Diablo III

Diablo?II came out 12 years ago, and it's been going strong since then. The simple, addictive dungeon crawler captured the hearts of gamers with its massive expansion from the first Diablo and broad variety of locations, enemies, and loot. It wasn't story-heavy, nor did it require a lot of strategy, just a sturdy mouse and dedication to clicking. It was fun, and, thanks to a strong multiplayer community, it kept gamers playing over a decade. The sequel is finally out, and it follows in Diablo II's footsteps with simple, addictive, gruesome fantasy gameplay. Blizzard didn't make many changes to the core components of the game except for streamlining the multiplayer experience, at the cost of the ability to play it offline. This is the same great Diablo you've played for years. At $59.99, it's a bit expensive for a PC game (with the impressive $99.99 collector's edition moreso), but, considering the longevity of Diablo II, this could be a hack-and-slash adventure you'll be playing for the next decade.

The game looks and feels like Diablo II, with a visual upgrade. There are 3D graphics and the resolution is much higher, but it's still a fixed isometric perspective where you run around dark areas killing groups of demons. The dungeons look suitably detailed and the action is animated smoothly, but because the perspective is fixed you can't look close enough at the action to see the sort of breathtaking detail games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim offer. The only camera change you can effect is a slight zoom in that lets you show off your equipment, but is useless in combat. It looks better than the game that came out over a decade ago, but compared to games like The Witcher 2 and Max Payne 3, Diablo?III just looks unimpressive.

Gameplay

The action is typical Diablo fare, which means it's a constant clickfest. Your index finger will get tired as you keep using your primary skill to kill hundreds of enemies. Several skills let you clear entire groups at once, but your main attack will still involve clicking at all the monsters in a crowd until they die. Picking up loot has gotten a little smoother,?as you automatically pick up any nearby gold (but you still have to click on each item you want).

Besides the standard click-to-kill-enemies gameplay, combat has been altered and streamlined to let you easily?access?multiple skills. The left and right mouse buttons are mapped to primary and secondary attack skills, each of which can be swapped out for other choices. The 1, 2, 3, and 4?keys are mapped to four additional skills, and may also be reassigned. Three passive ability slots also unlock, giving you even more ways to customize your character. This puts a lot of variety in the combat without making it seem like a World of Warcraft?like toolbar juggling act. The only limiting aspect is that each skill slot has its own list of skills you can choose, instead of a large pool of skills, so instead of arranging your four favorite skills you can only choose your favorite each out of four small sets of skills.

Character development has been similarly tweaked. You don't put points in attributes or build up a skill tree anymore. Instead, additional levels give you access to additional skills, skill slots, and runes that modify each skill.?Because you have a limited number of slots, the further you go, the more flexibility you have in your character without limiting your options later. This system seems very similar to the Guild Wars skill system, and it is a refreshing way to keep your character suited to the situation without committing to one path. Each level also adds attributes automatically along a set path, so you still get stronger when you level up.

Classes
There are five classes, three of which are new and all of which are analogues to Diablo and Diablo?II classes. The Barbarian is a heavy weapons berserker like the Barbarian in Diablo II. The Monk is a melee fighter who uses holy magic to make him a combination of the Monk in Diablo: Hellfire (the non-canon expansion to Diablo) and the Paladin in Diablo II. The Wizard is like the Sorcerer in Diablo and the Sorceress in Diablo II, focusing entirely on magic. The Demon Hunter is a ranged weapon and trap expert similar to the Rogue in Diablo, the Amazon in Diablo II, and the Assassin in Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, the canon expansion. The Witch Doctor is a nearly straight copy of the Necromancer from Diablo II, with more emphasis on zombies than skeletons. Each class features suitably different gameplay, with slightly different mechanics for activating skills and handling enemies.

Thanks to companions you earn in the first two acts, you can augment your character's weaknesses with a complementary class. The Templar helps draw attention away from lightly armored, crowd-controlling classes like the Wizard, Demon Hunter, and Witch Doctor,?whereas the Scoundrel and Enchantress aid?melee-heavy classes like the Barbarian and Monk with their own crowd-controlling skills.

A crafting system has been implemented with a blacksmith and jeweler you can train under. There isn't a Horardric Cube for combining items like there was in Diablo II, but you can collect and salvage magic weapons to make your own with random effects, and combine gemstones to insert them into socketed magical weapons to give them more bonuses. Both the crafting and companions feel like only slightly changed versions of the mercenary and Horardric Cube features in Diablo II, and?although they put a few twists on the ideas, they add to the game's samey feel.

Always Online
Diablo?III isn't a massively multiplayer game like World of Warcraft, but it still requires a constant Internet connection. The game must always be connected to Blizzard's Battle.net service, even if you want to play the single-player campaign with no friends. This is ostensibly to prevent piracy and cheating, and?although it adds convenience in multiplayer integration, it's bound to be an annoyance to gamers who just want to fight through the game on their own. It's especially a problem for anyone who doesn't have a reliable Internet connection, because, as in MMOs, hiccups can result in your character snapping back to where he was a few seconds ago and getting accosted by enemies.

You can set your game as private or public when you log in, letting you decide whether or not strangers can jump into your game without an invitation. When friends log into your game, they can access your flag at a waypoint to automatically teleport to where you are. Each game has a party chat, and you can chat with friends in other games while you're playing. It gives Diablo?III an MMO feel, without the size and scope of most MMOs. You can keep strangers out of your games by making them private, but by default friends you've already accepted in Battle.net can just jump in.?Because each new player (up to four) adds to the strength of enemies, this can be a pain when you're already deep in a quest and want to play through it single-player. To disable this, you need to go into Account Options and disable the Quick Join feature.

I had a lot of fun with Diablo III, both playing with friends and on my own. The game feels very similar to Diablo II, but?because I played through Diablo?II several times even the character and setting changes were refreshing while keeping me in the addictive gameplay I've enjoyed for years. I played as both a Demon Hunter and a Monk, and I was satisfied cutting through swaths of enemies with traps and arrows and bunching through hordes with martial arts.

Blizzard didn't change much of the Diablo?II formula with Diablo III, and the result is a great dungeon crawler with modern graphics and addictive, simple gameplay. The requirement to be always online is irritating, but it makes the multiplayer experience more streamlined and prevents cheaters. If you loved Diablo II, you'll love Diablo III, even though it doesn't do much to advance the concept. If you want something more than what amounts to a tweaked Diablo?II HD version, look for more complex and advanced RPGs like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and The Witcher 2.

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