In trying to explain my feelings during the week of April 11, 2016 – Beta Week – when three betas became available for me to play, the term “like a kid in a candy store” inevitably comes up. I was given the chance to play three games, for a limited time, well before they were supposed to come out. My excitement was lessened by the fact that the three games were all first-person shooters, a genre of games I am absolutely terrible at. But I was determined to do my best and try all three out.
Before Beta Week, the Digital Crack crew was eagerly hyping up the fact that Battleborn and Doom were having public betas on the same week. We sampled Battleborn first on the PS4, then moved to Doom as soon as it popped up. Before the final weekend, Blizzard emailed me to inform me that I was selected to participate in their Overwatch closed beta, something I had opted into some time before. My cup truly had runneth over!
By Sunday, I felt different. Yes, I was fragged mercilessly about a bajillion times, but this was a different feeling. I didn’t feel like I was helping beta test three games; I felt like I participated in extended ads. Whether that’s a bad thing or not is debatable, but I still feel a little dirty about it. These don’t feel like betas. They feel like demos, right down to the pre-order pandering.
The beta test has evolved quite a bit from previous times. Back then, a beta test was just that: a test. The game was not in a complete state, and players were asked to put the game through its paces to try and break it. Nowadays, games in beta are feature-complete and set to release soon after. There can’t be any bugs that can really be considered game breaking; the only real concern is how the servers handle the load that thousands of players drop on it.
That was a real concern in the early hours of Battleborn’s beta test. It was impossible to get on early. About 12 hours later, the servers were in shape and ready to roll. They have been fine since. Apart from some balance fixes and patches for a few janky animations in Battleborn and Doom, there have been no real issues with any of the games. That was to be expected with Doom and Overwatch, which have had a few closed betas before this open beta.
So if there are no things to break other than the servers, what kind of beta tests are these? I’ll tell you: they AREN’T beta tests; these are DEMOS.
A demo is supposed to highlight the best aspects of your game and get people interested in it. This is exactly what these games do; get you hyped up. Demos also pander to you, reminding you of all the wonderful things you can get if you pre-order the game, or the Deluxe Edition, or the Season Pass, etc. Battleborn and Doom do this on their title screen. Overwatch didn’t have any pandering on its screen, but it was on PC. That means you have to open the Battle.net client, and THAT means having all of Blizzard shoved in your face!
This is not necessarily a bad thing. If I am playing a demo, I expect these things. Hell, a demo that doesn’t highlight all the content you get when you preorder is either already released or incompetent. But I am supposed to have been playing betas the whole week, right? Are betas now the place where publishers pander to us? I guess the better question is: are betas that double as demos a bad thing?
Honestly, no. Yes, I hate to have pre-orders and deluxe editions shoved in my face. Every time I see a Gamestop commercial pimping pre-order bonuses, I get a little agitated. And, yes, the dirty feeling I felt while playing the betas was exclusively from having that very same stuff shoved in my face. However, the betas gave me a chance to try out the games early to get a feel for them. I am now way more excited about Battleborn and Overwatch (Doom, not so much) because I was able to try them out. I had to deal with some pandering, and I hate that, but the benefits greatly overweighed the drawbacks.
With my shiny new Xbox One connected and ready, I am now looking forward to the Gears of War 4 beta on April 25. I’m pretty sure this beta will pander to me like a demo, same as the other ones. This time, I won’t mind as much; I know what I’m getting into. If I feel a little dirty afterward…well, I can always shower.
