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. adamcraig
    May 19, 2012
    0
    What is Blizzard thinking??? This game sucks hardcore. First off it is boring as hell (pun intended). I want to play the game because I keep thinking it will get better, but I just can't force myself to play. Second, the heart of a RPG is customization, somewhere down the line we lost this idea, and diablo is not the only game. Why would I play a game that I am exactly like everyone else,What is Blizzard thinking??? This game sucks hardcore. First off it is boring as hell (pun intended). I want to play the game because I keep thinking it will get better, but I just can't force myself to play. Second, the heart of a RPG is customization, somewhere down the line we lost this idea, and diablo is not the only game. Why would I play a game that I am exactly like everyone else, if you are a monk, guess what you are the same as the other thousand monks, yeah. At this point why even make it an RPG? I am not even starting on the other issues the game has, because I think they dropped the ball. The only problems I had for the other diablo games is the 5 point system, I thought they would improve it, not throw it out completely. I am sorry for those who like mindless game plan, like all on-line games, you will love this game. I come from a different generation, where RPG was sitting around a table with a pen and paper and you had to use your brain. There is nothing to this game, Please get away from multiplayer gaming. For once focus on single player. What did Blizzard do, I thought they were developing this game for awhile now, because it looks like they are a student doing a paper on the last day it is to be turned in. No thought, boring story, no customization, no intelligence, no game. If I could have given this game a negative ten I would have, and one more thing, I enjoyed the music until it made me remember how good diablo once was, and then it pissed me off because it made me think there was no development at all, and I have to listen to music that makes the game seem better then it is!!!! SUCKS!… Expand
  3. Canopenerdude
    May 19, 2012
    9
    Read this entire review, please. You won't understand if you don't.

    As a longtime player of every non-WoW Blizzard game, as a honorable person, and as what I hope comes across as on honest gamer and game culture enthusiast, I have to say I am ashamed to call myself a player of Diablo III, based solely upon the complete unfairness and laughable immaturity of my fellow 'gamers'. I will    Read this entire review, please. You won't understand if you don't.

    As a longtime player of every non-WoW Blizzard game, as a honorable person, and as what I hope comes across as on honest gamer and game culture enthusiast, I have to say I am ashamed to call myself a player of Diablo III, based solely upon the complete unfairness and laughable immaturity of my fellow 'gamers'. I will admit freely that I have not completed the game. In fact, the meat of the game stretches before me like a long path filled with candy, hookers, and lots and lots of squishy undead and demons. But I can tell that this game... this wonderful epitome of what it means to be a dungeon-crawler with a solid story backing... will be enjoyable in its entirety. I cannot give this game a perfect ten until I get to the point where I have beaten the game. Now, as shown in the other user scores, the community is quite upset about the use of DRM and a server that is not on your PC to run every instance of this game. To explain this, here is an excellent quote from a good friend of mine:

    "DRM sucks. Having to be connected to a server to play alone sucks. And thousands of people are complaining about that today... yet most of them don't understand why Blizzard doesn't offer offline play. They say it's to prevent piracy, when it's not.
    Blizzard has to run servers for at least 10 years to support this game, as they know from their past franchises, for the (very popular) multiplayer component. It shouldn't be surprising they looked for a way to get some recurring revenue from the game so that the ongoing costs are covered by the people still playing it. Their solution was the real-money auction house.
    To run a real-money auction house, they have to absolutely eliminate hacking and duping, or rare items won't be rare and there will be no incentive to create a robust market which Blizzard can earn money from. The only sure way to eliminate hacking and duping is to run D3 like an MMO... put everything on a server you don't control. You can hack your client all day long, but since your characters, the world, mob spawns and deaths, experience and loot are all generated and stored on the server, you can't cheat and create items.
    There is no single player game. They never programmed one. To offer one at this point would be as much design and programming effort as creating Diablo 4. So don't expect there to ever be an offline patch for D3. When you play single player, you're just playing a multiplayer server instance that happens to only have one player in it."

