So I did promise to comment on my experience with the Beta if I got chosen. I was so let's get started.
Keep in mind this was a Beta meant to test the social features so it's likely (and hopefully) that it's not representative of the final product.
I play on PC so, naturally, the first thing I did after I launched the game was check on the key bindings so I'd know which key did what. 'lo and behold there were no key bindings for M+K setup, only for controller. It's not the end of the word, they can easily add it in later but I feared what it could mean. Fortunately, for my part, the keyboard setup turned out to be pretty intuitive, or at least easy to grasp, and thus movement felt fluid and, more importantly, less frustrating than exhilarating. This doesn't mean, to my mind, that the game was simplified, rather you won't have to fight the controls throughout and can instead focus on finding the best route for any particular task. You'll still need to figure out when and where it's best to jump, roll, wallrun, coil, etc., since there are multiple routes that'll take you from A to B. This is something you will learn the hard way through two types of missions: deliveries and dashes.
As they're implemented at this time, deliveries require you to take an object from A to B in less than a certain amount of time. Lots of people on the forums have complained about the presence of this timer that can be pretty unforgiving at times (in one case I finished a delivery with no seconds to spare). I personally didn't mind the timer but I would prefer it if they implemented a tiered-delivery system. For instance, imagine you now have Bronze, Silver, and Gold deliveries. Bronze deliveries will be easier in that you will have more time to complete them but they will in turn reward less XP. On the other hand, Gold deliveries impose harsher time restrictions but they net you more XP. You could choose to level up via many Bronze deliveries, a few Gold, or a mix. In any case, I think that these timed deliveries (coupled with a tier system) push you to master the basics of running early on. If you want to take it further, that's where the dashes come in.
A dash is a run from A to B. There's no countdown involved but your time will be monitored and added to the leaderboards. Depending on how well you performed the dash will be marked with 1-3 stars (more stars is better) and you'll be promoted to a different division on the leaderboards (don't ask me what this is or how it works, it was never explained anywhere). The catch about dashes has to do with runner vision (see
here). If runner vision is enabled during a dash, it will show you how to get from point A to point B but it won't necessarily show you the best (fastest) route to get there. It's a nice addition so you can find where the hell B is and use it as a stepping point to plot a better course. The leaderboards do push you to get better but, at the same time, can be pretty frustrating, especially when you see the guy at the top somehow managed to complete a 40+ second run in under 20 seconds. What leads me to exploits!
The one exploit people have taken issue with is how bunny hopping or coil jumping (see more
here) can give you a speed boost when compared to running on a flat surface. Thus, many people use it as opposed to running to cut down on dash times (I can confirm since I've used it myself
). So, yeah, if dashes turn into a contest of who can use the more exploits, then I can understand why people might get mad. Ideally, dashes should be about finding the best route, what could down cut several seconds, and then optimizing your run on said route, what should cut down a further 2 to 3 seconds at most.
Another type of mission consisted on disabling monitoring towers guarded by K-SEC patrols and then fleeing from the area trying to escape their pursuit. These are a nice opportunity to perfect combat-in-movement and stationary combat. The reason I distinguish between the two is because combat-in-movement consists of attacks you can perform while running that can potentially take out an opponent in a single strike. As far as I know you cannot achieve this in stationary combat where you'll have to dodge and attack several times in order to defeat a unit (if you time your attack right, you can send a guard tumbling against another what's quite hilarious!). For those worried that Faith would now become some sort of super-melee fighter rest assured that is not the case. At least in my playthrough I could not take too many hits and had to continuously dodge and attack. My advice then is to perfect combat-in-movement so you will have to deal with less opponents once you're standing still (pretty obvious advice but there it is).
There are also "filler" activities that have you running around stealing chips from terminals, picking up documents and audio tapes, etc. My favourite were trying to hack the odd billboard here and there standing high among the buildings. Oh, that ties in nicely with my next point, the "social features"!
The only social feature that were in the Beta consisted of user-created time trials (self-explanatory) and allowing players to create BEAT L.E.s, a sort of trophy you can place wherever you want and that other players can pick up that acknowledges their having reached that area. While there were plenty of these trophies lying around in easily-accessible places (at ground level most of them) the most rewarding were the ones where you had to climb the highest and thus figure out how to get there. No doubt people will pervert this feature to lead others to their doom but I liked it. The problem with these social features however, is that they're all over the place and you can't unsee them. This is to say, there was no option to turn off user-created content or even filter it. This point was brought up repeatedly on the forums so odds are an option to turn it off will be incorporated in the final version of the game. A feature that I myself suggested on one thread, but that probably won't be incorporated, was the option to leave messages for others players ala Dark Souls (as a graffiti maybe). I think such a feature would not only be useful but also help lessen somewhat an issue the game has which is the feeling of loneliness.
