Published on October 31st, 2011 | by Dan

Blacklight: Retribution First Phase Beta Impressions

I was fortunate enough to have access to the First Phase beta of Blacklight: Retribution. I do mean fortunate, because there were not that many players in this closed beta. I also mean fortunate in that the game is fantastic. For a Free-to-play title, it is already very polished (heck, it’s more polished than some triple A betas we experienced). I can honestly say I would pay for the game after these past few days.

I came into this game with no background whatsoever. I have not played the first game in the Blacklight series at all. With that in mind, literally all I knew was the game was an FPS based off the Unreal Engine, and that it was developed for the PC.

I hopped in the first night and as is the trend now, had to download Perfect World’s own digital distribution. CORE isn’t very intrusive, so it isn’t a big deal, but at the time of writing this I now have 4 different services installed (Origin, Steam, Hi-rez’s own system, CORE). That is a bit much. On the plus side, this game felt optimized for PC from the first minute I hopped in. Just like Hard Reset, the control and feel of the game was that it had been made without any thumbsticks in mind. The Unreal Engine still feels smooth and responsive as ever.

Graphically it will work on almost any system that fits under the recommended requirements.

Minimum:
Windows XP/Vista/7(32bit)
Dual Core CPU
2GB RAM
256MB DX9 GPU
4GB Free HD Space
DirectX 9.0c Compatible Sound Card
Broadband internet connection

Recommended:

Windows 7(64bit)
Quad Core CPU
4GB RAM
1GB+ DX11 GPU
4GB Free HD Space
DirectX 9.0c Compatible Sound Card
Broadband internet connection

I did not see that there was a console implemented yet, nor a way to uncap my fps, but I think those may come. It looks tremendous and was playing very well on my Phenom 965 and GEFORCE 570 GTX. Once again, impressive for a first phase closed beta.

Once I got into the game, I just flat out had fun. I was pretty good at the game just from previous FPS experience and all normal gametypes are included. Domination, CTF, King of the Hill, TDM, Deathmatch all make appearances. The maps were all straightforward and had no spawning issues or traps. You level up as with other FPS titles, but you also get GP to buy upgrades with. You can purchase these Team Fortress 2 style once the game goes live. The pay model doesn’t seem to imbalance the game on paper, but we won’t really know until it is live.

Below I will be posting a couple videos of the beta (shameless self-promotion included). They echo some of what I said, but also give you the visuals to go along with it. We are hoping to get one of the developers to be on the podcast this week as they were very responsive on twitter and in game to inquiries. Hopefully it happens! Definitely keep your eye on this game. I was completely addicted by the time beta closed down.