As you may remember, a couple of weeks ago, several PlayStation users reported receiving beta codes for Sony’s All-Stars Battle Royale. Initial reports of the game’s content and functionality proved to be very promising, though many claimed the experience wasn’t very smooth and had quite a few bugs. This is to be expected from a beta, of course especially when the full game won’t be out for another few months.
Yesterday, SuperBot released an update patch to the beta, and so far, it seems to have made an incredible improvement. The studio has taken the advice of players and is working on re-balancing the game, reducing the effectiveness of certain special attacks and preventing characters from being too powerful. The first update has certainly helped, as Radec and Sly Cooper have both had their special attacks altered in order to balance them out.
During the first closed beta, players also noticed that certain character’s super attacks would break the game when used, an issue that has also been fixed entirely. Overall, All-Stars Battle Royale runs much smoother than before, with a few changes and additions as well. Users have stated that the title screen has changed color, and the Spear of Destiny from the God of War series has been added as a playable item.
While no new maps or characters have been added, it is possible that they may come in the future. Recently, SuperBot announced several new characters that will be joining the battle: Ratchet (with Clank offering support in battle), Spike from Ape Escape, Sackboy from the LitteBigPlanet franchise, and the new version of Dante from the upcoming DmC: Devil may Cry. Hopefully one of these characters gets included in the beta, though the addition of either Nathan Drake or the Big Daddy would be welcome as well.
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale was originally set for an October release, but has since been pushed back to November following the response to the beta. SuperBot is looking to spend more time on re-balancing the game and reworking different aspects in order to release a complete and bug-free product. We still have yet to see how the Vita version holds up, though, but no word has been given on whether or not the beta will make it to handheld. However, Sony has announced that in order to promote crossplay between the two versions, buying the PS3 version of the game will get you a download voucher for the Vita version for no extra cost. The best part is that players on the Vita can play online with those on PS3, allowing for a much bigger online community, which is already sure to be huge.
We still have quite a while to wait for this highly anticipated brawler, but knowing that SuperBot is working on creating the best experience possible puts some of my worries to rest. The studio plans on releasing an on open beta over the next couple of months before the game’s release on November 20.
