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
Buy Now
Buy on

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. thegecko
    May 19, 2012
    6
    Server and Lag issues. DRM > gaming experience. Missing key components standard in most RPGs today. Addressing just the server bugs and lag...

    This should have been avoidable. Blizzard already runs the largest MMO on the planet, WoW. They also launched StarCraft II which required gamers to be connected to play Single Player and started with multiplayer from day one. That launch did not    Server and Lag issues. DRM > gaming experience. Missing key components standard in most RPGs today. Addressing just the server bugs and lag...

    This should have been avoidable. Blizzard already runs the largest MMO on the planet, WoW. They also launched StarCraft II which required gamers to be connected to play Single Player and started with multiplayer from day one. That launch did not turn into the catastrophe Diablo III's did.

    Blizzard's games have been intertwined with servers since the original Diablo and the launch of Battle.net. They're pretty much experts in this department by now.

    Then there's the stress test and the pre-sales data. Either Blizzard rushed the launch of an already delayed game without the proper infrastructure in place, or the company made a bottom line call to just ignore the numbers. Either way, they totally dropped the ball. They apologized, but did so in a less than sincere way, with some jokes, and stating they thought they overshot the server stress-load estimate.

    Now, the DRM.

    One commenter compared buying a video game to buying a car, while another said you cannot compare the two.

    What makes this different than a car? I get to test-drive a car. And not just a piece of the car, the whole car. I can take it on the freeway, try out the AC, play with the gadgets, everything. Then, I can decide whether or not to buy it. If I do buy it and decide within so many days I don't like it, I usually can return it or exchange it, especially if it's brand new.

    Diablo III on the other hand... I cannot really test play the game before launch. Even if I play the first couple of hours, I will be disappointed. I'll barely be able to touch the tip of crafting available, the battles will seem very mundane and repetitive, the story not all that compelling, the crypt and graveyard graphics a bit dull.

    So, I buy the game. If I don't like it, I cannot return it. I cannot exchange it. $60 down the drain. I cannot even sell the game to someone else.

    Many positive player reviews dismiss the negative ratings as simply disgruntled players who could not jump right into the game on midnight on launch day. But if you actually read those reviews, you'll find them littered with other complaintsâ    … Expand
  2. selenta
    May 23, 2012
    5
    This is a backwards move in game design. I've played the game for ~40 hours right now, and own pretty much every Blizzard game to come out in the last 15 years besides Wow. That said, MYRIAD features that existed 12 years ago in D2 were removed, some of which are the fundamental features that defined the franchise as unique and innovative (and it sure as hell wasn't the big bad guy). ThisThis is a backwards move in game design. I've played the game for ~40 hours right now, and own pretty much every Blizzard game to come out in the last 15 years besides Wow. That said, MYRIAD features that existed 12 years ago in D2 were removed, some of which are the fundamental features that defined the franchise as unique and innovative (and it sure as hell wasn't the big bad guy). This is just a list of features that have been REMOVED that I can think of off the top of my head, not even counting the utter failure of most of the new features:

    No random levels. No off-line mode, which can lead to INFURIATING gameplay, even in single player (when the servers are up at all). No runes or runewords. No jewels. Fewer gem types. Can't specialize your character's skills (which results in every character being EXACTLY the same minus equipment). Can't add sockets to an existing item (though to be fair this didn't come until the expansion, but even that was more than 10 years ago). There is NO USE WHATSOEVER for normal items any more after lvl 10, if so, why do they even drop at all and clutter up my user experience?

    There are a few things they did right, the random Events being the big one, and even if they're largely worthless in gameplay, I like the account-wide leveling system for the stash/jeweler/smith.

    However, I must make special mention of the graphics as a "new feature" that is utterly unacceptable. These are not "stylized", they're utter **** and a cop-out, and everyone at Blizzard who worked on them should be ashamed. Also, the ridiculous and embarrassing character design for monsters like The Butcher where he comes screaming in as this hideous giant bloated monster is like something a 13 year-old would have designed.

    Final verdict: Blizzard wants to kill this game type of action adventure rpg so they can focus on their favorites Starcraft and Wow, and they're doing it very deliberately. Is it awful? No, but even if the game is very tactile and has a good presence, that impression wears off quickly and the user is left wondering where any actual depth of game play is supposed to be found.

    Oh, and don't even get me STARTED on the DRM or auction house.    … Expand
  3. stuntaneous
    May 16, 2012
    5
    Too easy (the flow is terrible, it results in a very boring experience). A backwards step in the skill system (an illusion of choice, no stake in your advancement, nothing particularly good to look forward to). The UI is average (the skill screen(s) are hopeless). The graphics are far from what you'd expect today (they're mass audience MMO quality, i.e. lowest common denominator). RealToo easy (the flow is terrible, it results in a very boring experience). A backwards step in the skill system (an illusion of choice, no stake in your advancement, nothing particularly good to look forward to). The UI is average (the skill screen(s) are hopeless). The graphics are far from what you'd expect today (they're mass audience MMO quality, i.e. lowest common denominator). Real money trade affects all players whether they use it or not (why work hard when the guy next to you had the money to spend on something much better than your equipment, for no time spent?). I clock 200-360ms ping .. in singleplayer. Loot is individual among coop players (this is a bad thing - you no longer have a sense of shared achievement, you have less connection to those you're playing with). All the goddamn fog (why?!)

    Conclusion: Diablo 3 will never reach anywhere near the cult status of Diablo 2. You're best off going back to that golden classic or waiting for Torchlight 2.    … Expand
  4. Avadon
    May 15, 2012
    6
    Lots of things I could write, but I'll keep it short. The game is fun, but has problems. Achievements work whenever they feel like it, they are really a mess, I have received about 1/3rd of what I should, and this seems to me to be triggered by lag spikes, if you have a lag spike, even a small one so you don't even disconnect, the achievement service just dies without warning and you getLots of things I could write, but I'll keep it short. The game is fun, but has problems. Achievements work whenever they feel like it, they are really a mess, I have received about 1/3rd of what I should, and this seems to me to be triggered by lag spikes, if you have a lag spike, even a small one so you don't even disconnect, the achievement service just dies without warning and you get nothing and need to relog. Horrible. Graphics are ok, but very blurry. Why am I playing a blurry game at 1920x1080? No idea... Sound is awesome. Character and build customization are simplified, but that doesn't bother me too much, even in D2 the viable builds were only a handful and the rest were just ways to screw up your character, and I don't think anyone enjoyed grinding for another 2 months to make a new sorceress, only she spams lightning instead of frost. **** I don't mind the simplification. The atmosphere is fine, on par with D2 (of course not as dark and oppressive as D1). Can't comment on story, since I haven't finished it yet, can't comment on loot and AH either cause it will take months for a big portion of the loot to be discovered and for the AH to reach a "standard state" which could be a good or bad state, we just dont know yet. Overall, there are no moments where you are absolutely amazed, but the core of the game is solid.… Expand
  5. defive
    May 23, 2012
    6
    Diablo 3 is a polished but ultimately empty experience, I think the main question here is what the hell (pardon the pun) Blizzard spent the last 5 years doing, because it certainly wasn't producing any form of innovation. Much like Starcraft 2 D3 is simply a lazy rehash of it's predecessor. Add to that the always on DRM via Battlenet and all in all D3 is a decidedly mediocre experience.Diablo 3 is a polished but ultimately empty experience, I think the main question here is what the hell (pardon the pun) Blizzard spent the last 5 years doing, because it certainly wasn't producing any form of innovation. Much like Starcraft 2 D3 is simply a lazy rehash of it's predecessor. Add to that the always on DRM via Battlenet and all in all D3 is a decidedly mediocre experience.

    ...oh, and it has one of the worst plot 'twists' I've seen in a long while.    … Expand
  6. teshia
    May 30, 2012
    7
    I really liked the art and story. That said, it doesn't advance the genre and the single player online-only DRM is a huge insult to fans. It just looks like a big corporate prank on the players who've stood by Blizzard for years (and with good reason). It's all about the gameplay. No gameplay = no love. Aim for a good game Bliizard, not just the money and DRM.
  7. iteration2
    May 20, 2012
    5
    I have to admit I've never played Diablo 1 or 2. Gave this a try because of all the hype and anticipation. Acquiring gear is certainly addictive, and the game isn't bad, but I just can't see why it merits so much hype, and such a hefty price. I picked up Torchlight when it came out, and this is almost the same game. And yes, I know Torchlight was a Diablo clone, but the difference isI have to admit I've never played Diablo 1 or 2. Gave this a try because of all the hype and anticipation. Acquiring gear is certainly addictive, and the game isn't bad, but I just can't see why it merits so much hype, and such a hefty price. I picked up Torchlight when it came out, and this is almost the same game. And yes, I know Torchlight was a Diablo clone, but the difference is that Torchlight came out over 2 years ago, and cost a third of what Diablo 3 costs. And in some ways, Torchlight is a better game. Items seem to have a more profound effect, sound, music, and graphics have more character, and you have choices when you level up. The lack of persistent choices, and limitations on the number of active abilities, is particularly bewildering. Admitted, I'm still at a pretty early level, but it doesn't seem like these aspects will improve very much.

    As for the cash store, it doesn't really bother me. After all, it's largely a single player game, so if someone wants to spend money on gear, it's no skin off my back. In fact, the idea of being able to sell stuff for real money is alluring. However, Blizzard keeps comparing the anticipated market to WoW, and I have trouble imagining a large market for items in a non-MMO. Acquiring top-level gear in an MMO is difficult, and by design, the game never ends so there is always a market. I don't foresee Diablo III being so infinitely playable, nor your achievements and gear being so visible and important to other players, so why would anyone spend money on it?    … Expand
  8. Pandafrag
    Jun 3, 2012
    5
    As much as I want to give it a 3, I know it does that deserve such a low score. This game is mediocre at best. I laugh when I read that the developers said Inferno is optional and isn't for every one WHEN IT'S THE END GAME CONTENT. Without Inferno, this game gets an immediate 4 for its lack of content compared to pricing. This game loses it's novelty fast. It may be fun at first but willAs much as I want to give it a 3, I know it does that deserve such a low score. This game is mediocre at best. I laugh when I read that the developers said Inferno is optional and isn't for every one WHEN IT'S THE END GAME CONTENT. Without Inferno, this game gets an immediate 4 for its lack of content compared to pricing. This game loses it's novelty fast. It may be fun at first but will dwindle down to a slow and tedious grind. Since people love saying INFERNO ISNT FOR EVERYONE! Will you honestly buy this game for $60 without Inferno.… Expand
  9. Stas
    May 19, 2012
    6
    Disappointing, almost no character customization, crappy graphics, very trivial story line. Also that dark creepy mood of diablo 2 is completely absent here, sure there are plenty of ugly monsters, but its just not the same.
  10. Ganjiek
    Jun 10, 2012
    5
    Nothing to do at level 60. Do inferno over and over forever, cant even duel other players right now. so yeah have fun doing that storyline over and over hoping for good drops because 95% of the drops are not useful to anyone. Was fun at first but after 70 hours played I am bored with it.
  11. Esett
    May 25, 2012
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have been a Blizzard fan since they were making console games. It was a long time ago. I have seen over the time amazing game after amazing game come out from them. Until now. Don't get me wrong. Diablo 3 from a game play stand point is amazing. But thats were the good things end. Everything else is surprisingly average. The sound, the music, the voice acting, the graphics. All fail to impress in any way. There are glimmers of great in the sea of mediocrity but that doesn't make up for all the mess.

    Speaking of a mess. The story is a disaster. It is so bad there is just no place to start. So i will just make a list of things it fails at: It fails:

    - at creating atmosphere
    - at creating scary villains
    - at making any kind of sense for the game
    - at making the player feel anything

    So it pretty much fails across the board. All the things a story should do in a game context the Diablo 3 story doesn't do.