    Now, my only PC is a crappy laptop (a 'craptop', if you will), and as such I need to play the game on the absolute lowest graphical settings, and even then the game has crashed my PC once already. But you know what? This game still looks amazing when the graphics are just slightly above those of Diablo II. The cutscenes are as good as the stuff James Cameron puts out. The music is so similar to that of the original that I almost cried when I heard it. The story is excellent, on par with any and all of Blizzard's previous offerings. And, really, stop complaining that you're always online. You're a PC gamer in 2012. The internet is our reality. If you don't like it, fine. But at some point we have to realize that there are just some things we need to give up if we are to continue moving forwards as a gaming culture. In conclusion, I know that most people will hate on me for supporting this game. That's fine. That's part of expressing my opinion. But I cannot sit by and watch a stellar game get lambasted by bad reviews because of their attempt to cover their operating costs in a creative way. The could've charged a monthly fee for this game, I hope you all realize that.    … Expand
  4. MountZionV
    May 19, 2012
    10
    This is Diablo 2 perfected. The new skill system is different but GREAT, no more wasting skill points on useless skills and no need to respec. Party system is very functional and all the server issues have been resolved (it was only released 4 days ago and i havent been booted since day 2). This is a MUST OWN for Diablo 2 fans.
  5. DuncanIdahoTPF
    May 19, 2012
    6
    I am rating this game FAIRLY, but 6/10 means I probably won't buy any more Activision products. Another great company corrupted by humongous mega-corporations with all their "focus groups" and "market research".

    The game itself was unplayable the first 3 days of launch even single player. That is absurd. To make matters worse, the game is a super easy snoozefest up until you fight    I am rating this game FAIRLY, but 6/10 means I probably won't buy any more Activision products. Another great company corrupted by humongous mega-corporations with all their "focus groups" and "market research".

    The game itself was unplayable the first 3 days of launch even single player. That is absurd.

    To make matters worse, the game is a super easy snoozefest up until you fight Diablo, and they made him ridiculously hard to kill. Boy, getting snared, then have diablo instantly teleport to you with no animation and 1 shot is fun??

