Diablo III

 PC
User Score
4.2

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 10199 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,918 out of 10199
  2. Mixed: 1,570 out of 10199
  3. Negative: 5,711 out of 10199
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  1. Gwydiian
    Sep 4, 2012
    5
    The luster begins to quickly fade as the game's soul seems to be as absent as it's namesake's. While a great attempt at recreating what made it's predecessors so successful, this game is bogged down ultimately by one thing, the Auction House.

    What made Diablo fun, was the excitement of finding new and unique gear, and the auction house has taken that hunt away from players. The best    The luster begins to quickly fade as the game's soul seems to be as absent as it's namesake's. While a great attempt at recreating what made it's predecessors so successful, this game is bogged down ultimately by one thing, the Auction House.

    What made Diablo fun, was the excitement of finding new and unique gear, and the auction house has taken that hunt away from players. The best gear is flooded into the market and players are transported far beyond what they normally would find. Then, instead of a major upgrade every few hours of play, all the player has to look forward to is a minor one, every few days.

    The real money auction house has done even worse. It has made balance more important to the developers than the feeling of power that made Diablo so much fun to play. If you find a great way to slaughter the denizens of evil within the world of Diablo, you can count on the developers "fixing" it, to protect the balance of the auction house.

    Perhaps it can be salvaged into something close to it's predecessors, but not likely while the auction house remains.

    Let's hope that it becomes clear to the developers. Lets hope they are humble enough to listen and hear. The game has potential, but it hasn't reached it yet.    … Expand
  2. FloydSummerOf68
    Jun 13, 2012
    5
    The game has it's problems. The main one being that playing through on normal and nightmare are simply too easy to the point of being boring. By the time you get to hell mode the difficulty feels like it's where it should be, but the story is very dull by this time. You've already seen it twice and it's so short that it's not worth replaying for the sake of the story. It is an averageThe game has it's problems. The main one being that playing through on normal and nightmare are simply too easy to the point of being boring. By the time you get to hell mode the difficulty feels like it's where it should be, but the story is very dull by this time. You've already seen it twice and it's so short that it's not worth replaying for the sake of the story. It is an average game, at best. Definitely not one that will stand the test of time.… Expand
  3. Ridonkulous
    Jun 21, 2012
    5
    Overall - 4.8/10

    The game is lackluster, its missing its polish that is normally apparent in Blizzard games. Holes in the story line, broken promises (PvP), silly voice acting, obvious testing issues, and a general lack of customer feedback has destroyed this games chances of becoming great. Most of us bought Diablo 3, because it was Diablo. The teasers, the beta, the screenshots,    Overall - 4.8/10

    The game is lackluster, its missing its polish that is normally apparent in Blizzard games. Holes in the story line, broken promises (PvP), silly voice acting, obvious testing issues, and a general lack of customer feedback has destroyed this games chances of becoming great. Most of us bought Diablo 3, because it was Diablo. The teasers, the beta, the screenshots, the game box, and hell the website all lead us to believe we were getting something that we just plain did not receive. For those of you who got refunds or are selling items on the RMAH to get your money back, more power to you.

    Some say gamers today are "entitled", and that the developers / creators spent hundreds of days making this game for us. We are entitled, we have opinions, we have voices, we have choices. All people are born with this ability and use it everyday. We all spend our hard earned money on consumer products; food, entertainment, transportation, etc. When we don't get what we were promised or expecting, we demand a refund, or we don't return. Just because its a "game" doesn't excuse Blizzard from falsely advertising a product and releasing a retail game that is obviously a product that is reminiscent of an open beta.    … Expand
  4. EasilyAnnoyed
    Sep 27, 2012
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game launched with a lot of problems. A LOT of problems. Broken servers, broken AH, weird performance issues. I play on a heavily overclocked 2500k with Crossfire 6950 GPUs. Day one, horrible stuttering when entering games. I even had stuttering on pre-rendered cinematics, and that bug still exists today. There is a bizarre bug with v-sync that if I ever drop below 60 FPS even for half a second, my FPS either gets cut in half to 30 for several seconds, or keeps going at 60 FPS as if v-sync was suddenly turned of. This turns the game into a juddery piece of s*** when it occurrs and totally ruins the experience. That bug STILL EXISTS TODAY and has been well-documented. How do things like this happen with a game that had the budget they did? I really don't get it.

    The game itself is okay. In general the classes are fun to play. The 'story' is a complete travesty. I don't know who wrote this thing, but the story and delivery are on par with something like..."The Room". How many times does Kulle have to telegraph that he's going to betray you by laughing maniacally every time he finishes talking? What really killed the game was itemization. You basically have to win the lottery to find an item that is any good or even worth selling. Inferno was so challenging at launch that most people never made it past act 1. People depended on broken specs and exploits to get through. Botters and exploiters have absolutely ruined the gold economy. Items that would be a solid upgrade for me now cost 50 million gold or higher. There is something truly effed when I can't buy an item that would really be a good upgrade when I'm sitting on 35 million gold. And guess what. You can't gain a lot of gold unless you sell a really kickass item. But wait, remember that the loot rolls are so random that I play a few hours every day with a good amount of MF and find an item that sells for around 10 million gold...oh, about once a month.

