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Can You Judge a Game by its Beta?

Can You Judge a Game by its Beta? - Article

by Brandon J. Wysocki , posted on 14 October 2015 / 7,580 Views

Most of us have likely heard the old adage that “you can’t judge a book by its cover”, but can you judge a video game by its beta? On the surface, the two propositions seem similar. The cover of a book is meant to give you an idea of the experience that awaits you within, and a beta, though they originated as a means of testing and troubleshooting software, has come to be at least partly designed as a glorified preview, giving you a glimpse of what the full release has in store.

Immediately there is a clear distinction between the two ideas. A beta should present you with a much better glimpse of the actual content of the title than a cover could. However, that deeper glimpse can and almost should have issues that the developer is trying to work out. If it does not have any need for improvement, especially technically, then an argument can be made that it really is more of a preview than a true beta test.

I do as much beta testing as possible; it’s fun to get my hands on games early, and it's nice to be amongst the first to get to play a game. I even sometimes submit feedback to the developers to help them make the game better, so there’s that too. Now, with the recent passing of both the Rainbow Six Siege and the Star Wars Battlefront betas, a question came to mind. How well can you really judge a game by its beta?

Survival

I don’t purport to have the answer to that question. In truth, I don’t often subscribe to a “one size fits all” answer to questions, and in a case like this I think the question must be asked for each separate beta. In my case, in reflecting on my history of betas, I would seem to largely lean towards the idea that you can.

In thinking of my ever-expanding beta experience, it seems that more often than not the beta experience was quite a good representation of the final game experience upon its release. In remembering back to playing the beta for Phantasy Star Universe, I recall thinking the game was quite different, maybe too different, from what I had expected because of the love that I had for Phantasy Star Online. Ultimately, I did find that the finished game wasn't as satisfying as its predecessor. I remember Halo 3 feeling like mostly just more of the same thing in terms of its gameplay, when I had hoped for some sort of advancement with it being on a new generation console, and that too proved to be my thinking when the game finally released.

From those earlier beta experiences, up to more recently playing the betas for Destiny and Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, it seems that my initial thoughts on the beta prove to be pretty close to my appraisal of the finished product (underwhelmed and exactly what I expected it to be, respectively). It might be self-fulfilled prophecy, but for every beta I can recall being a part of, nothing ever changed substantially between beta and final release, either in the game or in terms of my own feelings towards the title.

The theory of using a beta to perfect a game is appealing, but it seems to me that the tweaks made based on feedback from “testers” don’t make much of a difference, at least not one that players can appreciate. During my time playing Rainbow Six Siege and Star Wars Battlefront, and in my article on the Star Wars beta, the idea of buying the game, and when or at what price, came up often from others. As much as I worry that this is potentially jumping the gun on an unfinished product, it actually seems quite reasonable if the beta process is viewed as a marketing tool rather than a serious testing initiative.

As with most of what I write, I strive to create dialogue in the comments section below or other social platforms (and in future in VGChartz forum threads). This is no different. I don’t believe my reasoning is the only decent reasoning, and I’d love to hear what you think about the question and why.

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Brandon J. Wysocki is a contributing writer for VGChartz.  You're invited to contact Brandon (username SpaceLegends) in the comments below or through private messages on VGChartz, or even at his barely ever used and effectively dormant Twitter account @BrandonJWysocki


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31 Comments
Azerth (on 14 October 2015)

it depends on when the beta is. for example the halo 5 beta was almost a year out from release so a lot could change. but the star wars beta is to close to launch for anything big to change

  • +2
SpaceLegends Azerth (on 14 October 2015)

Excellent point!

  • -1
Stoneysilence (on 16 October 2015)

I have been an MANY MMO Beta tests from Asheron's Call to Anarchy Online, to Asheron's Call 2, to Everquest 2 and many more.

NONE of them changed dramatically from beta to release. So IMO yes you can judge a game from its beta.

  • 0
Seventizz (on 15 October 2015)

Beta's should be limited to about 4 or 5 games tops. With the limited amount of content, people get bored of that one or two levels and be left with a negative impression - not necessarily wanting more.

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SpaceLegends Seventizz (on 16 October 2015)

That's not a bad idea. As someone else had mentioned though, sometimes the perceived lack of content makes it into the final game experience.

  • -1
tripenfall (on 14 October 2015)

I fully understand why Beta testing is so appealing and important for Devs but I'm a bit old fashioned and like to wait for the finished version. This is because of previous experiences where playing the substandard Beta put me off a game that did improve for the finished version but I was over it by then.

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beeje13 (on 14 October 2015)

Yes, the closer to release, the more representative. Battlefront Beta confirmed my purchase decision, and I have to say I was underwhelmed by the R6 Siege Beta, last gen graphics is not an exaggeration imo, and put me off instantly. Gameplay seemed OK but I don't think it will remain interesting for long.

  • 0
bigtakilla (on 14 October 2015)

I think you can get a broad sense of the game, and a general sense of whether you will like the gameplay.

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Azuren (on 14 October 2015)

I was thoroughly disappointed by the Battlefront beta. I didn't want a Star Wars skin for Battlefield, I wanted a Star Wars online action game.

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Seventizz Azuren (on 15 October 2015)

I take it you've never played a Battlefield game. Nothing about it is similar to Battlefront...nothing.