    So thanks for ruining another great franchise, activision / EA.    … Expand
  6. Truth2012
    May 19, 2012
    9
    Having played diablo 1 through diablo 2 and all expansions. I can say that diablo 3 is a true diablo sequel the feel and game play that made diablo great is still there. The graphics are great and the soundtrack is good. This game lives up to the expectations of a true diablo fan and it's a great sequel. The server problems were to be expected with any game that requests a InternetHaving played diablo 1 through diablo 2 and all expansions. I can say that diablo 3 is a true diablo sequel the feel and game play that made diablo great is still there. The graphics are great and the soundtrack is good. This game lives up to the expectations of a true diablo fan and it's a great sequel. The server problems were to be expected with any game that requests a Internet connection to play. Blizzard has good job with fixing most server problems and the game is now enjoyable. Giving this game a bad rating without playing it just cause you can't connect to the server for a small time is not right. Over all diablo 3 is great game that is a true diablo sequel.… Expand
  7. Chuma
    May 19, 2012
    0
    I'm a fan of diablo and diablo 2 , one of the best games ever made , after seeing this game , is so dissapointing , i mean if you like it's because you're a casual that never played the previous ones ,-The auction house kills the game objective (loot and kill) , the story is bad , no more skill points or stats , i mean what the hell? that was one of the main features of diablo! , theI'm a fan of diablo and diablo 2 , one of the best games ever made , after seeing this game , is so dissapointing , i mean if you like it's because you're a casual that never played the previous ones ,-The auction house kills the game objective (loot and kill) , the story is bad , no more skill points or stats , i mean what the hell? that was one of the main features of diablo! , the always online DRM is stupid as hell , i'm still waiting for diablo 3 to be cracked , and although the graphics in a game are not important , blizzard totally killed them , they're so cartoonish , where's the darkness in the graphics? What happened to the world pvp? what happened to the char customization? what happened with everything? .... if you want my honest recommendation : please don't buy this game , save your wallet for torchlight 2 and please for all the casuals that liked this game : PLAY THE FIRST AND THE SECOND GAME BEFORE SAYING THAT THIS GAME IS GOOD ... oh and Bobby kotick , i'll be waiting for your bankrupt… Expand
  8. Strategist1979
    May 19, 2012
    9
    This is a great action RPG. Here is why it is good: 1) Gameplay: The gameplay is fast and easy to pick up. There is a strategy involved and you don't have to be a complete toolbag about micromanaging all of the stats for your character. 2) Setting: The creators of this game have kept to the same kind of setting you found with the first game. Its dark and oozes with character like noThis is a great action RPG. Here is why it is good: 1) Gameplay: The gameplay is fast and easy to pick up. There is a strategy involved and you don't have to be a complete toolbag about micromanaging all of the stats for your character. 2) Setting: The creators of this game have kept to the same kind of setting you found with the first game. Its dark and oozes with character like no other game world I've known. The graphics are fantastic as well. 3) The Classes and the Loot: I really like the classes Diablo3 has. Sure, you get the classic Mage, Archer, Warrior type classes but these classes just look really cool and the armour sets are so varied it is insane. It take a lot for me to give a game a 9 but I am really enjoying it. The only thing I would complain about is that it is a very non-open world, but this is really just sticking with the same formula from past Diablo games. Also, in past Diablo games the dungeons were randomly generated which I thought was cool and added to the re-playability. I honestly don't know what all of these haters are thinking. The game is fun, stop nit picking and just chill and play the game. Blizzard has done a wonderful job with the game...video game expert and newbies can play this game which is really great from a marketing standpoint and makes it fun for everyone. Not everybody is a 16 hour a day WoW player, give me a break.… Expand
  9. Obi
    May 19, 2012
    2
    After so much hype i decided to take a look at this game. Didn't buy it, went to my friends house to try it. And i have to say i am happy i didn't buy it. The log in issues and errors marked the first day. Constant internet connection for SP game, pretty much enforced DRM. Interesting enough neither me or my friend were interested in that AH and co op mode. Why cant we play it w/o internetAfter so much hype i decided to take a look at this game. Didn't buy it, went to my friends house to try it. And i have to say i am happy i didn't buy it. The log in issues and errors marked the first day. Constant internet connection for SP game, pretty much enforced DRM. Interesting enough neither me or my friend were interested in that AH and co op mode. Why cant we play it w/o internet connection and more important, why cant we save when we want.? When we managed to log in the game looked pretty ugly. Even with everything on high. Our character (we picked monk) was interesting. He didn't have any attributes to assign when u lvl up, he didn't have talent tree. Only skills to unlock when u gain a certain lvl. Whats the ''RPG'' part in it when the game does everything in auto-mode for u? Runes are boring. Increases damage for xy number. are u kidding me? AH is same as wow, except u can buy items for real money. so pretty much pay to win. we later found out that blizzard is taking pretty interesting cut from transactions. something like sneaky income. crafting is ok. although i doubt anyone will use those items later on and will farm stuff what they want. soundtrack. nothing much to say. its what u should expect - perfect. In conclusion: too much hype for this game which was in development so much, yet failed to deliver all what we were waiting for: diablo feeling. keep your cash on something else.… Expand
  10. tompaw
    May 19, 2012
    2
    The game is terribly balanced, the difficulty is mostly based on the fact that you cannot zoom out and the monsters attacking you have greater range than the f-ing screen! Engine is terrible, DRM is a joke. I am hugely disappointed.
  11. gbtimmon
    May 19, 2012
    10
    This game is well made. There are disturbing trends at work, Explosive negative reactions to things that, in 1999 when i was at my gaming prime would have been forgiven. I dont understand it.;
  12. dailen
    May 19, 2012
    3
    The online DRM is my main gripe with this release of the series. Unfortunately I am in a location where satellite internet (which is considered broadband) is the only option I have. Not even cell coverage is possible. On the box requirements for Diablo 3 it states that a "Broadband Internet connection". No where does it state that everything is done server side (combat/item dropThe online DRM is my main gripe with this release of the series. Unfortunately I am in a location where satellite internet (which is considered broadband) is the only option I have. Not even cell coverage is possible. On the box requirements for Diablo 3 it states that a "Broadband Internet connection". No where does it state that everything is done server side (combat/item drop generation/movement etc etc). Now I like many others are stuck with a 60+ dollar game that we as a community cannot play. Expect to see other big name titles to do the same now that Blizzard has taken the brunt of the storm.… Expand
  13. betelgeus
    May 19, 2012
    8
    just to clarify,this is diablo,it feels exactly the same,you'll hate it at the end of the night and then load it up first thing next day,(although some bosses actually require you to move the player about).good choice of characters and lots of drops,only bad thing to say is graphics are a bit underwhelming but if you like diablo 2 you will enjoy.

