Now that the game has been released as of today, I can finally talk about my experience beta testing Diablo III. I am a huge fan of Diablo and Diablo II. I loved both and gave countless hours to both games. I was extremely excited when I was selected to test Diablo III. I have been waiting for this game for a very long time as was countless others. Here's the pros and cons.
Pros:- If you're looking for a game like Diablo II with better graphics, you have it.
- The crafting system. You take a blacksmith around with you throughout the game. You can up him in levels with gold and as he upgrades, you can have him craft better and better items. You can "reclaim" magic items to Magic Essence, Fallen Tooth, Bark, etc. You then use those items to have the blacksmith craft items for you.
- The skill tree. As you progress in the game, you earn new skills. As you up in levels, you earn more skill slots. Gone are the days where you can assign several skills to the function keys. You have a limit of how many skills you can have at any given time. When you earn a new skill, you can assign it to a number slot. There is a cool down period which varies upon the skill. When you assign a new skill, the cool down period begins. You can't use the skill until the cool down period is over.
- The characters. You can now select male or female versions of the Barbarian, Demon Hunter, Monk, Wizard and Witch Doctor. The classes are much improved over Diablo 2.
- The Barbarian is back.
- The Wich Doctor is a lot like the Necromancer from 2.
- The Demon Hunter is like a cross between the Amazon and the Assassin with traps and bow abilities. You no longer need ammo for the bows, but you can have quivers which aid the Demon Hunter's abilities. The Demon Hunter specializes in hand crossbows, so you can equip two at a time.
- The Monk is like a cross between the Paladin and the Assassin. It uses fist weapons, kicks, healing and auras to help aid the character and the party (My personal favorite).
- The Wizard is almost exactly like the Sorceress, but better. It uses off hand items like Eagle Orbs and Spellbooks to enhance his/her abilities.
- All of the classes use some kind of skill charging similar to Mana from D2. The Barbarian uses Rage, the Demon hunter uses both Mana and Hate, The Monk uses Spirit, the Wizard uses Mana as does the Witch Doctor. Your basic attacks, like bash for the Barbarian, charge your Mana/hate/spirit, etc. For example, the Wizard starts with Magic Missile which charges its mana and doesn't cost mana to use. You then use that Mana to cast different kinds of spells, auras, etc. There is no such thing as Mana Potions anymore.
- Health globes. When you kill an enemy, it has a chance to drop health globes so you don't have to rely on potions 100% anymore.
- Potions are no longer limited to the slots in your belt. You can pretty much carry as many health potions as you want and they only take up 1 inventory slot no matter how many you have.
- Identify and Town Portals. You no longer need scrolls to identify items or use Town Portal. However the Town Portal now takes time to use and if you're attacked, you lose concentration, meaning you have to start casting all over again.
- Gold and health globe pickup. All you have to do to use a health globe or pick up gold is to walk over them. To pick up items, you have to pick them up the old fashioned way. They are identified exactly the same way. White are basic, blue are magic, gold are rare, brown are unique and green are set items.
- Use of the environment. You can collapse walls, drop chandeliers and use other environment items against your opponents.
- You can decide to open your own game to anyone, friends of friends, friends or invite only for MP. You have full control over the MP experience. You can also solo just like d2.
- In MP, any items you see that are dropped are for you only. The other players can't see them.
- Runes. There are no longer runes socketed to items that make rune words. Runes enhance skills and are specific to the skill. You access runes as your character levels up.
- Achievements. Achievements make the game more interesting, however they don't give you any real in-game perks.
Cons:- If you're looking for a more expansive universe, more side quests or independent running around the map, you won't find it here.
- Potion use. Health potions do instantaneously refill your health instead of taking time to fill your health, however, they have a cool down period of 30 seconds real time.
- Not a true 3d environment. Forget about moving your perspective around along with the map. It's pretty much like Diablo 2 with a 3d engine. Fixed camera.
- Everything costs gold. Expanding your inventory, upgrading the blacksmith, etc. costs gold and it's not easy to come by. Any magic items you find are reclaimed for parts for the blacksmith. All basic items are sold to vendors, but they don't earn you very much gold. Upgrading the blacksmith, having him craft you items, etc. all costs gold and they don't come cheap.
- Level up is slower than D2. In the beta, you could only go through Act 1. I had to go through almost 3 times to max my character level at 12.
- System Requirements. When Diablo 2 came out, you didn't need the highest performing system to run the game. D3 requires a pretty decent system to run. To run at full speed with full graphics requires a pretty decent CPU. I have a brand new laptop that can't run the game at full physics.
I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things, but this is the gist of it. All in all, it's a great mindless melee game just like its predecessors. If you're looking for a story, this isn't really the game for you. D2 really didn't have that great of a story either. I'm finding the Diablo series to be a lot like a Michael Bay movie. You don't go to a Michael Bay movie for the story. All in all, I really like the game. I really enjoyed every class, with the exception of the witch doctor, although I wasn't much for the Necromancer in D2 either. The game is much more balanced than D2. They did a great job with balancing the classes vs. 2. In 2, it was really difficult to get a Sorceress going and a henchman was pretty much required. A Wizard in 3 can stand on its own pretty well.
I hope this review helps you if you were considering buying the game. I wish I could have said something sooner, but was under an NDA. I pre-ordered the game and will probably be giving this game a lot of my time, but now I'm not committed to playing it for 15 hours per week to stay in it. ;) I can finally get back to NWN when I'm not watching my daughter.
Thanks for sharing, Tybae. Even though I tend not to like these kinds of games I enjoyed Diablo 1 and 2 - like a million years ago when they came out. Sounds like this is more of the same.
I'm happy to hear that you are around for NWN too. Maybe I'll bug you to join us in Arnheim again. :)
I enjoyed 1 a lot but not so much 2, I don't know why I just could not get into it.
You have whetted my appetite for 3, though if I buy it. It would be the first new game in years.
Thanks for reviewing for us.
PJ