After having spent the better part of a day playing Diablo 3, I am disappointed to say that it has not lived up to the promise we would expect from a company of Blizzard's eminence. The visual style is, I can say it no more gently, generic. The uniqueness of design that once made Blizzard iconic has been aped and copied so often that its impact here has been diluted. The audio design is pretty standard fare. The music isn't bad, but at no point is it riveting. The gameplay is hack-and-slash--and really, that's about it. You kill things, you loot things, you upgrade your character. Somehow they have managed to take what was most memorable about this game's predecessors and turn it into a chore. The harder modes are difficult, yes--in the same way that driving with a blindfold on is difficult. Rather than legitimately increasing the difficulty, they just stat-pad the enemies and buff all their attacks. This is the kind of cheap trickery I expect from arcade fighting games, not action-RPGs. One "feature" that I find a horrible detriment is requiring a constant connection to Blizzard's servers. Though I haven't had much difficulty logging in, others have consistently seen "Error 37", indicating an inability to connect to said servers. If Blizzard wishes to enact Draconian DRM, so be it; but if they make it a prerequisite to playing the game, they are damn well obligated to ensure that it works, and that it works all the time. Ubisoft tried this, and it didn't work for them. The multiplayer portion of the game is basically the single player, but with other people added. This can be great if you know them and want to talk to them. Otherwise, it's really not much different than playing with bots. I can honestly say that Gauntlet Legends was more entertaining from a multiplayer perspective than Diablo 3. There is a measure of expectation gamers have created for this title. They have built it up in their minds to being something it could never hope to be; this isn't the Second Coming of action-RPGs. That's what's even more disappointing. To measure this game strictly by its own merits, it is still severely lacking. The inability to consistently play, the mediocrity of its design, all of this add up to a game which is really quite...standard. The only thing bringing the score down is this ridiculous DRM. In the coming weeks, I'm sure someone will find a way to break it.

And do you know what that means?

That means the only people playing the game without enduring "Error 37" are the people who didn't even pay for it. That's just bad service, and THAT is unforgivable.… Expand

The 15th may used to be a good day, it was my birthday.. From now and forever it will remain as the day of the blunder ! I wont cry for stat's disappearance, i will let the game a chance to prove that there's good in the new skill system. 2 years ago i was playing titan quest, and it was good. last Summer, i've dig up Diablo 2 with friends and enjoyed this summer. But i don't know why, it does not feel the same with D3. Maybe it's me, or maybe it's the mechanics, but the combat gameplay feels blank.

I put a 6, minus 2 because of the **** drm and the auction house, so it's 4 .... :'(… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. it's now an industry standard that just what your game's objectives are constantly shoved down a player's throat. as is that developers seem to think everything that might require a bit of thought needs to be streamlined, and that human beings can't recognize simple patterns, and things need to be much more "cinematically focused". and anything beyond this is "entitlement."
and while this should not be suprising, it has happened to blizzard's diablo 3. how, you ask? how hasn't it been?

players click and click as per usual. it's how the game works. as players level, they use runes to help with skill customization, and attribute points are distributed automatically like many a jrpg. these changes from diablo 2 are worth mentioning in a positive note, but unfortunately there is absolutley no influencing what skills are learned and what points are gained, a luxury those same jrpgs will usually grant. this system did need some fixing from diablo 2, granted, but not an entire revamp. essentially, 2 seperate player's witchdocters will be exactly the same, sans wargear. a standard melee attack damaging GROUPS of enemies is cheap and console-gameplay-esque (wonder why). the health drops that you simply walk over coupled with the low, low chance of an enemy actually hurting you means that besides where bosses are concerned, health is rarely an issue. something new to the environments are the red barrel kills - the scripted segments that, frankly, are so out of place for the series, and usually result in the KILL-STREAK +25XP! PROMOTION TO SERGENT MAN! messages, very Call Of Duty. the classes skills are extremely overpowered from the get-go, and they like to talk, a lot - but do players need 3 ways of the game telling them that they don't have enough mana for a spell they try to use?
then there is the wow-like art style. it completely betrays the Gothic scenery of it's predecessors, and it looks like it was made to run on a machine from 2005.
a glaring issue is the DRM. it is absolutely deplorable that players are forced to connect to a server constantly for single player just to make sure you are the only person playing with that copy of the game. you're even at risk of being kicked for simply idling. the possibility of lag in single player is a joke and as one final laugh, the real money auction house is just legalizing Chinese item farmers. i laughed quite heartily when i was in my EB games store and saw the posters saying that the game was avaliable for purchase after 9 am, but the servers would not be up until 4:30 pm.
like many a "AAA title" these days, a single player playthrough will generally see 6-10 hours, depending on how many side quests are squeezed out. another low point, considering the first two go for MUCH longer.
concerning the story, it is not terrible - predictable and unpolished, not to mention blizzard still has not grown tired of old tropes, and has brought a "kerrigan" into this franchise. but passable, in all meaning of the word.

did you love the first two games?
do you want a worthy sequel?

go soak your head in a bucket of ice water and wake up. this is selling purely on it's name, not the game.

are you looking for a flavour of the month game?
an mmo with a focus on single player experience (TOR dead yet)?
a calladooty with a fantasy feel?

go for it. buy it. just remember. you paid for it.… Expand

This game really gets my jimmies in rustle. The characters in it move way too slow. How can anyone enjoy a game where nobody can into fast? What a joke. You can't fight the power and pierce the heavens if you're moving at turtle-pace speeds. Blizzard, I am disappointing. But enough with this - I'm off to sit on my throne in Bel-Air.

Game had a bery bad launch. The graphics looks like they took WoW and turned it into an isometric game and slapped the name Diablo 3 on it. Very disappointing.

So after having played this game for around about 3 - 4 hours, I can confidently say that staring at a screen saying 'error 37' is not fun. would not recommend if you like fun things.

I was going to give this game a deserved 9 out of 10 ... but can't. I've managed MINIMAL game time due to server issues. I don't care what the 'DO GOODERS' keep saying about 'Have patience'. I'm sorry, I've bought Diablo 3 to play when I wanted. Blizzard have my money therefore my side of the agreement has been met. Sadly, Blizzard have FAILED to do their part. The biggest challenge is getting past the login screen. TO THE DO GOODERS ... If you bought a car and it only came with three wheels and you were told the other one will be here in a weeks time, you'd complain. You would say 'Hold on, I've paid for a car with 4 wheels'. Well that is EXACTLY what WE the NEGATIVE REVIEWERS are writing about. It's POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE and in these modern times we DESERVE more from a company who make computer games. I'm not bothered that it's day one etc etc etc. I've PAID MY MONEY and I want to PLAY THE GAME I paid for. That's the way the world works.… Expand

Apart from the awful launch and connection issues, the game is really nothing special. Graphically average, and clickfest gameplay. It does nothing better than Diablo 2 (they even removed all character customization while levelling). Very repetitive and generally disappointing.

I expected more after so long in development. With maxed out graphics @ 1920x1080 this game still looks kinda old and ugly in my opinion. Graphics are from 2007-2008 or so I'd say. It's moderately entertaining for a while although honestly I'm tiring of it already after 1 day. It might have gotten 5/10 instead of 4/10 but the price is too high. Also, I haven't taken into consideration the login problems alot of people have or it would have been 2/10. So don't believe the hype about D3, it's an ok game nothing more (except for grapics wich suck). If you consider getting it atleast wait until the price drops and they've fixed the problems so you can actually log in and play.… Expand

I can't believe what they did to this game, Who in a normal state of his mind would plan to make this game an "always connected game"? This is not even a MMO, MMO sets those kind of things because it's obvious, you will play with many many people. But this game is a SINGLEPLAYER (featuring coop).
Suffers a lot of connection problems and all that stuff. Aside from that, the mechanics are simplified compared to Diablo2, Titan Quest, Torchlight, etc... This game is not as deep, the hack n' slash feels easier (and fun some times) but it doesn't have the same feeling as the last game of the franchise.

It's a perfect example of what corporates companies want to steal from the fans and customers. I'm a big dissapointed fan. Please stop buying Activision things, they think they're the masters of the world and have the rights to **** people whoever they want with their money. I'm gonna wait for Torchlight 2.… Expand

It is a very good game, VERY GOOD!!!!
It even comes with a challenge, beat the login server, error 37 is the prime evil, if you beat it, all will obey your orders.
Now seriously, if you don't mind spending 3 hours to get in, you should totally buy, if not, don't waste your money.

