Let’s not pretend that I know a lot about Diablo III. It’s the type of game that I usually steer clear of, dismissing it as not being my sort of game. It’s extremely popular though – it sold a reported 12 million copies in 2012, 3.5 million of which were in the first 24 hours of its release. And it’s a PC exclusive, so that’s very impressive.
Following on from the success of Diablo II, the series’ third instalment had twelve years of hype behind it, so it had to deliver. In many respects it did, with a Metacritic score of 88 and Gamoc scoring it a 10/10 – the best mark we can give – in our own lengthy review. However, while the critical response was positive, many gamers saw the in-game auction house as a failure and the Metacritic user score currently sits at 3.8 due to the backlash.
He summed it all up nicely, reinforcing the fact that this was really something special:
Diablo III is as close to flawless as I’ve ever seen a game get. When the only downsides to a game are the DRM, the server issues after 4.7 million people tried to log in at the same time and a predictable storyline (though one that still resulted in rampant speculation on what’s coming next), I have to pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming.
Blizzard may well have pulled off the seemingly impossible and created a masterpiece that’s a truly worthy sequel to Diablo II. Arguing which is better, Diablo III or its prequel, is asking for trouble, but we can definitely argue that they are on par relative to the state of gaming at their release.
Despite this, Gamoc said that “the storyline really fails to grab you” though continued with “the plot is as deep as the mediocrity goes in Diablo III”, reinforcing the fact that there were very few flaws in the game, the only other problem being the at times poor dialogue.
Fortunately, if your PC isn’t quite up to spec you’ll be glad to know that Diablo III is launching on both PS3 and PS4 later this year, with optimised controls and four player local co-op. We’ll be hearing more about this version at PAX East.
Diablo III seems to be massive, so hopefully you’ve all had enough time to comment on the game.
The usual rules apply – just drop a comment below with your opinion of the game and we’ll round them all up for an article next Monday. You’ll have to write your comment by Sunday, however, if you’d like to be included in this round-up. Don’t forget to write a Buy It, Rent It, Bargain Bin It or Avoid It rating on the end to sum up your overall thoughts.
Nylon_Angel
I have never played any of the other Diablo’s and the only reason I got 3 was because I got the years sub with WoW.
So I went into this game blind not knowing if I would like it or not, from the moment I logged in I was hooked into the story and the game play. I enjoyed how it handled and found it easy to get into. But I do think it will work better on the PlayStation, as you will have all the controls in your hands rather than keyboard as I think you will be able to responded quicker.
I really like this game so I would recommend buying it.
Severn2j
This was my first foray into the world of Diablo, and while it was fun at first, I got bored fairly quickly and gave up not long after the start of Act II.
Rent it. Some love it, I didn’t.