As good a time I had playing the beta I couldn't shake the feeling that I was alone running through the rooftops of the City of Glass. Look, I understand that these aren't streets populated by hundreds of people but I can hardly see a soul around. The few people I meet are the statues that hand me delivery runs or the characters that drive parts of the story forward. Where are the other runners? Do they even exist? 'cause it surely doesn't look like it. Some people have been asking for a co-op feature that I feel would do wonders for the game's atmosphere but doubt it can be implemented before release (maybe as DLC?). Personally, I'd settle for seeing other runners running (haha) errands while I comfortably sit on top of a very high billboard, lording over them all. Another feature that I feel would enhance the atmosphere is the inclusion of music. Why can't Faith run to her favourite playlist? Would it be too hard to create an mp3 player ingame that would pull music from our libraries? No more licensing issues! Seriously, I think it'd be a cool idea and I'm not saying that because I suggested it (probably lots of people already thought the same thing).
Unfortunately, this feeling of loneliness isn't restricted to the rooftops above but to the streets below as well. Every time I looked down I saw the same few, repetitive, vehicles and a handful of people (and that was on certain streets; most were deserted). The level of detail was also very underwhelming, certainly not something you'd expect from the same company that made Battlefront (lauded for its attention to detail if nothing else). The City of Glass doesn't feel alive and that is a problem for me. Even the buildings you come across while running seem empty more than half the time. I don't want to feel like I'm running in some abandoned testing ground with a handful of other people. I want to feel that there's a whole city out there living their day-to-day lives on the ground whereas us runners have formed a similar community on the rooftops above the city. Maybe DICE will deliver on this but I am skeptical, even if this is a beta.
A small note on the technical aspects since they're not at all my area of expertise. Automatic graphical options set everything to medium despite I meet recommended requirements for the game. I suspect (and hope) this is because high-res textures were not included in the beta (so why set High or Ultra?) as I came across some low-res textures after I manually set everything to Ultra. In fact, I do hope this is the case because I was far from impressed by the textures (I was reminded of DXHR but slightly improved). I also noticed some issues with lighting as some NPCs would often be covered in shadow in broad daylight! Framerate was quite steady for me except in cutscenes where it would dip to 30 fps since they're probably rendered at that "cinematic" framerate. You can imagine the transition is anything but smooth and I can only hope they will render the cutscenes at 60 fps for release, at least on PC (seriously, the transition is very jarring). Also, the beta was hardlocked to NVIDIA's (if you're running a NVIDIA card) 364.51 drivers what is a dumb move considering how unstable and all-around problematic the 364 series has turned out to be. I was able to find a workaround to get it working with the 362.00 drivers but I do hope DICE wisens up and ditches hardblocking.
Storywise there's really not much to tell. The game starts off where the comics ended as Faith is being released from re-education after a run gone wrong (I haven't read the last issue so I'm guessing). She's indebted to a crime lord by the name of Dogen what eventually leads her to stealing that data card (that we saw on the trailer) in the hopes that whatever's in it may clear her debt. Faith's archetype is a familiar one so people may have difficulty connecting to the story. She's the rebellious teen who lost her parents and is constantly trying to prove to everyone she's the best (runner) leading her to take risks she probably shouldn't. She butts heads with Noah, her adopted father, plenty of times since he doesn't always approve her rash behaviour. She reminded me a bit of Altaïr at the beginning of AC1, brazen and proud. Naturally, we need to have the character who dismisses Faith's abilities and is even more full of himself, a runner by the name of Icarus, and the mentor in the form of Birdman. There are more clichés but why spoil the fun?
I clocked in around 10 hours on the beta and it appeared that the story had ways to go so I'd say a 30+ hours total playtime shouldn't be unreasonable (could be more, shouldn't be much less).
Hopefully this will give you some idea on whether Catalyst is something that could appeal to you (if you're new to the franchise) or if it's taking the direction you wanted (if you're a veteran). Personally, I'm looking forward to spending more time on the City of Glass.
PS: I may add some pictures/videos tomorrow since it's late and I'm tired.
