Diablo III Beta Impression

"As with everything though – time will be the deciding factor." 

 

Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment 
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Genre: RPG
Platform: PC, MAC
Release Date: Q2, 2012 

 

When I got the invitation from Blizzard to play the beta version of Diablo III my heart skipped a beat; a game that had been at the forefront of my mind for quite some time was finally within my grasp. I consider Diablo II as the all-time best game I have played in its genre and had seriously high expectations for this third installment. That in itself is a curse because I had such high expectations going in, even if it was only still at the beta stage.
 

One major difference I found from the get-go with this beta is there is no offline mode. You have to have a Battle.net account. Upon launch you are presented with a character selection screen just Diablo II only this time you can pick gender in your class. In the Launchpad there is a new feature called Auction House, which allows you to trade items and such. The feature leaves me a little skeptical as part of the magic of the past two games was the joy in finding those rare items by yourself. It all depends on how they execute the system that will ultimately be the deciding factor. The game also incorporates your standard social and interactive features like chatbox and friends list, which will allow me to import my Facebook acquaintances and the like.

 
 

With the formalities out of the way I jumped straight in as a Demon Hunter for my first playthrough. She was a ranged attack character with similarities to Amazon from Diablo II. As a Demon Hunter you have three meters to consider – health, which is pretty self explanatory – hatred, which builds up your offensive abilities – and discipline, which builds up your tactical abilities. They’re a nice touch and feel accessible to the user without overly complicating matters. I haven’t had a whole lot of time to try out each and every spell available, but it’s pretty obvious at this point that the character is suited to single target killing with crowd control causing some problems. It is still possible to beat a large contingent, but it just feels like an uphill battle. I faced a couple of close calls with twenty-something enemies closing in on me, but with a little ingenuity came out the victor.
 

One thing that helped turn the tide in my favor was the use of environmental objects that you can now use to your advantage – a first for the series. A prime example was taking out a hoard of enemies by breaking a large boulder into pieces and letting it rain down upon them. The fact that the needless clicking of each and every coin you come across has been removed was also a deciding factor. Now a swift cursor movement will do the trick and they’ll slot nicely into your inventory, leaving you to focus on more pressing matters. The game now also includes coin and XP bonuses that work towards your challenge achievements, which works in a similar way to StarCraft II and is a nice touch that provides gamers set goals to work towards.
 

Unlike Diablo II, the quest progression found here is somewhat linear. You have to finish the first quest before you can move to another. This was clearly put in to help the story flow better and with the addition of in-game cutscenes everything feels more organized and purposeful. Whether or not you feel this is a better progression path will come down to preference. Just be reassured that it doesn’t feel like a step backwards so much as a step sideways.

 
 

One of the major changes in Diablo III is a complete reworking of the skill system. The skill tree that was introduced in Diablo II has been removed. Now instead of only being able to choose a skill once and then being stuck with it for the duration, you can pick and choose freely with no detrimental effects. Skills are unlocked now through the leveling system, and all will become available when you reach level 60. After that it’s a case of trial and error in finding the right combination of skills to complement one another and those that suit certain quests. While the system is easier to grasp it’s not something I’m overly enthusiastic about as I feel it takes the uniqueness of your character away. I can already envisage an abundance of similar class set-ups online.
 

Another thing that caught my attention for the wrong reasons was the pacing of the game, which feels slower and more lethargic than its predecessors, and when dealing with a hack and slash dungeon crawler a few milliseconds of difference can change your entire approach in terms of gameplay. Of course we are still at the beta testing stage so this can easily be fixed, but it’s somewhat surprising this wasn’t addressed earlier in its life cycle. The audio, particularly the sound effects are quite excellent and really encompass the rest of the game. The graphics feel a little dated, but this too is to be expected from beta code and will only improve from here on out.
 

Since the release of this Beta there has been twelve patch updates, which tells us that Blizzard is constantly taking players’ opinions into account through their forums – an activity I too need to partake in. At this junction the game is half-decent, albeit missing the polish that will surely come with the retail release. My current concerns are with the depth this game could offer as is and if enhancements aren’t coming in this regard then its longevity compared to Diablo II may just fall short. As with everything though – time will be the deciding factor.

This video shows a quest playthrough of a female Demon Hunter. 

 

Syed Akbar, NoobFeed
Facebook, SoundCloud