    also reeading reviews i thought it would    just to clarify,this is diablo,it feels exactly the same,you'll hate it at the end of the night and then load it up first thing next day,(although some bosses actually require you to move the player about).good choice of characters and lots of drops,only bad thing to say is graphics are a bit underwhelming but if you like diablo 2 you will enjoy.

    also reeading reviews i thought it would be a totally linear follow a track on smal maps,this isnt true,the cathederal is bigger than any diablo 2 map.    … Expand
  14. Eczila
    May 19, 2012
    10
    Made an account just to review this. The game is amazing, im currently just about to hit level 60 on hell and its just more fun and challenging for every minute that passes. People whine alot about the launch, but they also forget that the technology to handle millions of people connecting to servers at the same time smoothly doesnt exist. Yes they could've implemented a queue system forMade an account just to review this. The game is amazing, im currently just about to hit level 60 on hell and its just more fun and challenging for every minute that passes. People whine alot about the launch, but they also forget that the technology to handle millions of people connecting to servers at the same time smoothly doesnt exist. Yes they could've implemented a queue system for the login-servers, but people would've whined about that to, since the queues would've been hours long. As a diehard fan of the diablo series (dont play other blizzard games) i can say that this is just what i wanted from diablo, the only bad thing i can think of is not being able to distribute stats and rdm. But you forget about that as soon as you start playing.… Expand
  15. Just2RateD3
    May 19, 2012
    1
    First off, I am a HUGE fan of the Diablo franchise. The first Diablo was my overall favorite game for several years when it came out. I have read all of the official Diablo series books, and most of my experiences with Blizzard and all of their previous games have been great. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for Diablo 3.

    The brunt of my complaints about this game lies in the    First off, I am a HUGE fan of the Diablo franchise. The first Diablo was my overall favorite game for several years when it came out. I have read all of the official Diablo series books, and most of my experiences with Blizzard and all of their previous games have been great. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for Diablo 3.

    The brunt of my complaints about this game lies in the structure of it. It was a tough pill to swallow, but I still got this game even knowing about the DRM. However, if I would have known about all of the server issues and restarts several times a day, in peak hours of the day, I would have not purchased this game. Also, the latency even when the servers are running "fine" is still pretty bad, and yes, because of the DRM that latency still affects all single player games as well, so you have now option but to deal with it. Putting all of that aside, let's look at how the game is when the servers ARE up and running fine. After playing through the majority of the story, I found the plot to be extremely dull. Everything that is considered to be a "pivot-able" moment just lacks any surprise. Even the worst of the Diablo paperback books have a much better storyline than this. The end result of this was that for the first time EVER, I actually got too bored to finish the main story of an action-RPG. I am in act 4 of the storyline and I really have lost all motivation to complete the game, it is THAT bad.

    To help alleviate this boredom, I tried looking to join groups and play with others. Even though 95% of online players in Diablo 1 and 2 used "trainers" to beef up their character, I still found it fun to play alongside others. Looking to join games in Diablo 3 is a constant headache. Apparently, they changed the public game joining queue so that it makes you join a game with the least amount of players on it at a time. So if there are 500 people playing exactly where you are in the story, it will automatically make you join a game with only 1 other person in it, no matter how many times you try (Over 100 attempts for me). 95% of the time, that 1 other person is either afk or doesn't care that someone else joined. So I then thought, "maybe I will just invite friends to play with me, that way I can get a full game going". Then I realized that no 2 friends play through the game at the same pace, so if we are at the same spot today, we most likely won't be tomorrow, so there goes that idea...

