14 DAY TRIAL // Diablo III has been in development for so long that I was jumping to see what it had to offer during its beta stage even though I have been rather disappointed with what the second game in the series had to offer.
The beta stage of the game has seen some pretty major changes during the last few months and, after spending a few hours with the quests offered, I have to say that Diablo III is pretty underwhelming in terms of atmosphere, gameplay and looks.
The core of the game is classic Diablo: click to move and attack, collect loot, improve character as experience is gathered, explore every nook and cranny of the map and complete quests for bigger rewards.
Unfortunately, it’s all much more limited than in previous Diablo games, especially when it comes to character development, where the main statistics develop on their own, and the player is only able to choose his attacks and his special powers, from what initially seems like a pretty limited set.
I played the Demon Hunter class and, despite getting into a lot of melee scraps, despite my ranged nature, I never felt like I needed to employ some special tactics to succeed. I rarely saw my health drop close enough to zero to require the use of a potion.
The variety of enemies was also disappointing, especially when it comes to group composition, and there’s little threat even when it comes to the unique monsters (a certain one was called The Immortal and dropped in under 30 seconds).
The game feels like Diablo, but the characters appear a little shallow and all the dialog and the lore entries are flat when it comes to writing, with a rather bland delivery from the voice actors.
At first sight Diablo III delivers when it comes to graphics, and character and monster movements are both smooth and natural, but as soon as one zooms in, the textures begin to grate, both on the character and the enemies he faces.
In the middle of the battle, that does not matter much, but it is disappointing to see a game that has nice architecture and ideas but lacks the graphics engine to make them as intricate and engaging as they could be.
Take a look at the gameplay video in order to see the first minutes of the beta stage, including some small fights and a stroll through the village and some character interaction.