First off, whoever says Blizzard couldn't have anticipated this, they are WRONG. Battle.net was the only digital distributor, and they would have known how many of the ones sold would roughly be online. Between Error 37 to Error 3005 there hasn't been much here to review. The game works, while you're connected. Even once in game its hard to enjoy the lag and disconnections bringing you back to the dreaded login screen. Having to always be online to play a game by myself is ridiculous. Oh its because of hackers you say? So the people who play only offline single player might hack, and then go just for the fun of it? Fail Blizzard, fail.… Expand

Ill try to point out what bothers my, cause we all know the things that this game does correctly. We've been told by journalists, ads, developers etc.
1/ No connection. Seriously? The biggest MMO company and i cannot play single player at all (even if it was achievmentless, or limited, or just a class try-out). They had 2 000 000 preorders so they had to see this coming. As I was logging in I saw D3 ad sayin "available now". Trust me, its not.
2/ Graphic style. A bit to WoW-y for me. Of course we all saw the game videos before the premiere, still i have this feeling that Diablo's atmosphere is fading away with every minute i play ( if log in is possible of course). If I wanted Torchlight I'd wait for Torchlight 2. 3/ Tech. It's old. textures suck. And the graphics aren't biggest issue for me. Have You tried Drakensang online? It's a BROWSER GAME that looks pretty similar to this 15GB monster. And I'm saying this as a big SC2 fan - the graphics should serve the gameplay, and in this case they're not helping and i still can see all the slips. Oh, a game 12 years in making and some weapons look like copied from WOW. 4/ Voice acting. I'm in act 2 and it's not event close to deep, charismatic voices from D2. I can still remember characters from Diablo 2, and i cannot enumerate even one char from act1 except for Cain.
5/ It just doesnt feel Diablo that much...… Expand

Do you know how disrespectful it is to have waited for this game for all those years to have the always online bull tell you the server is down? not even an offline mode? Jesus, they're not even trying.They made sure to pick an artstyle that drawed in the WoW crowd distroying the unique art that made diablo unique.It's a shame how short the game is also.It like they were doing nothing all that time.… Expand

I have suspected for months now that fans would have this reaction. I would like to say I disagree but I can't. My biggest gripe is the mediocre "one style fits all" design. Making a game more mainstream in its art and content is the last thing diablo needed. I would have loved to see a similar kind of bold steps that the witcher 2 took in their game to appeal to a more mature audience. The moderate amount of complexity that d2 had is what distracted from the fact that the story was not what drove players through to the end of the game. Selling out to mass appeal is what caused a giant to have what some would call its first big mistake.… Expand

I dont like the fact that you have to be online the whole time to play. It took forever to even get into the game due to this fact. A single player game that you have to be online for is a bad idea period. No I dont care if the kids that only play online like that way. I dont like that your not the one responding to conversation with a npc...the game does it for you. Its a lackluster remake and I would rather have my 60 bucks back.… Expand

After development for more than a decade, this game is a complete downgrade from Diablo 2. Personally the biggest disappointment of the year. It's basically a simplified, toned down version of the highly successful D2. It's playable and fun for a while, but has nearly zero replayability due to no skilltrees, customization and overly scripted gameplay. A graphically updated D2 would be miles better than this.… Expand

Considering Blizzard had nearly a decade to develop this game, it really does not show. The graphics are a bit disappointing for a game released in 2012, but I'll give them the appreciation for trying to be compatible with as many computers as possible while maintaining decent aesthetics. The game has been made way too easy for continuing players of the series (no stat allocation, you receive every skill, etc.). Blizzard's biggest mistake was creating a real-money auction house. Given the fact that items have many random power-ups and bonuses, a Windforce say might sell for about $20 but then another one with just +1% extra damage would sell for probably 5x that amount. Who is benefiting from this? Blizzard is benefiting by taking significant percentages of each real money transaction. I understand companies are in this business to make money, but this is a pretty bad move by a company trying to take advantage of their fans. If another game company without a great fan base were to do this, lots of gamers would be trying to boycott it for trying to pull this off.… Expand

Score the game based on it's gameplay folks, not a temper tantrum. I'm giving it a 4, because they gutted so much of what I loved about D1/2, the graphics are pretty weak, and the online DRM is inconvenient to say the least. It would pass as an iOS game or a $10 indie title, but as a follow up to one of the best games of all time, it is a disgrace.

All the build up for release, planned, calculated. EPIC Fail on release with DRM Servers keeping everyone from logging in. There should be an offline mode, and furtharmore DRM needs to be throttled back a bit.

Played 1 and 2, and waited and waded through the hype for a game that feels mechanical, stale and sadly offers less than the previous games. Graphically lovely, it just doesn't grab me by the balls. Something is badly lacking. If anyone has experienced WoW pug PvP, it kinda feels like that. I'll explain, I started playing earlier and joined a few parties, not one person spoke and it felt as though I was being simply carried along. No one picked up anything (gold/items) or even stopped to fart! I couldn't help but feel like a low level vacuum cleaner running behind Dysons. Overall, I think the game is average (esp after the wait) and it is further spoiled by the sad fact that modern gamers seem too eager to pursue end game glory and have forgotten, or better yet (given their ages), never known the pleasures and satisfaction of the in-between. Everyone's in a hurry to be no.1 and the game suffers as a consequence. 4/10 - By today's expectations/standards, and in view of what had gone before it, a real let-down.… Expand

Negatives: online DRM and online singleplayer, cartoon graphics and wow style graphics(its like a wow mod), nothing new in gameplay and high price; only positive thing is sounds and musics are from diablo 1-2.

its a big disappointment, i was expecting something different.

Can't play a single player campaign without the servers up. Inexcusable. The graphics are average, but the game play is fun...if you can play it. There is no customization with your characters, which is also a minus.

The game in itself isn't bad, but Blizzard is clearly using this as a quick cash grab, a game that hardly feels like it's predecessors, and taking few steps backwards in terms of creativity and innovation. The lore has been butchered completely and most boss fights are people you have already fought previously in Diablo 1 and II (Skeleton King, Butcher, Izual, and of course Diablo who has the same exact skill set from D2 even though he has absorbed all the other prime evils). Incredibly lazy on Blizzard's part. Not to mention requiring an online connection for single-player and real money auction house.… Expand

Never played it. And now thanks to all of your reviews i will never buy it and play it. Thanks for saving my money. I don't usually follow what people say but the majority is overwhelming.

This game is only really popular because of the Diablo title and world. By itself it doesn't stand up. They changed major portions of the established lore, changed the art style and feel of the game, and crammed always online DRM in.

The level design is taken straight out of Torchlight (made by those who made Diablo 1 & 2) and doesn't add anything new to the series that is a positive other than perhaps crafting. In fact, they have dumbed down many of the elements from the two previous games including character customization. The presentation, though an improvement is dated by today's standards and even the standards set in WarCraft III and StarCraft II set by Blizzard themselves. It is a shame. Taken with the horrific Americas region launch, it's Blizzard's weakest game and the only fun that can really be taken from it is that its in the Diablo world; strip that away and this game is nothing special.… Expand

Most of this has already been said, but I thought I'd throw in my own two cents. As a big fan of Diablo 1 and 2, I was greatly disappointed by Diablo 3. I played the open beta back in April with my brother and friend and found myself too bored an hour in to even finish it. Here's what I took issue with: 1. Atmosphere and writing - I had great expectations for this end, and these did NOT include short, meaningless dialogue delivered with mediocre voice acting; bright, cartoonish colors and particle effects; the ability to jump down giant holes and wells, be skull-bashed with a chandelier, buried under a pile of rubble, etc. without injury. 2. Graphics - not too bad, but definitely not nearly as good as many other games of recent years. I downloaded a low-texture pack to play skyrim and some of those textures still look better than some diablo 3 textures (which I have set to high). Also, in general the graphics and movements look pretty unrealistic, which definitely eats into the atmosphere score. 3. Character leveling - It seems like they tried to get rid of the issues of diablo 2's somewhat unbalanced skill system while keeping the dynamics of different character builds, and to an extent they succeeded, but they also removed one of the core aspects of gameplay, specialization. Diablo 2's skill sets, while certainly not perfectly balanced, allowed the player to take pride in the things he specifically had done to make his own unique character build, and to play a unique role in his party that no one else could fill. D3 character builds are much more simplified, which means every person's lvl 50 monk is going to be exactly the same, only with slightly different flashy effects. It has its pros to be sure, like not getting bored with only a few combos used the whole game, but hits the immersion aspect in the process for people trying to get more into their character. 4. Difficulty level - why on earth didn't they put in a difficulty level setting, besides the one where you have to beat the whole thing just to play it all again? playing co-op was so boring, most of the monsters weren't ever scary or dangerous more than the were just objects we couldn't run past until we clicked on them. 5. And worst of all, the auction house. what the crap were they thinking, allowing real-world money into item trading? Pay-to-win isn't a new concept, I don't know how they missed that one. I wonder how they're going to reconcile that when pvp rolls out. Whatever. Anyway, in the end casual gamers may like this game because, let's face it, it's a solid enough hack-and-slash game if you don't care much about the franchise. For me however, having wondered for years what sort of pants-wetting nightmarish world with optimized skill/combat system would await me only to find this flashy, lame excuse for a sequel, I feel nothing but disappointment.… Expand