    So in the end, you can play multiplayer with one other random stranger, or you can play single player with the same connection dependance of playing a multiplayer game and complete with lag and random server shutdowns/restarts, even in peak hours. So you just have to hope that you aren't fighting a final boss of an act as the message "Server shutdown in 60 seconds" pops up. I am not much of a graphics guy so I don't really care if most people think it is outdated, games can still be great with sub-par graphics, so I didn't count off any points for that. The music is good, which is the only reason why I didn't give this game a "0". I also forgot to mention that if you have played "Titan Quest" before, 50% of the location surroundings and monsters will look familiar.

    In conclusion, if you can bare the boring story, connection problems even in "single player", and deal with never being able to find a decent multiplayer game long enough, you will enjoy the soundtrack. I myself couldn't bare the torture all the way to the end... If I had the option to trade my key back in and get my money back, I would.    … Expand
  16. jerry420cation
    May 19, 2012
    2
    Well, I am a huge fan of Diablo and Diablo 2.... With that being said, after seeing this game in action... I will not be buying, no way.... First of all, the people who made Diablo and Diablo 2 are not even with Blizzard anymore... So this game is not even made by the same people at all, whatsoever.... It's like comparing that new Call of Duty Title to other titles made by infinity wardWell, I am a huge fan of Diablo and Diablo 2.... With that being said, after seeing this game in action... I will not be buying, no way.... First of all, the people who made Diablo and Diablo 2 are not even with Blizzard anymore... So this game is not even made by the same people at all, whatsoever.... It's like comparing that new Call of Duty Title to other titles made by infinity ward after the top guys left... It's not the same

    Also, the skill trees/RPG leveling up has been removed??? That makes no sense at all... It also seemed like the Graphics are a little cartoony and not as evil as they used to be... I have never played WOW so I don't know if they are the same graphics but Diablo 2 had better details and the environment was better... The always online requirement is stupid as well. There is no reason to have any game "online only" and especially a single player only game... I don't really care about the "piracy" concerns because people are going to crack this game just like they crack all games... It just makes no sense, especially with that auction house, this is a game about looting and exploration.. it's about going out and finding rare items and weapons... So why would anybody go on an auction house to buy items??? doesn't that take all the fun out of it? Also paying money beyond the 60$ price tag for in game items is ludicrous...

    This game is a massive Disaster.    … Expand
  17. MarcEric
    May 19, 2012
    4
    Graphic design is neat, storyline is awesome. That's it for the rejoicing. The no stats (or one stat) and one size fits all armor and weapons will make this game a short lived venture. No need to pick strength to get that awesome plate anymore. Unrestricted gear. No skills level either, spell damage based on weapon damage (get that dual axe wizard! that's where the power comes from now)Graphic design is neat, storyline is awesome. That's it for the rejoicing. The no stats (or one stat) and one size fits all armor and weapons will make this game a short lived venture. No need to pick strength to get that awesome plate anymore. Unrestricted gear. No skills level either, spell damage based on weapon damage (get that dual axe wizard! that's where the power comes from now) Add in the Auction House and you'll lose all reason of playing after you visited the story line.… Expand
  18. Slash2x
    May 19, 2012
    10
    Let me preface this review with a derisive note to all the "I can not log in" negative reviewers. If 2 Million people try and access ANY service at the same, it will crash there is no way to prepare for this. This problem is not part of the game, no more than running out of gas is a reason to bash your car manufacturer. Now that that is out of the way....

    This is a fantastic improvement    Let me preface this review with a derisive note to all the "I can not log in" negative reviewers. If 2 Million people try and access ANY service at the same, it will crash there is no way to prepare for this. This problem is not part of the game, no more than running out of gas is a reason to bash your car manufacturer. Now that that is out of the way....

