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Diablo III - Well worth the Wait
It's finally time for IGT to examine the 800 pound gorilla in the gaming room, Diablo III (D3). The game continues to be out for a few weeks now and I believe I'm able to finally provide you with, your readers, a good 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 have been waiting eagerly for this game, continue reading to see if waiting for was worthwhile.
When you have played Diablo I (D1) and/or D2, the controls will feel familiar. There are slight tweaks, mostly using the skill bars, but overall it is the same clickfest you're used to. The inventory system is exactly the same grid and gear slot based window. Items have similar stats as in Diablo II, however with damage per second (DPS) already calculated for you.
There are five classes within the discharge of Diablo III; Barbarian, Monk, Demon Hunter, Wizard, and Witch Doctor. The barbarian and Wizard should feel familiar because 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 from 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 various stories for every class. The primary narrative is obviously the same but there were small cut scenes that happened at major story points in each act which were different for each class. Something I loved about the story is they tied in plots from all the way in D1.
The internet only play doesn't bother me too much when i played D2 exclusively on battle.net to experience with my buddies. In the beginning it was annoying as the servers had issues on launch, however i played World of Warcraft for six years so it just felt like every normal patch Tuesday or expansion launch in my experience; after a week things been feeling relaxed and that i haven't experienced any issues since. I can see how players with no consistent internet connection might have a horrible experience however. It's somewhat annoying that anyone in your friends list can join your game every time they want which may be dangerous if you're in a boss battle and all of a sudden the boss is extra hard as it scales up for the beginners. On the other hand, should you and your friend want to play together, the fast join feature is a godsend towards the multiplayer aspect of farmville.
The ah is a nice accessory for the sport; After all the in-game currency ah, not the actual money auction house (RMAH). I have used some of my hard earned gold to get myself newer and more effective weapons and plenty of gems for decent prices and have sold some of my un-needed equipment for many decent gold increases. I don't plan to take part in the RMAH when i dislike micro-transactions and along with many other people feel the Blizzard cut is simply too much.
The graphics really are a fairly weak aspect of farmville. I'd say they are on par with 2005 and 2006 games. For a game that's been 10 years in development I would have liked to possess seen better graphics. But then again Diablo has never been cutting edge for the reason that department. The sport is full 3d unlike D2 which had 2d sprites, and also the spell effects are nice. But overall they're lacking.
Was the game worth the wait? I believe so. I am enjoying it a lot and love having fun with friends. I've got a couple of characters into Nightmare and so i possess a ways to go before I listen to it full-scale. I can also see how this game can get old pretty quick as even with 5 classes to play by permitting to level 60 does not appear to be an enormous undertaking. D3 still has a couple of months left in it for me I would say.
In conclusion, D3 is really a fine game otherwise a shining gem. It feels like a natural increment within the Diablo franchise from D2. The gameplay is familiar and super fun. The story is engaging as well as for those fans from both the previous games it ties up some loose ends. IGT gives Diablo III a 9 around the d10 of hack and slash adventures.
