The long awaited Diablo III is finally here, along came some troubling connection issues and raging fans of doom.
I am one of those who havent really played the games. I played halfway through Diablo II and then something came up so I couldnt finish the game. THough after playing through Diablo III, it makes me "catch up" on the stuff I might have missed from the latter games.
The story
You as they player can choose five different classes, each have a persoanl story that drives them into investigating this sudden uproar of creatures and living dead that are ravaging the rather peaceful city of New Tristam. It has been 20 years ago since the hero in Diablo II defeated Baal, but a sudden meteor falls from the sky and suddenly creatures people thought were gone forever, came back. The hero seek to bring an end of the remaining demons - Belian, Azmodan and Diablo - once and for all.
Gameplay
Diablo III follows it's own footsteps; it is a typical tabletop dungeon crawling hack and slahs game with lots of dungeons to explore and many creatures to slay. Throughout the game, you can meet much stronger enemies that can drop rare and maybe even a legendary item that can make your character much stronger.
When you make a new character, you can actually select the gender of the class, unlike in previous games where it was already decided which class were which kind of gender. Though there is no character costumization, it doesnt really matter as you wouldnt see your character's face nor does it change the gameplay in any way.
A new addition to the series is the way you "spec" your character. In the previous games you had a talent tree, much like Blizzard's other game World of Warcraft, where you would get a point for when you level your character up and you can spend it on a skill. in D3 you will simply unlock the skill at a certain level which you can freely use to costumize your skills. For example, the Demon Hunter, which is a class that can dual wield crossbows and uses ranged attacks, have diferent traps the can use to slow down enemies, but unlockable runes make these traps able to, for instance, do damage to the enemies while slowed.
THe integration of Battle.net has been upgradede as well. Now you can see what your friends are doing, for instance, what character they play and their level and also see the achievements your friend recieve while playing the campaign. It is also very nce and easy to hook up with some friends to play a game together, by simply pressing a button next to their name. On top of that, you can chat with friends who are playing either Starcraft II or World of Warcraft.
Graphics
Being a tabletop game, graphics arent an important thing at all. But at least Blizzard made a good effort to make the game look new and shiny. The graphics are a blend of 2D and 3D graphics, the character selection screen looks like it is in 3, but looking closer you can actually see that it is merely a 2D background with some effects that makes it look non-static (fog, grass moving in the wind and coulds passing by the moon etc.). The characters are fully 3D modeles figures and dequipping new gear also shows on your chartacter.
At the many encounters in the game, the graphics are like exploding in many colors and effects that sometime I do not know what I am doing, but it just makes the game more intense and give a more feeling of epicness. Many ofthe spells look fantastic and are very flashy.
Controls
In D3 you simply use your mouse for movements and a few buttons on your keyboard for skills. You can move your character by clicking on the screen where you want your character to go, the direction of the cursor also determines which direction your character will fire/shoot. Otherwise, you can use shortcts on your keyboard to acces the journal and other functions.
Pros
- High replay value
- Great classes
- Fresh and innuative graphics
- large maps to explore
- Fun challenges
- Great oppertunities for co op players
- beautiful CGI cutscenes
- Interesting plot twists
Cons
- Story a bit vague, plotholes
- Need to be online all the time, meaning, if Blizzard got any problems with their servers, your experience can be very laggy. Also, if you lose your internet, no Diablo 3 for you.
- Not all the promised features came along launch (Real money Auction House, PVP...)
Diablo III is a really fun and entertaining game to play with your friends. Despite that the story can seem a bit vague, possibly if you havent played the previous games and doesnt understand the whole story, the game contains interesting plot twists that might surprise you. Replaying the game is reccomended, as you unlock new modes that makes the game even more difficult and you can play together with up to 4 friends to try out some of the more hard achievements.
Diablo III isnt perfect at all, it contains flaws, but knowing the gaming industry now, DLCs are the way to go, so expect there to be an explansion or a couple of DLCs that might fill out the holes in the plot or add more content to the game in other ways.
Dont listen to the haters around the internet, a game that has been expected to release by many of the hardcore fans, will usually be disappointed because of the 21-year long wait. The game is good and is fun to try, just give it a go and enjoy it.