    So what do we have in the end. A game with great game play, mediocre sound, music, voice acting and graphics and a story so bad it laughable. Buy it according to what matters to you in a game.    … Expand
  12. rh46tuf
    May 22, 2012
    5
    Beware of 9 and 10 scores as these are by giant fanboys and highly bias. The narrative and voice over is awful, wayyy too overacted you can tell the person was trying to hard, especially on the male witch doctor. The writing is cheesy with a cliche story that has been done a thousand times so for a game thats been 12 years in the making you'd think they'd innovate on that regard. Those areBeware of 9 and 10 scores as these are by giant fanboys and highly bias. The narrative and voice over is awful, wayyy too overacted you can tell the person was trying to hard, especially on the male witch doctor. The writing is cheesy with a cliche story that has been done a thousand times so for a game thats been 12 years in the making you'd think they'd innovate on that regard. Those are non bias statement, if you play yourself and turn the fanboy off you will hear how awful the voices are. The game itself looks nice and i like the settings, the characters look great but the gameplay is not smooth. Since the game is online, DRM, etc there are times when you lag spike hardcore making it nearly unplayable. I often get 1500 ms on a 15 mbps connection and that's no exaggeration, it happens to all. Without all the flaws the game is ok, not perfect like the fanboy reviews and critic fanboy reviews make it out to be but ok… Expand
  13. Attricus
    Jul 16, 2012
    5
    This game does not deserve the price it has. It is very boring when you play alone, it is too short, and has a lack of content. Even the new things are bad designed. Just buy it if your friends has it.
  14. bling581
    May 19, 2012
    5
    Could be much better. I have never played the previous Diablo games, so my review is less bias, but I still agree with a lot of the user comments. It's dull and the difficulty is pretty easy. You run around spamming a few buttons. I don't know how some people are completing the game in 4-5 hours, but they must be rushing through all the objectives without any exploring in between. Story isCould be much better. I have never played the previous Diablo games, so my review is less bias, but I still agree with a lot of the user comments. It's dull and the difficulty is pretty easy. You run around spamming a few buttons. I don't know how some people are completing the game in 4-5 hours, but they must be rushing through all the objectives without any exploring in between. Story is blah and overall the game is terrible compared to what I would expect from a company like Blizzard. Activision's meddling has ruined Blizzard's rep. On yeah, the online DRM sucks. Every time I lose my connection at least once, and the servers are always going down for maintenance. C'mon Blizz WTF?… Expand
  15. tsenG
    May 15, 2012
    5
    This game is nothing compared to D1 and D2, the game is like a MMORPG called World of Diablo, this game have the same Spells, Classes with other name and a Fckng Grinding Game, the same design, and maybe the same graphic engine, many people waited 10 years for this?, the game has been developed for almost 4 years or more, and passed by many designers, to deliver something "bad", 0This game is nothing compared to D1 and D2, the game is like a MMORPG called World of Diablo, this game have the same Spells, Classes with other name and a Fckng Grinding Game, the same design, and maybe the same graphic engine, many people waited 10 years for this?, the game has been developed for almost 4 years or more, and passed by many designers, to deliver something "bad", 0 creativity, and of course, the DRM Stay Connected all the time, the game is not a fckng MMO, what happen with the people who have unstable internet connection or dont have Internet in their homes and buy the retail copy and not the digital?, they cannot play because the DRM, the same **** for SC2, the game have the same bugs, since the beta, and they dont fix this, the same exploits, the same glitch, im not a hater or a troll, im only a person who is dissatisfied with the final product… Expand
  16. Jadagar
    May 15, 2012
    6
    After a few hours of gameplay, I can safely say that Diablo 3 is a fun, minor distraction. It takes me back to my days of playing Gauntlet with my pals. D3 is a mindless, crazy-go-nuts hack-and-slash with some semblance of strategy. Really, it has about the same amount of challenge as its predecessors. I doubt it will keep me amused for long (certainly not as long as I'd hoped), but maybeAfter a few hours of gameplay, I can safely say that Diablo 3 is a fun, minor distraction. It takes me back to my days of playing Gauntlet with my pals. D3 is a mindless, crazy-go-nuts hack-and-slash with some semblance of strategy. Really, it has about the same amount of challenge as its predecessors. I doubt it will keep me amused for long (certainly not as long as I'd hoped), but maybe the future content will be mildly interesting. Of course, given its shaky start, there is simply no telling when exactly that content will come. The connectivity issues are inexcusable; in no way does Blizzard deserve leniency in that regard. It might have been okay with their MMORPG eight years and many millions of dollars ago, but now? No. No, Blizzard. Unacceptable. However, I feel that once that's hammered out this game will equate to several movie's worth of entertainment (about $60) for the average gamer. Mind you, I feel the average gamer isn't going to pay out of pocket for gold and top-of-the-line pvp gear, but then I'm no marketing strategist. I -have- considered the underwhelming customization options and I've concluded that it's an improvement. Sure, they've taken away the skill points, but they have given each skill a lot of variants with which to mix and match. Now that I think about it, how in-depth was D2's skill point system REALLY? I don't know about you, but I always ended up maxing four or five skills and concentrating on those; you see the exact same thing here only they've taken skill-management-regret out of the equation. As per the Diablo design, D3 has a lot of loot variations with randomly generated dungeons and increasing difficulty for future tours. Mechanically, it works. Is it revolutionary? Nah. I was not expecting it to be. Blizzard isn't in the business of 'revolutionary'. BUT... once you sift through the mire of technical issue, you're left with a decently-executed dungeon crawl with potential for fun with groups of friends. Considering that Diablo 3 is free to play (for the most part), there's no harm in checking back in later months to see how patching has improved the experience. Sadly, it's no surprise that the deplorable launch has spread psychotic rage throughout the community, and despite there being a smorgasbord of stats, gear, challenges modes, and difficulty levels, hardcore gamers will not appreciate all the stream-lining. Some attitudes may change when they finally release their pvp content, but, again, who knows when that will be? For me, Diablo 3 would be in-the-green with a 7/10, if not for the incompetent launch and missing features. Certainly not the worst thing I've seen, though, and it may improve over time.… Expand
  17. Teedz
    May 17, 2012
    6
    Honest review! I am not an hardcore gamer, I did not play the BETA, I played D1 and D2, I did play the game (D3) and did not experience any of the login issues with the game. Now I've read a couple reviews that had 0 score because people could not play the game...Ignore these reviews! I also read a few reviews giving it 10. Read them if you must but when someone says: "It's not as good asHonest review! I am not an hardcore gamer, I did not play the BETA, I played D1 and D2, I did play the game (D3) and did not experience any of the login issues with the game. Now I've read a couple reviews that had 0 score because people could not play the game...Ignore these reviews! I also read a few reviews giving it 10. Read them if you must but when someone says: "It's not as good as it could've been and there are a few flaws and I've only played Act 1...", yet gives it a 10, ask yourself some questions. I give it a 6. Why? Because it's a good, fun, playable (when connected!) game. It's not special, it doesn't bring anything new, it's not that pretty. The soundtrack is awesome but some sound effects are clearly from Diablo 1-2! My score is based on the product in relation with the price. 60$ for a game that looks like the old one, plays like the old one and feels like the old one isn't right. The first Act is mostly populated by the same monsters in Diablo 1-2. It also lacks polishing in some places, animations can be rough and the physics engine can be buggy. You can slap enemies out of the screen with low power attacks (they don't even die from that), some items will be sent spinning everywhere at crazy speeds. There is some rubber-banding, probably due to the fact that the servers are under lots of stress. The cut-scenes are excellent. The main problems are the need of a constant (and consistent) internet access which I believe was justified by the ability to buy (with real money) items making the game accessible mostly to people living in urbanized areas, the fact that it's basically the same game than before and the graphics which are not really up to date (even on maximum settings). It's like justifying a 60$ Solitaire/minesweeper game. I mean everyone played solitaire/minesweeper and it's a fun game...but you wouldn't pay for it! I expect to finish the game a second or third time as it's not really long either, a good game, but far from what was expected. Doesn't have the immersion of Skyrim, the excitement of Battlefield 3, the depth or SimCity 4. Funny thing is, as I try to compare this game to something somewhat recent, I can only think of games like Marvel, Ultimate Alliance: Hack, slash, loot, mission briefing "break", repeat. The difficulty and the joy of destroying daemons will be the only incentive to keep playing. In a nutshell, Diablo 2.5 at full price, plus the fact that you can't play when you don't have access to internet is limiting.… Expand
  18. JimmyDamage
    Jul 14, 2012
    6
    Has lots of potential but fails to reward the player enough. Needs more random maps and less random loot. Sound, graphics and general mechanics are good enough.
  19. Kalanur
    May 27, 2012
    5
    I've mixed feelings when I think about the game. First of all I had over 100 hours of fun while playing this game but have to give it a lower score. Not because of online DRM or server problems. That' something I was aware of before I've bought and played the game. The reason is much simplier. The 100 hours of gaming were funny because of the friends I've played it and not because of theI've mixed feelings when I think about the game. First of all I had over 100 hours of fun while playing this game but have to give it a lower score. Not because of online DRM or server problems. That' something I was aware of before I've bought and played the game. The reason is much simplier. The 100 hours of gaming were funny because of the friends I've played it and not because of the game. I've had more fun in games that were bascially worse than D3 just because I had the right people to play with and that's what good about Diablo 3, almost everyone has bought it so I could play with at least 2 friends all the time.
    But why is it so bad?
    Gameplay: First of all, the difficulty. Normal and Nightmare are just too easy, Hell felt like it was moving in the direction and Inferno was a total joke. Blizzard said, the difficulty will get harder because it's totally new feeling, every Mob and Boss will have new Skills etc. but that's not the matter. Story bosses have just more HP and damge depending on the difficulty and the same goes for Random Bosses but they got one more skill with every difficulty. Not new Skills, but just one of the same random Skills more. So the difficulty gets higher but in the wrong way. You don't need more skill or knowledge to kill those harder mobs but just better gear. Most of the time I died, I was thinking "Need more Gear" instead of "Oops I've made a stupid move". Other game like Demon Souls have shown that you can have a high difficulty that depends on Skill and not simply on Gear.

    The classes are kinda imbalanced at the moment, ranged classes only need to upgrade their Weapons to get better gear while Melees need to finetune every single slot and still can't stay alive more than a second in melee combat at Inferno Act 2

    Graphics and Sound: The Graphics are okay and I know that Blizzard wanted a timeless Style which most of the players can enjoy even with slower machines. It's okay when it works but I know so many people that have high end machines that are able to run every current game fine except for Diablo 3. Network and Online functionality: Joining a friend, playing with them, seeing their stats and everything else regarding online play is well done, except for the lag. Sometimes you are warping around like a hell. Dodging an attack and then warped back into it just to get one hitted is not fun. Hopefully they will work on it. The rest of the online funtionality works good.

    Content: It's simply too short if you take into account that you have to play the same content at least 3 times to reach level 60. They promised a dynamic endless content system but I wouldn't call it really dynamic. After the 2nd playthrough I've felt like I have seen everything. Putting 2 possible Events in one zone, of which only one is available at a time is not really dynamic. If you reach Inferno you will look at the Auction House all the time or farm the same 10 minute content all over again before you can move on and kill those "more difficult" mobs.

    If it weren't for the great online functionality AND my friends I would have given the game a 5/10 because it's actually nothing new or special and not as finetuned as a game like this should have been if you think about the long developement time and the big name behind it.    … Expand
  20. bingate
    May 26, 2012
    6
    I give this game a lenient 6 because it is a good game.....but man it could have been SO much better. Being a fan of D1 and D2, I was expecting gold. Big disappointment....but still a fun and addictive experience. Bottom line is that this game shouldn't have been placed in the Diablo series. God knows why Blizzard made these stupid choices and dumbed the game down so freakin much. ItsI give this game a lenient 6 because it is a good game.....but man it could have been SO much better. Being a fan of D1 and D2, I was expecting gold. Big disappointment....but still a fun and addictive experience. Bottom line is that this game shouldn't have been placed in the Diablo series. God knows why Blizzard made these stupid choices and dumbed the game down so freakin much. Its almost like you took a delicious and perfect recipe like Coca Cola, took all the good **** out, added some of your own urine, then added Pepsi.....and then tried to sell it to us as Coke again. Idiots.… Expand
  21. CovertElite
    May 15, 2012
    6
    This game is good and disappointing at the same time. I needn't mention much on the server issues and lack of offline option. An oversight on Blizzard's part? I do not know.

    What struck me was that yes some of the skills and graphics do look great, but the game seems to be tailored to an audience other than Diablo fans. It caters to the casual gamer so much that if this game didn't have    This game is good and disappointing at the same time. I needn't mention much on the server issues and lack of offline option. An oversight on Blizzard's part? I do not know.

    What struck me was that yes some of the skills and graphics do look great, but the game seems to be tailored to an audience other than Diablo fans. It caters to the casual gamer so much that if this game didn't have blood, gore and body bits it could have a substantially lower MSRB rating. When it comes to customization of your character you are more or less along for the ride. Stat points do not exist and your character will grow based on level, but not by your input. Skill trees do no exist and skills are unlocked as you level, a system that has been come to be expected in games of the day (just think COD). However, this system doesn't seem appealing for an RPG fan were certain choices are taken away from you, such as investment in prerequisites. Choices do occur when selecting skills from a pool (your left, right click, and numbers 1,2,3,4). From each pool you can only select one skill. This I didn't like at first, but at least you have to make a choice somewhere and this is likely necessary for balancing, maybe. It is nice though that you can customize each skill via the rune system, but the runes aren't created equal (unlocked at different levels) and we'll likely see the same one paired up with a particular skill nearly all the time due to effectiveness.

    The game did bring back the nostalgic feel of Diablo exploration and item drop collection. However, some points to feel rather linear. I have yet to replay a part to confirm this and will not let this factor in rating, but the feeling was there nonetheless.

    Additionally, some of the boss battles do seem rather cool and have potential for being heated and nerve-racking. At the moment though the starting difficulty is rather low and soloing the bosses or even tanking the earliest ones was not hard (I'm a witch doctor). However, with the end of Act one and the beginning Act II opening up this is shifting and I look forward to overcome challenges with companions.

    The Co-op though is proving to be a bit of a disappointment, largely in part of the player cap in game has been dropped from eight (8)in Diablo 2 to the current four (4) in Diablo 3. These more intimate games are not exactly what I expected when buying a multiplayer game. I suppose thought I'll have to grudgingly learn to live with it, unless Blizzard can at least patch it to 6 (hint, hint). That said though we liked how you could see another players map and the ease of meeting up when joining a game via the banner system.

    So far I suppose I enjoy the game, but as I play it I know its just a game and can walk away from it. It has not drawn me in either the story or character development. At this stage I do not think I will ever play this game as much as I had D2. D3 offers some new and interesting things to the action RPG genre (skill runes and some physics), but so far its linear skill development, lack of stats and reduced co-op have left us wanting and disappointed (used this word a lot because its true).

    I gave this game a six, a score balanced between dissatisfaction (for what it is now) and optimization (for what it may become in patching or later acts, which I can't look into because the servers constantly down).    … Expand
  22. makken104
    May 15, 2012
    5
    Meh. This would have been game of the year... in 2004. It's decent but gaming has moved on. Honestly Wow has diluted Blizzard, visually it's a murky mess, mechanics feel antiquated,broken infuriating DRM, story and setting are the only redeeming features but zero replay value. Where did those 12 years of development go? Play it through once, enjoy the story but then put it on your shelfMeh. This would have been game of the year... in 2004. It's decent but gaming has moved on. Honestly Wow has diluted Blizzard, visually it's a murky mess, mechanics feel antiquated,broken infuriating DRM, story and setting are the only redeeming features but zero replay value. Where did those 12 years of development go? Play it through once, enjoy the story but then put it on your shelf to collect dust, there are too many other compelling games to spend too much time with it.… Expand
  23. Astonim
    May 16, 2012
    5
    Honestly, I'm disappointed at first with this game. I wouldn't call it Diablo III. It is rather revamped Diablo II. Let alone the entire bumpy experience of the launch. I had to log on to Asian server to start play, and my highest level character is still on Asian server. Well, everybody trusts Blizzard that we should be fine from here on. But let's look at the game itself. First, it isHonestly, I'm disappointed at first with this game. I wouldn't call it Diablo III. It is rather revamped Diablo II. Let alone the entire bumpy experience of the launch. I had to log on to Asian server to start play, and my highest level character is still on Asian server. Well, everybody trusts Blizzard that we should be fine from here on. But let's look at the game itself. First, it is not truly a 3D game, although it is 3D modeled, the camera is locked in place. In east Asia, this is called 2.5D. And if you look at the character setting, it smells Korean. Now, let's look at the game play. It is really Diablo II or even Diablo I, exactly the same formula, you head into a dungeon, kill some monsters, loot, and sell your loot. You don't even have any choice to develop your character, everything is preset. The only random thing is what item you can find, and what you can make by crafting. Then you can sell them in the auction house. All in all, it gives you a really retro feeling. I'm like back to my childhood when Diablo I on 1024x768 looked really stunning. All these being said, why I didn't score it in the reds? Because like every other Blizzard game, I found this game still very addicting. This is exactly because the game play is streamlined and simplified. Diablo III is a GAME. You have a simple set of rules (controlled by computer), and you choose from a set of strategies to beat it. There is no fancy plots, tough choices to make. We have enough fancy plots and tough choices in our real life. Why want more? A lot of games now a day tries to be thoughtful, tries to give you another life. People likes them (including me) because it gives the feeling of another life. But sometimes, you just want to sit down and play UNO with little kids. And that's what Diablo gives you. Just sit down forget about your life and play. I think I'll sink countless hours into Diablo III just like the previous two.… Expand
  24. HeavyMetalBrewi
    May 20, 2012
    6
    Diablo Three: It's World of Warcraft in Sanctuary (and I hate WoW).

