Diablo III Reviews

Category: News Archive

Hits: 2193

Written by WorstUsernameEver on May 23rd, 2012

Tweet

The bottom line is that Diablo 3 is a triumph for Blizzard, despite the painful server problems that plagued the launch. It's only because Blizzard themselves pull back the curtain so often to show us the development process that we are lamenting the absence of things like PvP and the Mystic. What you get in this package is an addictive, satisfying game that feels very polished, offers a wide range of gameplay options, introduces an insatiable lust for loot, and does co-op right. This is what PC (and Mac!) gaming is all about.

It's a phenomenally good game, immediately fun to play and enduringly compulsive, albeit for very different reasons than the rest of the series. But it comes shackled to this pointless, damaging restriction.

Should I give it a punitive 0% for that? That's not terribly helpful if you want to know how good the game itself is. Should I ignore it completely and give the game the score it would otherwise deserve? I can't quite do that. I'm just less excited about owning Diablo 3 when it lags out and kicks me off from time to time.

There's an easy way to resolve these dilemmas. If you're a friend, and you ask me whether you should get it, I'd ask if you have a fast and reliable connection. I'd make you aware of the problems beyond that, slander Blizzard a bit, then say this: God yes.

With key changes to its art style, technology, gameplay, skills, and classes, Diablo III has revitalized the isometric action-RPG and made this classic genre fresh and cool all over again. It's not all sunshine and unicorns, as the game is lacking in a few areas, but it's still going to go down as another Blizzard classic. This latest creation of theirs is living up to nearly all of the mountains of hype piled on it, and after playing it for many hours across more than a couple of character classes, I'm happy to say that the final product definitely does live up to the name Diablo. The downtime and server errors are mostly gone now, and I think a majority of gamers will forget about these early troubles and spend years enjoying yet another fantastic effort from Blizzard.

With Diablo III Blizzard took some of the best features of the past and has merged them with more modern design philosophies. While most of it's big changes come from the remodeled leveling system, much of what made Diablo II such a good game is still present in some form or another. That's probably because some things just never get old. Blizzard knows how to set the stage and keep gamers coming back, day-in and day-out. Whether it's to marvel at the sights in Sanctuary all by your lonesome or tackle The Butcher on Inferno difficulty with friends, there's something that'll likely give you that itch for one more click in Diablo III.

The inconvenience of server issues will pass; the only problem I've had over the past three days was a hiccup on the part of my cable internet provider. What won't pass, unless one lets it, is the disappointment of the solo player. To that player this is a well-crafted if repetitive dungeon crawler with an unfair restriction that could potentially compromise their enjoyment.

Play in a few public matches or get together with some friends, however, and Diablo III becomes a magical, transcendent and wonderfully social experience, well-worth the frustrations of its early days.

It might not have the most glorious execution, but destroying waves of enemies in a matter of seconds has never been more fun. One might say it's a Hell of a good time.

Simply put, Diablo III is a ton of fun. With five character classes, three unlockable difficulty levels and the Blizzard statement that 70% of the loot isn't available in Normal, there is tons of replay value. Anything bad I could say about the game is, in the end, a minor complaint, and none of it got in the way of my enjoyment. It lives up to the series pedigree and is the best game of its kind. If you like this style of game you should absolutely be playing it, and if you're new to the genre it's a great place to start.

Diablo III is a great game that will provide you with hours of fun. It is the type of game that you will come back to repeatedly. The game shipped without the player versus player mode and Blizzard has not yet announced a release date. So if that's a major factor for you, waiting to buy may be appropriate. Otherwise, the server issues appear to be resolved (I haven't experienced any major issue like being kicked in the last four days) and nothing should keep you from having a great experience with the game.

But these problems and frustrations are dwarfed by the pleasures Diablo III offers. There's a good chance you've played games a lot like Diablo III before, and at no point does it dare to surprise you by tinkering with its tried-and-true formula. But it creates such an enticing world and offers up such enjoyable abilities that it makes that formula feel fresh again. You may ultimately be victorious at vanquishing the forces of hell, but if their true mission is to give you a compelling reason to sacrifice sleep as you keep clicking your mouse into the wee hours of the night, then they have won a decisive victory.

All in all Diablo III is worth the twelve-year wait. The presentation is excellent, the gameplay is utterly addictive and the online integration gives it the distinctive edge over recent similar games like Torchlight or Dungeon Siege III.

We could go on writing about all that makes Diablo III so much fun, but we want to get back to playing it. This is a standout PC-only title and a game that any PC player should own. It is absurdly addictive, to the point where you will need genuine giving up smoking levels of self control to draw yourself away from the computer screen.

Polished, playable and easy for anyone to get into, Diablo III has been more than worth the wait.

• Prev
• Next