This is another serious review.
Regarding the gameplay, D3 is better than D2 in some respects and worse in others. Most of all, the fights are a bit more diverse and dynamic and require mixing more skills, which makes them less repetitive. However, many of the decisions you had to make in D2 (e.g. invest in strength to be able to wear this new armor you found, or in intelligence to be able to use more skills) were taken out of the game to make it more accessible. Thus, you dont look forward to new levels that much anymore.
The "casual" design also causes the player's focus to shift from the characters development to the storyline, which isn't exactly a good thing. While the dialogues aren't quite as bad as in D2, they are still rather dumb most of the time. A blacksmith who just killed his wife in front of your eyes, so that she wont turn into a zombie, will talk on about your next quest as if he had nothing else on his mind. Where is the intensity, where is despair and the grit that the characters in D1 conveyed? And what with the silly, officious accolades your character gets all the time? It is hard to imagine that anyone who is old enough to buy the game will feel engrossed by the story and its often superficial wording.
That's a shame, because the soundtrack is truly excellent. If they could have left out the dialogues, the music alone would go a long way in creating an immersive atmosphere.
Finally, having no single player mode would be bad, but still somewhat acceptable, if only the servers were ready for the amount of users. After millions of preorders, the demand cant have come as a huge surprise to Blizzard. And I am somewhat sceptical whether the situation will improve, as it doesn't seem very likely that less and less people will try to play the game in the coming days. All in all, I am considering returning the game, an idea that never crossed my mind when I compared D2 to its predecessor.… Expand

I would give it a higher rank except the game is at the mercy of whether Blizzards servers will be stable. Higher ranking if there was an offline/lan mode.

No skill tree means you can't really customize your character. Cool down time of portion and town portal means it's not as fast paced and also too WoW like. Animations of monsters are not as good. It lacks the essence of what makes the first two Diablo great. Sorry, it may be not be a bad game, but it's not Diablo.

In summary: Gets repetitive really quick and feels like a "production-pipelined", risk-free, standerdised game. Yes, you might think the problem of being repetitive is inherent in "Hack 'n Slay" Action RPG, but I think there're some who make this feel personal and rewarding and some who make it a redundancy. For me, regrettably, D3 falls into the latter category. Technically they included many things to prevent this: So much skills and runes and skill combinations, but it doesn't add up to something larger. Encounters are almost always the same (monsters coming in from the front of you) and you beat 'em down, sometimes faster, sometimes slower, repeating the same buttons presses. I don't remember any outstanding encounter. And although there's a lot of different artwork and randomization, the levels through the different acts seemed to be really similar to me. Feels like a checklist of locations you run through, locations that don't really depend on each other. Besides a few dialogues, there were no real authentic things for me, no little scenarios that make you smile or smirk, nothing personal.… Expand

quicky! pros: responsive gameplay, good effects, combat feels solid, improved multiplayer features. cons: simplistic gameplay reminiscent of XBLA titles, little to no customization, always on DRM, real money auction house, visual atmosphere not consistent with world, ~15 hour lenght.

summary: for a full-priced game this is abhorrent. the polish is there but there are no features worth the money. multiple difficulty settings don't make the game better, they just run you through the same content again and again. With competition like Path Of Exile (F2P), Grim Dawn and Torchlight 2 for ~1/3 the price and similar features there is absolutely no reason to get this game.… Expand

Voice actor for Cain sounds like a badly done cartoon goat Almost all other voice actors throw on some stupid Irish-Scottish-Welsh sounding twangs and roll with their pitiful poorly written scripts Throw back stereotyped African accent for witch doctor Check points, no custom skills, spend real money for loot, no pvp, meaningless plot-line What a gut punch this steaming pile is considering it is f**king DIABLO!!, seriously WTF were you thinking Blizzard? Your corporate desk jockeys ran this project into the ground, and I serious hope they are standing in the unemployment line right now

Yet the multiplayer coop is fun, mindless fun, but still fun, hence it gets a 4/10… Expand

First, why the f**k do we need this perma-DRM? Blizzard, your war on used games is getting way too overzealous. Why not ban used books too? What about used cars?
Now on to the story, cinematics are great, it spans over an epic arc, but it's too obvious. I won't spoil here, but when you get to act 2, you will know what happens.
Gameplay is solid as D2, and some ragdoll physics. The rune and skill limit system is interesting, though I wish the skill runes would be in another fashion, such as different runed skills can have synergy or combo together. Not as good as I thought it would be.

My final verdict is a 4/10. It would've been 6/10, a game above average, but I HATE PERMA-DRM! knocks two points off of it.… Expand

Note - the negative reviews, hysterical as they may be, sound more like actual customers and less like paid posters than the postive ones, while the "professional critic" reviews are either glorified european blogs with a grand total of two or three on the staff or bigger outfits that live in fear of having their ATVI advertising money cut off.

The reality is that it is a game with a talented team behind it, but zero experience in the genre. I'd advise checking out Torchlight II if you want to experience a game at a fair price made by people who have done it a few times before.… Expand

This is a highly anticipated sequel with a premium pricetag that is in no way justified.

The graphics are fair at best and already feel somewhat dated on release. The stat skill assigning has been replaced by az system that allows for far less customization and which feels completely dumbed down. No more assigning stat points, they game does it for you every level. Skill trees have beenreplaced by a runes system that is completely uninteresting.

The game itself doesn't do nearly the job of drawing you into the game as Diablo 2 did. The game is also ridiculously short for an RPG - 7-10 hours for a playthrough is not uncommon. It's so short that it feels like a long overdue 2nd expansion for Diablo 3 with a graphics overhaul at a full game's price. The always-on DRM even for a single player playthrough means that you MUST log in to Blizzard's servers to play. If you can't log in for whatever reason or your connection drops out, you are not permitted to play the game you bought and paid for.

Blizzard has dropped the ball on this game big time. Do not buy until it hits the bargain bin. At least that way you're not paying a premium game's price for less content than is in some expansion packs.… Expand

Decent game, huge production value, repetitive but deep gameplay. Yet deeply flawed because of the DRM. I feel like I don't own the game. I payed 60$ for 15gig of game data. I OWN them and I want to play them WHEN I WANT TO. So there: Blizzard fished up.

Game is fun...when it can be played. If you have lack of internet access for whatever the reason, you can't play. Even when you can miraculously login to the servers without an error of some sort (37 or any of the other hugely common ones) the servers are down way too often. If only they had given the option of single player offline mode all of this problems people complaint about would have been solved. Forced online to play a single player game is ridiculous. Give us the option to play offline Blizzard. Game is fun so far but no offline kills it.… Expand

For the amount of time this game took in development and the amount of hype given to it, I expected more. Your first view of what's to come is the character creation screen. If Blizzard was shooting for a D1 or D2 look and feel then they did pretty well. The screen layout, font, graphics, they all felt old. At a minimum I would have expected to be greeted with a polished look and feel like you get with WoW. The actual game play/graphics, they're just OK. At this point, Blizzard should be having a serious look at D3's implementation and making some changes before Torchlight 2 comes out this summer.… Expand

Single Player fans beware. If you're one of the many who wish to enjoy a game away from everyone else, and on a system you've proudly built to trounce any system requirements out there, this game just isn't for you. Blizzard, a company that exists as a mainly server-based gaming entity, cannot handle the network traffic of its own online-only game. This might be partially forgivable were it not for the sub-par graphics (low res texture, low poly count, and poorly animated game that looks like it's straight out of 2006), re-hashed gameplay, lack of a solid character customization system, and connection bugs that will completely stop you from playing altogether. This all adds up to be an unrefundable $60 waste of drive space. Do not buy.… Expand

A very sad continuation of the Diablo franchise. The visual design evokes thoughts of a better game, Torchlight. In the Diablo verse though, that just doesn't work. The game becomes a visual parody of its previous installments and setting. The cartoonish style only serves to ruin any of the oppressive feelings it tries to conjure in deep dungeons and completely removes any feeling of threat when you face those cute little giant demon bosses. What could have been a visceral experience is now a slightly gory children's show. I'll give the animations a nod, though. They seem to be top notch and indicative of the quality we could have gotten elsewhere too.

I won't speak much about the sound. It's quite good and holds its own.

The gameplay however... oh dear the gameplay. I don't know how to say this without my brain trying to herniate itself. They managed to dumb down Diablo. I didn't know it was even possible. One of the simplest and most straightforwards games in the world got dumbed down to anancephalic levels. They have completely removed stat allocation and skilltrees. You don't make a single choice throughout the entire game. Every skill, every rune, every slot and everything is handed to you as you level up. No choices to make, nothing. They try to make it seem to matter by restricting you to only using six at a time but when you can exchange the skills and runes in seconds it becomes completely worthless. A level 30 Wizard will be exactly the same as every last level 30 wizard out there. Every Barbarian is the same as all other Barbarians and nothing will distinguish you from the rest except how much money you've spent on the auction house. Blizzard once set the standard for Hack n Slash. Now they lowered the bar until it was just discarded entirely in favor of a pillow on the ground. The game is now too easy, too short, too dumbed down and frankly too bright and fluffy. This is not Diablo. Blizzard has failed us.

