The required internet connection was contentious well before it horribly marred the game's launch with login errors and service outages (see '37 Ways to Die', left). Let's deal with that elephant in the room first. But not every one of Blizzard's gambles has paid off. Instant and persistent, with irresistible hooks sunk into opposite extremes of the gameplay spectrum - it's a heady mix. On the other, it embraces the customisation, connection, macroeconomics and long, long, long-form progression of massively multiplayer online games - including World of Warcraft, of course, but also more liberal player economies like CCP's Eve Online.Ī terrific physics engine drives some crumbling scenery which can be used in combat, but its real purpose is to underline the overwhelming destructive force of your powers.
On the one hand, it channels the senseless thrill of the arcade, reconnecting dungeon-crawling with Atari's 1985 classic Gauntlet as well as the furious spectacle of modern greats like Geometry Wars. The result is an incredible game that finds, in Diablo, the link between two worlds you never thought you'd see reconciled. Their bosses have taken even bigger risks, requiring an internet connection to play and introducing an auction house that allows players to trade items for real money (which isn't online yet). Game director Jay Wilson and his team have taken big risks, stripping the game's role-playing systems to the bone in a series of pitiless cuts that lasted into the final months of development. You'd get it from its two predecessors, in which you hand-cranked your characters through near-limitless levelling with furious clicks of the mouse.
You'd get that, of course, from the murderous riot on the screen, the boom and splatter from the speakers and the showboating skills of its five astonishing playable heroes. Diablo 3 is an action role-playing game - with the emphasis firmly on action.
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