Whether the character models are "cartoony" or not, the content within
style="font-style: italic;">Diablo III will be
incredibly mature game, both thematically and visually. During my play
session, I had the opportunity to try out two character classes - the
Barbarian and the Wizard - and both of these individuals were able to
tear enemies to pieces in a variety of ways, resulting in sprays of
crimson ichor.
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The
Barbarian tends to kick ass first and ask questions...never.
Pushing further into the village, I eventually made my way to the
demonstration's focal activity, the retaking of a local cathedral where
the undead forces have holed up. Rolling up my sleeves, I dove into the
cathedral with my character at the ready and instantly began slashing
my way through enemy forces. However, this task was nowhere near as
easy as it sounds. In fact, I would wager to say that the Diablo
developers have really honed the art of making players feel like
they're "on the edge." Everytime you enter into a battle in
style="font-style: italic;">Diablo III, your
character has the potential to meet an ugly and untimely end.
In fact, with my Barbarian I actually died a number of times, simply
because I was not utilizing my "rage"
style="font-style: italic;"> (Editor's Note: That is not the
exact name of the ability.) to its fullest potential. Due
to the lack of health potions that drop in the game, your character
will often feel like they're on the cusp of life, until to defeat a
particularly nasty monster and have a insta-health pot drop right in
front of you. Although the characters in Diablo are epically powerful,
even from level one, you won't be able to simply wade through enemies
without a second thought. The action in the game keeps you on your toes
and keeps you focused on your winning strategy.
Even though action is the main element in
style="font-style: italic;">Diablo III,
Blizzard's game isn't without its own set of lore, and the developers
have interjected a unique element that allows players to learn about
the backstory of the game. Rather than forcing players to read through
reams of text, the developers have made backstory scrolls an
audible element to the game. Every time a player picks up and clicks on
a scroll, a voice over will read that scroll to the player, which
allows the action to continue unabated while the player listens to the
story of a specific character.
Like most other action games of Diablo's
type, the monsters in the dungeons continued to get more difficult -
and more elaborate - the farther you get into a particular level. In
the case of Diablo III,
it looks as if Blizzard will continue to improve on this trend as their
monsters are not only fun to watch, but tactically interesting to fight
as well. Monsters will have their own particular strategies, and the
more important the monsters, the more complex the strategy. Intelligent
players will focus on the animations of the monsters to inform them of
how to defeat particular goons.
Along with the monsters, almost every part of the graphical experience
in Diablo III
is vibrant and intensely fluid. From what I experienced, the textures
in the game are crisp and the entire world feels like it's moving
around your character. Although it may not be the most important part
of the game, this feeling of fluidity certainly enhances the experience
of Diablo III.
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The Witch
Doctor is full of awesomesauce - the rest of the classes should look
this cool.
The game - in this early stage - isn't without it's faults, however.
While I had a great time playing the Wizard and the Barbarian during my
play session, I couldn't help but stare in awe as a fellow play tester
played with his Witch Doctor and proceeded to light up his entire
screen with incredible AE attacks. WIth two fiery "dogs" and incredibly
explosive animations, the Witch Doctor seems much more attractive than
either the Barbarian or the Wizard. While I wasn't surprised that the
Barbarian doesn't have all the "flash" of the magic classes, I was a
bit disappointed in the spell effects of the Wizard. Disintegrate may
be a fiery beam of doom, but it just doesn't have the "awesome" factor
compared to the Witch Doctor's spells. Character skills need to be
balanced on both a number and an animation scale.
I also hope that the D3 developers can implement many more of their
"random" quests into the various scenarios before they release the
game. These random scenarios - as described in several of the D3 panels
- are a terrific idea and they should be utilized more than what I
experienced in my play sessions.
At this point, the future of Diablo
III looks about as bright as the explosion of a Wizard's
frost nova. I truly enjoyed my experience with the game, enough that I
stayed on my computer for a few minutes longer than was scheduled,
which caused a fellow play tester to harass me until I got off. If you
want to learn more about this upcoming RPG, make sure you stay with Ten
Ton Hammer and watch for my impressions of the Wizard and the Barbarian!
