14 DAY TRIAL // I recently spent some time with the Diablo III beta and came away unimpressed despite choosing what seemed to be the best quality of the bunch, the Demon Hunter, so I resolved to try out the other four classes in order to see whether my experience was in any way affected by the skills and the specific gameplay mechanics.
The Barbarian might be the default choice for much of the player base because he seems closest to essence of the series but he is far more brutish than the Warrior or the Paladin from the first two games.
I enjoyed his physicality but I was a little disappointed with his initial skill selection and would have preferred to get more options when it came to how the character looked in armor.
The Demon Hunter is the class that will appeal to those who plan to use mostly ranged attacks and traps.
The beta is extremely easy, which means that I was able to jump directly in the middle of enemy groups and deal damage with my crossbows despite being wailed upon by undead, something that will probably not happen in the final version of the game.
The machine-gun like power was pretty awesome although it was not too useful, and traps were also underpowered and unnecessary given the level of challenge.
Playing the Wizard was another underwhelming experience and I felt like I was basically playing a slight twist on the Demon Hunter rather than a unique class.
The ranged attacks are very close in nature to those of other classes that engage from afar, and even the special powers seem more limited and less impressive than those of a typical magic wielder in other Diablo titles.
The Monk is more interesting as he seems to be a glass cannon that can deliver a lot of damage via the basic attack while requiring a clear escape route when his health gets low, using the secondary skills.
The Witch Hunter seems an interesting choice, with his focus on attacking from range while keeping enemies literally tied up via special powers, but he seems like another derivate from the Witch Hunter and I could never become interested in his weird movement and his almost comical voice.
Instead of the tightly segregated and guided experience that Diablo III seems to have planned for its characters I would have liked something more like the purity of the first game, with more options when it comes to individual customization.