Xbox One Here's a fresh review!

Murray

New Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2013
Messages
338
Karma
2
From
Midwest US
I've never wrote about this game before outside of a general, this is fun kind of thought. Lets talk Diablo 3!

Diablo 3 is the third entry in the Diablo series. While the series has had mostly up's this game takes it back a step from the skill trees of the second Diablo but puts you into a world that is familiar and intriguing. Jump right into the hell storm that is Diablo 3.

Graphics - This game has a simple pallet of earthy tones that explode in vibrance. As time continues in your trip to fight the Hell Lord you will find some amazing effects from the skills you use, some detailed models of enemies and people in town, and environments that change as you progress. The graphics, while not the most brilliant in this gaming day and age, are some of the best that Blizzard has offered in their games. The physics are also hilarious. You'll find hordes of enemies being tossed in the air at the mere threat of your might heroic muscles.

Mechanics - This is where Diablo 3 sets itself apart. The controls are amazing with a controller. Someone at that company built the computer game around the idea of how to port to consoles as time goes on. You'll find yourself with simple controls and its very easy to pick up and show someone else how to use. The skill tree is a much more watered down version since Diablo 2. You have a set of skills and as you grow in levels you unlock runes to use with those skills. So if you are a mage you get access to an ice cannon spell. As you go on your ice cannon can increase in power, viciousness of freezing or splash damage. The way that you use your skills is through various consumables such as Mana, Fury, Hatred or whatever your character needs to get the job done. As time goes, you recover those points. This leads to a game where you're only worried about your health, you'll regen your skill points pool and it makes things less challenging in a good way. Gone are the days of having several types of potions and having different effects of those potions. All of this leads to a more enjoyable experience though a grand departure from the Diablo purest.

Music/Sound/Voice Acting - Blizzard gives you cut scenes of cinematic quality, voice acting that is very well done and composed, writing that is tragic, sweet, funny at times and leads you on a fun tale. Music is well done and becomes intense where it needs too and ominous where it needs to chill things out. The score is great but I won't be getting it like I do the final fantasy games.

Story/Meaning to the series - This is a game that finds itself amongst Diablo which was a staple of online gaming to my generation. This was the first time where we met friends of various lands and played and fought each other. Diablo also was the beginning of a great PK versus PKK war. I remember bounty boards searching out PKers and going on hunting parties looking for the famous PKers.

Diablo 2 was more than that. you couldn't PK freely and you could no longer hack your characters or use trainers, the world changed and all of a sudden you were talking more and more about how to grind and the end game. Life was different for the Diablo 2 player. Long gone was Tristram. It was just a momentary travel by portal to do some sort of task. Now there was a huge world to explore and life moved on like sand in the wind.

Diablo 3 nods to its older brothers. You start at...where else... Tristram and you run through the ruins of the past. In a way its almost like the game is both mourning and glorifying the loss of Diablo 1 and 2 as its history and the game world with it, is moving on. You get in depth views of what happened with the politics of the world that led to the first rise of Diablo. you also get more details as to what happened to the Dark Wanderer from Diablo 2. The heroes, the villians, the world, the story all of it is like saying goodbye to your childhood friends. I don't believe the next Diablo (if there is a Diablo 4) will follow this same story line and nor should it. ITs been done. We understand that Diablo has rose to power not once but 3 different times and all of his plans have always been around this time period that Diablo 1 - 3 takes place. While avoiding spoilers I can say that a lot of the story falls on deaf ears. You play and after the first act you're like "What are we doing...okay lets do that." and then the quests you take on for hours are quickly tossed out the window in exchange for a boss fight that didn't make sense.

So, long time Diablo fans you'll like what you're getting into. First time Diablo players will probably be okay after the first act.

Diablo is like a sweet flower that turns demonic and eats children as they walk by that comes around every so often. Its a wonderful thing to be involved with and being on the ground floor of the first game made this one even more important to me. wIth that said, the game withstands the test of time and has a great balance of what you remember and bringing about new and fun ways to kill demons and to be killed. A solid 4 out of 5.

What makes this a 4 and not a 5?
The story is a take it or leave it kind of tale
While fun, the replay value isn't as great as what you expect from Diablo
No cow level but there's something else that awaits you but still Cow Level
Your weapons and creations lack the value that you come to expect in Diablo land. You'll have to know Diablo to understand that I think
This is a good good game but its not a game changer nor is it going to hold the value that the original or Diablo 2 has held.
 
Damn it! I sold my copy a long time ago. At that point the whole community was split on the game. Some cried about the auction house (since removed) others about the loot system. I keep reading about all these improvements, and now with the removal of the auction house, maybe's time to jump back in and continue my fight against evil. With new characters.
 
I agree with the controls. I first played Diablo on my PC and I never thought the console port would have this good control.
 
I haven't tried Diablo 3 on the Xbox yet, but I've been steadily playing the PC version since expansion was released.
It's great to read that they were able to make a competent port, as usually controller problems are what kills these ports and makes them usually bad.
As for the story criticism, that's the a general problem with Diablo, the story is almost completely inconsequential, it's just a vehicle to keep you moving and with the Adventure mode there isn't even a need for it.
 
I wouldn't rate the game a perfect 5 either even with all the fun that I've had. I agree that the story was a little meh but like Strykstar said, its the Diablo series. It's the same storytelling found in other Blizzard games with a religious/mythological twist. I found myself having alot of fun with the console editions despite the only real big change being the drops and the lack of an AH, which has also been taken care of now in the PC versions. I enjoyed and agree with your review, anyone who likes these types of games is doing themselves a disservice by not playing the latest entry in the Diablo franchise.
 
Back
Top