DIABLO III REVIEW PC

Of course, that's how games are supposed to work - but Diablo III does it incredibly well. And as I got better, so the game similarly stepped up its level of difficulty, and became less forgiving. Almost like a fighting game, where you start out just hoping for the best, but after a while begin to perfect your timing and combos and become a really adept fighter. But as I began to get used to the game’s cadence and my ever-increasing arsenal of spells, my pressing became less frantic and more strategic.

What I did notice is that I was largely able to button-mash through the earlier dungeons. But it's definitely all the better for multiplayer - whether they're sitting next to you, or you're playing online. Even as a single-player experience, Diablo III is intense and fun. Navigating menus is a little clunkier, sure, but the action feels smooth and fluid. But with a joypad, Diablo III feels natural, intuitive and… well… like it was always designed to be played this way.

DIABLO III REVIEW PC

I wasn’t a big fan of the PC control scheme: it works fine, but I just never quite got comfortable with it. It’s classic arcade stuff, and it works brilliantly – especially with a joypad. Mop up the last few monsters, take a breather, and then on you go, waiting for the next wave of monsters to charge in. Monsters zero in, the heat gets dialed up, and you have a frenetic pitched battle where it seems almost touch-and-go until you start to thin out the enemy horde and regain control of the situation. That’s not to say the console version doesn’t also have that, but the action definitely has a more arcade-like cadence, which I really like. Perhaps it's me, but it feels a little more focused than the slightly more strung-out PC experience, where monsters arrive in a steadier stream.

What I noticed here is that enemies generally attack in “waves”, where you get bum-rushed by a howling mob that you have to deal with as a group. Everything starts out easy enough as you travel through the early quests, but once you reach the more serious dungeons, the intensity starts ratcheting up. It’s messy, it requires improvisation, and it’s utterly thrilling.Ĭonsole Diablo III's action ebbs and flows nicely, and feels a little tighter than the PC version. Diablo III takes that premise and evolves it with modern-day trappings and complexities, but without ever losing sight of what it’s really all about: visceral, up-close-and-personal action that feels like a constant fight for survival. It’s the classic one-against-many scenario, and it delivers pulse-pounding, adrenaline-pumping gameplay as you battle to best the myriad of monsters that want you well and truly dead. One of my all-time favorite coin-ops is Robotron 2084 a pure, no-frills shooter that gives you insane firepower… but pits you against an endless, overwhelming horde of enemies. In some respects Diablo III takes me right back to the early days of arcades. Play it late at night after a good few drinks, and you might well expect a visit from your local law enforcement official. Play it late at night, and your neighbors will hate you. Diablo III's brilliant co-op mode will have even the most mild-mannered of players yelling and shouting at each other. Review copy was provided by the publisher.īecause what Blizzard has done is fettled and tweaked the game almost imperceptibly to fine tune it as a console experience, and in doing so has unleashed the finest action-RPG, dungeon-crawling arcade experience of this generation. It simply feels all the better when played sitting on a couch, in front of a big screen, with a joypad in your hands. But to me, the most important part of a game is the experience it delivers, and that's where this version stands taller. If cosmetics are your only concern, then sure, the PC game wins. Sure, the models and overall graphics of this console-ized Diablo III aren't as good as the PC version – at least they shouldn't be unless you’re playing on a really weedy system. If that’s raised a few veins in the temples of some of you PC readers, I’m sorry about that – but hear me out. Perhaps I've been playing my Demon Hunter too much, but I’ll come straight out of the gate with guns blazing and make the statement that I believe this, the console version of Diablo III, is the definitive version of the game.

Diablo iii review