Round-Table Mega-Review: Diablo III

[News Portal]

The long-awaited next installment in the series that arguably defined the genre, [app=4089]Diablo III[/app] has been twelve years in the making. Such a monster of a game could only be tackled by a skilled party - we assembled James Pinnell, Patrick Vuleta, Bane Williams and Tim Colwill to put down this foul beast.

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Read full article by Pinnell, Vuleta, Williams & Colwill

[Scared]

I 'was' going to get Diablo 3...then I saw someone playing at work with almost a 1 second lag on all actions.

No thanks, I don't want lag in my single player.

[Bek]

The game itself doesn't sound bad... but forcing always online and the problems it causes is just SO **** stupid, I can't see why you'd bother.. especially when Torchlight 2 is in the works.

[diamondd]

The game itself doesn't sound bad... but forcing always online and the problems it causes is just SO **** stupid, I can't see why you'd bother.. especially when Torchlight 2 is in the works.

yeah, playing the guest pass version I just feel like there's SO much there to get into and you almost can't help but love it. Right about then however you'll experience game-breaking issues with server performance and decide that there's no way you can justify supporting this product.

I can't WAIT for torchlight 2, in fact I've gone back to the first one the past couple of weeks

[Ralph Wiggum]

It comes down to whether the cons of the potential lag and server issues outweigh the joys of playing an otherwise polished, fun, beautiful looking game. I'm willing to bite...for now.

[caitsith01]

Stupid DRM fails again!

Where are all those dimwits who constantly roll out the "but everyone has an internet connection, stop whining" line?

If you don't NEED to be connected as part of the actual game (which you don't in a single player game by definition) then you should NEVER have to be.

[jonlee]

I'm up to inferno and have put in about 60 hours of playtime. My recommendation is wait for torchlight 2 to come out.

It doesn't fee like a top notch Blizzard game, the game feels bland has failed to draw me in

[Clovis]

Got about 30odd hours of playtime so far, one character is up to act 3 nightmare the other few are up to varying stages of Normal. Thoroughly enjoying the game.

It's a shame about the always online part, but I think as time goes by it will be less of an issue. Probably my one true problem with the game.

I really like the visuals, which is a turnaround as the screenshots I saw pre-launch didn't really impress me. A number of areas are still both dark and gruesome enough to truly give me D1 nostalgia in terms of that gothic, bloody style.

The story wasn't fantastic, probably around the level of D2s for me. I'm a big D1 fanboy, and still think it had the best story/premise of the three. As an aside, I think the journals you find scattered around the game world are much better written, and much less cliche, than the main 'meat' of the storyline. That said, the cinematics are brilliantly done and the voice acting is on the whole very good.

The skill system is getting better the more I level up. Being able to constantly tinker with my build is keeping me very engaged with the game.

Overall I think it is every bit as good as I expected. Loving it!

[Bluefire]

"Congradulations, Youve beaten Diablo3"
.. Right.. what do I do now ?
Exactly the same thing again with slightly harder mobs ?
Exactly the same thing again with a slightly different character ?
Ive finnished playing my Demon hunter...
Barb and witchdoctor are just meh imo, barb is ugly as sin, dont like the way witchdoctor walks, dont like either of their armor sets... cant customise them in any way... so...
Trying out a monk now. Plenty fun, slightly differnt interactions with the compaions.. story is identical..
Wondering if I should play through again or not.. sure its pretty.. and combat is fun (mostly, unless you lagspike and die)... But the story is.. ugh.
Might just play though joining random's games as all my mates have already finnished and un-installed.
Or I could go back to swtor...
Swtor's story is better.. lag is better.. combat isnt as much fun tho.
Gotta do something till gw2 gets here... (didnt enjoy torchlight1, wont waste cash on 2)

[Sathias]

I'm up to inferno and have put in about 60 hours of playtime. My recommendation is wait for torchlight 2 to come out.

It doesn't fee like a top notch Blizzard game, the game feels bland has failed to draw me in

You've played it for 60 hours in a week and it's failed to draw you in?

[Cozi]

I'm up to inferno and have put in about 60 hours of playtime. My recommendation is wait for torchlight 2 to come out.

It doesn't fee like a top notch Blizzard game, the game feels bland has failed to draw me in

You've played it for 60 hours in a week and it's failed to draw you in?

My thoughts too lol...

[Mekon]

I (...) have put in about 60 hours of playtime (...) the game feels bland [and] has failed to draw me in

You've played it for 60 hours in a week and it's failed to draw you in?

I did the same double-take, TBH.

Cognitive dissonance aside, I'm still unsure as to how I feel about the game...

Always online has been a non-issue for me - I've not had a single issues with disconnects or game-breaking lag (some minor rubber-banding once in a blue moon aside). It looks pretty: the animations and OTT gibs are fantastic and the feel of combat is spot on.

I just feels like it lacks depth. Then again, so did the first two iterations in the franchise. I'm still playing and having fun... I'm just not in love with the game.

[jonlee]

Yea but I'm not longer playing it anymore. At least you can say I gave it a go. There's no real motivation to keep playing, it just hasn't capture me like some games do

[X66WeeD666X]

I'm enjoying it to a degree, just finished act 1 and it just feels like a i did a backwards run on the original Diablo.

So hopefully something happens cause i do feel like i paid for a rehash of the original in a new skin.

Yes there are some small improvements and i am enjoying it and will play it through cause im a sucker for continuing story lines.

My biggest gripe is the performance i'm getting, had no lad on the Asian or Americas servers. But FPS performance. No matter the setting, no matter the resolution, my FPS does not change it is always a 45-50 and that is clunky to my eyes.

Also, no native Crossfire'd eyefinity support!?

Sad panda.....

[James Pinnell]

Blizzard have grown complacent with developing innovative gameplay mechanics as of late. They know Diablo 3 would make a gazillion dollars, regardless.