PART 2:
Title. Diablo III Developer. Blizzard Platform(s). MAC, PC UK Release date: Out Now RATED: 15
Okay, so with this being part 2 of my review and the game having been out for 2 months this review will likely contain what many will perceive as spoilers. However on the upside I have covered all the groundwork in my previous review, so this will contain the thoughts of someone who has invested 100+ hours into the game. From the get go I would like to say this game is awesome, but this review will pick it to pieces. So let’s start by getting the story out of the way: in short Diablo III is broken down into 4 acts each ending with a main boss battle. Act 1: a new hero comes to town in the shape of us (after picking a class), so we arrive at the village with the aim to discover what caused this meteor to fall. Ending with us discovering what/who the meteor is. Act 2: we find ourselves in a desert, equipped with a large palace and it’s young ruler. You arrive in pursuit of a boss you expected to kill in the first act, kill them and another even bigger boss. Act 3: we become a key part of fighting off a giant army of demons trying to lay waste to a fort, protect the fort and go kill their leader (equipped with nipple rings). Finally we climax in the more memorable Act 4: we head up to ‘heaven’ to tackle the end boss (no prizes for guessing who it could be) and fulfil our destiny. Through the story our hero will be referred to as ‘Nephalem’ (what this means exactly doesn’t seemed to be explained in the game) I assume that it might explained in one of the numerous hidden pieces of lore in the game, or it may be clearer if I played the previous games. However for someone like me who isn’t a longstanding fan of the franchise, aspects of the story were completely lost on me, which I then had to reluctantly research. So my first major issue with the story is too much expectation on players to know the entire back-story, which is bonkers when it’s been 12 years since Diablo II. My second issue: is there are very few boss battles and when they do come around they only feel epic once. Overall there are too few memorable moments, some amazing cut scenes that have all the hallmarks of ‘no expense spared’, but most key narrative points become lost to repetition and the fact that Diablo III is not really about story, the game is based around killing and looting and it’s survival is very much based on the obsessiveness of it’s player base to keep wanting to do this. So you play the game 4 times on varying difficulties, all the time continuing to level up your character all the way to the level 60 cap – gathering new abilities and honing your skills. The 4th time around, prepare to enter Inferno mode: normal mode is far too easy, and anyone who plays through normal mode and raises their hands at the end and says ‘I’ve completed Diablo 3’ is – I’m afraid to say – mistaken. The problem lies in the big question: what difficulty setting of Diablo III is the right balance of ‘fun’ and ‘challenging’? This is a difficult question to answer and one that sparks great debate. You keep your gear as you restart the game for higher difficulty, however the leap from Hell to Inferno is well, one full of frustration and in all honesty the point where I decided that I had enough. Inferno mode is the ultimate test of skill, it’s the place where people show their dedication and determination, but for me, and the vast majority of people out there - it stinks of ‘elite’, a lot of effort and very little reward.