A recap of the DIII Release for Castle Co-Op, a website dedicated to Film, TV, Music and Culture – Published 24-05-2012
Fanart: courtesy of Tyler James (ARTofTY)
As a recovering Diablo II junkie, it has been an laborious exercise to tear myself away from the corrupted realm of Sanctuary, however seeing as the BattleNet servers are currently down for service (again), I guess this infuriating reprise allows me to review Blizzards latest PC addiction, Diablo III.
This latest instalment to the popular Action-RPG has had fans in the lurch for over a decade; loyal fans and avid gamers were treated to a selection of errors 33, 37, 3005, 3006 and the now game-breaking Templar Shield Bug. If nothing else, it provided fantastic fodder for some hilarious internet memes.
Since the failed launch, I’ve been able to hack-and-slash (well mainly shoot) my way through the entirety of the game save for Inferno difficulty, and am thoroughly impressed with the incredible level of detail poured into the systems, skills, and environments be they heavily controversial or a surprisingly satisfying endeavour.
The story picks up 20 years after the corrupted World Stone’s destruction; the story is short-and-sweet with the vehement of lore suppressed into optional dialogue. Now despite Blizzard’s noble efforts to make the narrative epic and attempt at cinematic drama during set-pieces, the plot is well executed despite easily foreshadowed, clichéd, and extremely predicable story – much to the dismay of my fellow party member who read the chat log as I unintentionally and continually spoiled the story, predicting almost every plot point. But it has never been the story that retains such a faithful fan-base; at its core Diablo III is still the same loot-driven, dungeon grinding, hero crafting (and PvP omitted from launch) of its predecessors, just innately honed to near perfection.
First up is the conclusion to my previous self-absorbed internal debate about the interchangeable skills system. Overall, skills are versatile and fun. Each progressive skill and rune is well suited to their respective hero archetype (even the bizarrely imagined enigmatic Witch Doctor), albeit each level unlocked grants a new upgrade subjugating this level of progression as obtusely overpowered. Each new level gained, and each new skill available makes your hero increasingly god-like where the supposed challenges in Nightmare and Hell seem far and few between (with the only exception being champion mobs). But again, the ability to experiment and change your skills on the fly is simply fun and have proven a valuable asset – assuming you’ve uncrippled your progress by selecting ‘Elective Mode’ and ‘Show Advance Tooltips’ in the gameplay menu (why this isn’t the default setting is truly baffling).
This system lends well with the revamped combat system of DIII. Despite this nagging feeling that the combat isn’t as graceful as I’d expect (be it lag, my graphics processor or fatigued induced delusions), but transitioning from the move and attack commands leads to a very small delay that can cost you your life when ill-equipped. Combat feels well paced as throngs of lesser foes melt under your god-like abilities, where a handful of champion mobs throw a gratifying spanner in the works. Emerging victorious from these encounters all depends on the gear you’re wearing, and skilled you are at your hero class, not how quickly you can spam full rejuvenation potions.
What still amazes me is the atmospheric environmental design that has your hero hurtling down endless claustrophobic corridors of the randomly generated dungeons. With extravagantly detailed and the vibrant exterior locales often gifting players with an awe inspiring view from atop sheer cliffs that depict serene rainbows arching over a babbling brook, to the wild hordes of demons battling the battalions of men over the remains of a desecrated mountain (I love the opening of Act III). Oh, and the FMVs interspersed between Acts are unsurprisingly kickass epic. The intensity of these visuals not just present onscreen, but with the excessive strain placed on my graphics hardware, as the omniscient hum of the fans grows ever louder, taxing the threshold of my laptop with its incredible details.
New features of DIII include a roster of unlockable Achievements (akin to StarCraft II), improvements on the inventory management (notably Town Portal and identifying items are on a channelling and cooldown system), a shared stash for troves of loot, and shared progressive upgrades of your artisans remain a most welcome addition making multiple-hero management a breeze. Gold in DIII is purportedly a valuable currency. Upgrading the aforementioned artisans (Jeweller and Blacksmith) is a worthwhile effort as their wares and usefulness is a genuine asset – especially when you can craft rare ‘gold’ items without having to grind, although not nearly as thrilling. The only issues that arise from the items are weapons being reduced to mere aesthetics. All seem to have identical melee range; the only differing factor is attack speed and animation.
Just for fun, I decided (for the purposes of the review) to go in the Action House (with the Real Money Auction House still unavailable) and purchase the most overpowered weapon available for my hero that my measly stockpiled gold would allow, transforming my already god-like hero into a cleansing spectre of death to all my foes. Personally, the game only became challenging (i.e. situations deemed impossible to defeat the enemy) came in Hell, where my religious adherence to the shift-clicking was rendered moot were against the charging champion mobs (my favourite being the first encounter against the earthbending satyrs) with ridiculous HP-sinks, and combinations of ancillary powers that result in a guaranteed OHKOs for your hero. Not even the Act’s final set-bosses poised this level of difficulty in comparison.
Exploring the vast plains of Sanctuary can be a lonely venture, but since Blizzard forceful imposition of a perma-connection to the internet, you might as well play with close friends or random allies as co-op has been beautifully integrated in the retail release. The constant chaos onscreen as four-partied heroes clash against Diablo’s minions is a real spectacle, which makes great use of the interchangeable skill system to best utilise each skill and rune to the betterment of the party, not just yourself. The revive mechanic is very useful in boss battles, but most notable is the loot-drops that are individualised for each player to combat the mad dash for loot at the conclusion of the boss battle. What I love is each hero has individualised drops – so if a party member picks up a rare gold item that would benefit a partied ally, they can just share the link into the chat, trade (or if you’re very fortunate) give you the item in question. This makes for some surreal moments as players quickly divvy up and barter over the spoils of war over the corpse of the downed demon. All in all, co-op is just more fun.
The few gripes that I have with the game are the constant server updates and inopportune time (for instance, as I write in place of a raid), a 10-item limit on auction house listings, no public lobby tha makes joining a random game with a full party of four difficult, and no integrator voice chat client. A small nitpick that I don’t really care about, but for players wishing to watch the story in its entirety are not recommended to play through co-op as any player in party can skip cut-scenes and dialogue cues. While good for those who don’t care, it can be annoying for newer players. The exclusion of the Real Money Auction House and PvP on release is frustrating to providing readers with a full written review.
Overall, while some may dismiss Diablo III as a mere superficial facelift from its predecessor, I to agree that the game doesn’t do much in terms of ground-breaking innovation. It simply distils the best elements of DII, admittedly dumbing down a few key areas of skills, stats, and customisation in favour of a user-friendly system and appealing to a larger audience base. All I will comment is Diablo III is exactly what you expected from Blizzard for a dungeon crawl hack-and-slash – and for me, it doesn’t matter, as the new loot, new heroes and a new world is enough enticement to sacrifice the remainder of my social life in the hunt for the next legendary loot-drop.
___
Other: Check back for my thoughts on the RMAH (Real Money Auction House), PvP (looking to be an interesting meta-game), my thoughts on Inferno Difficulty, and a final check to see how long my Hardcore Hero can survive. Finally here is a quick video link for players wishing to visit the secret level in Diablo III (There is no Cow Level)
___
___
DEVELOPER: Blizzard Entertainment