    Lately, Blizzard has shown some interest in making things better. The 1.05 patch and 1.04 really seem to put forth some effort to improve the experience. However, for many players it's just too little, too late. Seriously, it's months later, and the changes in these last 2 patches should have been what the game launched with. Still no PvP or even word when it should be expected.

    I actually still have fun with the game, so that's something. They seem to be committed to fixing the problems and what players don't like. But until that really happens, I can only give this game an average rating. Maybe with the expansion (and we all know one is coming) they will get it right from the start. After the utter s***fest that is Mists of Pandaland, I'm not holding my breath.    … Expand
  5. Xzi
    Jun 7, 2012
    5
    Attempting to review this game without bringing emotion into it has no doubt been a challenge for a lot of people here, myself included. I've been a big fan of Blizzard since Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, and some of their SNES games. All the way up to World of Warcraft, and, to a lesser extent, Starcraft II.

    I'm not a fan of Diablo 3. And I'm not a fan of the direction that Activision    Attempting to review this game without bringing emotion into it has no doubt been a challenge for a lot of people here, myself included. I've been a big fan of Blizzard since Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, and some of their SNES games. All the way up to World of Warcraft, and, to a lesser extent, Starcraft II.

    I'm not a fan of Diablo 3. And I'm not a fan of the direction that Activision has taken Blizzard in.

    Diablo 3 is a game that favors quantity over quality. It provides just enough (repeating) content to keep you going, but below the surface, none of that content is particularly interesting or enjoyable. In that sense, Diablo 3 truly shares more in common with the later years of WoW than it does with previous Diablo games.

    Some insight as to why I say this: the item system has been completely revamped. Rather than interesting on-hit spell effects like you might see in the previous Diablo games, Diablo 3 focuses on watching numbers grow larger. Items that add two stats (+DEX + VIT) are supposed to impress you more than items that add one stat (+DEX). And, of course, three-stat items you're supposed to believe are the holy grail. Legendary items, which are some of the hardest to find, are most times inferior to magical items, which are found every thirty seconds or so.

    Most of the game's social features have been removed. Searching for a multiplayer game is completely random, so you have no idea what your co-op buddies have in mind for their goals in playing. Whether they're going on boss runs or clearing whole areas, or what.

    And Diablo 3 includes the worst possible type of DRM. Always-online. Meaning that your play is entirely determinate on whether or not Blizzard can manage to keep their servers up. Spoiler alert: most of the time they can't.

    The bottom line is that Blizzard no longer knows how to make a proper Diablo game without the assistance of the former Blizzard North staff. They've paved the way for other aRPGs from other developers to take the throne. My new personal favorite, and shining example of aRPG done right, is the game Krater. I suggest you check it out on Steam. Other good upcoming games in the same genre are Torchlight 2 and Path of Exile.    … Expand
  6. Zegu
    Jun 5, 2014
    7
    Updating my review past all of the changes.
    Finally they did what players wanted. They made the game about loot. It still gets tedious very quickly solo player, but the new Adventure mode is great to play with friends
  7. uah
    May 20, 2012
    5
    I cannot play the game I bought, this is a 0 rated game for me.

