Diablo III (PS3)

Like readings ripped from apocalyptic scriptures of old Blizzard, and their team of creative geniuses bring forth the continuing tale about hell's lords, angels, and the people who are unfortunately caught in the midst of an ongoing war between the two factions. The clash between the long dead King Leoric, and the Horadrim who have sought to end the hell lords' reign of terror comes full circle as Horadrim descendant Deckard Cain, and his niece Leah try to make sense of the approaching dark times, and the apocalypse at hand. With Deckard, and Leah being the last of the Horadrim the fate of humanity lies in the balance of their discoveries that are found within the ancient manuscripts which were passed down to them. With the aid of a heavenly being, lost souls, and a select few individuals whose motivations in preventing the end times are each uniquely their own they set forth to rewrite humanity's final chapter.

As the game opens, and a visually stunning cinematic sequence plays out we find Deckard, and Leah in an old abandoned church debating the reality of their situation. While Deckard is firm in his beliefs, Leah seems to pass off the notion of the coming apocalypse as a mere fable. It isn't until a mysterious falling star crash lands right where they stand, and opens up a burning pit to the labyrinths below that Leah begins to realize that the situation is more dire than she first believed. Shortly after the horrific incident a hero/heroine (Barbarian, Monk, Witch Doctor, Wizard, Demon Hunter) shows up willing to assist her in her search for Deckard, and in doing so sets into motion Old Tristram's final stand against the approaching darkness. With their help Leah, her uncle (Deckard Cain), and the townsfolk of 'Old Tristram' seek out the fallen star, and the hordes of demonic creatures that have begun pillaging the lands. Their deeds of bravery will not only affect the townsfolk of Old Tristram, but ultimately the world as a whole.

Being the class based RPG that it is, 'Diablo III' will have the gamer choosing one of five different character classes. These classes include both male, and female versions of the Barbarian, Demon Hunter, Monk, Witch Doctor, and Wizard. The initial setup of your chosen character includes the basic gender selection as well as a given name for said character, and a unique flag/banner construction for that character. While the character does have equipment that can be changed/tweaked at the beginning such things aren't made available until you actually begin playing the game. The banner on the other hand which is available from the start acts as a sign of prestige as well as a means for online players to catch up with you in the multiplayer portion of the game. It has several artistic features which can be unlocked through certain feats during your playthrough. The more prestigious features of the banner (border, symbol, ...) will require more difficult achievements to acquire, and will in turn allow the gamer to show of their gaming prowess to any other gamer who wishes to join them in their adventure.

Diablo III, as it were is a full-on dungeon crawling RPG experience. As such you'll find that it features all the interchangeable accessories, weapons, and equipment features that you'd find in most roleplaying experiences. Even with it's similarities though 'Diablo III' stands out from the rest with it's high level of attention to detail. There are, for example multiple interchangeable items that will actually appear on the chosen character as they are equipped. As far as equipping the equipment goes you'll find that each character class can only equip weapons, armor, and accessories associated with their class. Among the obtainable weapons, armor, and accessories you'll find four different grades of each. There are the common items which have a name displayed in white lettering, mid-grade items that have blue lettering, rare items that have yellow lettering, and legendary grade items with the name of the item displayed in orange. These items are often times dropped by downed enemies, but can also be found in chests, and weapon racks that are scattered about the many lands that make up Diablo III's world.

While equipping your created character with the best equipment available is a must if you hope to survive the swarms of undead, and devilish denizens of "Sanctuary (The world of Diablo)" you'll find that each character class in the game also has unique set of skills that can be applied to the combat aspect of the game making your/their task a little easier. The 'Demon Hunter', for example uses traps, and different types of shot projectiles that will stop his/her enemies in their tracks as well as allow him/her to dispatch them in a quicker than usual manner. As each character class levels up through the killing of Diablo's minions more skills will become available to that character. These skills will then be applied to different buttons on the PS3 controller (R2, SQUARE, TRAINGLE ...). Added effects, or runes will also become available as you level up, and use the skills at hand. Certain skills will require the use of a meter though, and in the case of the 'Demon Hunter' his/her skills run on "Hatred", and "Trap" based meters. In fact the Demon Hunter's meter is divided into two different sections (Orange & Blue) that pertain to his/her "Hatred", and "Trap" skills. The "Hatred" meter allows him/her to shoot skill based projectiles, and his/her "Trap" meter allows for evasive skills. You'll definitely find that each character in this latest iteration of "Diablo" has their own unique setup. Another thing to keep in mind is that certain character equipment will have attributes which will enhance such things as meter refill, health gain, and attack/defense.

Whatever character you choose to go with you should know that the road to humanity's salvation is not an easy one, especially in the world of "Diablo". While you can most certainly tackle the various difficulty based playthroughs (Normal - Hell) of the game alone, you can also choose to travel the demon ridden roads of Sanctuary with friends through online gameplay. I for one chose to play solo, but will definitely go back to join my friends later on. Either way you choose to play though you'll be glad to know that you can setup your invite/joining options to suit your fancy. The console version of 'Diablo III' gives gamers a nice selection of online, and offline options which are available at the game's main menu. In the main menu you can tweak these options to your liking. You can choose to have it where anyone across the globe can join you freely in your quest to rid the world of evil, or you can set it where only friends can invite/join in on the fun. If you wish to go about it alone as I did though you'll be glad to know that you can turn the online options off completely. By doing so you will not be alone though as NPC (Non-Player Characters) will be made available to join you in your adventures as you progress including a Templar Knight, a Scoundrel, and even an Enchantress. These AI controlled allies will never replace an actual gamer with skills, but will definitely lighten the load that you carry should you choose to travel alone. Another thing to keep in mind is that there can only be up to four players in the online portion of the game. This of course includes you, and three other gamers of your choosing/allowance.

