Diablo 3 Open Beta Review

Richard is a HUGE Diablo fan, and has thoroughly reviewed the Diablo III Open Beta.

Let’s take a look…

Console: PC

Date Released: (BETA) April 20-23, 2012

Date Reviewed: 04/21/2012

Reviewer: Richard

Pros

*It’s a Blizzard game, have they ever let their fans down?
*Same basic feel as previous games which makes it easy to get into for both new and old players
*Soundtrack and animations really add to the feel

Cons

*Lack of skill tree feels odd
*The “WOW” look
*Server errors
*Makes one MORE impatient for the May 15th release.

Activision/Blizzard opened the Diablo 3 beta during the weekend of August 20th, 2012 in order to run stress tests on their servers one month before release. While I am very excited for the game, I haven’t kept up too much with information that has been released since the announcement in 2008.

Presentation : B+

Graphics / Animation / Sound

When gameplay was first revealed for Diablo 3, the biggest thing that stuck out for a lot of people was how the overall art looked very similar to another Blizzard game, World of Warcraft. While the company has done it’s best to downplay this as much as possible, I can definitely understand why some people would be upset with this. Blizzards “Big Three” have always had a certain distinction between them. Despite both being fantasy genre, you could always tell the difference between the Warcraft and Diablo games. Here, not so much. That being said, I won’t let that hamper my desire to play.

Say what you will of the graphics, but one plus I have to give credit to Blizzard is the animation. Monsters bursting through doors and zombies crawling up crevices add a very nice touch to the dark and creepy mood. While it’s probably not fair to compare this to a game that came out twelve years ago, but it’s things like that which the game was sorely lacking. Add to that the epic and eerie background music and sound effects which complete the overall Diablo experience.

Single Player : A-

Game mechanics / Length / difficulty

With the time that I had to play it, I complete the beta with the Monk and play around a bit with the Demon Hunter. The other three classes are Wizard, Barbarian, and Witch Doctor. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t a Paladin (my favorite from the previous game) or Cleric planned for this, but the Monk does fill in the healing role just a bit.

It’s been about four years since I played Lord of Destruction, but when I got into this beta, I was able to pick up the controls fairly quickly. About the only trouble I had was re-familiarizing myself with some of the hot keys. Let me be clear though, you do NOT have to have any previous experience with the first two games to play this unless you want to know the story. This game is mostly point and click based. I think I may have touched my keyboard a half-dozen times at most.

Total game time to beat the beta for me was approximately 4 hours. Of course, I may have been able to beat it much faster, but I couldn’t help but satisfy the old desire to explore the world. If the beta is any indication, there will be much to explore. And a lot of the times it will be to your advantage to do so, even if the most you get out of it is XP.

When it was announced, I knew that my first class was going to be the Monk. Fortunately, I was able to play enough of the game to get a good feel for the character. So far, everything has met my expectations. He (or she) is a very versatile melee class who can use anything from short teleportation techniques to combo attacks to some kind of fire-spinning kick move. On top of that, he can do some minor healing for himself and his team. While it’s not necessary since you do find many healing potions and orbs, it’s always useful as a back up.

Although brief, I was able to play a little bit of the Demon Hunter as well. I wasn’t to keen on playing a long ranged fighter, I have to say it was a very interesting experience. There were many times as the Monk I wish I had a bit more distance from my foes. Hunter gives me that distance as well as abilities to ensure they stay far enough away for me to shoot them down. This worked quite well in the forest and town areas, however not so much in the dungeons. Don’t get me wrong, I was able to fight off the enemies fine. But, of course, the lack of space will severely limit ones mobility.

Now the main reason why I didn’t have much time with the Hunter (or any other class) is an issue I wanted to touch up on. A big concern that I have noticed is the amount of time the sever has gone down since the open beta started. It took me hours before I could log in and create my character the first time. Now, I understand that this is just a beta and the sole reason for it is to test the servers. However, my experience with betas has led me to believe that if they are having trouble during the beta, they will more that likely have trouble when the game is initially released. It usually takes a day or so for them to iron out all the wrinkles. Then again, this is Blizzard we’re talking about here. All I’m saying is don’t hold your breath.

Multiplayer : N/A

Game mechanics / features / Online features

Unfortunately, due to the server issues and overall lack of time on my part, I was unable to test the multiplayer aspect of the game (if they even had it, which I assume they would). I will say two things about it though. First, if the multiplayer is anything like the previous game, it should be just as fun if not more. The different classes seem like they will mesh well together and I look forward to interacting with them when the game is finally released. Second, I have heard a few things about the Auction House. Personally, I see it as a big deal. I seriously doubt that anyone should quit their day job for it or anything, but I find it kind of nice that a game can reward you with real money for playing. And really, it’s a smart idea for Blizzard anyways to get around the eventual farming issues.

Replay Value : N/A

Lasting appeal / Bonus Content / DLC /

Again, I can’t really say much about this since it is just a beta. But, I can say that as far as first impressions go, I am even more excited for Diablo 3 than I was a few days ago. It really does feel like almost everything I loved about the last game is back with a few tweaks here and there to improve the experience. I think any gamer will find some kind of satisfying experience. Diablo 2 has held up to the test of time and is still one of the favorite games of many people even after a decade and I have no doubt it’s successor will do the same.

Bottom line: May 15th cannot get here soon enough.

Overall : A

Based on the Open Beta I can recommend buying Diable III when the full game comes out!