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The Crew revs up for second beta test on August 25th
Gas up those cars and wipe down the upholstry, because the second beta test for The Crew is set to begin on August 25th and end on August 29th. Ubisoft promised to hand out more keys for this second round of closed beta testing, saying that players will now be able to register for it through Steam if desired. You can get into the beta by pre-purchasing The Crew prior to the start of this next test, having played the first beta test, or snagging one of the new keys. Ubisoft announced that there will be no NDA for the beta later this month. According to a new infographic, over 237 million miles were driven during the first beta test, in addition to 387,113 police chases and over a million skill challenges attempted. You can view the full infographic after the jump.
Unicorn poop, beer cans, and housing dungeons: WildStar's Jeremy Gaffney preps us for closed beta 2
"This is going to be the best game most of us have built in our lives," Carbine Studios Executive Producer Jeremy Gaffney said bluntly. The game in question, of course, is WildStar, and it represents Gaffney's 10th or so trip through the beta development chute on the way to release. There's an undeniable note of pride and calm confidence in his voice as he talks about the baby that's growing inside Carbine's womb right now, and he was definitely not shy in opening up about all of the decisions and work the team's made as WildStar heads into its second trimester... er, closed beta test. Before that, however, Gaffney provided a recap of the first closed beta test. He said that it was pretty limited, with only 2,000 players testing out the lowbie Exile zones. The team moved some of the elder game content down in level so that people could test it out, and developers spent some time doing impromptu Q&A sessions with players in the field. As a result, Carbine is ready to shift over to the Dominion side and greatly expand the beta in size and content. Read on for the full scoop on what the next step will entail.
Blade & Soul beta videos show more Assassin footage, dungeon combat
Blade & Soul's closed beta phases are a tough ticket for American game journalists, but luckily many of the Korean testers have been capturing their experiences and uploading the videos to YouTube. MMO Culture has collected a few of these choice morsels, and there is a range of gameplay on display including more Assassin class combos and abilities (this time in a game context instead of a promotional clip) as well as quite a bit of dungeon-crawling footage. The videos, which you can view after the cut, show a mixture of solo and group play in a couple of different environments. While most of the clips are around 10 minutes in length (or under), there's quite a lot to take in if you're unfamiliar with the martial arts MMO. Blade & Soul is being developed by NCsoft and is currently undergoing its second Korean closed beta test. The company has yet to announce plans to market the title in Europe or America.
Blade & Soul Assassin abilities on display in new video
Say what you will about NCsoft's mysterious Blade & Soul import, but it certainly brings its share of eye candy to the table. MMO Culture has posted a new video featuring the martial arts MMORPG, and the clip centers on the nimble Assassin class and its deadly array of combos and fighting abilities. The video runs under two minutes and is basically a series of one-on-one combat vignettes. If your Korean language skills are up to the task, you might be able to decipher the various intertitles and subtitles that accompany the presentation. If not, you can still get a feel for how the class is going to play thanks to the footage, which you can view in its entirety after the cut.
Erebus closed beta 2 begins tomorrow
Outspark plans to enter the second closed beta phase of their free-to-play MMORPG known as Erebus: Travia Reborn on April 14. The isometric Diablo-style action game will add a dueling system, three PvP maps, three new instanced dungeons, and an increased level cap (50) starting tomorrow. Additionally the Outspark team has added guild versus guild warfare, a new tutorial, and many tweaks to both the leveling curve and the skill system. Many changes were made based on feedback from the initial closed beta phase that wrapped in March. "The first Closed Beta was a big success. We kept it mostly in the Outspark community, but we still had thousands of people sign up to play, and the feedback they provided was invaluable. I think people who participated in the first beta are really going to like the changes we made and the new features being added for Closed Beta 2," said Ben Berens, Erebus Associate Producer. Check out our impressions of Erebus from GDC and, if you haven't already, sign up for the closed beta tests.