    Not allowing people to play the game because the servers are down it is just plain stupid.
  8. Markov
    May 31, 2012
    6
    So just to start. I was ineradicably excited when i first got the game. After waiting day after launch ( since I couldn't get in) game literally killed my excitement little by little. Game is a total step-back compared to predecessor. While its nice to switch around skills for a while, blizzard totally killed experimentation with skill points and uniqueness of skills. Skill trees in diabloSo just to start. I was ineradicably excited when i first got the game. After waiting day after launch ( since I couldn't get in) game literally killed my excitement little by little. Game is a total step-back compared to predecessor. While its nice to switch around skills for a while, blizzard totally killed experimentation with skill points and uniqueness of skills. Skill trees in diablo 2 used to be crystal clear to read and compare and showed damage done as well as gave synergies to make it really interesting. On top of that attribute points are allocated automatically. That leaves player with no choices making character boring. Story is not memorable at all beside few little moments. They managed to make the game so generic that it pains me to say this. Game is boring after a while. It doesn't bring anything really innovative to the table(and I would say it even takes away). Some would say that they brought auction house and characters are more balanced for PvP but again(what PvP?) there's no PvP. Personally I finished the game on normal and I'm not so sure that there's enough to keep me going. There's only four players in a group and maps seem very small. They had 12 years to make a great polished game. It seems that Blizzard prioritizes MMos now so everything else is an addition. Instead of evolving great game and implementing more ideas into the game, blizzard managed to give diablo 3 a console feel. Yes I said that right, console. Game would be fine as a release for a console. Just to sum it up. Blizzard somehow managed to avoid almost everything that was great about diablo 2 and make something(some would say different) but I would say worse since as of now I don't see myself playing it 12 years from now as I did with diablo 2. Some newcomers might like it, but seasoned players growing up on diablo and diablo 2 surely wont be so happy and they make majority. I guess they only hope lies in Torchlight 2 which is going to cost 1/3 of what diablo 3 did and seems much better in aspect of uniqueness and implementation. Well we'll have to wait a little since release date is set to summer 2012. Thank you for reading my rambling and I hope someone from Blizzard wakes up and realizes that they wasted pretty big opportunity to make even bigger bucks.PS Blizzard if you ever need help with ideas and implementation just contact me since there's a serious lack of talent on your team. Also I apologize for my English as as of now it's not perfect and thank you for reading.… Expand
  9. Gil8ert
    May 28, 2012
    6
    So I just finished the single player campaign, Diablo is dead. Hooray. The cut scenes were fantastic, Blizzard are amazing at those and always have been! I remember playing the original Diablo and being utterly blown away by the between game animations, and the same for WOW. Okay DRM is a pain and the servers died a few times in the beginning. But I'm not going to mark the game againstSo I just finished the single player campaign, Diablo is dead. Hooray. The cut scenes were fantastic, Blizzard are amazing at those and always have been! I remember playing the original Diablo and being utterly blown away by the between game animations, and the same for WOW. Okay DRM is a pain and the servers died a few times in the beginning. But I'm not going to mark the game against these, it seems to be the way most things are heading these days. It seems very much that the game engine isn't a million miles away from WOW, and uses a lot of the same graphics which in itself isn't such a bad thing as Blizzard always carry these things of with style, regardless of the cutesy graphics. However, the cutesy graphics do mean the atmosphere is not as oppresive as it was in the original games - it definitely loses something. Just to quickly cover the basics - Diablo is a game in which you run around dungeons and kill lots of critters. The main story is of a battle between heaven and hell and you basically level up until the story takes you to the Lord Diablo himself, who has rather rudely gate crashed the eternal realm. There are lots of weapons and armour drops all the way through and really the main crux of the game is in finding bigger and better armour and weapons. Once you start playing online with other players, the level of drops soon ramps up, as well as the difficulty level of the monsters.
    Now as this is Diablo 3 you cannot review the game without comparing it to it's predecessors, the same as if you were reviewing a film, and for me this is where the game falls down. The rather high scoring critic reviews suprise me because the fact of the matter is that this game seems to have gone nowhere. It used to be a simple hack and slash click-click-click game, with a variety of spells or actions, and plenty of loot items to pick up - including scrolls, which are one off spells to casts. It is still a simple hack and slash click-click-click game except LESS variety in spells/actions and no scrolls anymore. It feels very much like the game has been dumbed down for the masses. And the thing is, it's been 10 years. TEN. That's an awful long time to spend failing to progress. And on the side Blizzard already have WOW, so they have an absolute wealth of suitable graphics to use and a wealth of experience in fantasy games. They seem to have played the hand towards nostalgia rather than innovative gaming.
    So I would have to admit to being somewhat gutted about this game. It isn't awful, it just isn't new. And from an absolute powerhouse like Blizzard, I expect much more in terms of innovation and creativity, and I certainly don't expect them to move backwards in terms of complexity being as the first two games were not complex. And sadly it does seem to me that Blizzard are becoming more of a money making organisation than a serious developer of top quality games, especially after announcing their real money auction house. It is that great travesty of business and advertising - it ruins everything it comes into contact with. And Blizzard are slowly turning into a business enterprise, not a game developer. Many of the user reviews are scathing hit backs at the painful DRM system (meaning you cannot play single player without being online), which is perfectly understandable as it makes no sense to be online when you want to play by yourself. But I am much more upset about the lack of progress since Diablo II. Whoever came up with Diablo in the first instance was an absolute genius, and it was an amazing game. Whoever got hold of the license and created Diablo 3 should have doubled that genius with more involving and complex gameplay - they already had a great engine to work with! Instead, they seem to have lazily rehashed the game. It is addictive, that can't be denied, but if it was a piece of homework it would definitely have 'see me' written on it in red writing.    … Expand
  10. JohnG228
    May 21, 2012
    6
    I see people giving D3 ratings of 0 and 10, I think they are both crazy. This game is decent, but I really feel blizz dropped the ball. I just feel like there should be more to this game after 3+ years of development. Its just a watered down reskined version of D2. It's a decent game, but not $60 worth of decent. I'm just really disappointed in Blizzard, and this really makes me wonderI see people giving D3 ratings of 0 and 10, I think they are both crazy. This game is decent, but I really feel blizz dropped the ball. I just feel like there should be more to this game after 3+ years of development. Its just a watered down reskined version of D2. It's a decent game, but not $60 worth of decent. I'm just really disappointed in Blizzard, and this really makes me wonder what they are going to do in the Wow xpac. They just aren't the same company they used to be.… Expand
  11. duffman902
    May 22, 2012
    6
    $65 for this game feels wasted. While the game is very similar to Dungeon Hunter, with more classes, I got DH for $10. And thats what this game should have been a steam download in the range of 20-40 Max. I have yet to experience any lag or connectivity issues. But what I hear seems harsh. The graphics dont feel current gen, they feel like they are from 2000, so when I see "the$65 for this game feels wasted. While the game is very similar to Dungeon Hunter, with more classes, I got DH for $10. And thats what this game should have been a steam download in the range of 20-40 Max. I have yet to experience any lag or connectivity issues. But what I hear seems harsh. The graphics dont feel current gen, they feel like they are from 2000, so when I see "the visuals are tremendous and watching stuff explode etc" I have a 32" monitor I play and I can barely see these things. Alot of hype from critic reviews, and alot of ppl who are like omg 12 years to play this game? Ive never been this let down since Duke Nukem. Anyways my two cents. And dont bother waiting for this to hit the bargain bin, if it ever does, the servers will be offline at that point and you wont be able to play it anyways.… Expand
  12. Power-Cosmic
    Aug 11, 2012
    5
    I'm updating my score from a 1 to a 5 in anticipation of patch 1.0.4. I truly hope this patch will bring out the game that we all paid $60-$100 for. Below are the preview details of patch 1.0.4 - release date is still unknown.