    Potions: Although I am incredibly thankful I don't need to stack my belt with potions every time I die, or need to buy more, I am frustrated that they added a cool-down between uses. When there are several hordes attacking me, as a sorceress I struggle since I have to rely on health being dropped; usually around the    Diablo Three: It's World of Warcraft in Sanctuary (and I hate WoW).

    Potions: Although I am incredibly thankful I don't need to stack my belt with potions every time I die, or need to buy more, I am frustrated that they added a cool-down between uses. When there are several hordes attacking me, as a sorceress I struggle since I have to rely on health being dropped; usually around the hordes so if I run towards it I get killed. There is absolutely no reason to have a cool-down on potions. Death: You respawn where you left off with the only penalty being durability, which you fix with the gold that is otherwise useless in the game. So death is no longer the dreadful ordeal of losing gold, any overflow items, having to put new potions back on the belt, and losing XP. You don't have to find your body and fight the monsters over again, or worry about losing everything if you can't beat them. And as angry as I was when I died in Diablo 2, that added a lot of the fun to the game since it kept you on the edge of the seat. Now if I die, I just spawn right back where I left off and don't care about the few repairs, and that takes away some of the fun. However, I should mention I do like how death is used during boss fights. You die, your partner needs to recover your body which can be difficult. There is no more just jumping through the portal and continuing, which I see as a huge improvement. Skills: This is where D3 becomes WoW, and where the game destroys itself. All of the skills can be changed at any moment, and that takes away from creating several characters of the same class stacking them differently. Although you won't get screwed over in Hell mode for stacking yourself wrong earlier on in the game, now everybody who has a wizard is exactly the same. There are no more ice or lightening focused sorceresses, or a spell or pet focused necromancer. There is no seeing characters of the same class come in with a spell you've never tried out that encourages you to want to create another character to get it. You can't put points into strength or intelligence; D3 does this automatically. I can't stress how much I am frustrated with this, since I usually like to have several characters and develop them differently. And there isn't that moment when you get into Hell Mode and start swearing from having messed up, which I actually enjoyed. For me, this is just too user friendly like WoW had been, and doesn't pander to the Diablo niche. Action: I do love the action. Plenty of new monsters, tons of hordes to kill rather than killing one person at a time like in WoW. I like watching spells and action sequences. And I love how gold doesn't need to be clicked on to pick it up; saving a lot of time. Running is also always on. Another thing that remains great is that there is no longer the ability to be the a-hole who runs forward and steals every item that drops since each player gets his own stashes to look at. Maps: They don't seem to be completely random, which helps. For example, I no longer need to worry about teleporting over to the Stony Field and have to wander around until I find my way out. It's pretty much straight forward in the important areas, which saves a lot of time, with plenty of different maps for buildings and other things. I love dead ends and not knowing exactly where things are, and I love the random enemies that are put into it. Bosses: I am very happy with them. They are challenging, but not impossible. Each one keeps you on your toes, especially the boss at the end of Act 2 which I found to be the hardest in the game. Also, as I mentioned, if you die you need a friend to resurrect your body for you.


    So in the end, Diablo 3 is an incredibly fun game with good graphics, plenty of action, and a lot of improvements from things like no longer needing somebody to make a portal to teleport to their character. It also forewarns you when there is a boss to make sure you are prepared. Blizzard did a lot of things right making this game. But without the customizable characters it destroys almost all replay value. After I get to the highest level with my character I can't start over in an attempt to perfect it. I also am not happy that hostile mode did not come standard, since I looked forward to slicing of my friends' ears. I am aware it'll be on a patch, but come on. It's a fun game, a lot of improvements, but it feels too much like Wow at certain parts. Without customization, it is not a true Diablo game.    … Expand
  25. Truant
    May 22, 2012
    5
    I am giving this game a 5/10 based on two criteria: 1. The content of the game
    2. The availability I have to play the game.
    On the day of release I got home from work 30 minutes after the servers had come up (I live in Australia). I was surprised to get home and find out from my friends that they were still not online playing the game we had all been waiting months and even years for. I    I am giving this game a 5/10 based on two criteria: 1. The content of the game
    2. The availability I have to play the game.

    On the day of release I got home from work 30 minutes after the servers had come up (I live in Australia). I was surprised to get home and find out from my friends that they were still not online playing the game we had all been waiting months and even years for. I was kind of expecting the servers to be a bit congested with millions of people logging in so I acted patiently and waited while spamming my login button. An hour and a half later I made it online and held a stable connection and began to play.

    The game itself is amazing. I have never felt so compelled to want to continue to play a game like I did in Diablo 3. The skill progression is great, the difficulty settings are good for players on any ability and the graphics, monster AI and story are all very polished. If I had to rate the game out of 10 I would give it a 9.5. There is not much that could be improved in this game at all and I am thoroughly enjoying every moment I can play Diablo 3.

    This is where my review takes a negative turn. Living in Australia there are no localized servers for me and I experience around 200 ping to the US servers which I am forced to play on in the best case scenario. I have a very strong and stable internet connection and very rarely lag in any game but playing Diablo 3 online, even in single player mode, has been a nightmare. Most of the time I sit at around 450ms and get spikes where I will sit at over 1000ms for minutes at a time rendering the game absolutely unplayable. The lag and 'rubber banding' affect on my character infuriates me when I am trying to play at higher difficulties and can be blamed for many of my characters deaths whilst playing.

    With no localized servers and no offline play it is extremely disappointing to have to play this game in such horrible conditions. What is stopping blizzard from making the game playable offline? Is it not possible to make all gear obtained in an offline mode Bind-to-account to prevent bots and cheaters from gaining an advantage?

    Blizzard really slipped up on this one but I have faith in them to redeem themselves and resolve this widespread issue. If you are reading this wondering whether or not to purchase this game, Yes. But be prepared to become very frustrated with dodgy servers and horrendous lag.    … Expand
  26. fep52
    May 25, 2012
    6
    D3 feels like a safe cash-in on a legendary IP. Despite enjoying my time playing, (pwning demons and collecting loot is as addictive as ever) the choice to streamline character development is disappointing. Gameplay is tight (though the ability to zoom in a la Titan Quest would be nice) while the graphics are typical of a Blizzard game; stylistically sound but certainly not pushing anyD3 feels like a safe cash-in on a legendary IP. Despite enjoying my time playing, (pwning demons and collecting loot is as addictive as ever) the choice to streamline character development is disappointing. Gameplay is tight (though the ability to zoom in a la Titan Quest would be nice) while the graphics are typical of a Blizzard game; stylistically sound but certainly not pushing any boundaries, so as to work on as many systems as possible.

    The game probably deserves a 7.5 or an 8, but the always-online requirement warrants a slightly lower score, especially when lag affects the single player experience (which is common in Australia with its draconian telecommunications infrastructure).

    Still, if you enjoy RPGs and particularly ARPGs, you'll find months and months of gameplay here. When I'm not playing it, I'm wishing I was.    … Expand
  27. Mercator360
    Oct 5, 2012
    7
    I was pretty disappointed in this game. I played this game for many hours. The developers decided that they wanted to remove the fat from Diablo 2, instead they removed the fun elements that made that game a classic. By allowing you to respect your character on the fly they killed re-playability. Torchlight 2 follows the old Diablo 2 formula each character has three skill branches and yourI was pretty disappointed in this game. I played this game for many hours. The developers decided that they wanted to remove the fat from Diablo 2, instead they removed the fun elements that made that game a classic. By allowing you to respect your character on the fly they killed re-playability. Torchlight 2 follows the old Diablo 2 formula each character has three skill branches and your decisions are more permanent,this increases re-playability because even the same characters play very differently depending on the skills you chose. My advise to any reader is to play Torchlight 2 instead.… Expand
  28. anonVas
    Jun 5, 2012
    6
    The game is definitely NOT a 0 I can assure you, nor is it a perfect 10. This review will probably help fans of DII (LoD inclusive). The game isn't the Diablo we loved: it is far less complex and takes less character planning. I find this detracts from my overall experience as I can't customise a character like I used to. I used to be able to level up my attributes and skills to tweak aThe game is definitely NOT a 0 I can assure you, nor is it a perfect 10. This review will probably help fans of DII (LoD inclusive). The game isn't the Diablo we loved: it is far less complex and takes less character planning. I find this detracts from my overall experience as I can't customise a character like I used to. I used to be able to level up my attributes and skills to tweak a character the way I wanted. That's all gone now. You won't be short of customisation options however with the 'rune' system, I was a fan of the DII style heavy character planning and investment type of customisation however.

    Furthermore, if you create a hardcore character you are STILL at risk of losing your character if you disconnect because of a choppy network on your part or if the servers over at Blizzard go down/lag. This is even while playing in singleplayer (yes, you have latency while in singleplaer mode).

    The auction house is a great addition and there's a good economy going atm, it's much easier to get the gear you want if you farm and sell your gear through this feature.

    I don't like the over-emphasis on replaying the game to get bad ass looking loot. Basically, you get worthless and crap looking gear in Normal mode and it gets progressively better through each playthrough. This isn't because I can't get through Normal or anything, no no, normal is piss easy in fact. It's just that it feels like I'm treadmill gaming right from the very beginning of the game, where-as in DII I felt like I was treadmilling when I had to farm my Stones of Jordan.

    Now we come to the story.... The story in Diablo 3 is presented terribly. Remember how the story of DII was told through both Marius' recounts and our own character trailing behind? Remember how we'd have to consult the wikis to learn subtle little lore tid-bits? Well that's gone. Now you have Blizzard trying to actively and without any subtlety whatsoever, force you to emotionally attach to 'Leah'. You will be killing monsters and suddenly she'll interject with how she wants to make an inn so she can help weary travellers. While I'm in the middle of killing and looting. Oh yeah that's another thing - You are forced to escort Leah and a few other annoying characters A LOT. In DII you were the lone saviour who occasionally received help but not nearly as much as this. The story is presented as if it were written for 5 year olds.... Seriously, remember Izuall from DII? Well he's back, and BOY does he want to remind you who he is after we just got told who he was. The 'Lord of Deceit' (Belial) is perhaps the worst deceiver I've ever seen: there's absolutely no subtlety to his 'master deception'. The twist in the plot can be seen from about 100 miles away it's that obvious. I think Chris Metzen needs to take a break from writing stories: it's the same old recycled **** over and over again, and every iteration of story he writes becomes more and more obvious. The Warcraft, Diablo and Starcraft stories USED to have subtlety and were told and presented in an interesting way. Now it's just "HEY I'M A MAIN CHARACTER, I AM LIKE A PERSON BECAUSE I HAVE FEELINGS, CONNECT WITH ME, PLEASE CONNECT WITH ME, OMG PLOT TWIST I SOOOO DID NOT SEE THAT COMING DID YOU?!". Just awful writing.

    Sometimes when you come home after a long day at work or uni and you just want to relax and play some Diablo with friends you won't be allowed to, because the servers will be down for maintenance or patching, or some useless reason like that... Even if you want to play singleplayer you won't be allowed to - it's quite a disturbing trend for singleplayer games actually.There's really not much else to say: the game isn't at all like the Diablo of old and that may be good or bad depending on what your preferences are. It's a lot simpler and there's no real character pre-planning required, but it still has quite a bit of variety to it. It's very fun to play with friends but gets quite stale in singleplayer. It is online only and thus latency is a big problem if you live in a country like Australia with terrible net speeds and you won't be able to log in during 'maintenance'. The story is terribly written AND terribly presented. The plot twists are obvious and terrible. The game is decent.. It is neither a perfect score (it HAS objective problems: like server maintenance and ping/latency in singleplayer hardcore), nor is it a 0 (it's impossible, it's decent, but that's all - nothing special). If you're a fan of Diablo II you may be disappointed; if you're quite young and have never played a point and click RPG this will probably be for you. It does feel like they're pandering a lot to a younger audience than ever before... And I think its success stems from the WoW market share. Ah well, it seems the old Diablo is gone.    … Expand
  29. Wynnyelle
    May 31, 2012
    6
    I've put in about 70-80 hours into this game so far, and I can definitely say that I've gotten my money's worth at this point. But is it a good game? Diablo 3 has definitely improved when it comes to being user friendly with a polished interface. The game just can't seem to live up to Diablo 2's greatness, though. Whenever I got a new piece of loot, it just didn't give me that sameI've put in about 70-80 hours into this game so far, and I can definitely say that I've gotten my money's worth at this point. But is it a good game? Diablo 3 has definitely improved when it comes to being user friendly with a polished interface. The game just can't seem to live up to Diablo 2's greatness, though. Whenever I got a new piece of loot, it just didn't give me that same thrill. Maybe it's because of the fact that I know I can just go buy that piece of loot on the auction house if I want to. I really don't know, but it just didn't give me that same feeling. Since the game is designed around getting better loot, I have little desire to continue at this point. I've made it into Hell difficulty, and it's fun, but there's just nothing there to keep me playing.… Expand
  30. mattnotley2004
    Nov 23, 2012
    6
    Graphics were reasonably good. but the storyline and overall gameplay was dull and boring, with not a huge amount of replay value. I felt everything I did was repeated over and over again.
  31. InfernalBase
    May 15, 2012
    5
    Don't get me wrong, Diablo 3 is a good game, it is fun to play, but the way Blizzard handles things is absolutely horrible, the sole reason why this game might not be enjoyable is because of the way Blizzard treats it's customers

    -You have to be online ALL the time, hell I even occasionally have lag in my singleplayer game?! Blizzard says this is because they wanted to make a multiplayer    Don't get me wrong, Diablo 3 is a good game, it is fun to play, but the way Blizzard handles things is absolutely horrible, the sole reason why this game might not be enjoyable is because of the way Blizzard treats it's customers

    -You have to be online ALL the time, hell I even occasionally have lag in my singleplayer game?! Blizzard says this is because they wanted to make a multiplayer game, not a singleplayer game, ok, then why do I even have the possibility to play alone? Also, if you make it online only, at least have enough servers to handle the **** storm? I mean the game took so many years to finish, so much money, and then on the last meters to a perfect product you blow it all away because you wanted to save some costs by halving the amount of servers? This is absolute **** and you know it
    -Mods are not allowed at all, another reason to not give your money to this company, the game you bought is not yours, you can't do with it what you want, you have to use it in only the way they want you to

    The only reason for this is to keep control of the people and make it slightly harder for softwarepirates to play, hell I will probably not buy it because of that, I will just get the game from somewhere else, crack it, mod it, play on private servers (might take some time but it will come) or I will just completely ignore it, because this is definitely not a "game of the year", and it will never live up to it's hype    … Expand
  32. honestreviews2
    May 15, 2012
    5
    Well I'm disappointed with no offline play. It's absolutely ridiculous they advertise this game on commercials and internet as May 15 release I've been able to play once for 10 minutes since it realeased at 12 am on the 15.

    Due to errors and server downtime I cannot play. This game needed offline implemented!!! As far as the game goes It's good, graphics are nice, story is good. I'm    Well I'm disappointed with no offline play. It's absolutely ridiculous they advertise this game on commercials and internet as May 15 release I've been able to play once for 10 minutes since it realeased at 12 am on the 15.

