Diablo III

 PC
User Score
4.2

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 10199 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2,918 out of 10199
  2. Mixed: 1,570 out of 10199
  3. Negative: 5,711 out of 10199
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  1. richsamford
    May 15, 2012
    4
    All the build up for release, planned, calculated. EPIC Fail on release with DRM Servers keeping everyone from logging in. There should be an offline mode, and furtharmore DRM needs to be throttled back a bit.
  2. BobRoberts
    May 15, 2012
    0
    Unable to login to play the game. Online-only DRM. Real money auction house. Terrible technical issues, terrible customer service, extreme hype machine, no respect for their customers. Blocking twitter accounts that are critical of their incompetence, censoring / banning complaints on their forums, no sufficient response to legitimate complaints. ActiBlizzard jumped the shark mid-WoW andUnable to login to play the game. Online-only DRM. Real money auction house. Terrible technical issues, terrible customer service, extreme hype machine, no respect for their customers. Blocking twitter accounts that are critical of their incompetence, censoring / banning complaints on their forums, no sufficient response to legitimate complaints. ActiBlizzard jumped the shark mid-WoW and has only gotten worse. They have no respect for the people who pay their salaries and put food on their tables: their own paying customers. The company is greedy, technically semi-incompetent, and overly focuses on marketing hype and spin at the expense of sound design. They are all about maximizing profits at the expense of their integrity. A fundamental re-evaluation of their priorities and thorough cleaning of house is required.… Expand
  3. Vandicare
    May 15, 2012
    0
    I have to agree with 98% of the reviews. Blizzard crashed and burned hard. I'd hate to see an expansion pack for this game. Waste another $60 bucks, still cant play online, still cant play single player. I'd assume go back to Runescape than give this game any credit for being even the slightest bit better.
  4. SuperHans
    May 15, 2012
    2
    Why did I pre-order Diablo 3 if it is 24 hours post launch and Blizzard is still having connectivity issues? "Single player" mode lags in the rare occasion that I can actually play (usually the servers are down and overcrowded and I am prevented from logging on)

    Character customization is illusory if not altogether gone, the game looks and feels like a console port, and the ambiance is    Why did I pre-order Diablo 3 if it is 24 hours post launch and Blizzard is still having connectivity issues? "Single player" mode lags in the rare occasion that I can actually play (usually the servers are down and overcrowded and I am prevented from logging on)

    Character customization is illusory if not altogether gone, the game looks and feels like a console port, and the ambiance is boring. The graphics are pathetic, even Tropic III looks better than this. I gave it 2 stars for reminding me how awesome Diablo II was.    … Expand
  5. DancingDan
    May 16, 2012
    3
    Legitimate complaint with game fundaments: We can agree that due to the decisions made about the attribute and skills system that all level 60 wizards that I make will have the same options available to them. Therefore, Why would I make more than one level 60 of each class? You wouldn't. So in Diablo 3 you will likely make 5 characters, which in extreme situations takes roughly 2 days perLegitimate complaint with game fundaments: We can agree that due to the decisions made about the attribute and skills system that all level 60 wizards that I make will have the same options available to them. Therefore, Why would I make more than one level 60 of each class? You wouldn't. So in Diablo 3 you will likely make 5 characters, which in extreme situations takes roughly 2 days per character to reach level 60. After two weeks of playing you could easily have a max leveled character of each class. Even the most casual gamer will be able to have a max leveled character of each class within a number of weeks. And as we previously discussed due to the "customization" allowed in Diablo 3 each of their characters will be relatively similar to yours in the since that they have all of the same skills readily available for selection. There is no need to recreate characters, no decisions you make in the game are committments, and I don't see where any level of replayability will come from.