Pay 2 Win. Insane always-on DRM. Completely dumbed down gameplay. Cartoonish style. A hideous game.… Expand

huge disappointment, and an unworthy sequel.. no more skill points to distribute, no more attribute points to distribute, skills unlock automatically as you level up.
Legalized gold selling, pay-to-win, WoW inspired skills, cheesy text, cliché, uninspired dialog, story and scenes.
DRM that requires you to be constanly online LEVEL 60 CAP Surely to be raised to 70,80,90 and so on with yearly expansions that consists of cut content for only another $60.

Also I know for a fact blizzard datamines WoW players, so I probably was too with D3. Now just what do they feel so entitled to take from players?...… Expand

After a decade of waiting, Diablo III finally crawled out of the hell and invade our beloved Sanctuary again. I gave up the PC gaming long time ago since I owned three consoles at the same time and was pretty occupied by work. However, the good old memory of Diablo II still drives me order the sequel. Installation looks decent and reminds me lots of good old days. However, the message "Error 317002" haunted me for consecutive two night before I finally entered the world Sanctuary. "Big launch" they said, "It happens all the time", they said. "DRM is the trend", they said. Alright, I will just take what it is since I haven't played PC game for a while and Blizzard has taken my money. Surprising, I fell asleep twice during my first play in Act 1. The graph and character look great and the music is pleasing, but I just fell this is not the same game I played a decade ago. Skill trees are taken away and skill slots are overly simplified. Even though Blizzard moved several ideas from WoW to this sequel, I am just not inspired or excited. I removed the game from my computer on the 3rd day after launch without second thought. I wonder if I am too old to appreciate the new concepts or maybe I am too picky. Who knows. Anyways, if you look forward to finding old good time from this game, you might be disappointed but if you are WoW addicted and have lots of money, purchase it right away to enjoy similar entertainment.… Expand

Been a Diablo fan from the original, and franchise setting aside, this is just a sub-average game. I can forgive the server load problems, but the way they raped the game system is a different story. Removing things from Diablo that made it what it is, and simplifying it(character customisation, skill tree...) to the bare minimum is just wrong.
Blizzard probably won't give 2 sh**ts about reviews like this, when Critics scores are in the 90's (what a shocker...a mainstream game with high scores...), but maby we can help the next guy buying this game to know what do expect. And if you expect painfully simplified Diablo 2 that you can't play offline or in Lan, with features that are just useless(auction house in a non MMORPG game like this is like putting McDonalds onto Greenland...sure, you CAN do it, but why the F** would you?).
Oh and, did I mention that they reduced the numbes of coop players to 4?
Oh and there is no PvP arena(yet).
It seems that Blizzard's definiton of evolution is way off. Diablo to Diablo 2 was actual, no BS progress, and the players recognised it. Diablo 2 to Diablo 3 is a missfire wich will(in this world full of unfairness) still bring Blizzard a billion dollars, so they can make Diablo 4, a first true "no player input game"...… Expand

Diablo 3 is a huge disappointment into Blizzard latest franchise. Due to the fact that skills are now unlocked with each level and there isn't any customization and builds for any classes. The skills of each classes seems blend on the rune upgrades with higher damage. Due to it's tight "jail - like" system, maps seems similar with different colours there isn't any exploring value. The quests in the game turn me off as the dialogue are very fake and boring. Party is limited to only 4 people, I have friends that I have to reject which is a huge factor for me as friends playing together make the game more enjoyable. The graphics in this game looks like an improvement from WoW. Overall, the game had very little re-playable value after the last boss. There isn't any motivation to continue after you had completed the story. It felt like a single player game with the need of having constant internet connect.… Expand

Diablo 3 used to be step forward.It actually was before it did ten steps back. Storytelling:Awfull.Recycled zones and partly characters aswell. Voiceacting:Awfull.Even D2 have better voiceact then D3. Graphics:Too much old.Dawn of War II which was released 2009 had better graphics Then This game. Soundtrack:quite good Enviroment and terrain:Absolute debacle,bad try to ressurect Tristam and his surroundings.
DRM:no comment
PvP:no day one PvP,just by the time.

Sumary:I do Not understand what was been Blizzard doing that past 10 years.13,5 Hours on normal,nightmare 20 hours and I just started Hell and im in 1/4 part of game.Graphics are too much old,particles are dissapearing and textures are total catastrophe.Story is over used **** cannot spend your atribute points,game is Too much easy.

As it seems,We live in times of marketing **** and lies.I never thought that any game will surpass Mass Effect 3 Debacle.I thought ME3 will be only of its kind.Diablo actually Does Not surpass ME3,but can stand by its side.

Diablo 3 is a shadow of former glory of This series.Hardcore fans will hate This game as a whole.New gamers which never played D1 and D2 will find it full of fun.

I am giving This game 4,because its still a chill out hack-and-slash game when I am angry.So I played it a lot when Diablo 3 came out.....… Expand

Been playing for a while now. Long story short, core gameplay is brilliant. Sadly that's it. The story is woeful, the game runs like an mmo, but unlike wow, this isn't transparent, and also has frequent 'scheduled' server maintenance. Gameplay is often effected by lag. The most offensive failure of this game though is the loot system. Just like wow, the gameplay is very loot sensitive. Drops in the game however are pretty much always below your level, and don't have your stats. Instead, the only practical place to get in game loot is via the AUCTION HOUSE, which is not even in the main game. And will allow real money soon. Go figure. The fact that loot that drops while you're playing is effectively pointless apart from selling on the ah is unforgivable given that its a core system of gameplay.. enough to bring down 11/10 gameplay to a below average title of crap. With strings attached.… Expand

I was against buying this game for all the stupid crap blizzard has done like the always online drm and the real money auction house but bought it at the last minute. What a huge joke the game is down for maintenance most of the time. Why would blizzard not put pvp in the game but they sure are able to tell you when they are adding in the stupid real money auction house. Shows where blizzards priorities are with developing this game.… Expand

Only a few days playing, did not try the Beta, have played Diablo 1 and 2. Initially I am disappointed in the skill "unlock" system, and lack of customization of character, and no stat point distribution. I feel like they dumbed it down simply to try to balance it for PvP, which has never been the primary focus of the Diablo series (Storyline has been). DRM is quite frustrating, as my girlfriend and I just wanted to play it together and relax, but they are consistently taking the servers down for maintenance, and we can't even try to enjoy it just after purchasing it. We both find ourself checking to find out when Torchlight 2 will be released instead. We will both still push through to the end so we can finish the story, but I don't foresee this being a game you keep playing for a long period of time like Diablo 1 and 2. Graphics are okay, not what I would have expected for a new game release today, they seem very similar to Diablo 2, only slightly better. Sadly I am not as impressed as I was hoping, and I am losing faith in Blizzard's ability to release a quality product like they use to. Why change what was working so well in the past? I just don't get it.… Expand

Seems more like Diablo 2.5 then a new game. Graphics aren't all that great (they seem very muted to me - no contrast) and the game play is mostly the same as Diablo 2. Not sure why this took 10 years to come out.

hmmm 88/100 critic and 3.7 user, this is obviously because of the servers. BUT, Diablo 3 is actually a sub-par game. It didn't go through as what it was meant to be, if it takes a game company 11 years to develop they obviously had no passion for making the game, and it shows

Diablo III is a game people have been waiting for for over a decade. During the final hours up to the launch of the thing we were greeted with a teaser, "The fire still falls." Too bad the fire in the sky seemed to hit the servers too. With the Blizzard's decision to hold on to the online component so dearly, it has inherently caused major issues with stability.||||

After having slaughtered my way to ACT I's first boss, and as he stands up, I get disconnected with my Hardcore Monk being killed in the process due to the delayed logout. These problems and the nature of online requirements for Diablo III practically makes it impossible to participate in the Hardcore side of things. Get disconnected (admittedly a few times were due to my ISP), your Hardcore Character is guaranteed dead. Diablo III is another plain-as-day instance where despite how good the core game is, the always-online component forces players to content with disconnects and even literal lag spikes (not framerate, but lag) even when playing solo. Playing my own private game I was watching my ping jump from 250ms (which is absurd in it's own right) to over 400ms resulting in getting hit from distances.||||
I love Blizzard, and while Diablo III in itself has simplified mechanics (as in no stat point spending, no skill tree investments or character designs) in a number of areas, it's still a fun game to play when it works. The bottom line is that it doesn't work well enough for a game with $60 attached to it. Torchlight II comes out next month and hopefully will allow me to enjoy a Hardcore mode where MY stupidity is what causes character death, not technical issues.… Expand