    Due to errors and server downtime I cannot play. This game needed offline implemented!!! As far as the game goes It's good, graphics are nice, story is good.

    I'm completely disgusted with the launch and no offline mode , so for that I'm giving it a 5    … Expand
  33. Po1Zen
    May 16, 2012
    6
    Blizzard proves once again that they have grown too big to innovate after WoW. I mean, WoW was their last real title and SCII and DIII are just graphics renewals. Now, this time even graphics remake is not really successful - environments are exciting (especially I liked the taverns), but animations look _very_ ugly and effects and particles are just outdated. Yes, the interface is great,Blizzard proves once again that they have grown too big to innovate after WoW. I mean, WoW was their last real title and SCII and DIII are just graphics renewals. Now, this time even graphics remake is not really successful - environments are exciting (especially I liked the taverns), but animations look _very_ ugly and effects and particles are just outdated. Yes, the interface is great, and some outfits look fun, and some locations are breathtaking, but it all doesnt count because this game is just the SAME. SAME gameplay: Not even _one_ new feature. Maybe jumping from level to level in the dungeons. Nice work inventing this one for 10+ years. SAME storyline and look and feel - you even start by killing zombies and then skeleton and etc.

    Overall, I spent years playing DI, then DII, and now just a few hours playing DIII and I will not be back to play the same game I used to play --- thats how disappointed I am about this release.    … Expand
  34. SneakyPayload
    May 17, 2012
    6
    First some background. I have been watching this game since it was announced. Diablo II was awesome, and I loved playing it with friends. Even though DII PVP was sort of crappy, it was still really entertaining.

    When Activision bought blizzard, I sort of knew things would change, but what I have seen to this day still shocks me. It was definitely a move for the worse. I mean look at    First some background. I have been watching this game since it was announced. Diablo II was awesome, and I loved playing it with friends. Even though DII PVP was sort of crappy, it was still really entertaining.

    When Activision bought blizzard, I sort of knew things would change, but what I have seen to this day still shocks me. It was definitely a move for the worse. I mean look at the new WoW expansions (I dont play, but pandas? really? I know its in warcraft III, but come the hell on.)

    I love the dark look of DII, and you can tell they completely strayed away from it. For the worse in my opinion

    so here we go

    1. Gameplay. The hack and slash is fun, and the on screen visuals make it so. WIth explosions and fireballs, etc. The game is too easy. Less than 18 hours of gameplay time, and I was done with normal mode. This is insane. They should have made the acts a little more in depth, I mean its a massive story about good and evil, but the story flow was absolutely awful. The skill system is awful too. You have no real choice on character build anymore, and you have no consequences for building a **** character. I could solo diablo with a witchdoctor, with 4 people in game at the end, and only level 30. I find this to be too easy. Gameplay gets a 6/10

    2. Graphics: The graphics are ok. I give the graphics on this game a 5/10. The world looks good, but you start noticing minor details that are missing, or dont make sense. And the 3/4 camera angle isnt too great. I do like the 3d environments, but they could have done more. We should have been able to rotate the camera. All we have is a zoom feature which is completely worthless. Graphics get a 5/10

    3. Sound: The soundtrack in the beginning is great. It reminded me of DII, and the fact I was going back in to fight the demons of hell, to save mankind. But about halfway through the game, I stopped noticing the sound, which causes me to think it is really bland. Sound gets a 5/10

    4. Online Experience: I am rating the online experience separately, because frankly, it is lacking, and should be a whole other component to the game. There is little online experience here for a multiplayer game. Where are the guilds? where are the battle arenas? The rewards for completing challenges? Things like that? Who cares about earning some achievement that really leads you to a stupid banner unlock? Online Experience gets a 3/10.



    This game to me BARELY edges out a 6/10 rating. Blizzard is known for there amazing games, but they have fell extremely short on this, to the point that I really do not think they can recover the diablo franchise.    … Expand
  35. apathyguy
    May 17, 2012
    5
    Fours days in and I still can play for more than a few mins without getting bumped out. This is a one player game here. As far as what I have been able to do (20th lvl Barbarian) its been unimpressive. Graphics are good but not great (highest setting). The skill system and accompanying skills are decent and functional. Sadly there is no wow factor what so ever to them. Gems and black smithFours days in and I still can play for more than a few mins without getting bumped out. This is a one player game here. As far as what I have been able to do (20th lvl Barbarian) its been unimpressive. Graphics are good but not great (highest setting). The skill system and accompanying skills are decent and functional. Sadly there is no wow factor what so ever to them. Gems and black smith suffer the same fate as the skill sets. Combat is in truth very satisfying. After about lvl 10 the fights stop being easy but the game manages to ramp up the difficulty in a way that allows your tactics to grow with your skill sets and quit often leaves you feeling a sense of accomplishment even with the fights you know you wont loose. For this style of game the story line is certainly above average to good. Though its never going to surpass the likes of Mass Effect, but that isn't why you buy a Diablo game so I give them credit in this area. So in the end it grieves me to say this but none the less I recommend waiting for it to go on sale, by then the on line aspect will be repaired. It is nothing short of crippling at this point (its not an exaggeration). If you haven't played Torch Light yet then get it instead. Once the server issues are fixed the score will boost to 8 for me. Good luck.… Expand
  36. Durge
    May 18, 2012
    6
    Docked 3 points for always online requirement. Docked another point for burying the ability to customize your skills in a game play options menu. You can customize your character. It's just through the use of runes, not skill points. I think the system is great, but there is way to much hand holding with it. The game is aesthetically pleasing. Backgrounds have an almost hand painted likeDocked 3 points for always online requirement. Docked another point for burying the ability to customize your skills in a game play options menu. You can customize your character. It's just through the use of runes, not skill points. I think the system is great, but there is way to much hand holding with it. The game is aesthetically pleasing. Backgrounds have an almost hand painted like quality. Animations are fantastic. The sound is also very well done. I regret not getting the Collectors edition for the soundtrack. The story is love/hate. It's frustrating when you know more about what's going on then the characters on screen. Overall great game, but online only is killing the experience.… Expand
  37. Oberpimpf
    May 20, 2012
    6
    Things are changing, that's the most important thing, that make our world not a boring place. Same I thought about D3. I would be really disappointed, if D3 would have the same game mechanics as there was in D2, just only refreshing graphics and story. DRM and permanently Internet-Con, no LAN, well that could have a better solution, like an offline mode. Well, let's talk about the In-GameThings are changing, that's the most important thing, that make our world not a boring place. Same I thought about D3. I would be really disappointed, if D3 would have the same game mechanics as there was in D2, just only refreshing graphics and story. DRM and permanently Internet-Con, no LAN, well that could have a better solution, like an offline mode. Well, let's talk about the In-Game situations:
    I like the world, you've been set into. The varied environment, landscapes and dungeons supports your game progress visually (forests, swamps, desert, hell,...) and the intermezzos with the NPC and little chats between you and your fellow are refreshing ways of keeping away the sometime monotonously "hack, slay, loot!". Apropos, let's talk about the new way to skill your char. At the first time, I was wondering how you can skill your individual char, like in D2, where you'd have to choose the skills you want out of (mostly) two from three main groups available, when you can have all skills just to pick in six slots? After continuing the game, this new system helps me to try out, what skill combination fits , because it allows you to experiment (let me see this one. Mhh, not good, or maybe this here...) and to adept to some sort of enemies (first a combo for mass-destruction, and then switch to a combo for a single Boss) . That was a great defect in D2, especially in Nightmare and Hell. But my question still remains: How can I create a unique char, and a second char of the same class but with an other style? Well, at my point of view it's impossible and that discourage you to make an second char at the same class and to play the game with it once more (for 4 times!). Blizzard should have combine this out of D2 and D3. Combine every skill your want, but all skills are divided in 3 groups, and at the begin you have to choose one (and in Hell a second one). My last point ist the story. It ist very difficult to make a story, that keeps you play-through and play-through and play-through and play-through. In most cases the story is good and ok. But I think, in a game, that's designed to play it through over and over again you can not choose a story-plot that has a intense punchline with the intention to enforce an end like: There must be a Final with Diablo in Diablo (1,2 or 3). Act 1-3 is like the story in D2, but Act 4, I mean, the story that directs you to Act 4 had discouraged me to play it again, not for ever, but I'll take a brake - maybe the aftermath of Mass Effect 3 -    … Expand
  38. Larwood
    May 28, 2012
    6
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The graphics are adequate, the cutscenes while striking are extremely poorly encoded, looking pixellated and blocky (heaven knows why Blizz didn't use a better video codec than Theora).

    The story is woefully short, linear, and predictable - apart from the one twist in the story when Adria does her business, the story doesn't just go exactly how you might guess it would, it goes exactly how the characters say it will.

    Only play this game if you like relatively easy grinding for gear.    … Expand
  39. PabloK
    May 31, 2012
    6
    Diablo 3 Is not at all what I had expected. I don't care about server downtime and real money auction house these things will be solved. I do care about a fun game. I liked the story part of the game but dungeons ar far to short and the quests are far to fast. Cut scenes on bosses are anoying and not being abel to teleport trough different acts is frustrateing. Pvp is not avilable wichDiablo 3 Is not at all what I had expected. I don't care about server downtime and real money auction house these things will be solved. I do care about a fun game. I liked the story part of the game but dungeons ar far to short and the quests are far to fast. Cut scenes on bosses are anoying and not being abel to teleport trough different acts is frustrateing. Pvp is not avilable wich means that all you can do is get good gear and then show it to people. We need PVP! What I miss moastly from diablo 2 though is that items were usefull in so man ways. In diablo 3 the onlything that matters is the items stats and nothing else. This means that soon evry one will figure out the best build and use that. There is no magic in selecting skills. There is no rune words or other ways of customising your wepons.

    I think the game needs alot of new features to be fun in the lnog run.    … Expand
  40. sourdust
    Jun 9, 2012
    5
    Wonderful graphics, very immersive the first time through. But the character development system has been crippled. All characters of the same class are basically cookie cutters, no ability to customise your character as you level up except through item selection ... which is the other big flaw. Items are nowhere near as "cool" as in Diablo 2 ... they seem bland, mostly because there areWonderful graphics, very immersive the first time through. But the character development system has been crippled. All characters of the same class are basically cookie cutters, no ability to customise your character as you level up except through item selection ... which is the other big flaw. Items are nowhere near as "cool" as in Diablo 2 ... they seem bland, mostly because there are almost no special or unique or specialised powers that items give. It's all just stat boosters, so the game is just about maxing out a few stats rather than building a customised cool character over time. Add to this the fact that there is no offline version, which is annoying for players like me who basically just want to play alone for an hour at the end of a long day... so big kudos on graphics, but gameplay won't have me addicted as I was for D2.… Expand
  41. TheMaskOfSanity
    Jun 10, 2012
    5
    First of this game is fun, that being said I must also point out that it is fun for a short amount of time. I picked this game up and beat it in a weekend, only to replay for maybe two hours more. Broken down I can say that the story is existent, the graphic could have been better, and the game play is repetitive after the first go around. If you want to play this at a friends or have theFirst of this game is fun, that being said I must also point out that it is fun for a short amount of time. I picked this game up and beat it in a weekend, only to replay for maybe two hours more. Broken down I can say that the story is existent, the graphic could have been better, and the game play is repetitive after the first go around. If you want to play this at a friends or have the money to spend go for it, otherwise I would recommend picking up something with a larger life span, or waiting for 2013. Blizzard let me down on this game.… Expand
  42. Kynsho
    Jul 15, 2012
    5
    This game lasted both my wife and I about 50 hours of casual play, cooperatively and single-player, plus some game time with friends. This was enough to get us through the first two difficulty tiers. After that, the monotony became mind-numbing for both of us--basically, same story, same maps, same mobs, and same general loot table. The only differences each playthru are the differentThis game lasted both my wife and I about 50 hours of casual play, cooperatively and single-player, plus some game time with friends. This was enough to get us through the first two difficulty tiers. After that, the monotony became mind-numbing for both of us--basically, same story, same maps, same mobs, and same general loot table. The only differences each playthru are the different classes available, the level of loot, and the increasingly difficult mob mechanics that quickly become frustrating. To compensate, and as others have mentioned, into the 3rd and surely 4th difficulty tiers much of the "game time" is spent grinding familiar content and combining that with the in-game auction system to get better gear to move forward with fewer headaches. But as fewer headaches do not translate into greater enjoyment, both of us have uninstalled the game and shelved it pending any great DLC or expansions, so I rate this as only "Average." If one is a great fan of the series, or has friends that are, then it may have more lasting value.… Expand
  43. jevel
    Aug 4, 2012
    6
    Most of the credit I give this game is for being true to it's heritage.

    I love the way the graphics are made, the way the music is tied to the older games in the series, and the way the story is told. The sad part is that the gameplay is really not that entertaining. It's the old games in a prettier wrapping. I played my main character through to the last act on nightmare, and got    Most of the credit I give this game is for being true to it's heritage.

    I love the way the graphics are made, the way the music is tied to the older games in the series, and the way the story is told.