    Pretty game, great name, fundamental game flaws. 3/10    … Expand
  6. mademperor
    May 16, 2012
    1
    Myself and my wife paid a total of $120 for this game and have been able to play once thus far for about 45min until they took the server down right before we got to the boss. Don't waste your $
  7. LeGuignon
    May 17, 2012
    2
    Because I live and bought the game in Korea, I can't switch language and have to play in Korean. Awesome. http://www.kotaku.com.au/2012/05/when-diablo-iii-doesnt-speak-your-language/
  8. Starshock
    May 17, 2012
    0
    I was a huge fan of Diablo 1 and 2, but this is just ridiculous. The game is a fine addition to the Diablo series, even though it is horribly dumbed down for the casual gamer masses. It's apparent that Blizzard doesn't care about their customers and are just another greedy corporation. The invasive DRM kills it for me. WHY THE HELL DO I NEED TO HAVE INTERNET ACCESS FOR SINGLEPLAYER? So, ifI was a huge fan of Diablo 1 and 2, but this is just ridiculous. The game is a fine addition to the Diablo series, even though it is horribly dumbed down for the casual gamer masses. It's apparent that Blizzard doesn't care about their customers and are just another greedy corporation. The invasive DRM kills it for me. WHY THE HELL DO I NEED TO HAVE INTERNET ACCESS FOR SINGLEPLAYER? So, if my internet dies, I can't play my game? Cool... I wish I could return it, this game really wasn't worth $60.… Expand
  9. fleishd2
    May 19, 2012
    0
    Let me start by saying that if you haven't noticed, metacritic is working really hard trying to avoid Diablo III getting the score the users think (which IMO is the closest to what this game deserves) by censoring comments with nothing wrong in it just for rating below 2, i got my comment deleted for no reason so i'm not going to rewrite all over again, just some facts: Cons:
    -No    Let me start by saying that if you haven't noticed, metacritic is working really hard trying to avoid Diablo III getting the score the users think (which IMO is the closest to what this game deserves) by censoring comments with nothing wrong in it just for rating below 2, i got my comment deleted for no reason so i'm not going to rewrite all over again, just some facts: Cons:
    -No customization at all
    -None replayability
    -Ridiculously flat skill/attribute points
    -Extremely linear
    -Difficulty not challenging at all
    -No runewords
    -Pay to win RMAH
    -Battlenet 2.0
    -WoW-like skills and graphics
    -+200str an armor? lol...(WoW-like items, never seen a +200str or +200 any other attribute in diablo games)
    -No PvP on release
    -Checkpoints (awful implementation) -Joining game issues like: leveling up or getting waypoints you didn't have.
    -Almost none ingame trade system (no global chat equals no trade between players equals all trades made with blizzard as intermediary equals high end items that worth RM get sold in RMAH equals blizzard getting part of)
    -12 years wait.

