HearthStone is now in Open Beta!
Alright kiddies! Quick little post today. Blizzard's HearthStone is now in open beta! If you signed up for the closed beta, and did not receive a key, wait no longer. Hop on over to check it out and give it a run if you have not had the chance yet.
See you there!
BetaBreaker
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Friday, January 17, 2014
Hearthstone
Hearthstone Beta Homepage - Battle.net
Hearthstone is a collectible card game created by Blizzard Entertainment, incorporating themes and dynamics found in their World of Warcraft Universe.
I am a huge World of Warcraft fan, but this alone was not really enough to make me dive
in to Blizzards latest. In the world of gaming, it is rare for a project like this to do anything but make some noise, and disappear in a fit of embarassment.
Had it not been for my wife firing it up one evening, I probably would not have bothered with it.
I will say, that sometimes it's just nice to be surprised. Hearthstone did a good job of that. What I expected to be some of the games greatest weaknesses, turned out to be some of it's greatest strengths.
The setup is quite interesting, overlaying the pvp dynamic from WoW, and adding some new elements here and there for spice. Some cards are class specific, while the rest of the set is available to all. This leads to some very interesting play dynamics, combinations and deck building possibilities.
Overall, the flow and feel of the original WoW classes were captured here quite well.
The feel of the game itself is also very engaging. I enjoy the physicality of cards and it is one of the areas of digital simulation that never really seemed to catch up with the rest of the pack. Most card games just don't capture the feel of it, and playing tends to feel somewhat unnatural and clunky.
The drag and slam play style in Hearthstone is spot on however. Making decisions or taking an action is lightning fast. Playing on a tablet or touch screen makes the entire effect even more pronounced.
Another aspect that really stood out was the visual and audio effects. Slamming sounds when you attack an enemy, or play a large creature, really create an atmosphere that goes beyond what I would expect from a digital card game. Creatures have voice overs on hit, or when they die, and heavy hits will spark reactions from the tavern patrons.
The art for the cards and the game in general is very polished. It was the reason I loved Magic the Gathering as much as I did, and you can tell Blizzard went the extra mile finding artists who could deliver. They even went so far as to add animations and effects to the rare golden versions of cards to make them more dramatic.
Overall I am quite impressed, and only have a few minor complaints. The team seems to be addressing the kinds of issues I am concerned with however.
First and foremost, the creature arc seems to be a bit off compared to most card games. The expert set seems a bit to strong in terms of damage per round. Given the right draw, a priest can kill someone at full life by round six, and a rush deck can kill in 4-5 rounds.
I am hoping that new card abilities evolve, and that this isn't a problem in the future. Unfortunately, sometimes it works in the opposite fashion, with newer cards making it even easier to pull off a fast kill. That is the beauty of a beta though, you never know until it's done how it will grow and change.
The per pack cost is a bit high. I have always been of the mind that virtual goods should be about half the cost or so of physical goods, and the $1.99 price tag is a bit steep for five cards. There are bulk discounts, and I did buy 7 packs for $9.99 to help support their efforts. I did not, however, get a legendary card and only one epic. Bad luck aside, it means that to collect all the cards, one would have to buy a huge volume of packs. I found this was less a problem in physical card games, as one could trade with others to get the whole set. Online, this dynamic is often restricted or banned altogether, and it creates a mathematical cost arc that gets steeper and steeper as you require less and less cards to complete the set.
Call me crazy, but I've never been a fan of a task that gets statistically more expensive as you near completion. To Blizzards credit, they do offer a way of disenchanting cards so that you may create others, but the amount of trade back you get per card is so small that it may as not be worth it.
Earning packs is actually easier than most other online card games. Each pack costs 100 gold coins, which are earned for pvp victories or completing quests. Each three victories earn you 10 gold, and each quest is either 40 gold, or 60 gold, depending on the difficulty. This means, by doing your daily quest (which usually requires 3 victories or more) that you will earn 100 gold coins, enough for a free pack, every two days. That is respectable, and I find it eases the pain a little when it comes to the cost of actually buying a pack outright.
All in all, I would recommend this one to friends. It is engaging, fast paced, and most importantly - heaps of fun. The pay features aren't too prohibitive, and the free to play doesn't make anything inaccessible to those on a budget. Good show Blizzard... good show.
Want to see in action? Check out the video below.