    System Changes, by Wyatt Cheng Senior Technical Game Designer Wyatt Cheng is preparing a high-level summary of some of the system changes planned for 1.0.4.    I'm updating my score from a 1 to a 5 in anticipation of patch 1.0.4. I truly hope this patch will bring out the game that we all paid $60-$100 for. Below are the preview details of patch 1.0.4 - release date is still unknown.

    System Changes, by Wyatt Cheng
    Senior Technical Game Designer Wyatt Cheng is preparing a high-level summary of some of the system changes planned for 1.0.4.

    Legendary Item Improvements, by Andrew Chambers
    Senior Game Designer Andrew Chambers is working on a blog detailing all the ways we    … Expand
  13. cainx10a
    May 20, 2012
    6
    Most of us are acting on emotion while reviewing Diablo 3. We need to take in consideration that DRM is a bit like Politics. We hate it sometimes, but it's there for a reason. I play games off-line, I play single player. Sure, I spent quite a lot of time online as well, but I do not like being forced to play online. It's a matter of personal preference. So, let me put it out of the way,Most of us are acting on emotion while reviewing Diablo 3. We need to take in consideration that DRM is a bit like Politics. We hate it sometimes, but it's there for a reason. I play games off-line, I play single player. Sure, I spent quite a lot of time online as well, but I do not like being forced to play online. It's a matter of personal preference. So, let me put it out of the way, Blizzard made a huge mistake with their online-only stance, but with their pedigree, I'm sure they will iron out the problems in due time. Now, on to the review of the actual game (error 37 not included).

    Diablo 3 brings something new to the table for ARPGs. A complete reworking of the RPG part in your ARPG. When your character level up, the stats are applied automatically, and you unlock new abilities or runes which change how these abilities work. And since you can only use 1 ability of each tree (varies according to your class), you have usually 6 abilities at your disposal and a huge amount of combination that can change the type of character you are. For example, the Demon Hunter can be a beast when fighting swarm of enemies with one combination or a boss killer with another combination.

    Graphics and Sounds are below average in my honest opinion. The music is not memorable, the combat sound is great, the graphics well it's decent but could have been better, and the combat animation just fail horribly. Animation varies according to your ability rather than which weapon is equipped. So don't be surprised to see a wizard wield a 2h sword like a golf club when casting spell. Also, it doesn't make any sense for a lot of characters to be able to use some weapons, when they don't even have the ability or animation to use them like the Monk.

    Gameplay is amazing thanks to the revamped RPG system. Dungeons are grim (Act 1 had some of the best dungeons in the game), the world is beautifully designed though a bit small compared to the likes of Sacred 2 or Titan Quest. The boss fights are amazing; Act 2's end boss is just a runner up for one of the best boss battle in an ARPG. Loot are plentiful to find, and with a little bit of help from equipment with X% of finding magical items, you bet your gold coins you will pick up some wonderful things on a regular basis.

    Now the story. First, let me say this. I don't like Leah. She looks like a little girl from an japanese cartoon or anime. Are you telling me that's the best character design blizzard could come up with for the woman that grew up with Deckard "Stay a while and Listen" Cain? Also, why is she not a be more, you know, badass having to live with that old man since her childhood? Tyrael is awesome, Adria is one milf, the side kicks are fun to have around except for that sorceress who suffers from innocent-flower-syndrome, and Lyndon is just too awesome for his mustache. Overall, the story doesn't let you down provided you pay attention to all the details so that you don't end up asking silly questions like "is Diablo a lady?".

    To conclude, it's a good game. It has awful DRM. And probably deserves the 0 it's receiving, but it's unfair towards the people who designed this game to just rate down the game based on strong emotions. It's justified. We paid for a product, we expect to be able to use said product. But that said, think of the developers. They are not our enemies; corporate greed is.    … Expand
  14. Hton
    May 16, 2012
    5
    Common guys, why don't you simply skip the game and send a message?

    It was known for a long time: single player totally f****d, no stats, skills and runes, 60$ price tag for unknown reason and finaly no demo, guest passes instead. DRM is more than enough to not buy the game, and the rest is not much better. It was clear before release that you get the game for children with special needs    Common guys, why don't you simply skip the game and send a message?