    Pros:
    -Due to the dificulty and the mobs AI you could still play Diablo III even with both arms broken.
    -Its pretty optimized for smooth gameplay even on not high end PCs.    … Expand
  10. arcona7
    May 17, 2012
    0
    Since the time from when Diablo 3 was announced to the days before its release, my confidence in Blizzard has been severely shaken with some of the dissappointing games sequels they have released. And now, it seems that Diablo 3 is the game that broke the camels back. The respect I had for Blizzard being a revolutionary and innovative game publisher is all but lost. After paying the heftySince the time from when Diablo 3 was announced to the days before its release, my confidence in Blizzard has been severely shaken with some of the dissappointing games sequels they have released. And now, it seems that Diablo 3 is the game that broke the camels back. The respect I had for Blizzard being a revolutionary and innovative game publisher is all but lost. After paying the hefty $60 price, I am unable to play the game, not because of my computer specs, but the fact that the game has to be connected to the internet to play both multi and single player. I was aware of this fact when purchasing, however because Blizzard's server isn't even working properly, I might as well hang the diablo 3 DVD from my clothes line outside to keep the birds away; this way the DVD would actually be useful. In any other situation, if a company sells a product (or as Blizzard would like to call it, a service) in mass numbers that doesn't work, it would be refunded or recalled. This game is a perfect example of how corrupt the pc game industry has become, and how somehow it is the consumers who are out of line, because they are complaining about buying a $60 paperweight. Shame on Blizzard. By trying to discourage piracy with their always on single player connection, they only alienate the legitimate consumers who pay for their products. Moving past all of this, when actually able to play, the actual game itself is nothing new, rather an oversimplification of the former Diablo games. Attribute points are gone, character customization is limited to male or female, there is no options to choose skills (most of which are very unoriginal). In addition, the dark, moody graphics that helped define the Diablo series have been throw out for cartoony, WOW rip off graphics. To make things even worse, Diablo 3 has implemented real money, pay-to-win auction houses, allowing players to simply pay cash to create a strong player, rather than through their accomplishments in the game. To add insult to injury, players who use this feature will be helping to fatten Blizzard's wallet with every transaction, as Blizzard will be taking a 15% cut of all transactions, in additional to a $1 fee for every real money transaction. I am disgusted with Blizzard. 9 nine years in development and all we get is a money-making scheme disguised as the revolutionary Diablo 3 game that loyal fans to the series have eagerly been waiting for, taking advantage of their loyal consumer base. In closing, if there was one word to personify what I see Blizzard as after all this, it would have to be.. diablo.… Expand
  11. raahsnavj
    May 17, 2012
    0
    I'll keep it short and simple. There is no way for people to really express discontent with the gaming industry as a whole. If we don't buy the games people say we shouldn't have a voice, but if we buy the games we only support what we don't agree with.

    I fall into the first category. I was very interested in buying Diablo 3 having played both 1 and 2 numerous times over. However, as a    I'll keep it short and simple. There is no way for people to really express discontent with the gaming industry as a whole. If we don't buy the games people say we shouldn't have a voice, but if we buy the games we only support what we don't agree with.

    I fall into the first category. I was very interested in buying Diablo 3 having played both 1 and 2 numerous times over. However, as a single player type gamer, and a person that doesn't have the best internet connection or desire to socialize I find it disheartening that few companies allow me to play games on my terms. Diablo 3 is just the next installment of software hating customers like me.

    Always online DRM is something I'm just not going to support. A grind game where users can pay to advance faster. Both things I just can't and won't support. I still haven't bought Diablo 3. And unfortunately I never will. Bye Blizzard. You now are a member of the ranks of EA, Activision (yes I already knew you were part of them) and Ubisoft. Take your games and go screw yourself with them.

    I'm buying and playing Torchlight 2 and other games developed for me as a consumer.    … Expand
  12. Str8ridah
    May 18, 2012
    0
    Everyone should avoid this monstrosity at all costs. You have been warned. Blizzard should not be allowed to profit on this nonsense. Just because of the name, they figure they can half ass this and still make money. Guys, we should boycott this.
  13. Netrix
    May 18, 2012
    0
    Lackluster graphics, game play, story, and skill trees. DRM to play a single player game? What are we paying for then? HUGE disappointment. If you want to own it, pirate it. You don't get what you pay for.
  14. ajsjps
    May 18, 2012
    0
    What is the point of buying a game if you can't even play it? I saved up for it, just to play by myself. I'm not a big multiplayer user, so I bought it for the singleplayer. Turns out, it doesn't matter. I can't play it without being online, which is horrible since I don't always have internet. Also: Error 37.
  15. als001
    May 19, 2012
    0
    I would give 8.5 if you could play offline, but I have to keep stopping every moment, either because of bugs or long maintenance of own blizzard, this type of treatment the client can not get away
  16. sidefx79
    May 24, 2012
    3
    Sorry Blizzard, you know I love you but I have yet to play a session without getting disconnected with some sort of error message. That I could have lived with for a few days, but you've now had well over a week to fix it and it actually seems to be getting worse.

    I took a break of 2 days and today I decide to give it another go and got an Error 3007 after 3 minutes! If you're going to    Sorry Blizzard, you know I love you but I have yet to play a session without getting disconnected with some sort of error message. That I could have lived with for a few days, but you've now had well over a week to fix it and it actually seems to be getting worse.

