Liam Reviews “Diablo 3”

Diablo 3 in Review

I remember my parents buying me the original Starcraft in fourth grade and trying to amass, “9 on 1 Comp Stomp” wins to try and get my first 25 stars. It was a fresh and exciting time as a young child with these brand new outlets of “Chat channels” and “Clans” and “Gaming Prestige”. I remember joining my first clan and meeting one of my best online friends and we would play for hours.  Amazingly enough I used to have him on Facebook as a friend and we played games together all the way through Warcraft: The Frozen Throne and for over ten years until I went off to college.  We would play every Blizzard game possible:  Starcraft, Diablo, and Warcraft, always trying to be the best players imaginable and for a time we got really, really good at D2 and Warcraft. I saw Starcraft 2 being released and I wanted to buy it so bad, but I always couldn’t afford a computer at the time capable of playing it and with playing baseball in college I just didn’t have the time anymore.

I’ve grown up now. Haven’t heard from my friend in years, and I have a wife and an almost 2 year old son.  When I saw Diablo 3 coming out, I nearly pissed myself with excitement, but then like last time I just couldn’t convince myself to buy it. Prices for games seemed so expensive now that I’m older and where was I going to find the time to play an online game I used to spend over thirty hours a week on when I was a kid. Long story short my wife told me to purchase the game because she knew how badly I wanted it. So this past week I finally did and here now is my review from a long time Blizzard fanatic.

It took me four days to beat the game on normal, putting in maybe ten hours of game time. I also learned quickly and stopped joining public games; all everyone wanted to do was skip through the storyline and power through the acts. This is Diablo 3, kids! A virtual memento of my childhood brought back to life and I damn sure wasn’t going to rush it! The fact that there wasn’t a good chat platform was aggravating maybe due to the fact that very few people wanted to stop their monster slaughter and chat. I wanted to discuss  the game with others and talk about the mystic atmosphere and storyline. That wasn’t going to happen.

At first this bothered me but without a second thought I was in Act 2 finding my first legendary item. I was hooked again. Holy shit! A legendary item on normal, I thought I was a god and soon enough I found another. Then I was in Act 3 and then the next thing I know I’m killing Diablo ??? Where had the game gone and no way could I have already gotten to level 31 and finished it on normal? Wrong again.

It seems like Diablo has been skimped to the bare bones is my best description on the matter. It’s a skeleton of its former self, but occasionally it presents a gem-like glitter that’s just enough to pull you back in for awhile. My honest opinion? The creators pissed their pants when they had a working BETA, couldn’t handle the public pressure, and released far, far too early – praying that updates and patches could fix the situation and catch up to the game. On release the game had virtually no dueling. NO DUELLING??? I PLAYED DIABLO 2 NIGHT AND DAY JUST TO GRIND FOR ITEMS TO DUEL WITH MY PALADIN. That was the only reason to even play the stupid game after you beat it the 1000000th time.

The questions that I’m asking are this: Where did everything go and why? Where are the chat rooms, where is the dueling, where is the questing, and why do I not care a damn about these new characters and the NPCS? I realized I didn’t have a single attachment to any of them. I can remember every single individual, detail, and character and scenery in ACTS 1-4 in Diablo 2. I can’t even remember the damn name of my blacksmith I use to craft items 24/7 in Diablo 3; also ACTS 3 and 4 are a little more than a blur in my memory. Wait, I remember Act 3, it played like a poor man’s Dante’s Inferno.

Blizzard, I love you guys to death and I will always support your games, they are above and beyond most of the competition out there. But these are amateur mistakes you should have been prepared for. I still think these are easy fixes that could vastly improve the overall game play aspect. Also, for god sakes, add an online auction house feature that isn’t in game. Even in NCAA FOOTBALL EA SPORTS 2012 in dynasty mode you can do your recruiting online.

Diablo 3 is an unpolished gem that still needs a lot of work, but has barrelfuls of potential on the flipside. I’m currently unsure how much time now I’ll continue to invest in the game. How am I supposed to find my Paladin dueling games I used to join? Where is the customization? Why is my monk punching monsters when I have a freaking sword equipped?

6 out of 10 Liams for Diablo 3. One day in the future I hope to introduce my son to these same franchises I cherished for years. I don’t want him to rush through the storyline, get disenchanted with the game, and never look back.  I want him to make memories and remember the fantastic time he had staying up hours late at night wasting time on a stupid, silly video game because that’s what kids do. From a lifelong fan I hope you dig deep into what made the games so addictive and fun, reinvent Diablo 3 into the game it should be and can be, so when that time in the future comes, I can be proud and excited to play a Blizzard game again, this time with my son.