{"id":9005,"date":"2012-05-17T11:25:33","date_gmt":"2012-05-17T19:25:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aidanmoher.com\/blog\/?p=9005"},"modified":"2012-05-18T10:13:55","modified_gmt":"2012-05-18T18:13:55","slug":"diablo-iii-review-round-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aidanmoher.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/videogames\/diablo-iii-review-round-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Diablo III<\/em> Review Round-up"},"content":{"rendered":"\"Diablo<\/a>\n

I was hoping to post some Diablo III<\/em> impressions today. Instead, my entire experience with the game can be summed up with a simple meme<\/a>. Actually, scratch that, I can<\/em> log in, but my character (a monk) is booted from the server and unable to log back in. The 30 minutes I’ve spent with the game have come over 12-15 different sessions. Frustrating, and I’m not alone (but, unlike some trolls on the Internet, I have many other ways to occupy my time instead of stewing over a videogame.) So, in lieu of my own impressions, here’s a round-up of some of the review of Diablo III<\/em> from around the web.<\/p>\n

\"Diablo<\/a>Mike Anderiesz, The Guardian<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\nOnce in the game, it’s clear that the new 3D engine has been put to work on rendering a level of detail we haven’t seen in the series before. Superb lighting effects make even Act 1’s formulaic dungeons seem more atmospheric, but once you reach Act 2’s Caldeum and beyond, more spectacular locations and draw distances emerge. Enemies may have a tendency to swarm mindlessly towards you, but they come in large numbers and reasonable variety.<\/p>\n

Not every improvement pays off, however; there’s far too little destructible scenery and context-sensitive traps \u2013 such as falling chandeliers or rolling logs \u2013 sound like a great idea on paper but require such careful lining up of enemies you won’t be troubling with them after the first few attempts.<\/p>\n

There’s improvement as well as innovation, particularly with the UI. With a permanent Portal spell to take you back to nearby towns and a much smarter way of choosing and comparing items, you can now focus on the important task of killing things.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

So the key question remains, was Diablo 3 worth the 12-year wait? That depends on how you play it \u2013 for single players, it’s an entertaining and gorgeous-looking dungeon hack but it’s a bit short, extremely linear and hardly pushing any boundaries. Playing online (and Blizzard isn’t really giving us a choice) makes it a better balanced and more compelling challenge, with all the potential to be the kind of lifestyle substitute that Diablo’s legion of hunter-gatherer fans should relish.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Diablo<\/a>Tom Chick, Quarter to Three<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\nYou will wallow in it gleefully after about twenty levels. You might roll up your sleeves and started poring over wikis after thirty levels. I expect we\u2019ll be arguing about it online after forty levels, discovering new options after fifty levels, and unable to let go even after hitting level 60. The simple fact of the matter is that Blizzard was right to unfurl class skills in a set order and to instead give us the option of equipping any six at a time (hello, Guild Wars!). And to furthermore let us modify each of those skills with runes to tweak how they work, and then passive skills to further tweak how they work. Diablo III is built for people who want to tinker rather than people who want to just cop out and decide. Tinkering can be every bit as effective a hook as deciding.<\/p>\n

Diablo III looks great. Also, water is wet. But it runs really well on what I\u2019d call lower end computers (i.e., my crappy gaming laptop and my desktop with an old GeForce card). The multiplayer is really slick. Also, the sky is blue. Just as I expected, the effective battle.net front end for Starcraft II is in full effect here, even if it is just achievements and a silly customizeable banner. I\u2019m already eyeing those hardcore challenges. And I care far more about my banner than I should. What an anemic meta-game reward system. But you can bet I\u2019ll occasionally tap the G key to drop my banner because, dammit, I unlocked that pattern and I\u2019m going to use it.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the fact that Diablo III is an online only game, even if you\u2019re just in it for the single-player. I understand this decision from a business perspective. But I don\u2019t play Diablo III from a business perspective, so it\u2019s a real thumb in the eye to have to suffer through a launch that was exactly like any MMO launch. It\u2019s a sad reality that too many of us have accepted DRM with gritted teeth and open wallets, so this is likely the price of AAA gaming for the foreseeable future. Us sheep get what we deserve, which is a Diablo III, a fine game for playing solo, with all the pitfalls of an online game. So I reserve the right to replace this review with an angry screed if I ever lose my hardcore character to lag.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Andy Kelly, CVG<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\nAs with any good dungeon crawler, it’s the random loot drops that make the game so compelling. What we’ve noticed about playing with other people is that, despite there being only four classes to choose from, everyone looks different. There’s such a wealth of weapons and armour, that you can make your character stand out.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Diablo<\/a>Joe Martin, BitGamer<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\nDiablo 3 compensates for the relative plainness of the backdrop through the physical interactions, it must be said. Chandeliers and walls can be collapsed onto enemies in some areas and scenery is regularly obliterated as you spam out special attacks against foes; but we still wish there was more variety and detail in the model set. <\/p>\n

Really, we just wish there was something in Diablo 3 that justified the enormous wait and hype that’s been built around it over the years. There isn’t, though that doesn’t make it a bad game – it is, in fact, quite a good game. It’s playable and fun and exciting and interesting; it’s taxing on hardcore mode, easy when played solo and designed to be played by groups of friends together. It’s fun, even if it’s not ground-breakingly so. <\/p>\n

Honest.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Charles Onyett, IGN<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n[T]he pacing is quick, the gameplay quicker, and it\u2019s tough to pull away from what appears to be a truly great action-RPG\u2026unless Blizzard\u2019s servers go down.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And then there’s this beauty, from Reddit:<\/p>\n\"Reddit<\/a>\n

UPDATE 05\/18\/12:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Diablo<\/a>Rowan Kaiser, Ars Technica<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\nThere is greatness in Diablo III. I have no doubt that huge numbers of people will play it, nor that many of them will love it. Yet it\u2019s also \u201cone more installment\u201d of a famous franchise and changes from its predecessors are primarily superficial. While still terrific, Diablo doesn\u2019t feel vital like it once did.<\/p>\n

The Good<\/strong><\/p>\n