Never played Diablo 1 or 2. They were far too ugly by the time I got into PC gaming. However I have played similar titles and I see no difference between this game and others like Torchlight for example (yes I know Diablo came first though). The no offline mode is inexcusable. I don't want to play with others 95% of the time, I shouldn't be required to be online and hooked up through battle.net. If they were worried about hacking and duping then making two seperate modes online and offline and the online component needs connection. The graphics are much improved over 1 and 2 but still meh especially when you zoom in. Controls are weird. I'm using to WASD, clicking constantly hurts my pointer finger after a while. This game would be ideal for a control...but alas the option is not there. Don't get me wrong, it's an ok game, but only ok. 4/10… Expand

*Serious Gamers Only* IF YOU DONT LIKE THIS TRY PATH OF EXILE you'll find all the complexity diablo 2 had and alot more together with a darker and more mature graphic, plus it is F2P (atm is in closed beta with a beta key buyable for 10 dollars) and will always be f2p apart from COSMETIC ONLY extra features that you will be able to buy in item shop for example extra gore etc. that wont unbalance the game at all**
Now onto diablo 3, i'm an avid player of the first mentioned game but i bought diablo 3 anyway knowing i didnt have to expect alot because i was in the beta. Finished normal difficulty so far and i find the game quite enjoyable and fun, good for casual games and good for waiting for the open beta of the first mentioned game.
This shouldnt be called diablo 3, more like WORLD OF DIABLOCRAFT, if it had a different name people would not be raging atm, but calling it the successor of the great games that were diablo and diablo 2 is really arrogant towards real fans of the complex aspects of the former 2 games that made them great.
Diablo for kids and casual gamers, good for wasting time, probably still worth an 8 because it's quite a decent game on its own, but boy if you insist in calling it diablo 3 it deserves a 4/10 score max.

p.s. i'm not affiliated in any way to the company of the first game mentioned, i'm jst an enthusiastic fan of it which, like many and many others, donated real money willingly and without acquiring any advantage in game to such company just because it is worth that much… Expand

From a former diehard D2 fan, D3 is severely lacking in a lot of ways. Most notably, the lack of skill tree. Also, from a gamer standpoint, the fact that we have to play on Battle.Net (even for single player) is really frustrating (sorry, you can't play your game because our computer is broken). Finally, there does seem to be a real lack of expansion or improvements, and I'm severely disappointed at only having 5 class choices.

On the other hand, from a general enthusiast and casual gamer's perspective, it's a lot of fun! My wife loves to play and getting her to play video games is almost as hard as performing brain surgery with knitting needles. But she digs it, so I'm happy it's simple (enjoyable?) enough for her to want to play, and that gives me a good reason not to rate it a Zero.… Expand

Diablo 3 is a rehash of Diablo 2 game mechanics wise, all that has changed is the progression has been simplified for people and the art style has changed towards WoW. There has been no innovation, even after a decade. Diablo 2 had it's flaws, absolutely none were fixed and although very few, more were introduced.
This game is as shallow as they come. The only thing it does well is give you a great sense of progression, blizzard has captured how to do this exceptionally, and I hate to put it like this, but essentially the game provides fake fun On top of this, they promised the new way of progression would leave us with all kinds of builds and unique ways to end up. This is not true, all people have been building the same as they level up, then when it gets to 30-60 you have only 2-3 builds to choose from per character (unless you want to choose something... thats obvious nonsense....)
This game is worth $60 if money is literally dirt to you.

[Server lag and AFK timeouts in my single player experience]… Expand

Graphics - Below Expectation
Game Play - Below Expectation
Music - Average
Story - Disappointing...

Broke my heart... Diablo 3 is not a bad game, it just fails to live up to the expectations...

First of all know that you are responsible for what blizzard has become. You fed and praised blizzard by sticking and protecting WoW and its expansions so much so you would never see the truth about blizzard. Its all about milking (like EA). Did you really expect a 2d overhead perspective game to be something new? It could only have better graphics than diablo 2 and simplified game mechanics. Add to this the damned "Always online" new fashion and you 've got a shinny piece of **** by Blizzard. You people better start giving credit to other developers and stop being fanboys.… Expand

THERE IS NO CHARACTER CUSTOMIZATION!!!! NO SKILL SELECTION, NO ATTRIBUTE SELECTION!

What more do I need to say? This is not Diablo, this game is hack and slash reduced to such simplicity that it aught be played in a web browser.

Honestly you'll probably get 30 hours of game play, maybe even 100 hours if you play as all the characters, but this is not Diablo, if you want to play diablo, go buy diablo 2, not this game, this is an insult to the diablo series, I dont know why blizzard would do this to its fans.… Expand

The software quality of this game really does deserve a 0, whatever the fanboys say. In short, a team of supposedly professional developers with a multi-million dollar budget cannot accomplish in terms of accessibility and availability what a small group of programmers can achieve on little to no budget (eg indie-games, torrent sites). Game world synchronization is a severe problem. Oftentimes, there's upwards of a full second lag between an animation completing and syncing with the game world (for example, the magic missile is fired). The UI feels rushed and seems to lack even basic customization options. You can enable hit-statistics and numbers, which is a good thing and a nod to the gamers as opposed to those looking for an interactive entertainment experience. Micro-stuttering is extremely severe for many players, myself included. The game is an absolute resource hog and seems to be hideously inefficient-- my rig _does_ play Crysis (with all its volumetric glory) at around 60 fps, but can't handle Diablo 3 @ 1920x1080. Go figure. The dismal software quality notwithstanding, there are some very strange design choices in the game itself that detracts alot from the value. For example, my Wizard runs around with a Vampiric 2-handed axe, which beats the crap out of any wand/ord combo I have seen in the game. I don't understand this at all from a gameplay perspective. The only reason I can think of for this design choice is that more items are likely to be sold on the RM auctions. It makes no stylistic, artistic or gameplay sense.

Both the Monk and the Wizard handle their weapons in a really awkward fashion, not to mention the sloppy animations involved for these two classes. The Monk at least has some class-restrictions, so I won't be using that 2-handed axe for him; opting instead for a club/axe combo that so far has beaten any knuckles or other Monk specifics I have seen in the game. Since they don't actually use their weapons in the animation, why do they hold them in ready positions while running around? It looks terrible and feels rushed. The Demon Hunter and Barbarian seem to suffer less from this problem, but not the Witch Doctor -- the two primary weapon-using classes seem to be what the entire game has been designed around. Since the Demon Hunter was added so late in the process, I would say that the Barbarian is the class that the game has been designed for.

Auto-levelling is probably an attempt to consolify or casualize the game, but a MUCH better option would be an "auto-level" button in the character screen. The current system feels cheap, a cop-out from actual game design and an attempt to provide a more "cinematic" experience, in other words less interactivity and fewer game rules. The overall feel is that of a remake, not a sequel or continuation. This is a Diablo 2 remake, rushed out the door. I find it very hard to believe this game had more than an 18-24 month development cycle. If it did, it doesn't reflect well at all on Blizzard.

At its price-point, a '4' is a strong score for a game like this, in my opinion. If you take software quality into consideration, a '2' would be overly generous. In summary: * If you didn't play Diablo 1 and/or 2, this is a prime and gentle introduction to the franchise. If you can find the game for around 20-30â… Expand

Game is nice and I love it. But I will probably never buy again a game wich needs a permanent internet connection. It's not userfriendly and I would like to know how I can play D3 in a house without internet in the middle of nowhere ?

I was never a huge fan of the Diablo series. I was usually bored of the click-fest by Act 2. I loved the loot and the character development was not bad if not a tad simple. Replay value was poor due to repetitiveness. Diablo 3 is more-of-the-same. The graphics and animation seem dated. The story-line is sub standard in my opinion but hey we can't all be Bioware. They have removed character development, no, automated it. The loot and crafting is as awesome as expected. If you are a fan of repetitive hack and slash for slot machine loot then this game will exceed your expectations as it trims down anything that might get in the way of that goal. I am glad I let my kids buy it first before I wasted $60.

NB - Get used to DRM and launch day server issues they are a part of the gamer's life now.… Expand

My opinion is based solely on the single-player experience, nostalgia and the expectations I had based on what Blizzard have released prior to this game.

The single-player campaign is very unimpressive and the audio logs (journals) that are meant to flesh out the world are more often than not of rather poor quality. The removal of attribute and skill points makes leveling up a trivial and uninteresting event, and it is nothing short of a tragedy for all those who played the two first Diablo games.

I experienced several times (roughly 27 times in a single playthrough) where the game would hang and all combat and actions were "stuck" and after a second or two the game would resume, causing monsters to teleport around based on where they would have gone during the hang. Having this happen on a T1 internet connection in a single-player game is beyond unacceptable.

It was Blizzard themselves who set a new standard of what we could expect from a single-player experience when they released StarCraft 2 Wings of Liberty.