    The sad part is that the gameplay is really not that entertaining. It's the old games in a prettier wrapping. I played my main character through to the last act on nightmare, and got bored with the repetitive gameplay. Haven't really looked at it any more after that.    … Expand
  44. Mandrax
    Sep 3, 2012
    6
    This game gets old fast. D2 was an amazing game and very much of it's time. D3 manages to get nowhere near it's predecessor. The game is extremely repetitive, more so than other games around at the moment. The model may have worked for Diablo and Diablo 2, but players have come to expect more from video games these days. Once you have played through the game once, like the previousThis game gets old fast. D2 was an amazing game and very much of it's time. D3 manages to get nowhere near it's predecessor. The game is extremely repetitive, more so than other games around at the moment. The model may have worked for Diablo and Diablo 2, but players have come to expect more from video games these days. Once you have played through the game once, like the previous games, you are expected to start again but on a harder difficulty but for me, once I've seen the story, the game is over. It's not something that I can keep doing again and again when I know exactly what's going to happen. Ok game, but probably should have left the series alone.… Expand
  45. Eleutherius
    Nov 14, 2012
    6
    Hi all. I am writing this review after playing the game since day one and i must say i had fun with Diablo III. The game itself features nice but not-that-amazing graphics, interesting classes and an overall fun gameplay. When you finish the game at normal difficulty you may switch to a higher one and replay the storyline: it is nothing new nor different but the advanced difficulty is,Hi all. I am writing this review after playing the game since day one and i must say i had fun with Diablo III. The game itself features nice but not-that-amazing graphics, interesting classes and an overall fun gameplay. When you finish the game at normal difficulty you may switch to a higher one and replay the storyline: it is nothing new nor different but the advanced difficulty is, overall, a nice challenge to take. The real disappointment, though, comes when you finish the game and all the difficulty levels up to Inferno (and don't think this will take a good amount of time...): simply put, Diablo III end game is, at the moment, nothing more then a gold farm, necessary in order to buy better equipment. Repetitiveness at its finest. The more money one is able to make, the better the character will be. Players' skill almost does not matter at all: success = build + equip. I will wait for the multiplayer patch which should add a deeper end game content. Blizzard still has a chance to change Diablo III into a very good game, with the multiplayer addition, but this will be far from a simple tasks, since it won't be easy to balance player equipments and skill levels.… Expand
  46. stitchmouth
    Mar 16, 2013
    5
    The gameplay, while amusing the first time through, isn't good or varied enough to warrant repeat playthroughs, which definitely hurt a game that is about loot grinding. No randomization, and an absolutely broken launch also brought this one down. Things are smoothed out now server-wise, and they've dragged the game up out of the gutter with the inclusion of a new secondary levelingThe gameplay, while amusing the first time through, isn't good or varied enough to warrant repeat playthroughs, which definitely hurt a game that is about loot grinding. No randomization, and an absolutely broken launch also brought this one down. Things are smoothed out now server-wise, and they've dragged the game up out of the gutter with the inclusion of a new secondary leveling system, but it's still 'tacked-on' feeling. They still have a way to go before this becomes something that keeps people playing.… Expand
  47. Cyph3rPunk
    Jun 3, 2012
    5
    Oh man, where to start. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that most of the people that are rating positive for this game have never played D1 and D2. I remember the olden days of Deamons Trainer, PKing people in town for the lulz in D1, as well as the grip of mods available for D2. This series defined my childhood, so when we get to D3... well maybe my judgement is harsh, butOh man, where to start. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that most of the people that are rating positive for this game have never played D1 and D2. I remember the olden days of Deamons Trainer, PKing people in town for the lulz in D1, as well as the grip of mods available for D2. This series defined my childhood, so when we get to D3... well maybe my judgement is harsh, but its only from the eyes of someone who has loved this game. The new skill and leveling systems feel like they took control right out of my hands. Sure I can change my skill settings to play different, but what happened to specialization? What happened to getting those item drops that you had to think "hmm, more DPS, or that +4 to the skill that Im using?" Hell, what about STR requirements on armor, making you forgo those points in INT or VIT so that you could get that new armor on? The game feels like a dumbed down version of D3. Graphics look great... if this was a 2005-ish release. Seriously, go look at Tyrael's 1 pixel wing depth He turns the wrong way, they disappear. I just feel that this was a major disappointment. I'm currently letting my friend use my account, I have other things to play.… Expand
  48. JoerT
    Jun 1, 2012
    5
    The game itself is really very good, but you'd expect after so many years of developing it, on top of years of experience with World of Warcraft, they'd get some basics right. The server stability is abominable, performance of the game on high-end systems is unpredictable and the auction house, which could have been just about copied straight out of World of Warcraft, is really limited. IThe game itself is really very good, but you'd expect after so many years of developing it, on top of years of experience with World of Warcraft, they'd get some basics right. The server stability is abominable, performance of the game on high-end systems is unpredictable and the auction house, which could have been just about copied straight out of World of Warcraft, is really limited. I can only hope patches make all this better in the near future.… Expand
  49. Northern
    May 16, 2012
    5
    If you make your fan base wait over a decade and force them to be online to play single player, your uptime had better be stellar.

    If it's not, every company should expect, and deserve, backlash from the fanbase.
  50. Aratorn
    Jun 25, 2012
    5
    I have played the play as a demo test and unfortunately, it could not fulfil my expectations. Before I do not like it that I must be on-line in the single player mode constantly. For me the whole product has fallen through.
  51. darjir
    Sep 7, 2013
    5
    1-60 I found it to be a near perfect game. Classes felt distinct. Action was nicely paced. Gear mattered but didn't roadblock you. Everything you could wish for. Its after Inferno that the overall quality took a nose dive. Gear roadblocks, poor drop rates, over-emphasis on using gold/money to buy gear from other players. Really killed my enjoyment. Great game at the start, but god1-60 I found it to be a near perfect game. Classes felt distinct. Action was nicely paced. Gear mattered but didn't roadblock you. Everything you could wish for. Its after Inferno that the overall quality took a nose dive. Gear roadblocks, poor drop rates, over-emphasis on using gold/money to buy gear from other players. Really killed my enjoyment. Great game at the start, but god un-fun pretty quick once paragon levels starts. Hoping the loot and some class skills get a second look. Really a shame to have such a good base game fall off so hard.… Expand
  52. auptyk
    Oct 11, 2014
    6
    This game was ... Good. But (and lets all be honest with ourselves) it could never live up to the Hype. Unfortunately it didn't even live up to other games in the Genre. Torchlight 2 at launch had game play elements and abilities that were only recently added in patches 2.5 years after launch. Diablo 3 only trumps Torchlight 2 on graphics and cut scene/story quality...

    If you are a die    This game was ... Good. But (and lets all be honest with ourselves) it could never live up to the Hype. Unfortunately it didn't even live up to other games in the Genre. Torchlight 2 at launch had game play elements and abilities that were only recently added in patches 2.5 years after launch. Diablo 3 only trumps Torchlight 2 on graphics and cut scene/story quality...

    If you are a die hard dungeon crawler fan, this game isn't bad... now (2.5 years later)... but if you are looking to get into dungeon crawlers go for Torchlight 2. Cheaper and better.    … Expand
  53. gorelequint
    Apr 23, 2013
    6
    It's probably been said in the hundreds of reviews this is not a Diablo game. In fact, if it was not named "Diablo", this would make a great 10 buck arcade game. If that was the case, I would give it a direct 5 star rating. But now I'm grading this game according to the expectations that it set and how it compares to its great predecessor. Lets see the pros and cons:

    Pros: - Beautiful    It's probably been said in the hundreds of reviews this is not a Diablo game. In fact, if it was not named "Diablo", this would make a great 10 buck arcade game. If that was the case, I would give it a direct 5 star rating. But now I'm grading this game according to the expectations that it set and how it compares to its great predecessor. Lets see the pros and cons:

    Pros:
    - Beautiful animations and effects
    - Fantastic sound (with the right headphones it is truly a blast)
    - Improved inventory management and storage
    - Auction house makes it easier to trade....you don't need to stay in a "trade" game for hours to sell/buy stuff

    Cons:
    - Visuals do not match the Diablo universe it too colorful and childish, nothing like the dark tones in Diablo 1 and 2
    - Being able to change skills on the fly, and no attributes distribution, is interesting but it feels like you don't invest anything in your character (aka very limited personalization). I would rather prefer a skill tree system like in Diablo 2, but with the option to reset your skills for a small cost.
    - Itemization, which was the core of the previous games, is simply WRONG! Finding a really good item, worth keeping or selling is very hard, the legendary items are 95% of the time rubbish, the scaling is ridiculous there is nothing worth keeping for more than few levels, because at level 60 even the blue items are far superior to the level 55 legendaries.
    - Real money auctions make the game P2W (pay to win)
    - The crafting system is bad the randomization of the stats and the high crafting costs, means that you end up spending a lot more money to craft something useful, than by buying it from AH
    - There are no rune words, imbuing, socketing, jewels, horadric crafting, etc.....
    - The story is simple and anti-climatic and characters are dull and annoying. The mercs are totally useless on the high levels
    - Last but not least, the constant online requirement is frustrating...

    So if you are wondering whether to buy this or not......if you are not a diablo hardcore fan keep wondering until the price drops to 10 pounds, at the current price it is not worth it. If you are a fan, better wait for Torchlight 2.    … Expand
  54. tufferugli
    Jun 9, 2013
    6
    if you want to buy this game because you enjoyed diablo 2, don't do it.
    diablo 3 is a pretty solid action game (not arpg) and is enjoyable until a certain point, but it suffer from major design flaws.
    resistance and armor are the same thing, the damage of EVERY skills (physical attack, spell, minion) is based on the main hand weapon dps, if you want to upgrade you gear (after a certain    if you want to buy this game because you enjoyed diablo 2, don't do it.
    diablo 3 is a pretty solid action game (not arpg) and is enjoyable until a certain point, but it suffer from major design flaws.
    resistance and armor are the same thing, the damage of EVERY skills (physical attack, spell, minion) is based on the main hand weapon dps, if you want to upgrade you gear (after a certain amount of time) you can rely solely on the auction house.
    i would not recommend anyone from buying it, and the reason i give it a 6, is because the gameplay (smashing monsters face) is very good, indeed the only thing that's good about it.
    if i have to describe diablo 3 in one word, it will be: casualfest.    … Expand
  55. carnivorCactae
    Jul 31, 2014
    5
    After the newest patch and the closure of the auction-house, Diablo 3 is finally playable! (at least when they don't screw with their servers and you are not allowed to play the game you payed for).

    The Drop-Rate is ... now more fluid. I don't know if its really better, there are too much golden Items in my opinions and I had a run where I found 3 legendaries in a simple run. Rewarding?    After the newest patch and the closure of the auction-house, Diablo 3 is finally playable! (at least when they don't screw with their servers and you are not allowed to play the game you payed for).

    The Drop-Rate is ... now more fluid. I don't know if its really better, there are too much golden Items in my opinions and I had a run where I found 3 legendaries in a simple run. Rewarding? Yes, of course but it lessens the worth of it.

    The game itself deserves a good 8.0 or at least a 8.5. Its addicting like you would expect and the interactions between the characters (the dialogues) are often nice to hear. THe rest ius common and masterful created addiction for slay and loot.
    The "new" implemented "Paragon-Level" allows you to set your skill-points freely and the rune-Skill-system is still a very nice Idea for switching and testing a mindblowingly number of Skill-Sets!

    The music is... unfortunately very forgettable and boring. It sounds like the Soundtrack to a Michael-Bay-Film without the extreme fine nuances and atmosphere-pumping originality of the Diablo 2-Tracks.
    It is even more a regrettable decision by blizzard to implement this trumped-flat-bore-Music-track (that you will hear in every other "big bugdet"-title nowadays), because ALL people I know turned the music down after max 2 weeks. It's a shame that there is no way to implement the great Soundtracks of Diablo 2 or Warcraft (yes, these fit surprisingly well!).

    Like I said: The game itself deserves a nice amount of applause. The rest of it - especially the poor support! deserve a hateful middlefinger!
    Direct Support for Connection-Errors, Suggestions or Mod-Support (I know... what where I thinking?) or other simple questions are IMPOSSIBLE to get!
    the "Support"-Site is a Joke, you are always redirected to the forums where other people already opened similar questions and waiting for help until no help arrives and their Topic gets closed! Critical topics are getting deleted of course. In one word: Censorship.

    It's sometimes hilarious to watch how the community gets shat in the face and foced to eat the dump, but rages against the people who don't want to get treated like cattle. So, the community and the company are nearly the worst I have met in my entire lifetime (nearly horrid as the CoD-Kiddies).

    I am very glad the game was a gift and it didn't cost that much.

    Oh wait... did I mention the overprized DLC?! A DLC that is MORE EXPENSIVE than the main-game?!
    Unbelievable!

    And the award to the most hostile and greedy Company goes to... EA.. .. I meant: Blizzard!
    **** YOU **** No more money from me!    … Expand
  56. BoeBlack
    Jul 9, 2014
    5
    Good game, but the problem is that it's called "Diablo". Like ARPG is a good game. Internet required and action house is the worst of thus game. The expansion Reaper of Souls saves Diablo III to go hell.
  57. mutterfujjer
    Feb 29, 2016
    7
    I could give this game a 10 because I've been playing it so much lately and Blizzard somehow managed to make the endless grinding of this game less painful than ever before. But ... 5 minutes ago I was playing a Great Rift and I just had my session disconnected in it's last seconds, meaning that for the 20th time I've lost my progression, my exp bonus pool streak, and a Great RiftI could give this game a 10 because I've been playing it so much lately and Blizzard somehow managed to make the endless grinding of this game less painful than ever before. But ... 5 minutes ago I was playing a Great Rift and I just had my session disconnected in it's last seconds, meaning that for the 20th time I've lost my progression, my exp bonus pool streak, and a Great Rift keystone. That makes me want to give it a 0 score.

    This introduction pretty much sums up my experience with this game and how it can be extremely frustrating at times, but can be enjoyable as well.

    Pros:
    - Super modern gameplay. Some may argue but I think Blizzard makes the most smart combat systems on the market. And Diablo is probably the best of them. The gameplay is fast, and brutal. There's many builds to choose from in many classes and they finally are getting them to decent balance. This is definitely the strongest point of this game.

    - Also, after many patches and updates, Blizzard finally found a enjoyable endgame mechanic. You play bounties to farm gear and craft materials. You play Rifts for Greater Rift keys also gear farm. And you play Greater Rift's to test your character progression and compare them to other players through Leaderboards and also to Level Up the almost infinite Paragon Levels. It's a funny cycle that can be tiresome after so many hours, but I've been playing this game a lot in this 5th Season. It's a sign that it is getting better and better. Somehow the gears feels easier to farm, I got the sets for my character build much faster then ever before so I could try all of them and choose what to use. In previous seasons It took me a lot more time and I got tired even before I could complete a decent set.

    Cons
    - The story is horrible and terribly cheesy. The only character worth mentioning is the Scoundrel;
    - The art style is nice but I think it's too colorful for a game about demons. I wish the atmosphere were darker.

    - I know it adds to the gameplay lifecycle, but I wish the game wouldn't depend on RNG so much. It's OK to have space to different item and affixes rolls but I'm sure they could've coded a smarter way to make it less frustrating. Today, to find an usable item you have to hope for a legendary, then hope for it to be the kind you need (set), then hope for 5 out of 6 affixes to be what you need, then hope to all affixes to roll good numbers, and then hope for the item to be Ancient, because regular items are useless (especially now that you can only enhance Ancient items with Caldean Cube). That's a lot of hope for a single item. Now multiply that for 13 pieces of equipment. Now you know why the endgame of this game is infinite. You'll can play this game for the rest of your life and you probably won't ever see a perfect item.

    - Sometimes the rotation of random maps in rifts are pretty annoying. I know this should be RNG doing, but have this feeling that the game favors stupid Act 5 maps. I almost never see other maps that I like. It could be my imagination, but I've been playing a lot and I rarely see those Act 1 or 2 big open areas.

    - The endgame EXP grinding was designed to be performed in groups, but playing in group can be a pain for people too far away from each other, because internet connection. That forces you to play with a limited number of people. Not to mention I like to play by myself. But that's out of the question if I want to be on the Leaderboards. This is bad design. They should separate the Paragon you acquire in group from the solo Leaderboard Great Rifts. I'm not sure how, I'm not a game designer, but the clear focus on group play is broken.

