Hands On: Diablo III

Conclusion

So far, I’m somewhat pleased with efforts of the Blizzard designers. The monsters, the level of graphic detail and the depth of levels leaves me satisfied. I can jump in for an hour, smash some ghouls and feel content. OR I can remain connected for hours and get further and further immersed in the world of Sanctuary.

The online auction house is a stand-out feature of Diablo 3. You can bid or buy now items being sold by other player at either over-inflated or bargain-basement prices. Usually, you can pick up items cheaper than the merchants and of better quality. Blizzard limit you to 10 items being sold at a time and they give you a grace period of 5 minutes to cancel, after which the item is listed for 36-hours. [Edit]: I found the auction house is an excellent source of cheap gems; better value than upgrading your jeweller and spending cash forging lower-grade gems, not to mention the cost of higher-quality items! So far, I’ve only used in-house money; I don’t think I’ll ever purchase using real-dollars.

I’ll live with the online DRM only because Diablo carries the name and because the game is so polished but the latency is a concern – especially for Australian based players whose packets have to traverse the high seas to get connected.

Diablo III, like its predecessors, offer huge potential for re-playability – you can move your characters to “hardcore” once they reach level 10 and beyond (once you die, your character cannot be resurrected) and you can link many characters to your Blizzard account for quick switching.

One downside to a hack & slash game like this has the potential to get a little repetitive but the online auction, public and private online games with co-operative will extend the game’s longevity.

 

PROs

• Fantastic graphics and visual effects
• Vast number of random weapons and armour to loot
• No need to click on gold to pick it up, simply moving over a pile is enough
• Loot. And lots of it
• Seems a little too easy on Normal
• Original D1/D2 voice characterisation of Cain returns!
• Fresh new Tristram acoustic music
• No need for Scroll of Town Portal
• Artisans

 

CONs

• [Spoiler] Deckard Cain dies. WTF.
• Magha character cheapens the game
• Possibility of repitition
• Latency from overseas servers can cause rubber-banding. [Edit]: still not fixed
• No Australian-based Blizzard D3 servers
• Not sure if the demon commentary fits Diablo stylings
• Persistent DRM
• Merchant’s offer nothing worth buying (so far)
• Small stash to begin with
• The cost of expanding the stash
• Feels like Diablo I and II replayed in PG
• No offline play. [Edit]: still not fixed

 

I haven’t played all through the game yet, however I’m progressing through ACT II – and so far I personally feel a little buyers remorse as D3 feels as though its made for younger players rather than aging, die-hard Diablo I & II fans who want the traditional dark experience, like myself. Diablo 3 is definately a “3-chainsaw” rating kind of horror; perhaps if you’re playing D3 for the first time it might score more. But is it fun to play regardless? Absolutely.

[Edit] – now I’ve completed Normal mode and progressed to Nightmare mode – which coincidentally is still very easy. My Demon-Hunter is only level 32 and I feel less inclined to continue with these “harder” levels because the game is, dare I say it, “samey” – so I’ve left D3 alone for now and my character goes wanting.

The love affair I have for Diablo I and II might not be the same with Diablo III – the new sequel seems to be a rehash of Diablo I and II put together (you’ll come across familiar villians in III who appeared in I and II), and as a subsequence I personally don’t think its a true “Diablo” sequel but rather could quantify being a stand-alone game.

Regardless, enjoy Diablo III for what it is as its still a fantastic game and creative achievement from Blizzard Entertainment. Kudos.