This year has been devoid of good games so far. Diablo 3 and Mass Effect 3 were probably the only worthwhile, hyped releases. Perhaps another one will add to the list of great games this year. And this game will be PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale, if the beta is to be trusted at least. Here are our PlayStation All Stars Battle Royale Beta Impressions.
I downloaded the Beta as soon as it came out. I’ve been pretty excited about this game, ever since I saw it back at E3 this year. I loved Super Smash Brothers and had been waiting for Sony to have a similar exclusive. I mean, who wouldn’t want to see Kratos, Nathan Drake, Cole and Sackboy fight it out, right? The Beta kept me hooked on for some time, and I’ll be playing it again after I’m done with this article. Yes, it’s quite addicting.
The Beta gives you six characters, out of a roster of 20: Colonel Radec, Fat Princess, Parappa, Sly Cooper, Sweet Tooth and, everybody’s favorite badass, Kratos. There’s only a tutorial mode and an online battle mode, of course. Betas don’t give you all the good things. But six characters are quite enough to test the game, though I would have loved to play as Raiden just to get a taste of his awesomeness before Revengeance comes out.
There are two maps in the Beta: God of War’s Hades and Ratchet and Clank’s Metropolis; both of which change halfway through the battle. For example, the latter changes to introduce God of War’s Hydra and a remixed God of War theme. The maps will sometimes affect the battle as well. Hades, for instance, will smash the ground, stunning all the players that were within his range. Those who are not stunned can gain an advantage over their opponents.
The remixed God of War theme, along with the others in the game are quite catchy, as they have always been. They’re old, yes, but slightly remixed. One must keep in mind that using these themes is the ideal option, instead of creating original ones. Since the game features old characters, the themes have to be from their games. Hence, saying that the soundtrack felt old, would not be justified in this situation. There is one new track though and that’s the main theme, which is a mixture of some good electronic music.
The gameplay is simple. There are four players in a game, two on each team. The teams fight each other using different basic moves. The controls are simply enough and beginners will not have much of a problem. As the players attack, a their characters’ bars, on the bottom of the screen, will be filled. These bars can be filled three times. The purpose of this bar is to allow you to execute a special move. If the bar has been filled once, you get a basic special attack. For example, Kratos’s level 1 special is that he uses the Blade of Olympus to hit his enemy, once. His level 2 special is stronger and his level 3 special allows him to carry the sword for a limited amount of time, instantly killing anyone he attacks.
There are no HP bars in this game, and that’s a good thing. HP bars in brawler games are not a good idea. This system is quite smooth and allows for the use of tactics instead of random button smashing. The fighting is fun, and sometimes you just don’t want the battle to end.
Unfortunately, not everything is perfect here. The main problem that this game faces is the identification of players. The screen is zoomed out a little too much sometimes and identifying your player becomes slightly difficult although the player number is written on each character. Another minor problem was that finding matches is near impossible if you’re playing alone. At least it was for me. I tried playing alone, and it took me an hour to find a proper match that did not disconnect. On the other hand, when I asked a friend to play with me on the same team, matches were found almost instantly. Then again, this is just the beta. Matchmaking problems will probably be fixed when the game comes out, or with future updates.
And that’s pretty much it. Can’t comment much on the graphics since they’re just like they were shown in the trailers and gameplay videos. Character models and maps are smooth, but not overly detailed. Overall, the game is a lot of fun and if you have a PlayStation Plus subscription, you should definitely try it out.