    - Which brings me to the worst of all mistakes in Diablo 3: the online aspect. As I mentioned by the start of this review, I get disconnected a lot in this game for no reason, and I often loose precious progression. This is frustrating beyond words. I would never touch a Hardcore character in a game this broken and that makes me forsake a lot of content too (many achievements are Hardcore only and sometimes they unlock goods).    … Expand
  58. jimbobslimbob
    Dec 10, 2014
    6
    A shadow of its predecessors. It's not terrible and the recent expansion/patch does a lot to rectify what was originally wrong with it, but it's still not what I was hoping for as a fan of 1 and 2.

    Try out the brilliant Torchlight 2 or Path of Exile instead - both of which are superior to this letdown.

    Jimbo Rating: 6/10
  59. KevinCam
    May 18, 2012
    5
    Game is fun, not Diablo though, not the Diablo we have grown to love. I do not mind the online requirment to play. But the fact we cannot create our own games and are forced to join random public takes away A LOT of the fun from the online aspect of this game.
  60. hcookie
    May 20, 2012
    6
    Taking a glance the left column, one can almost see soul leaving the rotting corpse of the Gaming Review Industry. Diablo 3 is upon us and lo shall any mere mortal dare give it a rating lower than a perfect ten.

    Twelve years in the making, Diablo 3 should be providing the Gamer with buckets of entertainment and fun, but strangely, this isn't really the case. The game is quite fun for    Taking a glance the left column, one can almost see soul leaving the rotting corpse of the Gaming Review Industry. Diablo 3 is upon us and lo shall any mere mortal dare give it a rating lower than a perfect ten.

    Twelve years in the making, Diablo 3 should be providing the Gamer with buckets of entertainment and fun, but strangely, this isn't really the case. The game is quite fun for sure, but there's nothing new here, in fact it's just a walk down memory lane for most. Here's the problem;

    1. The constant need to be on Battlenet even in Single Player is just plain annoying. I really don't want to be online for a single player adventure, what is so hard to understand? The Server problems isn't a big deal to be honest, but the need for a constant internet connection to battlenet AND the server problems just highlights the stupidity in the design decision.
    2. The lack of customization at the character screen. Seriously? just dyes to change the color of your armor?
    3. The lack of customization of the skill trees makes all the character classes, 'feel' the same, plays the same. One would think that after twelve years in development, some thought would have gone into it.
    4. The User Interface is a little wanting. Certain elements like the mini-map and the quest log actually blocks and detracts from the overall fight and gaming mechanics. For Range classes, you're constantly clicking into your mini-map or having to walk a couple of steps around to move the screen just to see what you're hitting and aiming at.

    What was supposedly a 10 star game is now without 4 stars and I can only give this a 6/10 effort. Probably good enough for Kotick and gang.

    It is now terribly obvious that this marriage between Activision and Blizzard is no good, and it's high time for a divorce.    … Expand
  61. Fool_Jester
    Nov 28, 2012
    7
    With the last patches Diablo III is now a better game. Still far from old Diablo but at least you can avoid RMAH... Good Atmosphere (except some wird manganized boss, like the butcher, and other minor things), very good weapons impact feedback, a little too short, especially in the end.
  62. mathef
    Dec 22, 2012
    7
    I am playing this kind of games for the loot. And in D3 loot kinda sucks. It feels there is not many items and their drop rates are painful. Combat system is pretty cool and fun to play. Graphic looks very nice, but it feels little bit less dark and daemonic than I expected. Maybe is time for Blizzard to forget everything they learned from making WOW and start thinking out of the box.
  63. AlmaSebosa
    May 22, 2012
    5
    So much hype about this game. Really crap story, awful CRM, dated graphics, no customization. **** u blizzard for ruining this franchise! I hope Torchlight 2 to be better then this...
  64. Orctownorc
    Aug 22, 2013
    5
    I must be one of the few gamers reviewing this game who didnt much like or play Diabolo 2. D2 was BORING. It was repetitive. The sound effects were annoying. The graphics sucked. The story was stupid, and combat was either too easy or too hard. Not only that, the skill trees were confusing, the classes were irritating and there was no kind 'role playing' in the game at all. The thing thatI must be one of the few gamers reviewing this game who didnt much like or play Diabolo 2. D2 was BORING. It was repetitive. The sound effects were annoying. The graphics sucked. The story was stupid, and combat was either too easy or too hard. Not only that, the skill trees were confusing, the classes were irritating and there was no kind 'role playing' in the game at all. The thing that Diabolo 2 did well was LOOT. That cube thing! Gems! legendary items. While I didn't much like the game in total, I loved the loot! loot was the one thing Diabolo 2 did well. Diabolo 2 was the KING of loot games. The loot was so good, that even someone who disliked eveything else, actually stuck around to play a bit, just to see what I could find. Whether you could use it or not, every hour it seemed you could find something interesting to look at, stick in the cube and mess around with. Loot in D2 was the best. So what happened Blizzard? Now we have Diabolo 3. All the things that were bad in the last game seem to be better. Yet the thing that was most important. The thing that was fun. the one area in which Diabolo as a franchise outshone every other game in existence has been NERFED!!!!!!!!!! You must be facking kidding! What is this game? Its some kind of conveyor belt of pretty spell effects and boring loot that we are supposed to play? No cube? No sockets? No set pieces? No legendaries? No NOTHING in the one area where Diabolo was worth playing???? Do i get it right that this game was designed to be boring so that we would pay cash to buy things that we used to have fun finding. that doesn't make any sense. Buying items gives ZERO sense of satisfaction. If you buy an item you only feel like you wasted real money on some data, that we get for free in every other possible game we play under the sun? This is not game design. THIS IS ZERO FUN. Zero fun equals zero score guys. Who ever is responsible for this needs to go and find a job doing else, because they clearly don't understand games. Hey developers please don't be so cynical, so mean spirited, so corporate, so compromised, so petty, so nasty, so explotative, so cruel! Stop measuring success on unit sales and annual turnover. With the kind of budget power Blizzard has, you could have made a game so much better than Torchlight 2. You got outgunned by a team with 10% of your budget, but 5000% more integrity! what a pack of utter, spineless losers this team is, their boss's member deep up their collective rear end. Hang your heads in shame! If you can't make the game you want to make quit and find a place where you can. If your boss has bad values, quit and stop helping him exploit you to exploit his customers! Show some spine and integrity! Your whole team should compose a letter of denunciation and leave en-masse. Maybe then we can forgive you for this joyless auction house with bloom effects tacked on. 1/10 for those things that were improved. 3 very quiet claps for that

    THE GROT REVIEW CRITERIA: After a long time writing reviews like an anus, think its time to set a few bad habits straight: Stop insulting designers. Show some respect for the design process and getting games in circulation. Hence (1) No Red scores. (2) Game scores as follows: Bad Game 5/10. Poor Game 6/10. Mediocre Game: 7/10. Good Game 8/10. Great game 9/10. Stella Game 10/10. To get 10/10 it must be a game that can be (theoretically) play-able for 1000+ hours. Not only great but near endless fun. Games may be bad or poor but making them should earn respect. Thus even the worst POS will still be a 5/10. 0/10 no longer exists in my vocabulary. Yellow is the new red. For the sake of accountability: you can reply if needed: Orctowngrot: Tim Rawlins: timtimjp@yahoo.com    … Expand
  65. Crendraven
    May 22, 2012
    5
    I was introduced to diablo through a clone called Titan Quest. To be perfectly frank, it's about on par with that game, despite being released more than five years later. The voice acting is nice, the physics effects are kinda gimmicky but also nice, and it seems to be a reasonably solid platform. The problem is it looks dated. It doesn't really challenge anything about the tried and trueI was introduced to diablo through a clone called Titan Quest. To be perfectly frank, it's about on par with that game, despite being released more than five years later. The voice acting is nice, the physics effects are kinda gimmicky but also nice, and it seems to be a reasonably solid platform. The problem is it looks dated. It doesn't really challenge anything about the tried and true RPG genre, and in fact it has a certain grindtacular feel about it which blizzard are famous for. This is far more a slap in the face from blizzard than a game worth playing and worth reccomending. They've said "Look, we know this makes money so here you go" and released a game which is definately subpar for a company of their size. It is still an RPG, but a pale shadow of what it could have been. We don't want more world of warcraft. We want a legendary RPG.… Expand
  66. ukwn
    May 25, 2012
    5
    So, 11 years after, we can follow the return of the Hack & Slash reference. First we notice a bad new, the lose of statistics management and the skill selection restriction. Also I feel disappointed cause there is no way to play on LAN or manage my own saves (Battle.net). Last important negative point: the cartoon style, which really don't occur with the original theme of Diablo darkSo, 11 years after, we can follow the return of the Hack & Slash reference. First we notice a bad new, the lose of statistics management and the skill selection restriction. Also I feel disappointed cause there is no way to play on LAN or manage my own saves (Battle.net). Last important negative point: the cartoon style, which really don't occur with the original theme of Diablo dark fantasy.
    However, the game offer diversified selections of monsters and lootable items, nice interactions with NPC/scenery and epic fights in random beautiful environments. Unfortunately linear and sometimes dull, no match with his first and second brothers.    … Expand
  67. Thehuntsmen5434
    May 24, 2012
    6
    51 Wizard on Hell mode right now. Story is way too short, really nothing else to do but kill monsters. Auction house ruins any reason for grinding since you can just buy the best stuff. What are people's arguments against this? "Well, that's always been Diablo." Come on, that's your excuse for looking past these gigantic flaws in this game. That its supposed to be something it was 1251 Wizard on Hell mode right now. Story is way too short, really nothing else to do but kill monsters. Auction house ruins any reason for grinding since you can just buy the best stuff. What are people's arguments against this? "Well, that's always been Diablo." Come on, that's your excuse for looking past these gigantic flaws in this game. That its supposed to be something it was 12 years ago? People are so blinded by the lure of this ULTIMATE CHALLENGE, and INSANE LOOT. When all it is, is just a increase in numbers. Is there a difference between hitting for 5 against a monster that has 25 life, between hitting for 50000 against a monster that has 250000 life. There isn't, and that's what Diablo does when it increases its difficulty.… Expand
  68. elitemage
    Jul 3, 2012
    5
    Updated review: Why I hardly play Diablo 3 - The game is now boring. Here are my main complaints: 1. The auction house ruins any type of enjoyment gained from seeing a good item drop because you know that there is always better gear available on the ah 2. Boss fights are anti-climatic because they are easier than champion/elite mobs. This makes Boss fights boring and mob fights annoying 3.Updated review: Why I hardly play Diablo 3 - The game is now boring. Here are my main complaints: 1. The auction house ruins any type of enjoyment gained from seeing a good item drop because you know that there is always better gear available on the ah 2. Boss fights are anti-climatic because they are easier than champion/elite mobs. This makes Boss fights boring and mob fights annoying 3. Drop rates of usable items are insanely low. I don't want to grind for 20+ hours and not get a single usable/upgraded piece of gear. I think that the grinding is acceptable, but knowing that the gear on the ah can be bought in seconds as compared to the time it takes to grind and find a usable piece of gear eliminates the fun/point of grinding. The gameplay is good, the graphics ok, spells and animations are amazing. The core of Diablo was destroyed and made Diablo 3 boring...… Expand
  69. Rooster7102
    May 26, 2012
    6
    Redoing my review after having spent more time with the game. Character graphics are basically WoW. The environments after the first few levels are actually well done. I never played Diablo 1 or 2 so I can't compare it to that. The game is basically a very simplified version of WoW.....quests to do, gear upgrades and gold. It's a hack and slash that is entertaining. The onlineRedoing my review after having spent more time with the game. Character graphics are basically WoW. The environments after the first few levels are actually well done. I never played Diablo 1 or 2 so I can't compare it to that. The game is basically a very simplified version of WoW.....quests to do, gear upgrades and gold. It's a hack and slash that is entertaining. The online verification system is stupid as the idea of a cash AH. I have not had time for MP, but I can see where it would be fun. I increased my score to 6 as I feel it is an entertaining game, but could have been much better.… Expand
  70. dbnp
    May 18, 2012
    5
    Diablo 2 with better graphics, and forced online mode so you're more inclined to spend money on Activision's new cash cow. Believe me when I say that if you've played enough of diablo 2, you have no reason to play this game.
  71. Adahman
    May 17, 2012
    6
    While this may be the spiritual successor to Diablo II is is not as good. I loved DII but i can only say that i like DIII. The graphics are good, sound is great but gameplay and story left me a little flat. Is it a good game? Yes. Is it great? No. Diablo II was GREAT game....Diablo III is merely good. Oh, and don't get me started on the screwed up way that you must be online for singleWhile this may be the spiritual successor to Diablo II is is not as good. I loved DII but i can only say that i like DIII. The graphics are good, sound is great but gameplay and story left me a little flat. Is it a good game? Yes. Is it great? No. Diablo II was GREAT game....Diablo III is merely good. Oh, and don't get me started on the screwed up way that you must be online for single player. Thats just a horrid idea, start to finish. Again..good...not great. Oh, and I should say that I have played all three Diablo games as soon as they came out. Love the series...but again, this one falls just a bit short.… Expand
  72. Ixziga
    Aug 22, 2012
    6
    This is a late review, but I think a late game deserves as much. In any event, I wanted to get it right. Diablo 3 is unlike any game Ive played before in that is succeeds so brilliantly in the little things, but fails so catastrophically at its core. The graphics of Diablo 3 are among the best, its a great hybrid between hand-drawn artwork and high-octane animations in great density. KillThis is a late review, but I think a late game deserves as much. In any event, I wanted to get it right. Diablo 3 is unlike any game Ive played before in that is succeeds so brilliantly in the little things, but fails so catastrophically at its core. The graphics of Diablo 3 are among the best, its a great hybrid between hand-drawn artwork and high-octane animations in great density. Kill animations are numerous and always feel satisfying, and the landscapes nail the dark fantasy feel. The cinematic are breath-taking. The audio is also great, with an insane number of audio cues between skills and monsters and events plus a good soundtrack never hurt anyone. The game is long and begs to be replayed numerous times which shows how powerful the character progression is. The story is far too terrible to be a driving force, its characters are all one-dimensional, and plot twists are few and predictable. The only thing I didnt predict was how little closure the ending would give. But everything I just mentioned is just a drop in the bucket, because Diablo 3 fails to be either a game or a work of art. The implementation of the video and audio only exist to enhance the gameplay and the story is virtually non-existent. Theres no deeper meaning hidden anywhere. The problem is that the game aspect of Diablo 3 is also built on a flawed foundation. Diablo 3s gameplay is built entirely on 2 pillars: skills and gear. Theres nothing else to it, and both pillars are undermined by their flaws. On the one hand, the skills in Diablo 3 are amazing - at first. Unlocking new runes and new skills opens worlds of possibilities, and theres nothing more fun than switching builds around trying different playstyles. The problem is that you can only do this for a limited time. As you progress through the game and unlock new skills, you will also move onto harder difficulties. In Diablo 3 you have NO CHOICE over what difficulty, not because the game doesnt allow you to choose, but because the difficulties dont scale to level. If your the kinda gamer who likes a normal difficulty, Youll enjoy nightmare the most. But the problem is that you cant start on nightmare, and you cant end on nightmare. Once you beat nightmare, playing again will never be the same because youve already leveled beyond it. Once you beat a difficulty, going back to it is simply too easy to be any fun, your forced to do the next difficulty because its only one thats remotely challenging and its the only one in which your character can progress, either in level or gear. The new difficulties are scaled to be more difficult however. Once you get to Hell difficulty (the 3rd if you dont know), Diablo 3 gets difficult, and sometimes its unecessarily difficult, and some people like that, others dont. Hell difficulty is when your favorite builds stop working, and your playstyles start to die off one by one because they simply arent good enough. If you go all the way through that, your capped out forever on inferno difficulty, in which nearly every player in the world is limited to only a select few cookie cutter builds. You know the billions of skill and rune combos you used to have so much fun with? Well they might as well be gone because experimentation outside the cookie cutter is dealt with sheer brutality by the later difficulties. Inferno is at many times difficult on an unfair level. But my level 60 cant play anything else because theres no other difficulty where I can progress or have any fun. I can choose between far too easy and far too difficult. This feeds into the next issue, because Diablo 3 is all about the gear. The people who can do inferno can do so because they have the gear that makes it possible. But theres 2 problems with the gear. For one, gear is generated on a heirarchical basis. First it generates the level, then the number of bonuses, then the scale of each bonus, and the odds continue to roll on an exponential level ranging from complete **** to godly. The gear that gets people through inferno isnt the 1 in a 1000 drop, its not even a 1 in 10,000 drop. Its a one in a million drop. But surely theres ways to increase my chances of finding magic items. 2 things, you can use items that boost magic find but at the expense of bonuses that you NEED to survive the areas that drop good items, and then you have to actually get to those areas. To get past Act I inferno, you need AcT II gear. To get past Act II, you need Act III gear. Between the odds of finding the gear you need and not being able to progress because you need gear from an area beyond you, most players are caught in a tragic end-game loop, a loop that destroys the essential criteria of fun. Diablo 3 is a game with a time limit, theres not fun endgame stuff to do like there is in WoW, its built so that your character caps out. Theres no power/difficulty plateau, it keeps getting harder until you cant progress. Farming can only delay the cap, but whats the point? Its not fun. It's bad design.… Expand
  73. LordOFlibertY
    Jul 4, 2012
    5
    There are so many biased reviewers out there that are letting their emotions cloud their judgement. Diablo 3 is not where near a good game but it sure as hell isn't a 0/10. There is so many BS blizzard has done to this game is beyond count however when it comes down to it, Diablo 3 is a pretty decent game overall and has some pretty cool gameplay, the problem like I said is the stupid BSThere are so many biased reviewers out there that are letting their emotions cloud their judgement. Diablo 3 is not where near a good game but it sure as hell isn't a 0/10. There is so many BS blizzard has done to this game is beyond count however when it comes down to it, Diablo 3 is a pretty decent game overall and has some pretty cool gameplay, the problem like I said is the stupid BS blizzard has done to this game such as DRM and the money-grabbing Auction House. Seriously! In a game that revolves around Looting items you release the bloody Auction House. 5/10, solid game play, good cinematics but too much bs .… Expand
  74. HeintzFact0r
    May 15, 2012
    5
    GRIM DAWN is solution to D3 being too casual and DRM... If you want to play true hardcore ARPG in the next year, check this game. Offline single player, LAN and all hardcore char customization D3 left out.