    It was known for a long time: single player totally f****d, no stats, skills and runes, 60$ price tag for unknown reason and finaly no demo, guest passes instead. DRM is more than enough to not buy the game, and the rest is not much better. It was clear before release that you get the game for children with special needs who can't distribute 5 points in 4 stats    … Expand
  15. dr0pi
    May 16, 2012
    6
    I'm a bit disappointed by this game. The gameplay is still pure hack'n'slay, but that's it. Nothing new to add a strategic value to this game. I would compare this game to the hundreds of "korea-grinders" and that's it.
    Nothing to seperate form any F2P mmorpg game (the auction house generates the profit for blizzard here). The only reason this sells for money is the franchise. - I think    I'm a bit disappointed by this game. The gameplay is still pure hack'n'slay, but that's it. Nothing new to add a strategic value to this game. I would compare this game to the hundreds of "korea-grinders" and that's it.
    Nothing to seperate form any F2P mmorpg game (the auction house generates the profit for blizzard here). The only reason this sells for money is the franchise. - I think it's an solid game, but not "good". It simply lacks of complexity and customization of your characters. Graphics are very simple, but this means it runs an almost any better calculator (tested it on a AMD E-350 based NetBook at medium settings).    … Expand
  16. Mr_Redder
    May 16, 2012
    5
    A solid meh. Without ranting about server issues, you click things and they die. Sometimes when there are a lot of things you press a number and/or q and continue clicking things. The setting, atmosphere and story is alright but not good enough to make up for the repetitive gameplay.
  17. DamnYankee
    May 15, 2012
    6
    So far I'm a little unsure about the game. As a hardcore Diablo II fan, I really miss the level of skill customization that D2 offered, but to be honest, I'm glad the real world PvP has been gotten rid of (going into a game just to have somebody come in and hostile you is anything but fun, and it really ruined the fun of public games not intended for duelling). On the other hand, there areSo far I'm a little unsure about the game. As a hardcore Diablo II fan, I really miss the level of skill customization that D2 offered, but to be honest, I'm glad the real world PvP has been gotten rid of (going into a game just to have somebody come in and hostile you is anything but fun, and it really ruined the fun of public games not intended for duelling). On the other hand, there are some positives in this game that diablo 2 really lacked. I just can't in good conscience give it over a 6/10 though, because there just isn't enough customization possible (there seems to be one IDEAL skill path and a bunch of not ideal paths), and they still insist on there being no offline play (I don't want to REQUIRE an internet connection to play some single player, what the hell.).… Expand
  18. Cymek
    May 17, 2012
    5
    It's Spore all over again. The game isn't really bad, it gets good reviews by critics, but there's something so terribly wrong with it. Let me start out by stating how shocked I am that this game has received universally positive reviews, many stating that it has improved upon its predecessor. Have any of these critics even played Diablo 2? This game eliminates much of what made itsIt's Spore all over again. The game isn't really bad, it gets good reviews by critics, but there's something so terribly wrong with it. Let me start out by stating how shocked I am that this game has received universally positive reviews, many stating that it has improved upon its predecessor. Have any of these critics even played Diablo 2? This game eliminates much of what made its predecessor great.

    Here's a list of things that displease me:

    -No more choice when leveling your character. Everything unlocks automatically
    -You can't distribute skill points

    -Items have, for the most part, the same size. You can carry many more things than you could in Diablo 2. Some people might like this better, but it makes things feel less valuable.
    -No more scrolls of town portal. You have to use waypoints.
    -Potion healing is drastically changed.
    -You can't actually use your weapon when you feel like it. As in, the game doesn't allow you to swing your weapon if you feel like it with certain classes.
    -I don't think the graphics are bad, but they don't fit the atmosphere. Whereas the first one was dark and gritty, this one seems cartoonish. -The writing is uninspired and has that "oh look at me I'm so epic" quality that I've noticed is becoming increasingly common in Blizzard games

    Overrall, the game just feels watered down and simplified. Some people disagree with me and are having the time of their lives. All I know is that I wasn't having fun even after a few hours of playing.    … Expand
  19. Captain_jonno
    May 16, 2012
    5
    Finding it hard to play with fairy land version of 2002 graphics. The immersion of the graphics to a game style as diablo is pretty key. Pretty sad when the richest company cant even work that out. I saw make another warcraft (not wow) and bring it back to your fans. Grow a brain over there
  20. feardrinker
    May 15, 2012
    5
    After 2 hours of gameplay, my first impressions are not that good. Granted only 2 hours. First of all, I'm on single player and have had no server issues. I'm not a "DRM" issue guy, so that stuff doesn't affect me one way or the other. I'm also fine with the graphics; I'd rather be able to play a good game on a half-assed computer than be forced to buy a new machine just to play it. ButAfter 2 hours of gameplay, my first impressions are not that good. Granted only 2 hours. First of all, I'm on single player and have had no server issues. I'm not a "DRM" issue guy, so that stuff doesn't affect me one way or the other. I'm also fine with the graphics; I'd rather be able to play a good game on a half-assed computer than be forced to buy a new machine just to play it. But this game appears to be truly dumbed-down from D2. My initial impression is that every barbarian will play just like every other barbarian. There is no stat distribution, and in place of skill trees (which rewarded point saving), you simply unlock the next skill. In D2 you could play one class many different ways, in D3 every witch doctor looks like the next. this is unforgivable coming from Blizzard. This is not an action RPG, it's just action. I'm hoping, after 20 or 30 hours of gameplay, to be won over. But I'm not holding my breath.… Expand
  21. Cytheria
    May 16, 2012
    5
    I'm sorry to say that I'm not overly impressed with this return to a classic franchise. I'm not biased by being either a blizzard fanboy or hater here, just a gamer and worker in the industry and I used to be very proud of working on one of the games that Diablo bounced off of back in the day.