    This is a fantastic improvement on the previous games. There has been significant overhaul to many of the in-game mechanics. You no longer have to pick what attribute points go where. Instead the character levels up in the manner that makes the most sense for their role in the battlefields. You do not have to worry about building a character that will not be playable because you made poor choices in the the previous levels. The game does not drop the hardest difficulty on you without preparation, Nightmare mode and beyond are not available until you can work your way into the greater challenge. The skill system no longer locks you into just one time choices that you have to pay to respec. Instead respecing is a change as you need it system now. This lets you see what works for you without having to reskill at a cost or even worse make a new character. Overall I would say this is a fun playing experience and is worth the buy.    … Expand
  19. suthnara
    May 19, 2012
    0
    I waited for a long time for starcraft 2 to be released and when it did I was not dissapointed not at all. To be honest I expected exactly the same when I played Diablo 3. Same attention to detail, better graphics and an amazing story line. I thought that there was no ways Blizzard would ever dissapoint me, but shockingly they have. Diablo looks and plays almost exactly like Titans Quest,I waited for a long time for starcraft 2 to be released and when it did I was not dissapointed not at all. To be honest I expected exactly the same when I played Diablo 3. Same attention to detail, better graphics and an amazing story line. I thought that there was no ways Blizzard would ever dissapoint me, but shockingly they have. Diablo looks and plays almost exactly like Titans Quest, a game thats how old now? Although it must be said that Titans Quest did allow you alot more variety when it came to character customization. Can I get my money back? If anyone is thinking of buying this game expecting something great yourâ… Expand
  20. trozman
    May 19, 2012
    0
    Always-online DRM is terrible as it is, but it makes the game unplayable when the servers are down (which they have been alot). This is completely ridiculous - in no other consumer market would it be acceptable to pay $60 for a product that only works 25% of the time, for no ostensibly good reason (they could easily turn off the always-on DRM).

    Not to mention, digital downloads don't work    Always-online DRM is terrible as it is, but it makes the game unplayable when the servers are down (which they have been alot). This is completely ridiculous - in no other consumer market would it be acceptable to pay $60 for a product that only works 25% of the time, for no ostensibly good reason (they could easily turn off the always-on DRM).

    Not to mention, digital downloads don't work until retail versions do, which makes even less sense. This is like if Itunes MP3s could be downloaded (AND PAID FOR) but not played until a specific date... completely senseless.

    The game itself is just a clone of Diablo II, no real changes other than a slightly improved skills system. Completely disappointing.    … Expand
  21. mental12
    May 19, 2012
    7
    I feel that the majority of negative user reviews are saturated with bitterness over several technical issues that have little to do with the game itself. These technical issues, while bothersome, should be attributed to Blizzard and not Diablo III itself. It is an enjoyable game to play if you like killing things in multiple ways. My main criticisms are the lack of offline mode, and theI feel that the majority of negative user reviews are saturated with bitterness over several technical issues that have little to do with the game itself. These technical issues, while bothersome, should be attributed to Blizzard and not Diablo III itself. It is an enjoyable game to play if you like killing things in multiple ways. My main criticisms are the lack of offline mode, and the lack of freedom involved in getting new skills. The latter becomes irrelevant later on, and gives you actually more freedom to experiment with multiple playstyles, but the former is going to bother me for a while. In the end, I enjoyed myself while playing it so despite a few shortcomings I give it 7/10… Expand
  22. CharHansen
    May 19, 2012
    1
    What Blizzard did here was robbery. You would figure that a company with the funds from 10 million monthly subscriptions would have the cash to make a game that looks half-way-decent but nope, they made a craptastic game with a craptastic story, craptastic graphics (on par with minecraft) and craptastic mechanics. I hope Blizzard goes under. I played the Beta with hopes that it was aWhat Blizzard did here was robbery. You would figure that a company with the funds from 10 million monthly subscriptions would have the cash to make a game that looks half-way-decent but nope, they made a craptastic game with a craptastic story, craptastic graphics (on par with minecraft) and craptastic mechanics. I hope Blizzard goes under. I played the Beta with hopes that it was a spoof, when they released the actual game I nearly took a piss on my Asus in protest.… Expand
  23. dean4656
    May 19, 2012
    2
    If your a fan of Diablo 2, you will hate this game. The skills, the loot the story, its all bad. The worst blizzard game by some distance!