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Azuren Azuren (on 16 October 2015)

Mostly referring to generic, boring FPS gameplay, not necessarily Battlefield. I didn't want generic garbage, but that's what they gave us.

  • -2
archer9234 (on 14 October 2015)

A large yes. Going past the more obvious bugs and issues that won't be left in. Unless your Arkham Knight. The beta is the final game. There is no time to fix any real complaints towards the core design of the game. Changing gun ROF, or textures is one thing. Saying a whole map is shit. Or lack of game content. Or people are just bored. isn't gonna be fixed from that point.

  • 0
Nem (on 14 October 2015)

You can definitly get a good feel for the game with a beta. It's not super different from a demo. The same cave-eats apply. It's not the finished product, but the gameplay and visuals are unlikely to change much in a few months development time.

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SuperNova (on 14 October 2015)

Well, as we've seen with Destiny, it can be misleading. With Destiny, the Beta was really fun, but also very limited, the assumption being that, since it's only the beta, once the full version would roll around it would be much more fleshed out, story and lore wise, and offer many more maps. Only problem is that that didn't really happen. The Beta showed you basically the majority of the game in it's launch state. If people had realized that at the time the hype would not have been nearly as big.
As a side, I'm really sick of shooters and other games using the 'pretty desert' to show their graphical fidelity. Destiny did it, Metal Gear Solid V took place almost exclusively in deserty plains and now Star Wars Battlefront.
I want to see some creativity in the environments. Give me a jungle, french coutryside, something diffrent. We get it, you can make reaaaally pretty deserts. Make something else now.

  • 0
SpaceLegends SuperNova (on 14 October 2015)

You nailed the description of the Destiny beta and the assumption that I, and seemingly many others, made. On a semi- related note, I have heard the entire first year of Destiny (up to the 2.0 patch and the Taken King) be described as a full price beta. As far as deserts, it is what it is to me, I guess I've never given that much thought. I think Destiny is a beautiful game, but there was a noticeable lack of variety in the level designs across however many planets. There were some subtle touches that I really liked between the few worlds, and to some extent you could easily justify the lack of variety, but I recall that standing out to me. I will say that I was pleased with the snow "biome" and effects on Hoth in the Battlefront beta.

  • -1
SuperNova SuperNova (on 14 October 2015)

Destiny and Battlefront are both gorgeous looking games and MGSV is perfectly fine as well, but I guess I just get bored easily if I see too much of the same! :P

I'm a visually oriented person, so I pay attention to art direction and design. I like the Hoth map too though.
With destiny I felt like they wasted potential to go really crazy with the designs. I mean we're going to diffrent planets here. Surprise me!

Well, they mght not bee too far off, since the game seems to have improved a lot with The Taken King. I can't really comment on that though since I havent played it.

  • 0
Saeko (on 14 October 2015)

Depend Who do the beta test, some small devs team or indie make a so good job i know the game will go in a good way, if i see a ubisoft/EA beta and its bad, i know the game will end bad..

  • 0
peterdavid12345 (on 15 October 2015)

Yes and no. Personally, i think the Star Wars beta is too early to the launch game. Luckily, they delayed so people would get a proper game dat every star wars fans and gamers deserve :).

  • -1
Skratchy (on 14 October 2015)

Of course you can. The game is practically finished, for God's sake.

  • -1
S.Peelman (on 14 October 2015)

Yes, there's gotta be clear potential.

  • -1
Johnw1104 (on 14 October 2015)

I've been in quite a number of betas by now (even a couple alphas as that has become an increasingly popular practice online lately) and id say that it can be difficult to judge in the early closed beta, but by the time of the open beta you're generally seeing the slightly bugged finished product. I've never been surprised by a release if I was in the late beta.

  • -1
SpaceLegends Johnw1104 (on 14 October 2015)

I'm with you on that experience.

  • -1
binary solo (on 14 October 2015)

If it's an MP only game and you're beta testing the MP then you pretty much know the look and feel and core game mechanics by playing the beta. If you don't like it 90% chance you won't like the finished product. If you are put of by mere glitches or "polish" issues then you're focusing on the wrong thing. If the game has a story campaign you may still like it even if you don't enjoy the multiplayer beta. However the flipside can also be that you like the MP, buy the game and you find the SP campaign to be rubbish and nothing more than a glorified turotial, which is the real reason you wanted the game. I'm looking at you Starhawk. Loved the MP beta, hated the single player campaign. I mean why do you need a glorified tutorial when you've already been playing the MP?

  • -1
Mike321 (on 14 October 2015)

Yes, you can judge the core gameplay elements. Graphics and performance however cannot be judged because they can improve when the game launches.

  • -2
generic-user-1 (on 14 October 2015)

what star wars beta? you mean the demo? well you can say now that the game will suck, but you could do that before the beta if you know anything about gaming.
late betas are just a PR move, and they are realy bad for sales most of the time. why? because people stop careing for bad games after 10 hours, and you can play 10h on the beta weekend.

  • -2
SpaceLegends generic-user-1 (on 14 October 2015)

That's an interesting thought.

  • -2
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SpaceLegends twintail (on 14 October 2015)

I would agree that complaints like that shouldn't hold much weight in judging the final product, and should be considered reasonable (albeit frustrating); although there was the Halo: MCC matchmaking issue at launch (however it had no beta to foreshadow that as far as I know).

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