    In fairness, before I continue, I have to say that it is hard to innovate with a product with    I'm sorry to say that I'm not overly impressed with this return to a classic franchise. I'm not biased by being either a blizzard fanboy or hater here, just a gamer and worker in the industry and I used to be very proud of working on one of the games that Diablo bounced off of back in the day.

    In fairness, before I continue, I have to say that it is hard to innovate with a product with the kind of established formula that made the originals so much fun. It's difficult to walk the line between making changes that are acceptible to new players without cutting elements that were enjoyed by old fans.

    Unfortunately, it doesn't look like blizzard actually tried.

    Diablo 3 is an ok game, its reasonably pretty whilst retaining enough of a dated feel that you feel as if you are still playing the same franchise, and thats it. If players are able to complete the game in under 7 hours as they are reportedly doing, then its a safe bet to say that there hasnt been a significant increase in the amount of actual content...

    In truth this doesnt feel like a new game. It feels like Diablo 2, rigged to work on direct x 9 at a slightly higher resolution, with voice actors and a cash shop.

    And there we come to the crux of it - I already get the impression this was less about the game, and more about making money from commission on item sales. If it takes off, I'm sure blizzard will take the knowledge learned from this product test, and apply it elsewhere.

    The most impressive aspect about this title for me, at least, was seeing how badly the gaming community has been pre-conditioned to accept what was an abysmal product launch with terrible community management, where in other industries directors would be fired, stocks dropped and people held publicly accountable. Even more concerning the fact that the community management seemed to rely on fans to shout down the backlash from the people who tried to highlight this very issue..

    All in all, its an ok game, a nice reminder of earlier years, but not worth the heafty price tag. Caveat Emptor dear reader, do not be fooled into believing this is anything other than another corporate cash cow for an already highly skilled company of "milkmen"...    … Expand
  22. Kogia
    May 17, 2012
    5
    This would have been a fun addition to the series 5 or 6 years ago, but nostalgia for the series can only carry me along in a game so far. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad game, it just feels like a game going over old ground, there was nothing new or surprising added. 10 years in the making and yet it feels like it should have come out in 2005. It has got all the ingredients that madeThis would have been a fun addition to the series 5 or 6 years ago, but nostalgia for the series can only carry me along in a game so far. Don't get me wrong, it's not a bad game, it just feels like a game going over old ground, there was nothing new or surprising added. 10 years in the making and yet it feels like it should have come out in 2005. It has got all the ingredients that made the earlier games great and it still pulls you along with hunter-gatherer desires, but simply put there are other more modern games that do this with more style and newer innovations.

    The graphics and sound should have been much better, there should have been more varied things to do in the game, it just needed to add something, otherwise what have they been doing with it for 10 years?

    Games have advanced, Diablo hasn't.    … Expand
  23. Zeonia
    May 16, 2012
    5
    I signed up here just to write a review of this game, given all the disappointment that's floating around. I've been a Diablo fan since the first game,.. i played D2 until my eyes bled. Unfortunately, anyone hoping this would be a good continuation, are going to be sadly disappointed. For those in this boat, coming from Diablo 2, what you need to do is forget this is a Diablo game andI signed up here just to write a review of this game, given all the disappointment that's floating around. I've been a Diablo fan since the first game,.. i played D2 until my eyes bled. Unfortunately, anyone hoping this would be a good continuation, are going to be sadly disappointed. For those in this boat, coming from Diablo 2, what you need to do is forget this is a Diablo game and instead consider it a new experience. Whether that new experience is for you, is going to be a personal thing. What I would say is that the release has been so badly managed it's shocking. It's been so bad, that the game has been utterly destroyed by the press based heavily on the login experience. Which actually IS as bad as people make out. My experience was that at 5PM when everyone got home from work at the same time, the servers got hammered. At which point I managed to get in 3 times in 4 hours. All 3 times the connection was unstable and I got booted within 15 minutes. Which wasn't enough time for my friends to get a connection so we could play together. So All in all, I over a 4 hour period I played for 15 minutes, which was mostly just waiting about. Joyous.

    Eventually we did get a game in, at about 11pm, when everyone in Europe had gone to bed. For an hour or two. And we kind of enjoyed it.

    I'd say that there is also a misconception going around about the length of the game. Don't get me wrong, this is no WoW sized game, but it is much bigger than you would believe reading the reviews. People have quoted finishing the game in 2 hours. You'll only do that if you ignore absolutely all dialogue and run from start to finish as quickly as you possibly can. Ignoring all side quests, and avoiding killing most things. You can do this in almost all games. Look for speed runs on youtube, games that took the average gamer 30+ hours will have speed runs of 1 hour or less. And most of these people are just trying to look l33t. Don't play the game like this, you'll make a mediocre experience worse. Play it properly, explore, see things, do things.

