Game review: Diablo 3

Granted, it's been a relatively slow two months. Not many new games came out in the meantime, even less worth spending my precious little time on. So, carefully investing my time between work, rest, a relationship, apartment hunting, reading and watching season finales left right and center, only two current games managed to have more than a handful of hours clocked in: World of Warcraft (current and Pandaria beta) and, for the last week, Diablo 3. Now, I like to think of myself as a gamer who doesn't let bias get in the way of his gaming. A few people doubted this fact back when I spoke against Skyrim. In a twisted kind of way, this is my burden of proof.

I hated Diablo. Truthfully, I never played the first two to the very end, losing interest in Diablo I very early on and Diablo II around mid way through. Maybe it was the way everyone kept calling Diablo an RPG, while in my eyes that was an insult to "proper" RPGs. It was an (deep breath) isometric action hack and slash RPG. 

Maybe because there wasn't any real character development, and even the story seemed to take a step back from the hacking and the slashing. Maybe because I found clicking till stuff was dead boring. It was hugely popular, of course, both critically and commercially, but I still didn't like it. And believe me, I gave Diablo II plenty of chances to change my mind. Neither Diablo or the various Diablo-clones managed to make me like the formula. So, naturally, I approached Diablo 3 with more than a little apprehension. I was going to play it just long enough to confirm my suspicions that it was one of the same and pay it no further mind. 


And you know what? Till about level 7 or so, I thought I was right: hacking and slashing, assigning skills as appropriate, no actual character development. But there was something different: the plot was now pivotal to the gameplay, and while there still aren't any dialogue options to speak of, each class now has their own flair and persona in the pre-scripted dialogues and companion banter. And the gameplay itself, while, well, same-y, is now much more polished, fluid, interesting. It's still an (deep breath) isometric action hack and slash RPG. But this time, it does it brilliantly.


The control scheme is extremely easy to learn, and intuitive to master. There's a total of 6 active skill binds, each one consisting of its unique pool of four different skills per class. These 6x4, in turn, have their own unique pools of runes that can further specialize the ability. Finally, you have the pool of passive skills of which up to three can be active at all times (first slot unlocks at 10, third at 30). Keep in mind all these skills, active or passive, as well as their runes, are unique per class. Does this sound a tad too confusing?

I don't blame you. You'll be happy to know, it's not. Not at all. All these skills and runes unlock gradually as you level up, and most of all, they are bound on just 6 different buttons. Left and right mouseclicks for your more straightforward attacks, 1-4 for your other abilities. It might sound complicated now, but trust me, it's extremely comfortable. While classes and builds require different playstyles, the basic idea is always the same, without, I'm pleased to say, making the classes and builds feel the same deal over and over again.

It's this complex simplicity of the control scheme, as well as the simple premise of the game (ie, run around killing things and looting them) that always made Diablo addicting, even more so in this iteration. However this time you also get the story more closely intertwined with it, NPCs fully voiced, a sense of purpose driving most of your steps. The rest of your steps are guided by the all-time classic "I wonder what's over there". Even though you know that all that's there is maybe a tidbit of lore or a randomly generated dungeon or even random mobs, you can't help this urge for exploration. Nor should you: this isn't just a race versus the demonic forces of Hell, it's a race against the game itself. How much can you level till you face off against the final boss? All these side-attractions and quests within the game's four Acts will get you there that much faster. 

The classes themselves are all pretty unique: the wizard plays by unleashing devastating magic, both offensive and defensive, the demon hunter controls and decimates from afar, the barbarian is the freaking Hulk and Thor combined, the monk is a whirling dervish of slows, stuns and destruction and the witch doctor is an unparalleled master of DOTs and summons. No matter what you pick, the three companions (Templar, Scoundrel or Enchantress) you are able to pick up to accompany you will complement your playstyle, negate some of your weaknesses and only occasionally piss you off due to their sketchy AI.

Now, the graphics and sound were never meant to be the selling point of the game; they are there, and they're nice, and they get the job done. At times, D3 can look and sound pretty damn...well, pretty, but trust me when I say that you will not spend much time paying attention to the technical stuff. What matters is that most abilities, yours or enemy ones, are easily identifiable through a cursory glance, and that's all you'll really need. However, the "technical stuff" also includes the general randomness of encounters, the auction house and battle.net itself.

The randomness is good. Whole non-story critical dungeons will be completely random at playthroughs. Same goes for rare or uncommon enemies, encounters and loots. If you logout or stop playing, all the foes and loots respawn- randomly. That's why waypoints are crucial, since they can get you to story-critical areas while bypassing the newly respawned enemies. While this guarantees that no playthrough is, in fact, the same, it can at times be annoying, mostly on the loot side of things. You'll be picking up a lot of useless loot, believe you me. 

I suppose this is where the auction house comes in. You can sell some of those loots, assuming someone wants to buy it, or you can find gear for yourself if Lady Luck has been giving you the finger. And all you need to do is spend your hard-earned gold...I wish. The fact Blizzard intends to allow real money transactions for virtual items on a game later on leaves me skeptical at best. It is, after all, a very gear-dependent game, and allowing people to buy their way to fame and glory saddens me.

Of course, the auction house couldn't have existed if the game wasn't on battle.net, but sadly, you don't have an option. A constant connection is required to play this game, a la World of Warcraft. This allows friends to join in your game, by invite or hopping in and out on a whim if you so allow. Battle.net also allows cross-game chatting with friends (provided that other game is WoW or Starcraft 2), but again, a constant internet connection is required to play. In that aspect, it works more like an MMO rather as a co-op game.

And if you think that once you finish the game that's all, think again. Nightmare mode is there to see your character go through the story again, only harder, and Hell mode is harder still, and Inferno even harder than that, but then again this is the only way you'll get to reach max level. You'd think it'd be boring, but you'd be wrong. Replaying the game in a harder difficulty is just as fun as rolling a new character. And as if that wasn't enough, Hardcore mode is there to break you: if your character dies, he or she is dead. Time to roll a new one. Thank god for account-wide stash and gold pool, huh? Oh, wait, that doesn't apply to hardcore characters. Oops.


All in all, Diablo 3 was a very, very welcome surprise. While still not an RPG in any significant way, it is nonetheless a game more than worth playing even by hardcore roleplayers. As for the rest, what are you waiting for? Didn't you hear? Evil has returned!