Gaming: Hellgate - Global Closed Beta

I enjoyed my time in Hellgate: Global this weekend. I created a Marksman, and she kicked ass. I was able to get her to level 11 before the beta ended. It wasn't without its problems, though.

The biggest problem was the fact that they handed out closed beta keys like candy so they could stress test the server. Well, it was stressed all right. The server crashed, which led to a long downtime while the devs attempted to solve the issue. The quick fix didn't completely solve the problem, either, as there were still random disconnects and lagging. Then again, there are random disconnects and lagging in fully released MMOs so perhaps it is fixed!

A very noticeable problem is the game art. The textures for the world objects are blurry and badly rendered. On the other hand, the textures for my character were crisp and nicely rendered. I could understand this if the model detail and texture settings differed, but they didn't. Everything was set as high as it could possibly go, and I restarted the game to make sure all the settings were applied. I hope they redo the textures as the blurriness really detracts from the game's immersiveness.

Another issue I noticed is that for an MMO the game is very solo friendly. I soloed the whole time from level 1 to 11 and that included all the bosses. This was good for me (I didn't have to share any of the filthy lucre) but bodes ill for the game. Too much filthy lucre from players running solo and getting huge boss drops intended for groups will saturate the market and devalue the currency and items. It'll be just as easy to get a Unique item as it'll be one that's simply Enhanced. I hope they adjust the ramping and loot drop rates. Otherwise, there will be no challenge and without a challenge there won't be much reason to play.

The last issue I noticed was the mangled dialogue. It needs a lot of work even though it was originally written in English. That makes me wonder what in the world happened there. It's obvious they translated the game from English to an Asian dialect (the game's been available in Asia since 2008) and then back to English for this relaunch. What happened to the original English dialogue? Why didn't they use it as a guide when they translated the game back to English? It would have made more sense to do that than to hand the dialogue over to a non-native speaker (as they obviously did) for translation.

I look forward to revisiting Hellgate: Global in the future whether that is in another closed beta, an open beta, or at official relaunch. Nothing provides the level of stress relief and fun as kicking zombie ass post-apocalypse does.

(Note: The links in this post are broken as of January,2023.)