Diablo III Console Previews
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OXM:
The inventory is also a triumph of intuitiveness, making it possible to get on board with the game's labyrinthine levelling options in seconds. The console versions benefit from some controller-friendly tweaks: in place of the old lists and grids, weapons, armour and items are arranged in a circle and tabbed out by pulling the analogue stick.
Want to know whether something's worth equipping, without wading through steaming pools of jargon? Look out for a colour-coded arrow. If you'd rather skip the inventory entirely - perhaps because you're playing local multiplayer, and don't want to interrupt things for other players - you can quick-equip things via a D-pad shortcut. It's accessible in a way a trek through hell has no right to be.
PlayStation Lifestyle:
One the best things about Diablo 3 overall has to be the co-op experience it brings and, thankfully, the console versions of the game seems to handle this flawlessly. With 4 player drop-in/drop-out couch co-op and online play, Blizzard seems to have thought of everything to make the experience as forward thinking as possible. Couch play has a set of limitations that prevents players from moving outside of the viewable area, but, to prevent people from slowing down the pace by being inactive, an auto follow system triggers for players that are unresponsive. Online, these restrictions are not implemented, and gamers will be able to venture out on their own, as well as join a fellow traveler if they want to.
Any PC gamers who are looking to pick up a console version will notice a few differences between the two games, as the optimization for the new market was Blizzard's highest priority. The biggest difference between the two, visually, has to be the new inventory screen which was changed to fit the mechanics of a controller without sacrificing the depth of its looting system. Sadly, as many people have been wondering, the in-game market will not be making its way over to the console version, also, drop rates have been decreased, but when something does drop, it has a better chance to be of quality. A new drop called '˜Nephalem Glory orbs' will now drop, giving the player a stat boost, allowing players to chain them for a better increase by picking up more.
Game Revolution:
One of the most important changes is the removal of the controversial Real-Money Auction House (RMAH). What this does is make the search for epic items much more substantial. Each time I saw an item drop I was left hoping it was an upgrade for my class rather than awaiting valuable items to sell on the auction house. It's as if two steps have been removed so you can just gear up and enjoy the thrill of slaying enemies and gearing up your character.
To make up for the absence of the RMAH, Blizzard has gone back and tweaked loot and drop rates. While playing the 15-minute demo, my partner and I managed to stumble upon a legendary item. While luck played a part, I could tell that we were consistently finding better items. Also, dropped items are specific to the classes present in any given game so don't worry about filling up your bags with useless loot.
And Digital Trends:
So long, suckers. It's not just the controls that have been tweaked to accommodate the shift to consoles. Since the largely reviled auction houses are nowhere to be seen in this version, preventing people from buying the gear they want, rare loot is dropped more regularly and will often be tailored to the character you're playing as. Inventory management is also tweaked, with a new radial menu interface rather than the PC-version's mouse-friendly grid.
Muddy waters. If there's one area that Diablo 3 suffers on PS3 and Xbox 360, it's the port's visuals. With such a dark-hued color palette in the first place, much of the visual flare in Diablo 3 came from its more advanced lighting effects and other tricks that were not present in the console demo shown. If you want the prettiest Diablo 3 version around, you're better off playing on PC or waiting for the still unseen PlayStation 4 (and maybe unannounced Xbox One.?) version of the game.