    I took a break of 2 days and today I decide to give it another go and got an Error 3007 after 3 minutes! If you're going to put such intrusive DRManti-piracyanti-cheat measures into a game in the future, try to make sure it doesn't screw over half your PAYING CUSTOMERS who have no intention of hackcheatetc!! And yes I absolutely will give the game a poor score due to this because it has thus far ruined the whole experience for me.... all I want to do is have an hour or 2 of single player goodness yet most MMO releases are better than this. And no I'm not going to start rebooting my modem and opening random ports to try and solve this because I have plenty of other multiplayer games and even MMOs that don't require such measures.    … Expand
  17. Hornpipe
    May 25, 2012
    1
    Disappointed. I played solo and the game crashed because of disconnected. Everyday. WTF is this ? DRM for honest players ? I can't create LAN party, I can't join friends directly, I must give my login to play everytime.
    The game is nice but I can't have fun with this, I give a 1.
  18. r2yneth
    May 25, 2012
    0
    Game is absolutely terrible. Doesn't deserve the title of the renowned "Diablo" series. Absolutely 0 customization (the fun thing about D2) + removal of chat channels (nice way to kill the community) + easy level cap of 60 (takes roughly 7 hours if powerleveled correctly). Extreme let down. Incoming microtransaction fees because that's ALL blizzard/activision cares about these days.Game is absolutely terrible. Doesn't deserve the title of the renowned "Diablo" series. Absolutely 0 customization (the fun thing about D2) + removal of chat channels (nice way to kill the community) + easy level cap of 60 (takes roughly 7 hours if powerleveled correctly). Extreme let down. Incoming microtransaction fees because that's ALL blizzard/activision cares about these days. Absolutely horrendous of a game and I'm so sad to have purchased the collectors. Waste of money. Waste of time.… Expand
  19. Blackfly78
    May 25, 2012
    0
    Completly developed against all diablo fans excpecations. RMAH for the win = 0 points.
    Buy your gear in the AH, kill diablo, game over. Blizzard failed so hard with this game, it makes a whole generation of gamers just sad.
  20. tommywolverine
    May 15, 2012
    0
    Bad graphics. No single player; always online. No LAN. No character customization. Casual skill trees. Health orbs. Plot is the typical Chris Metzen "CORRUPTION!!" cut and paste Blizzard storyline. Diablo has female hips. Pay 2 Win real money auction house. $1 fee on all trades, 15% money fee goes directly to Activision-Blizzard. Error 37; I couldn't play the night I bought the game. MadeBad graphics. No single player; always online. No LAN. No character customization. Casual skill trees. Health orbs. Plot is the typical Chris Metzen "CORRUPTION!!" cut and paste Blizzard storyline. Diablo has female hips. Pay 2 Win real money auction house. $1 fee on all trades, 15% money fee goes directly to Activision-Blizzard. Error 37; I couldn't play the night I bought the game. Made by none of the crew of Diablo II and feels like it. Sets the genre back about 10 years, yet it will smash all sales records. Anyone who enjoyed Diablo II should be ashamed of buying this game and slowly killing the hobby of videogames. I am ashamed of myself.… Expand
  21. dricket
    May 15, 2012
    0
    This game gets a 0 for "doesn't even work." I tried to log on about 8:00pm on the day after the launch, and I get "Battle.net is down ERROR 3003" I went to the help forums and get "Sorry, blizzard support websites are undergoing maintenance."

    Finally, some news on Twitter from @BlizzardCS -- since all the blizzard websites are FUBAR, the only remaining method of communication is Twitter    This game gets a 0 for "doesn't even work." I tried to log on about 8:00pm on the day after the launch, and I get "Battle.net is down ERROR 3003" I went to the help forums and get "Sorry, blizzard support websites are undergoing maintenance."

