Issue 14 of Stencil Mag

The heightened difficulty changes the game entirely from a demon massacre into a frustrating puzzle. What annoys me is there is very little reward for taking on this challenge, so why bother? It’s a question I can’t answer, because I couldn’t be bothered.

This puzzle requires you to suddenly look at the game in a whole other light, stats like resistance become invaluable, suddenly DPS is not your primary concern, survival is.

Enemies go from being ‘just another demon’ to these dreaded creatures that if you don’t get every click of the mouse perfect then prepare to die and be hit with a hugely unreasonable repair bill. Many will refer to Inferno as ‘end game’ well it’s not, it’s the ‘same game’ just made very, very hard. As for Hardcore mode it’s just the same game again, but if you die… that’s it, restart the game: it’s punishing, but strangely thrilling.

Playing with friends, is of course a great way to break up the repetition, and does indeed open it up to potentially endless play and ultimately where Blizzard show their community building credentials.

Influences from Blizzards flagship MMO World of Warcraft are very clear and seamlessly implement the tools needed to turn Diablo III from a solo game into a multiplayer platform, from the Chat box in the corner, the ease of grouping and jumping into friends’ games with a single satisfying click. Diablo III is without a doubt a great game to play with up to 3 friends, offering challenges without the meaningless frustration of solo play.

Finally the feature that has caused the most debate: the Auction House (AH) has been going through many changes, especially now as I write this the Real Money AH has been causing a stir by rising the cost of ingame currency items, meaning some items are upwards of 30,000,000 gold. Playing the Auction House is a game in itself, just look for those perfect items (as items in Diablo have random stats, this can take some time), bid smart and don’t fall prey to people charging silly amounts of gold. As for real money I think it’s crazy, spending your hard earned money on virtual items is well… stupid. (Debate?)

So to wrap this up, Diablo III is incredible and truly is the king of it’s genre. It will undoubtedly be remembered as another roaring success for Blizzard. However as you progress to ‘end game’ it’s insanely difficult, like at times you will actually think it is impossible. Elite enemies with abilities that when combined make them unbeatable, will no doubt at times push you to just leave the game (my advice) go do something else before you leg drop your computer Hulk Hogan style!

Fixes to the game: very few login error messages, early class issues have been addressed and there are far fewer disconnects. The game has definitely become polished since launch, however not all changes have been beneficial - I maintain my feeling about current repair costs being unjust.

How to play Diablo III: Play with character builds, experiment with different classes and come up with a character that suits your play style. However as the game gets harder you may find yourself being forced to pick certain skills just to stay alive, by this point you won’t feel hard done by, there is more than enough content - that is not painfully frustrating to warrant your £45.

For most people, like me - as soon as you get into Inferno mode you’ll be thinking ‘really, I don’t have time for this’ and I don’t blame you. There are many people who happen to agree with me, just head over the Blizzard Forums for more QQing. Disclaimer any ‘elite/pro’ players reading this that might be thinking ‘man this dude hates this game cus he sucks’ my answer is I suck at games that give me no reason to become good at them, this game is amazing but I have no reason to go back to it, however I think Blizzard thought people like me would. There are of course people out there who will love the challenge and revel in the fact they are achieving in a game that most people would deem ‘impossible’. I applaud their tenacity but I do not share in their obsession.