    This game is terrible, I have wasted £30 on this rubbish dont do as i did!
  24. PCFlip
    May 19, 2012
    0
    Issues:
    1) ALWAYS ON DRM SUCKS!!!!!!!!
    2) If I wanted to play Torchlight I would have played the copy I already own, what is this? 3) Missing a lot of key features that made Diablo great like one example Scrolls, Identity Scrolls and so on are missing from the game. 4) Lack of customization even when you have that one option checked is severely lacking. 5) $60 this game is NOT worth it,    Issues:
    1) ALWAYS ON DRM SUCKS!!!!!!!!
    2) If I wanted to play Torchlight I would have played the copy I already own, what is this? 3) Missing a lot of key features that made Diablo great like one example Scrolls, Identity Scrolls and so on are missing from the game. 4) Lack of customization even when you have that one option checked is severely lacking.
    5) $60 this game is NOT worth it, wait until its half price. 6) a decade for this? for shame, that money hungry company has lost their insight.    … Expand
  25. kbreck
    May 19, 2012
    4
    To start out I have been a Diablo fan sense day one but to be honest this game just did not meet my expectations. The story line is ok bordering on good and the graphs could of been much better. I feel like they are just a souped up version of wow. But, the real problem I have is with this single player having to be online. This makes the game glitch and stuttery which is a real pain inTo start out I have been a Diablo fan sense day one but to be honest this game just did not meet my expectations. The story line is ok bordering on good and the graphs could of been much better. I feel like they are just a souped up version of wow. But, the real problem I have is with this single player having to be online. This makes the game glitch and stuttery which is a real pain in the *** if you are playing a class like the Barb or Monk. For example with my Barb sometimes I will try to use the charge or leap ability see my character move forward hit a lag spick and end up right where is was. The last thing I have a problem with is the battle mechanics. To be honest they suck horribly, there is some class customization but nothing like it was for D2. To me it feels like Blizzard just dumbed them down some anyone could play it easily. Remember this has an M rating so I was expecting this game to be geared more at the adult players which in my mind means making it a challenging game and one of the best ways to do this is to make the battle mechanics challenging which they are not.

    So to sum it up this game held my interest for not even a week the lag and stutter graphs piss me of to no end and worst of all I always have to be online to play this "single player game". So my recommendation is to save your money and to buy this game.    … Expand
  26. 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
  27. John_E
    May 19, 2012
    0
    Dont buy it. The grafics are not so good, the gameplay is kinda dead, you must play online for singleplayer, there are lags all the time, the game does not last so much, and so on .And if all that was not enough, there is a marketplace with real money, so you must pay more money to get the good stuff, since the game itself dont give you much rare/good itens...
  28. 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
  29. Auz
    May 19, 2012
    9
    I was at first put off by all the changes made, I had wondered to myself "could this be the same people that brought me D2?" but after putting in a liberal amount of time these initially depressing changes became welcome additions. I mean to be honest I loved the skill system in D2, I don't have the time these days to create multiple lvl 99's to fully enjoy a class. The combat is justI was at first put off by all the changes made, I had wondered to myself "could this be the same people that brought me D2?" but after putting in a liberal amount of time these initially depressing changes became welcome additions. I mean to be honest I loved the skill system in D2, I don't have the time these days to create multiple lvl 99's to fully enjoy a class. The combat is just as fun as ever, the story is just as awesome as ever, and the game plays wonderfully, the longest loading time I had to sit through was about 3 seconds.

    Now the reason I gave it a 9 and not a 10.. when mousing over the skills they give you no details about what the ability does, there is no easy way to switch what abilities your using, and well as an older gamer I cannot support the DRM..    … Expand
  30. Spielmann
    May 19, 2012
    10
    Diablo III is a great title and you cannot go wrong with it if you're in the market for old-school gameplay. Most reviews on this site seem to be written by people who expected the second coming of Christ instead of the return of a classic, fantastically-retro video game that is firmly focused on its simple core hack-and-slash mechanics, gorgeous loot and engaging story. This is not a gameDiablo III is a great title and you cannot go wrong with it if you're in the market for old-school gameplay. Most reviews on this site seem to be written by people who expected the second coming of Christ instead of the return of a classic, fantastically-retro video game that is firmly focused on its simple core hack-and-slash mechanics, gorgeous loot and engaging story. This is not a game to rush through, but to savor and enjoy in small, delicious slices. People tend to forget that Diablo's charm lies in its own simplicity. People looking for anything other than compulsive clicking and looting should play different games, fortunately the world is full of alternatives. For me, Diablo III is what I wanted. Thanks Blizzard for sticking to the core of this franchise instead of trying to make it something else.… 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 »