It's finally time for IGT to review the 800 pound gorilla in the gaming room, Diablo III (D3). The game has been out for a couple of weeks now and I feel that I can finally give you, the readers, a decent review (in reality I've been too busy attacking the darkness to write one). It's been twelve years since Diablo II (D2) was released so I've been waiting eagerly for this game, read on to see if the wait was worth it.
For those who have played Diablo I (D1) and/or D2, the controls will feel familiar. There are slight tweaks, mostly with the skill bars, but overall it's the same clickfest you are used to. The inventory system is the same grid and gear slot based window. Items have similar stats as in Diablo II, but with damage per second (DPS) already calculated for you.
There are five classes in the release of Diablo III; Barbarian, Monk, Demon Hunter, Wizard, and Witch Doctor. The barbarian and Wizard should feel familiar as they are close to D2 classes (the wizard being what the sorceress was inD2). The monk is similar to the paladin class from D2 and the Witch Doctor is similar to the Necromancer. The Demon Hunter takes the place of the Amazon but is only somewhat similar.
The story is actually fairly engaging for an action RPG and I found myself eager to see the difference between the different stories for each class. The main story line is obviously the same but there were small cut scenes that happened at major story points in each act that were different for each class. One thing I loved about the story is they tied in plots from all the way back in D1.
The online only play doesn't bother me too much as I played D2 exclusively on battle.net to play with my friends. At first it was annoying as the servers had issues on launch, but I played World of Warcraft for 6 years so it just felt like any normal patch Tuesday or expansion launch to me; after a week things settled down and I have not experienced any issues since. I can see how players without a consistent internet connection would have a horrible experience however. It is somewhat annoying that anyone on your friends list can join your game whenever they want which can be dangerous if you are in a boss battle and all of a sudden the boss is extra hard as it scales up for the new players. On the other hand, if you and your friend want to play together, the quick join feature is a godsend to the multiplayer aspect of this game.
The auction house is a nice addition to the game; I am talking about the in-game currency auction house, not the real money auction house (RMAH). I have used some of my hard earned gold to get myself some new weapons and plenty of gems for decent prices and have sold off some of my un-needed equipment for some decent gold increases. I do not plan to partake in the RMAH as I dislike micro-transactions and along with many other people feel the Blizzard cut is too much.
The graphics are a fairly weak aspect of this game. I would say they are on par with 2005 and 2006 games. For a game that has been 10 years in development I would have liked to have seen better graphics. But then again Diablo has never been cutting edge in that department. The game is full 3d unlike D2 which had 2d sprites, and the spell effects are nice. But overall they are lacking.
Was the game worth the wait? I think so. I am enjoying it a lot and love playing with friends. I have just got a couple of characters into Nightmare so I have a ways to go before I play it all out. I can also see how this game can get old pretty quick as even with 5 classes to play through getting to level 60 does not seem like a huge undertaking. D3 still has a couple of months left in it for me I would say.
In conclusion, D3 is a fine game if not a shining gem. It feels like a natural increment in the Diablo franchise from D2. The gameplay is familiar and super fun. The story is engaging and for those fans from both the previous games it ties up some loose ends. IGT gives Diablo III a 9 on the d10 of hack and slash adventures.
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