Some of the more unique things you'll find in "Diablo III" are the inclusion of clothing dyes which can alter the colors of your characters' equipped clothing as well as certain items that have unique superficial effects such as visually represented angel wings. There's even a chest located within the towns where your banner stands that can hold a limited supply of equipment that you have collected along your journey. You'll find that you can also gift collected equipment, and items (by dropping them for the other gamers to pick up) to friends, or online allies whom you deem worthy to trade with. Aside from these things there are certain side quests which will reward you handsomely for your efforts with additional currency (Gold), newer weapons, equipment, and even new features for your banner. Another interesting feature found within "Diablo III" is the sub-section of the equipment menu called "Lore" which contains audio recorded messages of diary entries, books, and journals that shed more light on the story at hand via voice oriented recordings.

As far as the equipment menu goes you'll find it's the go to place for setting up your own character as well as your chosen NPC "Follower". Like the main character classes, NPC "Followers" are also limited to using items specific to them. Through continual usage these "Followers" can also be leveled up, and will become a formidable asset in your solo playthrough/s should you choose to go about things alone. The more you have them tag along, and assist in the killing of enemies the more skills, and equipment can be assigned to them. Skills, "Lore", and Equipment can all be accessed/tweaked in this all encompassing menu of sorts.

Before I conclude my review I should also mention the merchants, and vendors who inhabit the lands of Sanctuary. Throughout your online, or offline playthrough you will run into a select number of merchants who are all trying their best to sell you the latest equipment, and items through their poorly constructed business establishments. You'll mostly find mid-grade items, but on occasion will be able to secure a rare, or legendary item if you have enough gold to do so. The gold used for these transactions can be found in a variety of places, and ways including the corpses of dead villagers, fallen enemies, chests, and even destructible environmental objects (Logs, Statues ...). Aside from the standard merchants there is also a tradesman known as the blacksmith who will teach you the ways of his trade once you've made it to certain point into your playthrough. Through this blacksmith you can forge equipment using the salvaged parts of unused items within your inventory. All of this of course can be accomplished through the blacksmith menu system. By learning tricks, of the trade via the blacksmith you will eventually be able to make legendary equipment, and purchase it for a discounted price from the blacksmith himself. Like everything else in the game though you must level up your blacksmith skills by paying for tutoring via the same blacksmith menu system that can repair, salvage, and forge equipment.

As you can imagine there are many tasks to take on as you try to end the last of the Hell Lords' influence over the world of sanctuary. These "tasks" come in the form of mission based objectives that must be completed in order to advance the plot of the game. You'll find that objectives in "Diablo III" play out in an interesting manner that is not unlike classic RPGS of old. By talking to the appropriate characters within the game you will open up missions, and progress the story along in the process. These missions mainly include the killing of enemy hordes as well as the more tyrannical beings that act as the bosses within the game. Getting from place to place can be done simply by walking a path, or by using the town portals. It should also be noted that your progress is saved at predetermined checkpoints making your continuations much easier should you need a break from gaming. Whatever is that is required of you though must be completed before another task is made available to you. The story that makes up Diablo III's experience is a vast one that is divided up by acts which in turn require the completion of multiple mission based objectives. You can rest assured as I'm typing this review up that there are plenty of objectives to keep you busy within the darkened world of Sanctuary, and that the replay value is great enough to warrant multiple playthroughs.

Now on to the verdict ...

Blizzard has surprised many gamers with this console port of the PC original. While I have never played "Diablo III" on the PC (only Diablo & Diablo II + Expansions) I found it to be a well presented, and extremely addicting RPG experience. Like one of my friends said It's been a long while since I've grown so attached to a game like this. Everything from the cinematic cutscenes, to the gameplay itself was done in a way that will no doubt attract your undivided attention as well. If you've played the PC version you will definitely find some differences here, but in all honesty they are not that bad. Sure you can't sell your items for real world currency like you could on Steam, but the fun to be had outweighs an loss of such monetary gain. As far as the controls go they work perfectly on the console port. I ran into no problems navigating the various menus, or even engaging in the most intense of combat situations.

I really loved the graphics, and while the cutscenes were short they added a realism to the story that gameplay could not do alone. The story itself is as grand in scale as I recall the first two Diablo games being, if not more so. If you've never played a Diablo game, because you are purely a console gamer you'll find that this chapter in the series does go out of it's way to flesh out the full story, so that you can easily follow along. You will be able to grasp a full understanding of Sanctuary's predicament, and where the current arch of the story stands in comparison to the rest. There's plenty of things to do in "Diablo III", and if you are looking for a game worth investing quality time into I'd say this is definitely the game to go for. It will most definitely be among my "Top 10 of 2013"!!!