    Played D3 in beta but now can't even log on. Even in beta though, char options a dissapointment and difficulty way too easy. Played through all of act one naked just to make    GRIM DAWN is solution to D3 being too casual and DRM... If you want to play true hardcore ARPG in the next year, check this game. Offline single player, LAN and all hardcore char customization D3 left out.

    Played D3 in beta but now can't even log on. Even in beta though, char options a dissapointment and difficulty way too easy. Played through all of act one naked just to make challenge and still never died. Skill system a joke! Story constantly make you have to run back and forth unlike real Diablo of past where it was player choice. Word is barely randomized, even loot chests appear in same locations. What they do for so long in development?    … Expand
  75. Sigma007
    May 20, 2012
    5
    Not being able to play the game several times during launch week is a fail. The fact that the game is pretty much a carbon copy of Diablo2 is also a fail. Bugs with the achievement system abound. Inability to find relevant level aligned items is also problematic.

    On the plus side the game has 5 classes which all look interesting in their own way and offer vastly different play styles.    Not being able to play the game several times during launch week is a fail. The fact that the game is pretty much a carbon copy of Diablo2 is also a fail. Bugs with the achievement system abound. Inability to find relevant level aligned items is also problematic.

    On the plus side the game has 5 classes which all look interesting in their own way and offer vastly different play styles.

    For people who say that users shouldn't down-vote a game just after launch, I say they should not release a game with obvious problems. Post launch should be for adding features and polish, not fixing things which should never have made it into the launch build.    … Expand
  76. Arti
    Jul 18, 2012
    6
    If you like Hack'n'Slay games you will have fun. As said before there picks up where it ends in Diablo 2 LoD. The Skill System is less individual than in Diablo 2. One of the great Problem is the long term motivation.
    Once i killed Diablo in Inferno-difficulty my motivation said goodbye and i didn't play it since then.
    But the Game itself is fun, the skillsystem is intuitive and easy to    If you like Hack'n'Slay games you will have fun. As said before there picks up where it ends in Diablo 2 LoD. The Skill System is less individual than in Diablo 2. One of the great Problem is the long term motivation.
    Once i killed Diablo in Inferno-difficulty my motivation said goodbye and i didn't play it since then.
    But the Game itself is fun, the skillsystem is intuitive and easy to understand, i had 200+ hours of fun with friends or alone on the itemhunt. Another point i don't like is the auction house for obvious reasons.    … Expand
  77. greywolf00
    May 23, 2012
    5
    After several days on Inferno I have to dock this game to a 5. It's challenging but oh so boring. 10-20 minutes of kiting to slowly grind down a pack of elites gets really old really fast. Melee has it the worst as they lack ranged damage. It's brutally slow and a complete departure from the fun hack and slash style that made this series so great.
  78. strangel0ve
    May 15, 2012
    5
    on the plus side it looks very nice and combat is fun much like in previous game, at least so far, dumb story, characters and voiceacting, so what, i didnt expect more after all the revealed material before release. changes in char development, skills and stuff, wowlike attitude is something i dont like in the essence but still im only level 16 so until later in game it's to early toon the plus side it looks very nice and combat is fun much like in previous game, at least so far, dumb story, characters and voiceacting, so what, i didnt expect more after all the revealed material before release. changes in char development, skills and stuff, wowlike attitude is something i dont like in the essence but still im only level 16 so until later in game it's to early to judge but it's kind of a let down. all in all i knew it wont be so good as dia2 but part of the reason if not the main part is that dia 2 came out when i was younger so there was no way i was gonna enjoy this more than that.… Expand
  79. Portlis
    May 24, 2012
    5
    With so many fanboys either defending or bashing this game, I felt the need to give a good honest review with objectivity, so here it is... my first review.

    Briefly though, I will say that the game is overall a disappointment to me. I feel that if the game was the same exact game made by a different publisher with a different name, it would be thought of as a fun little decent game.    With so many fanboys either defending or bashing this game, I felt the need to give a good honest review with objectivity, so here it is... my first review.

    Briefly though, I will say that the game is overall a disappointment to me. I feel that if the game was the same exact game made by a different publisher with a different name, it would be thought of as a fun little decent game. Being made by Blizzard though, with the development time and resources that they've had, and the third installment of a once awesome series, it's really rather unfortunate that there are so many frustrating aspects and problems with this game.

    The good:

    Not everything is bad about this game, so I'll start out with a few positives.

    -For the most part, the cutscenes and cinematics are top notch. I really enjoyed both the end of act 1 and end of act 3 cinematics quite a bit.

    -Interacting with world objects is a nice addition. I'll never get tired of blowing up tables and caravans.

    -Achievements are a nice, fun addition. Who doesn't like achievements?

    The neutral:

    -The graphics are ok. I personally don't like the "WoWified" look , but they aren't BAD either. This is obviously a matter of personal taste, but I certainly wish they had gone more the route of Diablo 1 and less WoW.

    -The music is once again, ok. It's better than Diablo 2, but after 15 years I would have figured that they could come out with something better than or even on par with Diablo 1 music and it falls short there. -If you're like me, you will wish that they had gone back to the "demonic / creepy" dungeon crawler feel of D1 and less of the cartoonish, somewhat boring overland exploration of D2. Again, this is a personal preference and fans of Diablo 2 will likely be content here.

    -The auction house. Personally, I'm a fan of it........ if it would ever work (more on this later). I realize that this is once again a personal preference, but I don't see the downside. It's nice to be able to sell your loot, buy upgrades, and "playing the AH" is a game in and of itself. I don't even mind the real money aspect (coming soon) because lets face it, people were going to do it anyway.

    Crafting- I'm a hardcore crafter in every MMO I play. The addition of crafting in D3 was a good thought, but it doesn't really meet my standards. Maybe you feel differently.

    Story- It's not awful, but I was expecting more.

    Classes- I'm not terribly upset with them, but again I feel they could have done more. Where's the Paladin from D2? The classes seem generally ok, but I can't help but feel as though they took a step back when they certainly should have been taking giant leaps forward.

    The bad:

    Unfortunately, the bad is pretty much everything else.

    -Character customization is non-existent. Every level 60 (which is stupidly the max level) of any particular class will be exactly the same in both looks, skills, and stats as the next. They will perhaps be played differently, but there's ZERO customization.

    -To go along with the previous point, you can't assign any skills or stats. Want more STR or INT? Sorry, it gets automatically assigned for you. Completely boring.

    -Online DRM. This point has been beaten to death, so I won't go much further into it. I'm actually ok with the always online system to a degree, the problem is.....

    -Their servers suck. I realize it's still a new game, but this is a company with ridiculous assets and they KNEW what their server loads would be. Its inexcusable to have as much server disruption / lag / downtime as they have had. -Despite the auction house being a perhaps fun addition, it's constantly down or bugged. Seriously, it's the most flawed, frustrating system in any game I've played in a long, long time.

    -Difficulty. It's face roll easy the first couple times through. The only possible way to die is lag. In the hardest settings though, it's nigh impossible - especially for certain classes.

    -There's next to no character progression. Many of the best skills in the game are some of the very first skills/runes you get. It never feels like you're actually getting stronger because of new skills, only because your gear will get better.

    -And that brings us to gear. Whoever designed the gear/loot system in this game needs to be fired... immediately. For a game based almost completely on the gear grind, I don't think they could have possibly done a worse job implementing it. The only stat that matters on weapons is damage/dps, because almost every skill scales off of it. Even Sorcs / Witch Doctors will use maces and axes because their ranged skills are based only on DPS. Frankly, it's beyond stupid. Items are boring and bland. Legendary items are just a mish-mash of mediocre stats thrown onto an item. I could go on and on..

    Overall, it just feels like a dumbed-down mediocre game compared to what it could and SHOULD have been.    … Expand
  80. flapjax
    May 15, 2012
    7
    Whilst obviously dumbed down and geared toward a bigger audience than solely Diablo fans, the game is an enjoyable dungeon crawler.

    If you're a hardcore D2 player, you are going to dislike this game because of all the removed features present in d2 and lack of complete control over what skill points go into what. PVP no longer takes place in the campaign world, but rather in an arena    Whilst obviously dumbed down and geared toward a bigger audience than solely Diablo fans, the game is an enjoyable dungeon crawler.

    If you're a hardcore D2 player, you are going to dislike this game because of all the removed features present in d2 and lack of complete control over what skill points go into what. PVP no longer takes place in the campaign world, but rather in an arena similar to WoW.

    If you're new to the Diablo series you're going to like this game, for it is not confusing or overly complicated (not saying d2 was, which its not. It is however more complicated compared to d3 [not saying that's better, which it isn't]).

    Personally, I find it sad that the game didn't retain the dark and gritty style that was present in the first two Diablo games. It looks more like a gory Warcraft game than a Diablo game.    … Expand
  81. IronVarmint
    May 16, 2012
    5
    I keep seeing garbage about 'setting the bar high' and other nonsense. First off, it is too easy, and I'm not going to be the only one saying that. Second, it's boring. Enemies throw nothing new at you. Third, there are limited combinations. Supposedly it gets harder the second time through and even harder the third time. But honestly, what's the point if the only thing that differsI keep seeing garbage about 'setting the bar high' and other nonsense. First off, it is too easy, and I'm not going to be the only one saying that. Second, it's boring. Enemies throw nothing new at you. Third, there are limited combinations. Supposedly it gets harder the second time through and even harder the third time. But honestly, what's the point if the only thing that differs is more HP?… Expand
  82. Etch
    May 19, 2012
    6
    Here's an honest review. First off, this game is NOT worth a 9 or a 10, nor is worth a 0 to a 2. So that should void out 90% of the reviews here. Also goes to show that the developer pays off professional reviewers to give it a good score. The game is a hack and slash, there is no substenance to it and never will be, much like Diablo 2, and thats something I enjoy about it. MindlessHere's an honest review. First off, this game is NOT worth a 9 or a 10, nor is worth a 0 to a 2. So that should void out 90% of the reviews here. Also goes to show that the developer pays off professional reviewers to give it a good score. The game is a hack and slash, there is no substenance to it and never will be, much like Diablo 2, and thats something I enjoy about it. Mindless clicking and collecting loot is all the game should be. Besides that, the FMV's and fluid gameplay is all the game really has going for it. The game is also much less buggy at launch than most other games being released today. As for the bad, graphics are passable for 2006 standards, sounds and voice acting are so-so, no talent trees like D2, no character body customization? wtf?, obviously the always online thing is a pain as well. My biggest problem with the game is that its a loot driven game and the auction house just about kills it. Rare items (yellow) can be bought for a very small amount. Decking out your character for a couple thousand gold makes the game much easier and the anticipation of getting loot from a boss is non-existent. There is no bind on equip (like WoW), so eventually the auction house will be flooded with every rare and possibly legendary item for slightly higher than vendor value as they're recycled. My friend and I pledged not to use the auction house anymore to keep the game in the state it was meant to be played.
    Like Starcraft 2 at launch, this game is only worth half of what they're charging. I'm losing faith in Blizzard and Torchlight 2 will likely be a much better game all around, for only $20.    … Expand
  83. Movs
    May 25, 2012
    7
    Where the atmosphere of Diablo? Its dark dungeons, swamps, fields, jungles? Feeling of impending doom of this world? None... But why I still continue to kill mobs and seek the best drop? Because it is still Diablo.
  84. Drillur
    Jan 2, 2013
    6
    -4 because of such a heavy reliance on an auction house and real money auction house. I have to fill 45 remaining characters. I have to fill nine rema
  85. Bootscv
    May 19, 2012
    5
    mediocre at best. Gameplay is still fun, but the story and dialogue is forced and cheesy (too much machismo banter reminiscent of 90's kids TV shows). Starcraft II had great cutscenes and fully animated characters and faces. D3 has neither (good cutscenes are few and far between. In engine ones are horrible) so I have a hard time feeling a connection to the characters when I can't put amediocre at best. Gameplay is still fun, but the story and dialogue is forced and cheesy (too much machismo banter reminiscent of 90's kids TV shows). Starcraft II had great cutscenes and fully animated characters and faces. D3 has neither (good cutscenes are few and far between. In engine ones are horrible) so I have a hard time feeling a connection to the characters when I can't put a face to them. SC1 had animated faces on their units in the 90s, and D3 has painted portraits? And I realize that there's an argument for "blizzard wants their games to run on crappy machines", but CnC 3 Tiberium Wars had WAY better graphics at max settings than D3 and it ran on my junky laptop with less than 300mb of total video memory on min settings. Argument invalid. There is also NO character customization; all attributes and skills are locked into direct paths. So basically, every level 19 wizard is the EXACT SAME as every other level 19 wizard. Since you can't customize your character's appearance either, this game hardly feels like an RPG because no two characters are really different. I don't think the "polish" on this game justified the development delays.

