BlackBoxBETA - Beta Test Community

Square Enix have finally open the floodgates of applications to test the upcoming MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV (14) via a specific beta portal site.

It seems the beta's for each region are being handled seperately so there's a better chance to get in to test than expected - this is a massively awaited release and competition for beta spots will be hot so get your app in as soon as possible.

Good luck in getting your hands on access, the portal site can be found at http://entry.ffxiv.com

The B³ team have been at this years Eurogamer Expo in the hope of checking out some of the upcoming titles in beta and pre-beta phases at the moment. Although we got to give Global Agenda a look and had a nice talk with Stu from the Hi-Rez team we found most of the event pretty disappointing for the PC gamer. Although never intended as competition for the likes of Gamescom in Cologne the lack of upcoming titles and the failure of a number of key producers to bother showing or showing up with only "hired goons" to provide a watchful eye over their machines and prevent the likes of B³ from getting any juicy photos left the whole event feeling a little lackluster. There was a better showing for the console market, with the soon to be released Left 4 Dead 2 and the clearly not far off Alien V Predator both having large stands and looking great.

We'll be following up with a full Global Agenda first impressions over the next week but a few games deserve a mention now but won't be getting a full write-up due to lack of a public beta process. Dragon Age: Origins was on show on both PC and console format and it was immediately clear that the game has been designed to cross-over to the console market with minimal changes, resulting in a clean and well designed interface and graphics, but perhaps a little simplistic when compared to some PC only RPG titles. Although the graphics are crisp and fairly detailed there is a lacking of upto date effects that would really bring the game to life - bump mapping, more detailed lighting and post-effects are noticable areas where the game has been dumbed down we guess to allow better console performance. We only had a short time to test Dragon Age, but overall the gameplay was fluid and easily accesible but we had been expecting more from the hype EA has drummed up around DA's release - perhaps the addition of more party members and control over your class, both missing from the demo we played, will make the needed improvements to turn this into the epic title EA promised.

We'd love to be able to talk a little about AvP also, but with only a limited multiplayer demo on PS3 being availible we had a brief look and passed this by in the hope of a PC demo at somepoint soon. What we saw looked quite fun, with the balance between the 3 races being more evident than the original's tendency for marines to simply be cannon fodder, although the graphics were a long way from what we'd hoped we're reserving full judgement until we can see it on a more powerful format than a PS3. Overall we felt that Eurogamer could have put some more work in for the PC market and that with more developer presence it could be a lot more intresting and sucessful. At least we got to play some more Global Agenda - can't wait for the next beta and keep an eye out for a better writeup on our experiences later this week!

The guys over at GamersFirst have launched the closed beta of free to play MMOFPS: Parabellum.

Parabellum promises to blend the FPS and MMO genre's into a visceral and non-linear world of mercenaries, soldiers and adventurers battling thier way through interactive campaigns.

Although being launched as free to play Parabellum is looking like a quality game in the making and we'd recommend heading over to GamersFirst and signing up for an account to test the game.

The beta signups for Star Wars: The Old Republic have opened at www.swtor.com. Head on over to show interest and get signed up ready for the first key handouts!

They are having some trouble with the account signup and system scans on the site due to some massive intial interest in the beta, so keep trying if you don't suceed the first time. There's also a load of tips to help with the trouble on the swtor forums and we suggest
this thread as a place to start if your having trouble.