Whether or not they release new content, events and modes is entirely unimportant as the only thing that matters is what I think of the game after having played through it... and I am not impressed if this is the quality we can expect from future Blizzard games.… Expand

Why did it take them so long to make this game? Diablo 3 is basically a rip-off of previous diablo games. All character models looks like taken from the previous blizzard games with 0 inovation, same about the enviroment and level design. The game is addictive because of the loot and auction house system but the game play is very repetitive right from the start.

Ok, Diablo 3 is not bad, but I expected more mobility on the screen, hoping one experience of gameplay at least equal to World of Warcraft. I expected more choices of classes and skills, less dull labyrinths which have to explore step by step to find items and paths to the next dungeon. After two hours playing I end up feeling bad about this experience. Unlike Guild Wars 2 that although we pay $ 59 like Diablo, in the end we feel quite satisfied.… Expand

Diablo 3 would have been acceptable years ago, but games and their players have advanced since the last update in this series. Seems odd that it took so long for a game that seems essentially a higher-resolution version of D2 to become reality. Perhaps I set my expectations too high, but I've seen better versions of this genre from smaller developers, at a lower price, and without the always-connected limitations.… Expand

Why do all game devs these days only care about money. Screw your auction house, the whole point of the game is to collect stuff yourself, what is the point if you can just buy the items in the auction house? It's stupid. The game itself is too easy, Story wasn't that great,graphics are good, and gameplay is good. I just can't give a game a good score when the game itself is repetative and you can't play offline. The game should be limitless and not have it's limits. Get your s**t together or get out. That's all I can say.… Expand

1) No preparation. They were not able to handle the pre-orders with their server so that people wasted a day (the first day) and their 60 euros of pre-ordering waiting in front of the desktop like ****
2) The quest is unique (and in my opinion not so long) without any secondary mission just to extend the game.
3) The game is reduced to be a game where people just have to reach high levels without fun.

A game like this isnt worth 60 euros, just saying.… Expand

To start out I have been a Diablo fan sense day one but to be honest this game just did not meet my expectations. The story line is ok bordering on good and the graphs could of been much better. I feel like they are just a souped up version of wow. But, the real problem I have is with this single player having to be online. This makes the game glitch and stuttery which is a real pain in the *** if you are playing a class like the Barb or Monk. For example with my Barb sometimes I will try to use the charge or leap ability see my character move forward hit a lag spick and end up right where is was. The last thing I have a problem with is the battle mechanics. To be honest they suck horribly, there is some class customization but nothing like it was for D2. To me it feels like Blizzard just dumbed them down some anyone could play it easily. Remember this has an M rating so I was expecting this game to be geared more at the adult players which in my mind means making it a challenging game and one of the best ways to do this is to make the battle mechanics challenging which they are not.

So to sum it up this game held my interest for not even a week the lag and stutter graphs piss me of to no end and worst of all I always have to be online to play this "single player game". So my recommendation is to save your money and to buy this game.… Expand

Graphic design is neat, storyline is awesome. That's it for the rejoicing. The no stats (or one stat) and one size fits all armor and weapons will make this game a short lived venture. No need to pick strength to get that awesome plate anymore. Unrestricted gear. No skills level either, spell damage based on weapon damage (get that dual axe wizard! that's where the power comes from now) Add in the Auction House and you'll lose all reason of playing after you visited the story line.… Expand

This is my first time playing Diablo and my first impression was "Wow, this game is amazing"
It's not though. You have a choice of 5 classes to choose from and then you can choose male or female...wow, superb. I mean 7 years of development for this? Truly horrible. I am certainly glad I didn't buy this trash, I got it free through the WOW annual pass. It stacks up decently against" Marvel ultimate alliance" for console and people have spent 60 bucks on console games. The catch is you have to be online to play and many(not me) have had real bad server and lag issues. So in some ways it would be better if it was a console game. There is no reason for this to be on a PC...… Expand

The gameplay itself is good if you know what you're expecting. It is Diablo. There is hacking and slashing. Skill system is simple and linear. This is a good thing for people who just want no hassle levelling, a bit boring for people who like more customisation. Plot, script and voice acting is cheesy. But fun enough. It can be challenging. Looks a bit dated maybe but still nice to look at. I've had a lot of fun playing it...on the odd occasion.

You can't play the game offline, even if you just want to play single player. I've been stuck in the same dungeon for hours because I keep getting disconnected and have to start back at a checkpoint. I can't save. I don't care if they fix their server problems, my network drops occasionally. I don't care that my network occasionally drops. That shouldn't be a problem for a single player game. But it is for this one. Don't get me wrong, the Blizzard servers aren't coping, but even if they were I'd feel ripped off. If they somehow patch this to allow for offline single player I'd give this game maybe 8/10? Maybe 8.5 (based on the few sessions where I've been able to play for a while without getting dropped).

But as it is I feel 4/10 is generous. Really disappointed. Feel like I've been suckered into this purchase.… Expand

And Blizzard failed...
Such a pity... it did have all for being such a nice game, but finally got nothing except wowish graphic style... Gamers are not stupid... begining with a poor story, flat characters, boring ingame cinematics that looks like pokemon, less options than diablo 2 on skill trees (there are no skill trees but skill lines) and automatic stats... dude Diablo II is such a better game... It's not a good game, it's not a good Diablo, and DEFINITLY IT'S NOT A GOOD BLIZZARD TITLE... Bad times for a company which once upon a time was pretty avantgarde... not anymore... they only care about money...… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. As a new player to Diablo franchise or even to Blizzard games, I didn't really know what to expect. I only knew it is about fighting monsters, gathering loot and so on. The way gameplay is made is kinda... weird, to be honest. First you obtain an account on so-called battle.net, then you use it to log-in in game. After you do it, monster cards begin to appear, each in nice rectangular frame and labelled with name like "error 37" or so. They also have a nice flavor text. If they appear it means that you have logged too slow and the monster has won. There is quite a variety of enemies, varying in effects and how quickly they kill. The 37 is most common one. 10001 tends to spawn along with 3000008. 12 is a fun one, requires the player to change his "build" in options menu. If the player manages to kill the monster, they can create a character (which is werid, shouldn't it be done BEFORE the actual fight?), and they can take it to fight with other cards. I have yet to beat 3004 and 3006, those are nasty. Balance is weird. 33 is unbeatable. 37 is very common one, easy to beat with typing quick enough. 300008 is rare and weak. I would have nothing against the number indicating how powerful is the encountered mob. 33 is close to 37 and yet they are completely diffrent.

Overall I am not sure if I like this novel approach to card-based gameplay, but hey, thats Blizzard. Those guys surely know how to make a good game. In the end, however, the point of a review is to tell how much reviewer likes the game and its particular aspects. Gameplay gets 2 big, bad 2 for me - unique for sure, but in the end boring. Quite time consuming, too, and I don't feel any sense of progress, though, beating a 10001 feels good for sure!

Graphics are nice, there is an animated background. It does not fit the fighting errors theme, I think something more related to computers would be better. The same can be said about music. 6 for both - Nice, but not fitting.

It is said that the game has some form of multiplayer - I don't really understand how to use it.

So, in the end: unique card game which is quite hard to understand properly. Massive flaws in balance of particular cards, also gets boring after some time.… Expand

Gameplay wise, Diablo 3 definitely achieves what it set out too. The combat is fast, visceral and an awful lot of fun. The character classes are diverse and the abilities and loot come as thick and fast as you could wish. Areas and enemies alike are diverse and it is constantly a pleasure to gaze upon a new environment as you peel away at the fog of war.
The Acts of the game are enjoyable and while the story is certainly formulaic, it provides enough traction to keep you going through the thousands of demons you will slay.

Multiplayer and the various difficulty levels also give great incentive to come back, although ultimately the majority of game owners are not likely to keep going with the game past a couple of play through's.

It's such a shame then that such a compelling package has been forced into a completely flawed distribution system. While the game its self is great, the fact that it is completely unplayable without being logged into Blizzards battle.net system ruins the immersion. For a single-player game at it's heart, to have lag and even be kicked out of your ongoing game because of a connection issue is not acceptable in this day and age.

What truly is the straw that breaks the camels back however, is the very poor customer service from Blizzard. Since launch the game has been plagued by lack-luster server stability and poor resource management meaning thousands were unable to play. Furthermore at time of writing the Blizzard servers are down again and the official word on the forums is "no word yet on a fix". For a company that runs the most successful MMO in history, such poor infrastructure and customer service can only be the result of poor management. While these problems may be fixed in the future; as a game it works but right now Diablo 3 is a resounding failure as a product.… Expand

Disaster and embarrassment. The game created by a powerful company in years is worse than the beta of low-budget (and freeware) PoE. Tons of disadvantages:
- building of character does not exist, skills are so similar, that you can pretty much pick them randomly, it is only the gear that matters,
- graphics is disappointing, with four players,light effects spam causes that monsters and cursor are hardly visible,
- level of difficulty irritates with imbalance, normal monsters are too easy (except for annoying situations when they appear out of nowhere, or from behind), while the champion packs with an unfavorable configuration (eg, jailer / mortar for characters attacking from a distance, or vampiric / shielding for melee characters) are so annoying that discourage to the game - for me, running 15 minutes in a circle leaving traps to kill them is not the challenge, it's only a nuisance,
- lack of a decent chat just embarrassing.
- turning off servers on Sunday afternoon (and on premiere day) show clearly that Blizz doesn't care for customers at all.
The weakest in the history of Blizzard's games, not worth buying.… Expand

Cannot play single player if servers are down. Cannot cut socializing if I want to. Nothing special in terms of playability. Nice cut-scenes. Skill change on the go is a nice idea. Too expensive for what it offers. Click`n`kill, just that.

