Rather tragically I never played Diablo III until its recent console début. That being said I don’t live under a rock and knew what to expect from Diablo III. As far as I see it there will be PC based Diablo veterans eager to know how the game has ported to a console and console based Diablo noobs, such as myself, looking forward to finally finding out what all the fuss is about. I imagine it’s going to be a difficult task to convince PC Diablo III players to convert to a console version over a year after the game’s launch so I’m going to concentrate on those out there like me who are new to Diablo III.
When I say I’m a Diablo noob I’m not joking either, my ignorance truly had no bounds. So I made my (uneducated) decision on which character to play as first – the Demon Hunter. Soon I felt right at home slaying mob after mob of nameless creatures from hell. The transition to console has clearly raised no problems at all with controlling and manipulating the character and Diablo feels right at home on a Dualshock.
Selecting different abilities is easy, performed literally at the press of a single button while movement is taken care of with the left analogue stick. New to the console version is a reasonably useful dodge roll assigned to the right thumbstick. Don’t expect to be rolling around like Kratos taking little to no damage (this is an RPG) but it does form a rather useful way to move in a direction by a set amount quickly and easily – particularly useful for ranged characters.
After a few level ups your character will have enough abilities to start making things interesting. For previous Diablo III players ‘Elective mode’ will be nothing new. For me it was. Elective mode allows you to assign any ability to any button on the pad and more importantly to select more than one ability from a single section in the abilities menu. Luckily I didn’t waste too much time using abilities in the limiting structure the game sets by default but I would strongly recommend setting this option from the start (you can find it in the pause menu).
The first time you open up the abilities menu you will realise there is a truly massive choice of abilities. Very few, if any, of which have been altered from the PC version so experienced players will be right at home. The abilities are impressively unique and it’s clear that Blizzard spent a lot of time crafting every ability. Even more impressive are the runes that alter abilities in significant, and occasionally surprising, ways. The amount of possible different builds in Diablo III is truly mind boggling.
Visually speaking very little has been changed from the PC version. Diablo III certainly looks competent and the variation in visual effects for the different abilities keeps things fresh as you level up and progress through the game. But, there is nothing likely to wow or impress. The UI has been streamlined by shrinking most of the elements and relocating them in the corners of the screen. If you’re lucky enough to play co-op with someone Diablo shines even brighter. Gone is the PC version’s always online requirement and if there are two of you you can even play on a single screen. Split screen co-op is often frustratingly limiting, even on a big TV, but same screen co-op on Diablo was never a problem even hours into a session. The HUD is small enough that it never intrudes but you always have quick access to the information you need.
Of course looting plays a huge role and there is a constant sense of progression when searching for better equipment. Added to the console version are pop-ups indicating the rarity of an item whilst it’s still on the floor which allows you to organize certain junk without even picking it up. If you do choose to pick an item up information will be displayed above your HUD showing if your attack, defence or health will go up or down, indicated by a range of one to three up or down arrows. Providing you have current equipment it is not likely you will be replacing items constantly but when you pick something up and see a green arrow in all three sections, it’s a good indication you should probably check it out immediately.
The difficulty levels; normal, nightmare, hell and inferno function the same as the PC version but rather than ‘Monster Power’ there are now 5 ‘Master’ difficulties to choose from on top of easy, normal and hard. Each playthrough will unlock the next main difficulty along with its increased mob sizes and better loot. But if you feel the need for an increased challenge then you can quit out and alter it at any time from the main menu. The master difficulties also add increased XP and magic item finds so there is always an incentive to play on the highest difficulty you can.
When the first Borderlands was released me and my co-op partner spent many hundreds of hours playing, killing and looting. When we finished at maximum level we would either just play for loot or begin again at level 1 until we again reached maximum level. Diablo III has reignited that cooperative lust for levels and loot. Instantly we where back to focusing only about the game with sleep as a minor concern and meals under a strict 5 minute preparation time.
Diablo’s console version has been refined and improved over it’s PC original but hasn’t lost any of it’s dungeon crawling loot grabbing heritage. It’s incredibly addictive and there is so much to do it’s difficult to see an end in sight. The slightly dated visuals and thin plot are insignificant compared with the endless fun to be had. A massive amount of difficulty levels, character levels and an even bigger range of abilities keep things fresh indefinitely. The changes that have been made all seem to be for the better and the console version of Diablo III certainly feels like an improvement that make it great for previous Diablo players and newcomers alike.
Reviewed on PS3.
