F2P Dungeon Crawler Path of Exile in Open Beta Jan. 23rd

By Catherine Cai
published

Diablo III and Torchlight II fans may want to check out Path of Exile for a new dungeon crawling experience.

With Diablo III and Torchlight II having both been released for months now, there's a bit of a void in the action, role-playing, dungeon crawler department. Grinding Gear Games hopes to fill the gap with its free-to-play game, Path of Exile.

Don't let the F2P part turn you off just yet. The philosophy that Grinding Gear goes by is its self-coined "ethical microtransactions", meaning players can't pay to win. Instead, the game is completely free to download and play. Gamers willing to pay will have access to vanity items, such as additional character animations, pets (purely for social purposes), and dyes.

Path of Exile has been in closed beta for a while now and has been financed on a crowdfunded approach. Anyone wishing to gain access into the closed beta can "pre-purchase" the game. There are different reward tiers giving money to the developer, which are the usual game-related paraphernalia seen with most crowdfunded games.

For those willing to wait a little longer, Path of Exile will be entering Open Beta on January 23rd, opening the game up for the general public to play. At the same time, it'll be unveiling new content with the addition of Act III.

Diablo III fans who were looking to get their PvP fix might want to turn to Path of Exile for relief. The game is in many ways what Diablo III could have (and to some, maybe should have) been, as it features a darker, and grittier art style, along with an enormous passive skill tree, and built-from-the-ground-up PvP.

The different tiers to buy into Path of Exile closed beta is available on its official website, with all each tier broken down. 

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Catherine Cai
20 Comments Comment from the forums
  • proxy711
    This game is really good. I played Diablo 3 and TL2 and I like PoE alot better. The currency system is sooo much better then having a gold based game economy.
    Reply
  • Darkerson
    the skill system is awesome too
    Reply
  • Pherule
    The title is somewhat misleading, since Open Beta only starts on the 23rd. It's not too hard to get a closed beta key now though.

    They're planning on releasing a new act every 9-12 months, and apparently they're aiming for 10 eventual acts. Having gone through acts 1 & 2 already, I can say that they're fairly large, and apparently act 3 will be even larger.
    Reply
  • chocostain
    Is this same with WoE?
    Reply
  • chocostain
    I mean WoW
    Reply
  • Pherule
    chocostainIs this same with WoW?Clicking "Read the comments on the forums" allows you to edit your post.

    No it's not really like WoW.

    WoW requires monthly subscriptions, PoE is completely free.
    WoW is an mmorpg, PoE is just an RPG, though it is played online, there is quite a difference.
    WoW is bright and has childish graphics, PoE is dark and gritty (this is a good thing)
    WoW was made by Blizzard, PoE was made by GGG (though I hear that some of the original Diablo 1/2 devs are working for GGG)

    Think of PoE as a modern version of Diablo 1 & 2. It makes use the same isometric, top-down view.
    Reply
  • Pherule
    edit: Toms, you really need to fix your forums. My post took more than 30 seconds to show up after posting it, despite doing multiple hard page refreshes.
    Reply
  • Axonn
    I was a huge fan of D2. I had pretty good expectations of D3, but when I played the Open Beta, I just wanted to stick forks in my eyes. I never felt so cheated in my life. The name of "Blizzard" became for me a very painful topic as one of the best companies who became one of the worst.

    But fortunately I found about POE long before D3 was released. I NEVER LOOKED BACK SINCE THEN. I never even played D3 even though it was offered to be for free by friends. I just didn't need to waste time on that inferior piece of junk. I've played POE for 4 months, then dropped it waiting for this moment. I'm also a Gold Supporter in POE (250 dollars paid to their cause) which says a lot: if a die-hard Diablo 2 fan (I played it for 10 years on and off) does this, then it means there is something special about PoE.

    And trust me, there is. Just look at the Skill system (sockets), the Passive Skill tree (allows sword-wielding Witches or Barbarian mages and so on). And the end-game Map system is fantastic and I believe Torchlight 2 kinda ripped off their maps system from POE (perhaps that's why they skipped their release date, to add this feature).

    Anyway, POE rocks!!! Try it, support the developer!
    Reply
  • bitmaiden
    This will be one of the best games of, at least, 2013. After almost a year playing the PoE beta I can only say the fellows at GGG do really know how to make a GAME.
    Reply
  • Not sure how Torchlight 2 could have ripped off the map system of POE when Torchlight 1 had a very similar thing. The only difference between 1 & 2 was that in 1 you could buy the maps at any time. In 2 you could only buy them in the end.
    Reply