    Finally, some news on Twitter from @BlizzardCS -- since all the blizzard websites are FUBAR, the only remaining method of communication is Twitter -- saying the game will be down for 4 hours, so no need to stay awake.

    I'm sorry, this is completely ridiculous. Was 12 YEARS not long enough to develop a game that can even run at all on launch day? Maybe the problem is that Vivendi bought the rights to the Diablo name, but it lost all of the original Diablo and Diablo II developers who actually knew how to make such a game work.

    Just pitiful.    … Expand
  22. drakslayer
    May 15, 2012
    0
    I made an account just so i could give this game a 0. I might have fun later, but these first days have been a nightmare for me. I can't have fun so this game falls in the fail category for me.
  23. JT1986
    May 29, 2012
    0
    Sluggish average ARPG. DRM and connectivity aside, I simply do not like the game at its core. Vaguely mimics the other Diablo's, but doesn't feel in any way like them. I would recommend Titan's quest over this lack luster. You may like the game shortly if you've never played an ARPG, but its the worst one to start with.
  24. Grulnork
    May 24, 2012
    4
    I see it as a glorified Indie game. It's fun but not worth it's price-tag of ââ
  25. TacoMan3Billion
    May 24, 2012
    0
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The Good:

    Graphics are fair enough, nothing groundbreaking, but not what I would describe as bad.

    New skill system is fairly innovative and interesting.

    The Bad:

    Always-on DRM. Can't play this game without Blizz's servers up and a broadband internet connection.

    The storyline is indescribably bad. Diablo walks into heaven and single handedly destroys it, and mounds and mounds of angels because evidently God doesn't care too terribly about his home being wrecked. And then Diablo then dies to a group of up to 4 nephelim (nephelim being somebody who has human and angelic parents), so: Angels > humans, Diablo > Angels, One Half Human-One Half Angel > Diablo. Makes perfect sense.

    The controls, while being very similar to Diablo 2 are not at all optimized for the new skill system and there are no options for click-for-everything. As a result, especially for ranged classes, controls can feel clunky, especially in combination with the horrendous lag. Which brings me to my next point;

    The lag is terrible thanks to the fact that 90% of the game is done through server-side processing. The game client installed locally on the user's computer does little more than contain the graphical assets and display them for the user. Movements, abilities, monsters, and all other operations performed in the game are processed by the server and as a result, have never seen a ping below 250ms. According to Blizzard this is A-OK (the latency bar stays green until you hit 300ms, at which point it will turn yellow). So at minimum, anything you do takes 1 quarter second before it ever actually happens. This leads to dying many times to monsters you thought you had plenty of distance away from.

    Sadly, the boss battles are all boring. The only one that was of any interest to me was Belial. Diablo was pathetically easy. Just left click on him and hold down. That's about all there is to it.

    Sad thing was, that even with the new skill system that few of the skills are ever really required, most of the time you can just left click your way to victory which really made the game feel very bland.

    All in all, I bought Diablo 3 with low expectations since Blizzard hasn't been known as of late to produce quality material, yet sadly even my low expectations were let down. Diablo 3 is not worth $60 in even the most remote respect.    … Expand
  26. ryunp
    May 24, 2012
    0
    Every aspect of failure now live was spotted half a year ago by some keen minds familiar with real game design. Nothing was ever done about it. A real slap in the face. (link: http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=27832813210&sid=3000&pageNo=1)

    I, along with everyone else, deserve $60 back. This should NOT have made it to the consumer market. It offends me I paid for this false    Every aspect of failure now live was spotted half a year ago by some keen minds familiar with real game design. Nothing was ever done about it. A real slap in the face. (link: http://forums.battle.net/thread.html?topicId=27832813210&sid=3000&pageNo=1)

    I, along with everyone else, deserve $60 back. This should NOT have made it to the consumer market. It offends me I paid for this false advertising.

