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Gaming Diablo 3 review

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by brumgrunt, 17 May 2012.

  1. Yslen

    Yslen Lord of the Twenty-Seventh Circle

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    I'm loving it so far, but then I was expecting to.

    I know everybody hates the DRM, but it makes the game unhackable, which is what ruined D2 online. Aside from the occasional hiccup (mainly related to people in my house abusing our limited bandwidth) it's worked fine for me. I played for 6+ hours on Tuesday with no problems at all.

    Nobody seems to like the skill system either, but I think it's a smart move. The game becomes more fun as you level rather than less fun, as was the issue in the original games and the many similar games made since.

    While I'm here... I really don't understand why everyone raves about Torchlight. I just found it incredibly dull. Each to their own I guess.
     
  2. rollo

    rollo Modder

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    You can beat game solo on normal I've done it it's pretty easy

    As for Diablo 3 entering a sale gl with that as blizzard games don't seem to do sales
     
  3. NetSphere

    NetSphere What's a Dremel?

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    Mm, I'm not all the fussed about D3. I'm waiting for TL2. that game looks awesome. And also, have to admit that the Diablo series darkness + gory isn't to my tastes. It's ok initially, and then when you're wandering through the dungeons, mindlessly splatting stuff, your mind wanders to the meaning behind all the racks and grizzly bodies and I begin to feel ill.

    Gore should be in FPS. I can sniper one person's head at a time, but wading through rivers of blood isn't my kind of thing. Torchlight 2 seems a lot lighter and that'll be my bet.

    Also have to mention that I'm not too enthused about the whole real money auction + always on. Always on is semi-ok. Real money auction just feels wrong. If it was F2P, sure. But in a £~40 game? WTF? Not enough money for you Blizz?
     
  4. adam_bagpuss

    adam_bagpuss Have you tried turning it off/on ?

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    then dont take part - its choice they haven't made it compulsory. They set it up because D2 had a massive black market for gear. Its a smart move which protects players while letting blizzard and other players make money.

    personally i wont be touching the Real money auction house as i dont want to pay for virtual items for a game im not likely to play forever.
     
  5. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    Remember to spell it Fauntleroy :thumb:
     
  6. Yemerich

    Yemerich I can has PERSUADETRON?

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    I am getting pretty upset that every spare time I've got to play D3, the servers are down. And I am a "forever alone" kind of player.

    This is VERY frustrating! I've pre ordered it, paid a hefty money and I generally can't play. Either because of the lag, or the server is down. LAG IN SINGLE PLAYER MAKES ME UPSET!

    On a Diablo's series fan side, I concur 100% to almost everything Joe said. The dark atmosfere is kinda washed out in D3, but still fun. But 12 years to deliver a game that has almost no new features is too much time.
     
  7. Ljs

    Ljs Modder

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    Torchlight is a terrible terrible game, and does not deserved to be said in the same sentence as Diablo.

    I've enjoyed D3 thus far but I fear it will lack longevity, and Blizzard have said that they won't be adding content (but I think this is directed at subscribed WoW players who might assume to get free content).

    The gory and demonic atmosphere in some of the locations is really nicely done, and something I haven't seen in many games for quite a while.

    Hack and slash, non complicated and fun, can't go wrong really. I'd happy play it alone although I have mostly been playing in a group.

    To people complaining about the price - you can get it in many many places for under £45, it is infact just over £30 in most places which is about average from a new release.

    Overall, I don't think its a bad game at all but I can't see myself playing it for long.
     
  8. Bede

    Bede Minimodder

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    This review confirms everything I thought about D3 though given the reviewer barely played Diablo 2 I think he misses the point that the art style is radically different to its predecessors (and closer to WoW and Torchlight) rather than just not being gory enough.
     
  9. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    Opinions are like arseholes. When the dust settles it will be clear that Diablo 3 is a technically superior game, but that it will have let down a large proportion of its potential players by not offering any sort of offline mode.

    Whether you liked Torchlight or not, it is undeniably popular and a was great achievement for such a small team/budget. But I'll defend your right to hate it to the death ;)
     
  10. [-Stash-]

    [-Stash-] What's a Dremel?

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    Having been burned by Ubisoft's always-on-DRM, I'm definitely giving this a miss. It's just something I'm completely not interested in.

    Does D3 tolerate even a momentary blip of internet connection downtime?

    Also, I've heard rumours of no pause button in single player - is this true? If so, that's another reason I'm just not interested.
     
  11. Kris

    Kris Lord Lolwut

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    yup, as far as i have looked into it, you cannot pause the game even while single player. My guess, it was too big of ahurdle to program considering the easy transition to multiplayer.

    But yeah, you can be one act ahead, then join with your mate, and you'll immediately join with his quest progress. After you're done and back to single player (transition then seamless), you can leave the game, and choose the quest checkpoint that you were at before multiplayer.

    So far the main thing is that I'm seeing why blizz did the no offline option, as they want to encourage multiplayer. I really get that, I do. Yet the lack of playing offline is a sore sight indeed. Only when I focus on the fact that actualy while your connection works, it greatly increases the social aspect of it all. No more calling your friend to say hi, and 'you have time to play some?'
    Teaming up is a breeze.

