Diablo III Closed Beta Impressions Part I

First of all, let me just express my most sincere gratitude to Froi...  He got us into the Beta :)

For the last year, since the release date was tentatively announced, I've been really looking forward to Diablo III.  Not just because I'm a big fan of the franchise; but because every game that Blizzard releases is high production and high quality.  It's been over 10 years since Diablo II... that's a long time.  Think about all the technological improvements. 

In preparation for the launch, we both upgraded from laptops to desktops.  We wanted to build the best gaming machines within our budget.  One of the first things we downloaded was Diablo II and the Diablo II Expansion: Lord of Destruction.  After the shock of the dated graphics wore off, that game is still very playable and addictive.  HOWEVER, if you get into a public game, you'll be confronted by full screen tells from spammers.  Who would want to buy items from those sites anyway?  It's really annoying. 

WTB a Chat Box!

I bring up the DII experience because it gave me a very relevant view to make comparisons with the new Diablo. 

The Map:

Right away I was relieved to find the mini map in the upper right corner.  One of the great things about World of Warcraft is that you can see where you and your party members are at a glance.  It's so much better than the Diablo II map overlay.

Versus the Diablo II overlay:

X marks the spot

The Graphics:

The graphics are incredible.  Realistic, dark, Medieval fantasy games tend to look muddy and brown.  This is what turned me off about Rift.  You wander around in this constant brown/green fog.  Diablo III, on the other hand, has a certain dark richness to it.  A level of depth that lifts it out of the mud that other realistic games sink into.  Granted this is the Beta; so I can only speak to the first Chapter but I already find it to be far more superior to other games of the genre.

Plus, you know, lasers always cut through the murk.

The Controls:

Again, I am really glad I played Diablo II recently because I will say that the controls are somewhat similar.  You can play one-handed.  Click to move.  The camera is fixed - which takes a second to get used to, but only if you're used to playing Skyrim or MMO's.  The controls are very elegant and intuitive.  Click to move.  What could be better?  It's really easy to move around. 

The Combat:

Now this is where I really fell in love with Diablo III.  In old Diablo II, you had to keep clicking on the enemy to hit it.  That gets old fast.  

Um... I wish there was a way I could tell which one I'm targeting...

 

In DIII, you click once to engage and can keep firing.  This is great for me as I have always loved to free-spam spells.  This lets the player get into a rhythm with their rotations.  

...Like a big red outline...

Kill!

 It's been a while since I got into a hack and slash type action game that provided this level of satisfaction.  Kill Kill Kill.  The thing is, the mobs are just easy enough (in Beta) and spaced evenly enough that it makes for a very gratifying kill spree.  Sure, there is some wandering, but there's enough stuff to smash that it doesn't feel empty.

The Loot:

Diablo II was all about the loot piñatas.  The problem was, if you didn't click fast enough after a boss fight, you didn't get that piece of gear.  You know, the one you just spent the last hour plus killing mobs for.  What is even worse, is if some of that gold seller spam just happened to cover your entire screen, you wouldn't be able to click through it.  Gah!

Diablo III has fixed this.  Each player has their own loot table.  Sure, you'll get stuff that isn't useful for your class but you can easily trade it away.  There's no fighting over loot or feeling cheated.  Hooray!!

Crafting:

In the Beta, only the blacksmithing skill is available.  This is a great introduction into crafting.  It works in much the same way as disenchanting works in World of Warcraft.  You simply take the Nephalem Cube and click on the item you want broken down and Voila!  You can now take the materials you salvaged from unwanted gear and craft it into some pretty sweet upgrades.  It's very straight forward.  You collect pages that you can combine to train your skill and learn new weapons and armor to craft.  This is a very rewarding introduction into crafting since you pick up so much crap.  It's nice to be able to break it down into useable materials. 

Skills and Abilities:

I'll go into the Skills and Abilities by Class when I've played all the classes.  So far, I've played the Wizard and the Demon Hunter.  Both have their advantages/disadvantages which I'll touch on later.

 

Essentially, each class starts with one active skill slot.  You eventually unlock  more skill slots with which you can slot your skills and bind them to your mouse buttons or keys.  This simple way of letting a player command their abilities is very straight-forward and effective.  You can only change your active skills at Nephalem altar.  You can obviously slot them to any key/mouse binding at any time.

That's it for now.  I'll post more on classes and skills when I'm done beating the Beta on all of them.  Cheers!!