    There is no substance in this game. There is no replay value. This software is terrible. No deep thought was invested into design of item/skill mechanics. Gameplay is mundane and monotonous. There is no rewards/profit system even fundamentally to keep players motivated. I fail to see how this Starcraft 2 mod (Diablo 3) made it past testing phase.    … Expand
  27. Coasted
    Oct 14, 2012
    0
    It's interesting to see how some people come up with certain visions with this game that are completely untrue:

    Xon - The game is well balanced / The story suffices - The game is anything but balanced. All the classes are completely broken, especially the Barbarian which seems to get buffed every patch while every other class gets nerfed. With the new monster power system coming    It's interesting to see how some people come up with certain visions with this game that are completely untrue:

    Xon - The game is well balanced / The story suffices

    - The game is anything but balanced. All the classes are completely broken, especially the Barbarian which seems to get buffed every patch while every other class gets nerfed. With the new monster power system coming in, it makes absolutely no sense to play any other class other than a Barbarian. This should put up a red flag about the supposed balance. The story is lame at best; professional script writers have actually poked fun at D3's story as being one of the worst story line's they've ever seen.

    Karma_Police - Everything that makes a good game is there / "when" they polish the game the game could be the best game in pc history / Blizzard fixing the issues.

    - Haha ok this is a real doozy here.. how much exactly have you had to drink when you wrote that? The only thing the game has that could even remotely considered to make it great is it's graphics. It lacks everything else, from the music, to the balance, down to the non-randomness of the maps. They aren't fixing anything, they take about 150 steps backwards with each patch, tipping the scales in favor of not only Barbarians but a small % of players who use the rmah. Things like this have been pointed out since it's release. The only thing Karma has right is the loot system is crap, as well as, the DRM.,

    For those of you looking at this and wavering on whether or not to buy D3; you need to know the truth, and not be subjected to these lies these 2 have put forth.

    The only way this game will work for you is if you don't plan on progressing past Normal mode (which should take you maybe 35hrs of playtime at most. If your happy with spending $60 on that, then this game is for you. Keep in mind.. the 35hrs play time will probably take you about 200hrs real time due to the constant errors.    … Expand
  28. Sindo
    May 20, 2012
    2
    If I was just scoring on the mediocre game play/graphics and the average story then I'd probably give it a 5, throw in the always on DRM for a single player game (WTF?) and the fact that getting on for a week after its release you still can't consistently log in and play whenever you like, the best I can say is a 2. Seriously put me off Blizzard games and will be voting with my wallet inIf I was just scoring on the mediocre game play/graphics and the average story then I'd probably give it a 5, throw in the always on DRM for a single player game (WTF?) and the fact that getting on for a week after its release you still can't consistently log in and play whenever you like, the best I can say is a 2. Seriously put me off Blizzard games and will be voting with my wallet in the future.… Expand
  29. ArminW
    May 15, 2012
    0
    I can usually find a redeaming feature in just about anything and never cast straight zeroes (and very rarely straight 10s), but if value returned for money paid is exactly zero, what can I say?
    Being unable to use the product I bought because of a feature I did not want, IS a straight zero.
    Another company brought down by greed, incompetence and unacceptable business practises. Why was it    I can usually find a redeaming feature in just about anything and never cast straight zeroes (and very rarely straight 10s), but if value returned for money paid is exactly zero, what can I say?
    Being unable to use the product I bought because of a feature I did not want, IS a straight zero.
    Another company brought down by greed, incompetence and unacceptable business practises.
    Why was it possible to play Starcraft in offline mode once I logged in, and why isn't it in D3? If I'm FORCED to be online all of the time, there is NO excuse for not enough servers in use or the software not working. I refuse to be cheated and patronized by companies that take my money and THEN treat me like a criminal. No more games with forced online mode in single player for me. Period.    … Expand
  30. RainFall
    May 15, 2012
    0
    1d6

    1-3 The servers are down
    4-6 the servers are up

    It's a coinflip at this point.

    The launch has been a disaster. I thought this kind of crap was over?
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Awards & Rankings

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

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
88

Generally favorable reviews - based on 86 Critic Reviews

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