Darkspore Closed Beta

Anyone else in this weekend's Darkspore closed beta? It doesn't have any NDA that I saw so we can chitty chat about it.

My overall thoughts are meh, though it is not my kind of game really. It is bright and colorful and fun to play, and the loot collecting seems well done and you get to actually build a character with loot, which is cool. Still at the end of the day it is 95% Diablo style hack n' slash with no real story or RPG depth.

I do like how powerful the characters feel, there is this "necro" template that starts with a freaking awesome ghost explosion power that decimates anything around you. Badass! Every character feels unique and powerful, which is good for a game like this, and you can switch them on the fly (though you can't upgrade them within a mission as far as I can tell).

The only other thing worth mentioning is that it seems to be built like an MMO, there is a permanent chat window and it tries getting you to play with others at every opportunity. Not sure if you have to be online to play it, gonna have to read the EULA carefully before purchasing.

"hack n' slash"…. "built like an MMO"…."chat window"?


I think I'll pass on this one.

It always looked like a Diablo "clone" to me and the game is meant to be a co-op game.

Not for me.

Diablo "clone": OK.
MMO and co-op: No, thank you!

At Gamestop Germany they were handing out sheets with numbers printed on them for "betatest events".

The last one is this weekend.

I took such a sheet and will perhaps take a look into it.

Perhaps Gamestop hands out these beta invitation sheets elsewhere, too ?

Well, I was thinking of participating at the beta - but so far I decided not to do it.

When I read through the terms, I learned that any beta tester is not allowed to say ANYTHING about the game - except of what is explicitely allowed in Appendix A.

And appendix A consisted of exactly TWO things :

- That a beta test program exists
- That I'd participate there

Nothing more.

Me, I'm just not used to be forced to be silent. This is against my own philosophies and ethics.

I di do two beta tests already (one for Drakensang 2 (a weekend) and one for Divinity 2 FOV (a week), but there I was in a bureau and I could ask anyone any time. And since I had to work with the people there on a personal level, it didn't hurt that much to be silenced.

But here … ?

I'm unsure. Of course they want to keep their trading secrets", but I'd rather be abl to tell my impressions than to be silenced.

I just can't do it.

So I didn't accept the terms.

And I doubt I'll ever do.