The game is pretty straightforward and fast-paced, as it was expected from a Diablo game. Blizzard delivers yet another simple-but-enthralling game. Technically, graphics are a bit lower than expected: more could have been done. Cutscenes are great as ever.
Let's go to the part where it hurts. Because, yes, it does hurt.
First of all, Diablo is not a RPG, it never was, Blizzard never made any RPG, so I really don't understand why they insist on branding the game as a RPG. Furthermore, any residue RPG aspect was removed from the game: basically, you no longer have stat points to assign freely, and any skill you can use is simply unlocked though leveling: you can change it whenever you want, and try any combination you ever think of. While this may seem to give unprecedented freedom of choice (for a Diablo game), it reduces all character to basically being the same character.
What puzzles me more, is that Blizzard insists on refraining from customization: you can choose either male or female model for your class, and you can acquire some randomly-spawned "dyes" to partially change your armor's color during the game, and that's it. Seriously, you don't get to choose anything about your character, not even the appearance of the armor worn, which is modelled automatically after the class's flavor.
For a 2012 game, lack of customization is a serious issue.
And then there is the main issue: you can play the game if, and only if, you are online on the battle.net servers. This causes a ton of problems, but mainly, if the server has an issue (and it does, often), the game will become unplayable from lag, swap, fps drop... If the servers are down you can't play at all.
For 60 dollars, I'd have expected more from Blizzard. Unfortunately, this firm seems to be no longer the old glory we all knew before merging with infamous Activision. So far, Blizzard delivered: 3 disappointing WoW expansions, a VERY disappointing Starcraft 2 (or 1/3 of it, the next 2/3 are yet to come) and this frankly below-expectations Diablo 3. Shame on Blizzard. I think my buying their games stops here.… Expand

After many, many years in development Diablo III is finaly ready to de-throne its predecessor (The exelent Diablo II) and reign as King of the Hack'n Slash genre. Only it isn't.

Clearly Blizzard has put a lot of thought and effort into making this game the very best it could be, improvements have been made in every aspect of the game, and is is generally very good. There are some problems with the graphics, and the controles, and the plot, but hese are all minor and should not ruin your playing experience.

No, the "Big Problem" and the reason for why I give this game a score of 4 is that is simply does not work. Even now, days after launch, it is still unplayable. And this is all after both a closed BETA and a public demo that also served as a stress test, so Blizzard could, and should have been better prepared to hold up their end of the deal. When I pay more for a product, I expect to get more for my money, not less, or in this case, nothing!… Expand

I waited for a long time for this game, and re-played Diablo 2 recently to be sure Iâ

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This game is not a Diablo game, I have played to diablo 1 & 2 and this one is not one of them ! First big deception (when i logged on...) no customisation ! I cannot spend my ability point or chose my spell. My barb will be like all the other barb, and when i hear the fan-boy saying «the customisation is in your game play !» i only want to downvote it more because they remember me that if you dont have a internet connection you cant play. Diablo was based on two pillar: customisation of your character (d1&d2) and grim, dark and unholy atmosphere, which i dont see here. And the weapons, ... the weapons... 3/4 of them are unique to a class and you cant take them (and a special comment about the ones you can take, like an axe, with the witchdoctor or the mage its USELESS, you have your 2 'mouse spell' and thats it) .And one last things, the potion, when i want to use a potion its NOW, not in 30 sec. .Of course, overall, its not an awful game, the graphics are decent (even if they are childish and colorfull) and they put more effort on the story through dialogue and background then d1 & d2. Its playable but its not a Diablo-like game, Blizzard dilute it too much to reach the new gamers, its a idiot-proof game, no chance that you could make a mistake and learn or try somethings new, in one word, have fun. If Blizzard had call it 'Not-diablo title' i could gave them a 6 or a 7.… Expand

Where to begin...Yes the game had launch issues, but I got over that; that only lasted a couple of days. The fact that you have to be connected to the internet just to play single player is ridiculous. What if my internet is down or their servers are down? Another problem with that fact that there is no true single player is that if you try to play the game by yourself and their servers are lagging, then you suffer from lag in a SINGLE PLAYER GAME. Holy crap that's annoying. The game is self is alright, but it has MAJOR flaws in my opinion. The defined skill tree is SO boring and leaves no room for customizable classes. You wont run into anyone out there with a better layout for their class, only better weapons/armor (which can be purchased for the PTW effect). I also don't like that as a wizard, I can't even attack with the weapons i have equipped. I can only shoot out magic missiles and spectral blades etc....So who cares if I get an awesome sword, staff, dagger, whatever, because I can't actually use it unless im out of arcane energy (which lasts all of half of second at the most when burning through it). Anyway, I'm trying to get through this game just once so I can say I've played it, but I won't be coming back to this one time and time again like I did D1 and D2. Do yourself a favor and don't give into the hype. What a disappointment.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I have been playing Blizzard games since Warcraft 1 and was absolutely fascinated by Diablo when it was first released all those years ago. My Warrior and Sorcerer were unstoppable in the pits of Hell. I looked forward to the weekends when I could play until my eyes practically bled (10 - 15 hours a day). Diablo 2 came out and for the most part was a great successor in the mighty Diablo franchise. With the addition of multiplayer, new graphics, more choices, etc the game made it worth your time to sink hours and hours into it. I will say that Diablo 2 will never be as good as Diablo 1 as far as ingenuity and fun factor, however Diablo 2 did take a lot of what made the first one so great and either keep it or attempt to expand on it.
Now, on to Diablo 3.. this game takes everything that the original had, laughs at it, spits on it, and runs away as fast as it can. The first big cripple to this once mighty franchise is the lack of customization of skill points. While I can appreciate the need to simplify a game or make it more approachable, it doesn't need to be THAT simple. Customization should be a key thing in an RPG and not being able to select where my skill points goes is a major negative. Let's look at the abilities side of things. While I appreciate the simplistic approach I again have to disagree with it's execution. Basically, (literally basic) you level up, you get a new ability every few levels (like an RPG should do), but the new method of "customizing" is based on runes that open at different levels. No more finding scolls or tomes to make that Fireball cooler or having a rare skill set hidden somewhere in the depths of the Inferno of Act 4 rewarding only the most stalwart of players. Nope, we just get to pansy along and at each level we're rewarded. Fine. I'm still in, just because I want to see Diablo die to my blade. BUT, I ASK YOU THIS ONE QUESTION. WHAT'S THE POINT OF CONTINUING ON INTO NIGHTMARE, HELL, OR INFERNO MODE if you basically get to see all the skills by level 35? Yes, I agree that there is some variation, but there's no real "omg I need to move forward into these harder modes to get more spells or abilities" motivation. I liked leveling up my fireball or my ice orb and making it more rock star as I got farther in. I liked being able to put points into things to customize my character. Ever have a Firewall sorceress in Diablo 2 with max amount of plus damage fire runes? Yeah, good times. So much less customization in this game.
The graphics are another thing that I wish they would've retooled just a little bit! I do have to say I am not against the artsy direction they went, but for me it's not what I wanted to see. We have 1080p LED screens and HDMI outputs putting out some of the best quality that's ever been seen, and yet Diablo 3 utilizes none of this. I understand the need to appeal to the masses they may not be able to afford the latest and greatest, but at the very least I would think you'd have built in an option for those of us who can. My 4 year old notebook can play this game at almost max resolution. Meh. I personally feel that Blizzard took so long to make this game that they were to far entrenched into what they're were producing that when the new technologies started to come out (within the past 2 years) they were unable to reverse tracks an adapt it in. Just very poor timing on starting and finishing the game.
Then there is this unfortunate thing called DRM. Why does someone playing a once acceptable solo game have to be online? I do enjoy the multiplayer aspect of the game, please don't get me wrong, however I could easily have clicked a button that said "This character is being made offline and will never be available for Battle.net play. Do you accept?" YES! Now, I want to play online? Cool, me and my friends will start new characters and progress together. Seriously, how many people only have one character? Just saying... even more so the point is when the servers are down for maintenance, wouldn't Blizzard rather have us dinking around on our offline accounts rather than playing something else? In fact, that is exactly what happened. While I was waiting for the servers to fix themselves during launch (which was a nightmare, but I'm not using that to base my overall score.), I had been invited into the TL2 beta. I spent several hours checking out that game. Honestly, it wouldn't of even happened if I had been too busy hacking and slashing my away across solo play ON MY COMPUTER. Not on your damn servers.
The music is great, but so what? Yay! I can listen to sweet background music and great voice overs while I sit here and muddle through the same campaign/storyline 4 times. Whoop de freaking do. The only huge plus to this game is that it is Diablo and I will always love the universe and fighting the demons of Hell. The game has some amazing cut scenes and is still worth buying… Expand

The problem with this game is that Blizzard didn't prepare enough for it. Lots of lag problems, bugs that don't allow you to play, always online DRM, laggy servers, bugs making items characters disappear forever, achievements getting bugged. Also the gameplay is not exempt from it too. Because they made some really dumb decisions on this game. Like for example Legendary Items are horrible when compared to Magic Items from Inferno. Lots of dumb design choices too, though some were really improvements to the game, it feels ilke they cut shortcuts on lots of aspects on the game. No Runewords useless common socketed items, action house destroying the game balance and progression, useless hirelings, etc It's just not a Diablo Sequel, and coupled with the horrible problems caused by their design choices leave me with the decision to never purchase another game from Blizzard again… Expand

This game is boring as hell.

