“What happens when one of the most influential PC-based series makes its way over to console gaming? An absolute master-class in role-play adventure. Diablo III is every bit as incredible on home consoles as it was on the PC, bringing captivating role-play adventuring to the masses, this is a game you simply cannot miss.“
Gameplay:
Diablo III is a traditional role-play adventure game where you’re expected to choose a class, upgrade it with abilities and armour while constantly wading through hordes of enemies and finding unlimited amounts of tantalising loot.
Blizzard are kings of role-play and all the influential ideas from past Diablo games and their famous MMO World of Warcraft have been implemented here to make this game incredibly entertaining and addictive. Whether you play as the Barbarian, Witch Doctor, Wizard, Monk or Demon Hunter you will come to realise that to truly experience Diablo III, you will eventually need to play as all the available classes. With different abilities and equipment spread evenly across the characters, it’s very difficult to choose a favourite or point your finger on the strongest class.
When a game makes its way from PC to home consoles there is always a group of people holding their breath in anticipation to see whether it’s a smooth transition or an utter travesty. You’ll be happy to know that Diablo III moves over seamlessly and for the most part using a controller to play the game is actually very enjoyable. The game has obviously been streamlined across its menus and gameplay mechanics to support a controller over the traditional mouse and keyboard variant, but it plays very well without any real issues.
Presentation:
The same can partially be said for Diablo III’s presentation. Porting over a game that can be played using very high grade PC hardware can pose problems for home consoles but it’s fair to say that Diablo III looks good on home consoles and rarely suffers from any frame-rate issues.
Diablo III’s wonderful artistic design doesn’t require absolutely high-end graphics cards, which is partly why the consoles can handle the experience.
Let’s not take anything away from the game itself with all this technical babble – Diablo III is absolutely stunning to look at: every environment is ominous and beautifully crafted while enemies are terrifying and gruesome. Diablo III is truly the type of game you play with the lights turned down and sound turned up.
Verdict:
The best thing about Diablo III hands down is the four-player cooperative mode that can be played on the same console – this is the ultimate friend’s night in, snacks out, beer flowing monster slaying adventure. Diablo III is an unstoppable RPG monster, one that will have you hooked from the word go so don’t hesitate if you’ve never played a Diablo game before, go rally up a group of friends and get yourself a copy right now.
Gameplay: 9
Presentation: 9
Replay Value: 10
Verdict: 9
Igor Kharin.
Diablo 3 at CeX