Hearthstone is a collectible card game created by Blizzard Entertainment, incorporating themes and dynamics found in their World of Warcraft Universe.
I am a huge World of Warcraft fan, but this alone was not really enough to make me dive
in to Blizzards latest. In the world of gaming, it is rare for a project like this to do anything but make some noise, and disappear in a fit of embarassment.
Had it not been for my wife firing it up one evening, I probably would not have bothered with it.
I will say, that sometimes it's just nice to be surprised. Hearthstone did a good job of that. What I expected to be some of the games greatest weaknesses, turned out to be some of it's greatest strengths.
The setup is quite interesting, overlaying the pvp dynamic from WoW, and adding some new elements here and there for spice. Some cards are class specific, while the rest of the set is available to all. This leads to some very interesting play dynamics, combinations and deck building possibilities.
Overall, the flow and feel of the original WoW classes were captured here quite well.
The feel of the game itself is also very engaging. I enjoy the physicality of cards and it is one of the areas of digital simulation that never really seemed to catch up with the rest of the pack. Most card games just don't capture the feel of it, and playing tends to feel somewhat unnatural and clunky.
The drag and slam play style in Hearthstone is spot on however. Making decisions or taking an action is lightning fast. Playing on a tablet or touch screen makes the entire effect even more pronounced.
Another aspect that really stood out was the visual and audio effects. Slamming sounds when you attack an enemy, or play a large creature, really create an atmosphere that goes beyond what I would expect from a digital card game. Creatures have voice overs on hit, or when they die, and heavy hits will spark reactions from the tavern patrons.
The art for the cards and the game in general is very polished. It was the reason I loved Magic the Gathering as much as I did, and you can tell Blizzard went the extra mile finding artists who could deliver. They even went so far as to add animations and effects to the rare golden versions of cards to make them more dramatic.
Overall I am quite impressed, and only have a few minor complaints. The team seems to be addressing the kinds of issues I am concerned with however.
First and foremost, the creature arc seems to be a bit off compared to most card games. The expert set seems a bit to strong in terms of damage per round. Given the right draw, a priest can kill someone at full life by round six, and a rush deck can kill in 4-5 rounds.
I am hoping that new card abilities evolve, and that this isn't a problem in the future. Unfortunately, sometimes it works in the opposite fashion, with newer cards making it even easier to pull off a fast kill. That is the beauty of a beta though, you never know until it's done how it will grow and change.
The per pack cost is a bit high. I have always been of the mind that virtual goods should be about half the cost or so of physical goods, and the $1.99 price tag is a bit steep for five cards. There are bulk discounts, and I did buy 7 packs for $9.99 to help support their efforts. I did not, however, get a legendary card and only one epic. Bad luck aside, it means that to collect all the cards, one would have to buy a huge volume of packs. I found this was less a problem in physical card games, as one could trade with others to get the whole set. Online, this dynamic is often restricted or banned altogether, and it creates a mathematical cost arc that gets steeper and steeper as you require less and less cards to complete the set.
Call me crazy, but I've never been a fan of a task that gets statistically more expensive as you near completion. To Blizzards credit, they do offer a way of disenchanting cards so that you may create others, but the amount of trade back you get per card is so small that it may as not be worth it.
Earning packs is actually easier than most other online card games. Each pack costs 100 gold coins, which are earned for pvp victories or completing quests. Each three victories earn you 10 gold, and each quest is either 40 gold, or 60 gold, depending on the difficulty. This means, by doing your daily quest (which usually requires 3 victories or more) that you will earn 100 gold coins, enough for a free pack, every two days. That is respectable, and I find it eases the pain a little when it comes to the cost of actually buying a pack outright.
All in all, I would recommend this one to friends. It is engaging, fast paced, and most importantly - heaps of fun. The pay features aren't too prohibitive, and the free to play doesn't make anything inaccessible to those on a budget. Good show Blizzard... good show.
Want to see in action? Check out the video below.
Thursday, December 19, 2013
Break the Beta!
Welcome to Beta Breaker! Bringing you the latest in pc gaming news, open alpha and beta testing, and future planned releases.
If you are like me, you love gaming. Not just the game itself, but the nuts and bolts that make a game what it is. The experience; the graphics; the storyline; the meta. I am often testing out new games, and thought this would be a great way to share what I find.
Join me here as I wade through the interwebs and break the beta.
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