    I'm giving this 5/10, I'm trying to look past the login issues and see the bigger picture with that score, it would have been lower.    … Expand
  24. cechi
    May 15, 2012
    5
    Too simplified game principles, wow graphics, too many concessions. Poor atmosphere as well. This game is not so good as Diablo 2. I don´t like new health/mana system as well. Character development is very simplified.
  25. Slackfactory
    May 19, 2012
    6
    It's basically World Of Diablo. With single-player lag. Plot is more rehash.

    Pros: Fun click-fest action. Cons: Weak plot. Trite characters. MMO type game-play. Connecting to battle-net to play single player @ 820ms lag is just silly. Conclusion: Worth playing if you liked D1 and D2 and you're hard-up for something better to play. If you absolutely must buy the game, at least hold the    It's basically World Of Diablo. With single-player lag. Plot is more rehash.

    Pros: Fun click-fest action.
    Cons: Weak plot. Trite characters. MMO type game-play. Connecting to battle-net to play single player @ 820ms lag is just silly.

    Conclusion: Worth playing if you liked D1 and D2 and you're hard-up for something better to play. If you absolutely must buy the game, at least hold the trigger until Blizzard fixes its server problems so you can enjoy your single-player experience lag free. Good grief.    … Expand
  26. Citan
    May 23, 2012
    6
    MAJ on 2012-05-22
    Ok, now that I could finally play a few dozen hours, it's time to write a real review. :)
    Please keep in mind that I played the 5 classes, although none of them is lvl60, so this is a work-in-progress. Still I have a nice idea of the game now. For those who dont like big text, here's the thing to remember: DIABLO 3 IS FAR FROM EXCEPTIONAL, AND SUFFER SERIOUS SHORTCOMINGS,    MAJ on 2012-05-22
    Ok, now that I could finally play a few dozen hours, it's time to write a real review. :)
    Please keep in mind that I played the 5 classes, although none of them is lvl60, so this is a work-in-progress. Still I have a nice idea of the game now. For those who dont like big text, here's the thing to remember: DIABLO 3 IS FAR FROM EXCEPTIONAL, AND SUFFER SERIOUS SHORTCOMINGS, STILL IT'S A FUN GAME ESPECIALLY WITH FRIENDS.
    + each class has its own role and a few skills/equipment that make them distinctive.
    + aesthetics of the game.
    + works on any decent computer.
    + not just plain mouse-click bashing.
    + new skills system avoids losing hundred hours building a new character to test new strategy, allows to adapt skills depending on the team (and not the contrary).
    - the "hundreds skills per classe" is crap: at least half of them is useless.
    - permanent internet connection is still the WORST **** DRM EVER! Especially with Blizzard being so stupid: not anticipating Day one, updating servers on Sunday afternoon -I mean, Sunday freaking AFTERNOON!!!
    - several ergonomy flaws.
    - loot system broken by design, blatantly oriented to make people trade items at auction house.
    - difficulty curve stupidly steep. You go straight from utterly boring, 0-danger monster massacre to hard survival where you don't even count your lives anymore (much more interesting though, the "normal difficulty" should have been dropped).

    OTHER COMMENTS
    Apart from connection problem, the two major flaw I see are:
    1) artificial variety of skills: In spite of so many skills on paper, only a handful will be actually useful. And, unless you play solo on higher difficulties (with monsters having immunities/special powers), you'll never have to change your set skill to win your game. In fact, you're encouraged to play like this, since you accumulate a hidden bonus of magic find which resets when you change active skills. Duh.
    2) loot system purposely broken to make you use Auction House: normal objects only sell a few golds (whatever their quality), magic items not much better, you rarely get an item for your class, stash is insanely expensive and limited. And still, monsters drop stuff by the hundreds, making you lose so much time checking items to pick up the good ones. 3) crafting system useless: the odds of making good items are not much better than your chances to find ones, you have no control whatsoever on generated magic properties, the number of times you can craft is limited, the investment in money is HUGE. Good idea, bad implementation.