    SUM UP:
    Always online requirement a pain in the ass (and causes horrible lag despite me having BF3-grade hardware)

    Graphics are god awful for a game released in 2012. Really no legit excuse for a $60 game to look like this. Are they trying to market to gamers or third world countries?

    Gameplay and mass slaughter is still fun as ever. interactive environments are well done, but they don't justify how generic the lack of character customization feels.

    Story is terrible. The few CGI cutscenes are spectacular, but the rest of the in-engine cutscences and crappy dialogue ones don't suck me in at all. I feel no connection to the story whatsoever when it is told so poorly through half-assed cutscenes and cheesy dialogue. Voice acting is forced and sounds like it was taken out of a kid's TV show. Blizzard has CGI capabilities rivaling movie studios, so how they could be so bad at telling a story puzzles me. SCII proved blizzard knows very well how to do it better, so WHY DIDN'T THEY?

    Verdict? Play Skyrim for a true RPG experience. This game is dumbed down even from D2 and a major disappointment.    … Expand
  86. spartan1123
    May 17, 2012
    6
    The game itself is great, aside from the mediocre story and low difficulty on the first run through, however the always on DRM and server issues are unacceptable in a primarily single player game, for many it won't be a problem, but for some it will and for others it means they can't play the game at all.
  87. brainfodder
    Jan 3, 2014
    7
    A good game, but expectations were high, and it failed to be even close to what was expected, and over a year and a half later the real patch is more muhahaha!

    Marvel Heroes, Path of Exile, and The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing are better IMHO check them out, cost less than this one combined (maybe).
  88. Coffeewaffee
    May 16, 2012
    6
    A nicely balanced hack and slash dungeon crawler. The graphics aren't anything special though and the gameplay has been seen before quite a lot of times. Though if you enjoy this genre of games, you'll enjoy this.
  89. masiad
    May 16, 2012
    6
    Like many of you, I've been waiting for Diablo 3 for quite a number of years. D2 was a gem of my adolescence that I spent countless hours click away demons and cows. WIth much anticipation, I've been counting down the days to this massive release. The D3 open beta stress test, a few weeks back, gave me a glimmer of hope that maybe the launch would be smooth... Sadly, far from theLike many of you, I've been waiting for Diablo 3 for quite a number of years. D2 was a gem of my adolescence that I spent countless hours click away demons and cows. WIth much anticipation, I've been counting down the days to this massive release. The D3 open beta stress test, a few weeks back, gave me a glimmer of hope that maybe the launch would be smooth... Sadly, far from the truth.

    #Error37 was the most trending topic in the twitterverse almost all night 5.15. Hordes of people were disappointed that they could not play a game that they waited for, for so many years. I successfully logged on at 3 AM, but to my dismay, none of my friends could... and since Blizzard is forcing you to play on Bnet -- I felt the need to wait for them. And not to go too far off tangent, but DRM and all that #!@% is silly to worry about. An offline mode should have accompanied this game. It still would have sold like hotcakes.

    So asides from all of the troubles with logging in to the game; I've found it to be enjoyable. I don't know if it has lived up to the hype that I was hoping for, but to each their own. Everyone had high hopes for this game because of our beloved DII. I'd recommend this game once servers stabilize a bit.    … Expand
  90. ddr
    May 16, 2012
    5
    I got this game for free from Blizzard when I signed up for a one year commitment to play WoW. The free price tag is a part of my more or less positive review. If I had spent more than $20 or so on this game, I would have been upset. But as a gamer that played Diablo I many years ago and never played Diablo II, this game was about what I expected. A fairly simple hack and slash withI got this game for free from Blizzard when I signed up for a one year commitment to play WoW. The free price tag is a part of my more or less positive review. If I had spent more than $20 or so on this game, I would have been upset. But as a gamer that played Diablo I many years ago and never played Diablo II, this game was about what I expected. A fairly simple hack and slash with nice looking graphics and good sound. Iâ… Expand
  91. Vel
    May 19, 2012
    5
    As someone who played and greatly enjoyed Diablo 1 and 2, I was hoping that this game would bring the Diablo universe to a modern conclusion. Unfortunately, it seems like most of the changes have been either minor, or have made the game less dynamic.
    The Good:
    1. New graphics and skill animations look and sound beautiful 2. Cut-scenes are excellent all around. 3. New classes seem to be    As someone who played and greatly enjoyed Diablo 1 and 2, I was hoping that this game would bring the Diablo universe to a modern conclusion. Unfortunately, it seems like most of the changes have been either minor, or have made the game less dynamic.
    The Good:
    1. New graphics and skill animations look and sound beautiful
    2. Cut-scenes are excellent all around.
    3. New classes seem to be fairly balanced and interesting, for the time being (although knowing blizzard, I'm sure they'll change this soon enough).

    The Bad:
    1. Always have to be connected, not just to the internet, but to blizzards bug-ridden and lag-filled servers.
    2. Skill trees have been vastly simplified to the point where there is no real specialization of characters, ie one barbarian is the exact same as another (which GREATLY diminishes replay value, and make you feel like all you are doing is clicking instead of playing a unique character).
    3. Normal difficulty, especially Act 4, became too easy and repetitive. In Diablo 2, Act 4 created new problems with elemental damage. In Diablo 3, Act 4 is the same as Act 3 is the same as Act 2, and then the game ends.

    Overall: While the graphics are much shinier, the gameplay actually took a step back (especially compared to other games currently on the market), and there is really limited replay value considering the only thing that differentiates one character from another is equipment, which just seems to be nothing but a shiny bunch of attribute points. I wouldn't recommend buying it until the price drops some.    … Expand
  92. RedCossack
    Sep 1, 2012
    6
    Diablo III is a nice game... but it falls short when compared to its predecessors. The spooky atmosphere is gone, replaced by a cartoonish WOW environment. It guess it was supposed to appeal to a broader audience, but i'm not sure it worked.
  93. Lans
    May 15, 2012
    6
    It's a more user friendly, yet inferior D2.

    Up until now the main draw of the Diablo series has been the combat. It's been fast paced, fluid, and crazy. There was also a sense of power in zooming around with a charge-adin, slinging spells constantly as a sorc, or controlling an army with a Necro. That's all gone. The new classes are former shells of their predecessors. A wizard is a    It's a more user friendly, yet inferior D2.

    Up until now the main draw of the Diablo series has been the combat. It's been fast paced, fluid, and crazy. There was also a sense of power in zooming around with a charge-adin, slinging spells constantly as a sorc, or controlling an army with a Necro. That's all gone. The new classes are former shells of their predecessors. A wizard is a sorc with no mana pots, 15 sec cd on teleports, and goes oom after 3 spells. A WD is a necro without the useful pets and a fraction of the curses/utility. Where as a sorc could teleport all over the screen while raining destruction the wizard is as mobile as a rock and relying on your basic attack more than your good spells. Where as the necro could control an army, chain gun debuffs, fill a room with walls, etc... The WD is so heavily cd limited it's funny. 25 second cd on your wall, 60 seconds on confusion, 120 seconds on your big summons. All of the cool toys the necro had with no cd are still there, but are severely hamstrung by cd's. The only good thing that can be said is that the game is friendlier. Respecs, stash space, UI, etc... are all great improvements. Granted these are things that are mandatory in modern games and D2 is 10 odd years old. Overall it's disappointing, not even factoring in the horrible connection issues and online requirement.    … Expand
  94. kjamesh
    May 18, 2012
    5
    My second review... Now that I've been able to actually play the game (Blizzard has 'fixed' it's down server issues for now), I must say it's really good. I did not play D1 or D2 at all, however I have thoroughly enjoyed games like Champions of Norath and such in the past. Diablo 3 plays well, however it just doesn't seem like a 2012 game. It fails to improve on the genre, the graphicsMy second review... Now that I've been able to actually play the game (Blizzard has 'fixed' it's down server issues for now), I must say it's really good. I did not play D1 or D2 at all, however I have thoroughly enjoyed games like Champions of Norath and such in the past. Diablo 3 plays well, however it just doesn't seem like a 2012 game. It fails to improve on the genre, the graphics are sub par (but fit well with the overall game), and the story is OK. It literally feels like playing Champions of Norath, with HD graphics (Champions came out in 2004, that's EIGHT years ago).

    Without ANY type of offline play or LAN only plan combined with constant disconnections/issues with Blizzards servers, I have a hard time justifying anything above a 5. To me, it feels like half a game. Seeing how I have to buy a copy for anyone in my family to play at the same time (again, no LAN or local play), it's an expensive investment. Also, there is ONLY co-op play, so no battling friends/strangers.

    Overall I am enjoying the game, and maybe with enough time Blizzard can fix their server issues. Until that time, I cannot possibly give the game anything above a 5, it just overall feels like HALF the game is here (although that HALF is good). If local play was included in the game, I would give it an 8 overall.    … Expand
  95. Metakev
    May 18, 2012
    5
    Having 11 years of hype and expectations behind it. Blizzard could only go so far to deliver a half-decent product with very little lasting appeal, bland combat mechanics and some very lackluster aesthetic design.
  96. copydawg
    May 16, 2012
    7
    Good : - Same old gameplay we know and love, evolved to fit in the new generation
    - The pacing feels just right, the story & dialog doesnâ
  97. RHL
    May 23, 2012
    7
    Although I've found this game extremely addicting, I can't give it higher than an 7, and for a few reasons.

    1. I do not like the auction house system to begin with, but making a real money one is even worse. I think it breaks the game for people who really play it a lot. 2. There is no skill tree anymore where you can decide where to place your skill points as you level up. Automatically    Although I've found this game extremely addicting, I can't give it higher than an 7, and for a few reasons.

    1. I do not like the auction house system to begin with, but making a real money one is even worse. I think it breaks the game for people who really play it a lot.

    2. There is no skill tree anymore where you can decide where to place your skill points as you level up. Automatically getting every skill is frustrating if you want to PVP or spec in a certain way and unless getting to level 60 is impossibly hard and therefore creates a new category of super players (I'm only level 22 at the moment), everyone is exactly the same as everyone else.

    3. I'm not going to hate on the graphics, but they aren't as good as they could have been. To me they are good enough though. I'm an old school gamer and graphics don't make a game, gameplay makes a game.

    However, I do happen to like the single player setup. I'm not sure why everyone hates on it, but the ability to play by myself as long as I want and then let people jump in while using the same character is nice. I'll always have my stuff and characters in the same spot. If you want to play single player, then just play by yourself. PROBLEM FIXED.    … Expand
  98. former
    May 16, 2012
    7
    Game looks great from what I have seen of it. Server troubles and random disconnects keep alot of us from seeing too much but I think it's getting better
  99. forever4hire
    May 25, 2012
    7
    Is it a good game? Yes. Is it good enough to cost three times as much as Torchlight -- the most recent previous competitor among this particular type of action RPG -- and three times as much as the soon-to-be-released Torchlight II? No.
  100. RedAvatar
    May 25, 2012
    6
    Diablo III is both an entertaining game AND a huge let down. Yes, combat in the "heat of the moment" is enjoyable and frantic and managing to kill entire mobs of monsters causing them to explode in a red mist of gore is to be relished and yet ... See, compared to Diablo II, you get a lot of smallish improvements:
    - loot is properly shared now
    - you can craft (although auction house ruins    Diablo III is both an entertaining game AND a huge let down. Yes, combat in the "heat of the moment" is enjoyable and frantic and managing to kill entire mobs of monsters causing them to explode in a red mist of gore is to be relished and yet ... See, compared to Diablo II, you get a lot of smallish improvements:
    - loot is properly shared now
    - you can craft (although auction house ruins it, see later)
    - you have checkpoints and more waypoints
    - you now have actions with cool down periods like in MMOs which add some depth to the combat
    - you can wreck scenery
    - the story is a little more fleshed out (although you'll just get bored of it after a little while - it's pretty dull and slow)

    But then you have the massive problems which Diablo II didn't have:
    - maps are far less random and pretty much feel the same on every playthrough meaning they're less fun to replay
    - you no longer are able to equip two weapon sets for quick switching depending on monster immunities
    - the game needs you to be always online no matter what - and kicks you quite quickly if you go afk for a little while
    - levelling up is really dull now with zero choices to be made. The game has really become gear-dependant which is why I dislike WoW so much - instead of making a clever build that works well with your friends, everyone is the same minus gear and the choice of what attacks to use.

    The absolutely BIGGEST flaw is the auction house, however. It completely ruins the point of the game because it's sooo much easier to just pick up gold and buy new gear than to play the game to get it. After 20 hours of playing, I collected a good 100.000 in gold yet barely had any decent armour. With a mere 10.000 gold, I got a really kick ass outfit including weapons which saw me wading through monsters as if they were butter. Honestly, the auction house shouldn't have this big an effect on the game yet it does. It also completely makes crafting pointless. Why spend 1500 gold on a weapon that may turn out to be crap if you can get a really good yellow item for a third of the price?

    You have quite a few smaller problems too:
    - the music and atmosphere in general are far less effective - a sentiment which most Diablo II players share
    - the graphics are pretty dated and are too WoW-influenced nor do they convey the more gothic feel Diablo II used to have
    - there's less items to pick up and the fun of the horadrics cube is gone
    - etc. etc.

    Honestly, this is a very very mediocre copy of Diablo II minus the great atmosphere minus the balance, minus the character choices, with an auction house that ruins the entire game's premise and basically ... it's a poor attempt at a sequel made by people who clearly don't have the slightest idea what made Diablo II so good. Considering most are ex-WoW staff members, why am I not surprised?    … Expand
Page:

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
See all critic reviews »