    Yet, after all this, I cannot understand what were they doing so long? I hope that for the first years of development, they didn't do any real work, and only the last 2 years actually worked on it. Otherwise, the game as it is doesn't look like a 5+ year development.

    Although, so far I have not encountered a single bug whether during a quest or killing mobs. So that side of the game has superb polish.
     
  12. Ljs

    Ljs Modder

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    Well that is thing I am a little surprised about - I didn't realise it was popular. I played for 8 hours or so and it was possibly the most boring and repetive 8 hours of my life. Pretty much everyone I have spoken to have said the same

    Its a bland emulation of Blizzards achievements, mixing the WoW colour models and art stlye in a Diablo esque setting. There is no innovation or originality, it is repetative (a feeling of deja vu after 1 hour play), little to no story, gear sets that don't match.. the list goes on.

    I appreciate however that people have different opinions to me and may have liked it (I have no idea why apart from the price tag) and also that this thread is about D3 and not me ranting about TL!
     
  13. Star*Dagger

    Star*Dagger What's a Dremel?

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    Alot of negative nancys here, as always.

    1) If you do not have a constant, high quality, low latency internet connection you need to get one or move to where there is one. Gaming in 2012 (2002 for that matter) is all about online!

    2) Listing prices in boutique currencies (pounds) is kind of sad, at least list prices in Euros as well http://www.xe.com/

    3) Blizzard is successful because they release high quality games that are entertaining, the comparison to Baldurs Gate is ludicrous as it is a different genre, in fact until Torchlight came along to try to make money off of Diablo there was only one title in the genre.

    4) watching livestreams of others gameplay to decide on if you like a game is like watching porn to find a girlfriend, except that the people on livestreams will not be above average.

    5) wow, just wow.

    Yours in Corrective Plasma,
    Star*Dagger
     
  14. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    I know I come across as a bit of a Torchlight fanboy, but considering Runic Games was made up of the key folks from Blizzard North (i.e. the folks behind Diablo 1 & 2), I always think it's a bit off calling Torchlight a rip-off or emulation whether the game is enjoyed or not.

    Diablo 3 was always going to feel a bit different considering 30 staff members left the original team to pursue other projects in 2003.

    Like you say though LJS I'll butt out of the thread now too and let the people chat about D3!

    Star*Dagger, I'd love to be able to justify a move of house in order to play the latest games, but I'd have to question the sanity of anyone choosing to move geographical location for that reason alone...
     
  15. Star*Dagger

    Star*Dagger What's a Dremel?

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    I enjoyed TL, but people think its the 2nd coming or something.

    As far as moving, Id suggest that you not move INTO an area without serious broadband, esp if you are a gamer. Some of us spend 40 hours a week gaming, that is a lot of frustration if your connection is weak. I know that many people here at BT are currently trapped in the outreaches of England, I feel for them, but there are places even in the UK that have fine internet service. I think of it like oxygen for cyberspace. And now with all the devices we have Ipads, phones, multiple computers, anything less than a solid 16Mbps is really painful.

    Enjoy,
    S*D
     
  16. Shirty

    Shirty W*nker! Super Moderator

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    I was surprised I enjoyed TL in all honesty, I don't usually get on with isometric type games, but it definitely wasn't the second coming!! I probably put 30 hours into it though, which worked out as a cost of around 4 pence an hour. Based on the cheapest price I can find D3 for at the moment, I'd have to play for over 820 hours to get the same value!!

    Also, I envy those that are able to plough hours a week into gaming, I'm lucky to manage 10!

    :hehe:
     
  17. mpr

    mpr What's a Dremel?

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    Wow, you just described D3 to a T... I enjoyed Torchlight, it had more innovation than D3 does and I EXPECT TL2 will as well. But we'll see. In the meantime, when the servers are running fine (they were last night) I'll be wearing out my index finger in D3. I wanted so much more from a decade long development cycle (reviewers praising the voice acting!?!? Really? And the story... eh? It's a semi satisfying clickfest). Take away permanent skill choices and neglect to give visual customization other than gear dye, and what you're left with is nothing more than anything else that's come before it... and I'll be playing it just the same until something better comes along.
     
  18. Phalanx

    Phalanx Needs more dragons and stuff.

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    Possibly not, as the game seems to run on their servers, rather than on your machine. Think of a server-client relationship like BF3 multiplayer.

    Erm, the game pauses fine when you're in single player. If you are alone and hit ESC the game pauses. People can't join you whilst you're like that. If someone joins while you're playing, THEN you can't pause until you're alone again. Makes sense if you ask me.
     
  19. Panos

    Panos Minimodder

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    D3 didn't impressed me in Beta. Nor the others at work who got it are impressed either.

    So is a pass for me, and I will wait for Grim Dawn, whenever comes out.
     
  20. Eiffie

    Eiffie What's a Dremel?

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    My experience playing Diablo 3. . . - This game is awesome! - This game coulda been better. . . - WTF is that, killstreak/EXP bonus-thing for destorying tons of boxes and other things that don't fight back??? - DUDE! SNAKE, it's Dr. Naomi, GET THE F#($ OVER HERE! - Where are all my scrolls? *looks up wiki* . . . dear god, there's no more scrolls. . .
     
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