    FIRST FEEDBACK
    This is sad. I'd like to write a detailed review on this game, and give it a note that would reflect the actual fun potential. Unfortunately, I cannot bypass this outstanding behaviour from Blizzard. They are a VERY BIG editor, so it's not a money problem. They published several massively online multiplayer games already (Diablo 2, WoW, Starcraft 2), so it's not an experience problem. They made people play beta for many months, and made an extensive stress-test one month before actual planned release date; so it's not a preparation problem. BLIZZARD JUST PLAINLY DECIDED TO THROW AWAY USABILITY TO SAVE A FEW DOLLARS. So, here are dozen thousand people that pre-ordered or bought on day 0, for a hefty amount of dollars, and they can't even play. And, obviously, general user licence prevent them from having a legal cause for bringing Blizzard into court. I think I've found the problem here. Blizzard doesn't give a **** about his community/fans/users/clients. Only possible retaliation then is: DON'T BUY THIS GAME (yet)!!! ... SERIOUSLY.    … Expand
  27. osta2501
    Jul 3, 2012
    7
    After more than 200 hours of gameplay, I can objectively say that this game has mixed feelings. Overall, I feel it's a good game, but so many aspects of the game leave me sour. The whole "balancing", be it the loot worth, the weapon mechanics, the auction house, all feel like I'm playing a MMO, even a f2p, instead of playing the great action RPG game D3 should have been. I don't know whyAfter more than 200 hours of gameplay, I can objectively say that this game has mixed feelings. Overall, I feel it's a good game, but so many aspects of the game leave me sour. The whole "balancing", be it the loot worth, the weapon mechanics, the auction house, all feel like I'm playing a MMO, even a f2p, instead of playing the great action RPG game D3 should have been. I don't know why the developers chose to go in that direction, since D3 has no subscription fee. In my opinion, it would have been better to let every players easily acquire awesome loot and plow through Inferno easily than forcing them to grind countless hours in gold and/or gear farming. When you get in the Inferno difficulty, the game changes from being a leisure to being a chore. Almost every problems Blizzard had with illegal activities (bots, etc) resulted in patches that punished the legit players more than the botters. The always-on DRM was supposed to solve many problems, but ended up being a pain more than a solution.

    I estimate my enjoyment and experience value of the D3 product to 40$, maximum. In the future, I will be wary of acquiring another Blizzard product, as it will take good convincing from both reviews and friends before considering purchase.    … Expand
  28. Falcon88
    May 16, 2012
    5
    I can't tell this is a 3.5/10 game, but surely it's not a decent game. DRM in 2012 is according to me the less important of the problems which afflict this game. Also the old and quite bad graphic would be acceptable, if the game would be fine. But unfortunately it's not: no potions, no town portal or identification scrolls, no stamina, no skill trees, no personalization of the character,I can't tell this is a 3.5/10 game, but surely it's not a decent game. DRM in 2012 is according to me the less important of the problems which afflict this game. Also the old and quite bad graphic would be acceptable, if the game would be fine. But unfortunately it's not: no potions, no town portal or identification scrolls, no stamina, no skill trees, no personalization of the character, bad plot... definitely it's not Diablo. This game is just a '' catch the mole '', when the only thing u can do is clicking on the enemies from the beginning to the end. And we waited 12 years for this... And the freaking and very simplified crafting system, the only new feature copied (and they did it so bad) from Wow, should really be avoided.… Expand
  29. MrBuckie
    May 15, 2012
    5
    I played this game at the open beta, from that moment; I knew this game was a disappointment. The game itself isn't that bad, but it isn't good either. It's something in between. There are things I don't like AT ALL: The skill system and attributes. You can't distribute your attributes anymore, and the skills aren't as customizable as it should've been. I didn't really have a problem withI played this game at the open beta, from that moment; I knew this game was a disappointment. The game itself isn't that bad, but it isn't good either. It's something in between. There are things I don't like AT ALL: The skill system and attributes. You can't distribute your attributes anymore, and the skills aren't as customizable as it should've been. I didn't really have a problem with need for active connection to play, since I enjoy playing with friends more than playing alone. This game reminds me of WoW but with different angle. (I don't like WoW). But there are few things I like. The gameplay feels fluid and the control is responsive. Also you can choose some skills for your companion as well. I wouldnâ… Expand
  30. HonestRevier
    May 15, 2012
    5
    This is a serious review with no spoilers. To Blizzard and all developers that read this, DRM is not an option and gamers will not except it EVER. Single Player should mean offline play with NO INTERNET CONNECTION. Anyone giving this a low score because they cannot log in to play are morons. The graphics and sound are obviously going to be good. The story might pass or fail in the end. ButThis is a serious review with no spoilers. To Blizzard and all developers that read this, DRM is not an option and gamers will not except it EVER. Single Player should mean offline play with NO INTERNET CONNECTION. Anyone giving this a low score because they cannot log in to play are morons. The graphics and sound are obviously going to be good. The story might pass or fail in the end. But this game is a complete failure because of server side DRM being recquired. After so many years when blizzards servers shutdown my children will not enjoy this game because of DRM. Shame on you Blizzard and anyone who supports DRM games with their $$$. Duke Nukem may have been a bad game but at least the steam lets me play single player offline. Also wheres our LAN!… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

12
#12 Best PC Game of 2012
1
#1 Most Discussed PC Game of 2012
3
#3 Most Shared PC Game of 2012

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
88

Generally favorable reviews - based on 86 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 81 out of 86
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 86
  3. Negative: 1 out of 86
  1. Thunderbolt
    Aug 31, 2012
    90
    My one major complaint is that the game never feels very difficult, especially on Normal. There are frustrating moments, hordes of baddies, and increasing difficulty levels, but the same feeling of utter defeat never really happens as it did in the past.
    Read full review
  2. Hyper Magazine
    Jul 18, 2012
    80
    For all the game's missteps, though, you certainly can't accuse Blizzard of phoning it in - if anything, the game suffers from the tendency to try a little to hard at times to evolve the design. [Aug 2012, p.61]
  3. PC PowerPlay
    Jul 3, 2012
    80
    When it works, Diablo III is the best of the Diablo games. When it doesn't, all it does is make you mad. [July 2012, p.54]
    Read full review
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