies. That's what it's all about, and the rewards are usually quite good. You get good items, skillpoints, lots of money and so on. So there's a good reason for questing.
The main storyline is as quirky and flawed as ever. There's really no speech except for a few lines for each character - so it's all about reading. Some of it is actually quite inventive and amusing - but it doesn't compare favorably to a single other game in the genre. This is NOT why you want to play the game.
A positive, so far, is that the cash shop doesn't contain "P2W" items. Meaning, you don't pay for success in the game. Actually, it's one of the best cash shops I've seen - because it only offers a limited selection of "bonus XP", "bonus health", etc. items, along with the 3 "respec" items. That's good, because frequent respecs SHOULD be discouraged - in my opinion. It cheapens the concept of build strategies and hampers replayability severely.
About the only item you will NEED is the "Act 3 Ticket" - which is basically the entire game beyond the 2nd act - and it sells for what amounts to 4$. That's for ALL your characters - at least at this point. So, it's 4$ for all content forever. I'm not sure I trust this to stay that way, though. In general, I'm quite confused about this "open beta" - in that it's highly unusual to charge for in-game items during beta, and they're not being very clear about the whole thing. But it's been promised that characters will not be wiped - so it should be a safe investment.
Then there are a handful of convenience items to expand your inventory and there will be a shared stash item in the near future. These are not too costly and aren't truly necessary. You can set up a mule character on another account to share items, for instance. They have to get their cash SOMEHOW - so I'm ok with this, so far.
So, if ever there was a time to try this game - now is it. Just don't expect anything OTHER than a pure hack/slash game with the emphasis on the basics. It's NOT - and I repeat again NOT a traditional CRPG in any sense of the word.
I've played the "open beta" for a bit now, and they've had a lot of trouble getting it stable. However, at this moment - it seems like they've solved most of the initial connection/login issues. A few days ago, I was ready to give it up entirely. Also, there's an issue with ATI cards and "holes/seams in textures" that I've yet to fix. Hopefully, they'll get around to dealing with that.
It's the same old Hellgate with a few changes here and there. It's unfortunately limited to DX9 mode - which means it doesn't look as good as it once did. However, once you progress beyond the first few areas - it starts looking better and more interesting. The first building textures are incredibly blurry and bad - but they always were. Not sure why, but the game doesn't look that bad overall.
Also, for PITY's sake - DON'T judge the game on its tutorial. It's bad in the worst way :)
The gameplay is fantastic - like it always was.
For the genre, it's the most "pure" game in terms of the focus being on the very core aspects of killing/character development/loot/cooperative questing. It EXCELS at these things - and has the best melee class I've ever played: Blademaster. At least, it's like they designed it for me :)
No other game in the genre compares with Hellgate when you're in a room shock full of beasties - fighting for your life, side by side with a few friends. It's incredibly hectic - once you get far enough into the game to meet real challenges.
Don't expect a single challenge before level 20, though. It's a slow burn game in this sense - and you'll be bored if you expect differently.
The sidequests are very bland and samey - but it doesn't matter too much, because they get you to some place where you can slaughter enemies. That's what it's all about, and the rewards are usually quite good. You get good items, skillpoints, lots of money and so on. So there's a good reason for questing.
The main storyline is as quirky and flawed as ever. There's really no speech except for a few lines for each character - so it's all about reading. Some of it is actually quite inventive and amusing - but it doesn't compare favorably to a single other game in the genre. This is NOT why you want to play the game.
A positive, so far, is that the cash shop doesn't contain "P2W" items. Meaning, you don't pay for success in the game. Actually, it's one of the best cash shops I've seen - because it only offers a limited selection of "bonus XP", "bonus health", etc. items, along with the 3 "respec" items. That's good, because frequent respecs SHOULD be discouraged - in my opinion. It cheapens the concept of build strategies and hampers replayability severely.
About the only item you will NEED is the "Act 3 Ticket" - which is basically the entire game beyond the 2nd act - and it sells for what amounts to 4$. That's for ALL your characters - at least at this point. So, it's 4$ for all content forever. I'm not sure I trust this to stay that way, though. In general, I'm quite confused about this "open beta" - in that it's highly unusual to charge for in-game items during beta, and they're not being very clear about the whole thing. But it's been promised that characters will not be wiped - so it should be a safe investment.
Then there are a handful of convenience items to expand your inventory and there will be a shared stash item in the near future. These are not too costly and aren't truly necessary. You can set up a mule character on another account to share items, for instance. They have to get their cash SOMEHOW - so I'm ok with this, so far.
So, if ever there was a time to try this game - now is it. Just don't expect anything OTHER than a pure hack/slash game with the emphasis on the basics. It's NOT - and I repeat again NOT a traditional CRPG in any sense of the word.