The story-line is dry, linear, predictable and could have been much, much better. Character class back-story/story-line is non existent. About the only time your character comes into the story-line is when he/she is narrating it; that's it - which sucks big time. The game should have had multiple endings, substantial choices that affected the story-line/characters, and more random/variety in quests but sadly it doesn't. A better story-line should be given each time you beat the game on a harder difficulty, or else why even play again. Maps are extremely linear, small, and very closed off. They are made just to funnel you to your next destination - nothing more. The games initial difficulty should not be called normal. Diablo I and II on normal were much more of a chanllenge than Diablo III's normal. Diablo III's normal feels like the game is dumbed down significantly for casual players and in fact is holding my hand every step of the way - in fact you will use potions about once every eight or so hours all the way to the ending of the game. This greatly takes away from my enjoyment and game play experience. Bosses battles are extremely lackluster, mediocre and poorly scripted. Aside from playing a different class the replay value is very linear at best. If the game had multiple endings/better endings for higher difficulties, and more variety in quests, gave the player choices that affected the game/ending and a substantial variety in more open and nonlinear maps then the replay value would be high. Art is too similar to WoW, and as such has a very cartoony kids friendly feel to it. In fact some of the animation was taken from wow. The music of the game has its moments but for the most part feels passive and dull. Single player games must be played online only. So if there servers are flooded or down you either experience massive lag which ruins your game play experience or you simply can't play at all. About the best thing I can say Diablo III has is the CG cinematic's which are wonderful too look at. I'd say this game deserves no more than a 7.5 at best.… Expand

I am no doubt in the minority of people who do not find the DRM to be a problem. I am always connected to the internet, and yes; the first few days of server issues were annoying but there are more serious problems with the game. Considering how long this game has been in development, it is appalling to see how little has been done to improve the Diablo formula. For years many games such as Torchlight have been considered "Diablo-clones," but the master has a lot of learning to do from the students.

For starters the graphics are terrible for such a simple game. The spell effects are hit and miss, but for the most part they are quite lacking in polish considering how much could be done (and how much time they've had to do it).

The game's mechanics are as simple as they should be, but the problem I have is with character development. Characters get no appearance customization, leaving you to look exactly like all of the others that share the same class and gender. Armor changes look so infrequently you can go a whole act and none of your teammates will notice your equipment has changed. Weapons are recycled models, with nothing new ever added into the mix as you progress. Even with all of these simple faults that could lead to the game being more enjoyable, none surpass the problems with skills and stats.

The skill system is by far the most boring aspect of the game. Each character is given skills at varying levels and then runes to equip and upgrade your skills. This system gives you preselected upgrades and completely removes player input on how they want their character to evolve. My monk is set up for tanking, and less than half of the times I've leveled has he ever a got something to increase his ability to tank. This means the majority of the time I spend leveling with him, I use the same skills I've been using since the first act on normal difficulty. I feel as though he really isn't changing, and I have no input at all how I would like him to change. I will be the first to applaud Blizzard for trying something new, but this system is not good. I honestly would have preferred gaining skill points and being able to choose my skills, and use skill points to upgrade them. Currently, my main skills change so infrequently, it feels like I'm doing the same thing over and over until I get so bored I have to play something else to avoid falling asleep.

Stats are another problem area for this game. Depending on your class you will only be stacking in two stats. Vitality is for everyone since it gives you added health (and thus survivability). Barbarians stack strength, Witch Doctors and Wizards stack intelligence, and Monks and Demon Hunters stack dexterity. If you have a stat not specified for your class, all you gain is an arbitrary bonus (int gives resistance, dex gives dodge, and str gives armor). This means stat balancing is non-existent. As it stands, there is no reason for a Wizard to have any dexterity because it does not provide critical chance, nor will it increase any of his abilities. This has removed the need for allocating stat points when you level, but makes armor and weapon choices a simple yes or no. It also makes you wonder why the in burning hells you just found a Witch Doctor off-hand that has strength and dexterity.

Lastly I'll wrap up my complaints with a few quick points about other problems I've noticed. Voice acting is terrible. Polish is nice, but they only polished a turd. Crafting system provides equipment of a lesser value than of what you find out in the world (and yet you have to use the equipment you find to salvage for parts to make new equipment). Story is way too short (four acts total amassing MAYBE 10 hours on your first play through). Harder difficulties only give trash mobs more hp (too much if you ask me) instead of the preferred method of more difficult enemies. Dungeons don't feel different at all on multiple play throughs. With all of these problems, it does have some nice qualities. The combat is often fun. Getting a new skill or rune will sometimes change up your strategy enough to where you'll feel like you're playing a new class. Tanking is fun for those who do not like relying on someone else keeping you alive. It's active and involved and the game makes sure your full attention is on it, or you will suffer a death.

To sum up, this game does not feel finished, and it feels more like a beta than a full game.From any other game company I would have held it to lower standards, but considering it was Blizzard and considering how long it took; this game is a poor excuse for a Diablo sequel. I would not recommend to anyone to buy this game. If the price ever dropped below $15, then maybe, but it is not worth the $60 you would waste on it otherwise.… Expand

This is a great game even if it's unoriginal and a hack-job of its predecessor. You can't screw up Diablo even if your company is a corporatist shell of its former self. The graphics are fine, physics look cool, gameplay is the same fast-paced kill-fest that the last two games were. I can't comment on the story since I can't play the game for more than 10 minutes without getting kicked off the server. Frankly, I am offended by Blizzard's launch performance, especially since I specifically waited five days so as not to be caught up in the inevitable first day fiasco that characterizes any online game launch. Let's not even get into the fact that this is supposed to be a single player game. Above grief aside, I give this an 8.… Expand

Unjustifiable quality presented for a game in development since 2001. 11 years. I repeat, 11 years. The graphic quality doesn't impressed anyone, not music, average story, overly high latency and the first weekend they lost control of the servers. They deserve the users score who obtained making things so bad as possible.

Diablo III would be a great game, if it weren't for a few problems. The fact that you have to be logged on to play being the worst among them. I can never get my latency better than around 350 milliseconds, which is crippling. I play many other games on many servers, usually with latencies ranging from 20 ms to 40 ms.

Also, you have no control over your builds. Pick any two characters of the same class and level, and they'll be exactly the same. This is just terrible.… Expand

when I played D3 ,I can't believe that it's a game developed in 2012 , the Graphics looks prety bad, the art style almost let me think it was a Korea game, Completely a different kind art-style of D2

As fallout 3 is to fallout and civ V is to civ IV, Diablo 3 is to Diablo 2. Customization is low, replayability is zero, the setup is antisocial, graphics are fine, items are completely wack (blues>legendary). I played Diablo 2 for years as did many others, Diablo 3 is a 2 weeks game then move on.

What can I say about Diablo 3? Well, it did a good job gettng me hyped, too bad it doesn't quite live up to it. How could it really? About 10 years in the making, it almost became Duke Nukem Forever, in quite a literal sense too... Too many bad choices by the devs, always online DRM, the dumbed down skill-system and the far to linear levels... Which by the way, aren't that interesting. This game called Diablo 3 just doesn't feel like Diablo, it feels like a chore to play this game. I want to play Diablo 3 by myself, that's what I like to do, so having to log into servers to play singleplayer just feels wrong. The game in itself feels lacking anyway, I can't help to wonder what they've been doing all this time. The only really fun thing about this game is the skills and costumizing them, even though they are quite few compared to Diablo 3. Actually, I can't quite grasp the fact that it's this dumbed down, now town portal scrolls or identify scrolls are needed, just wait a bit. I was actually surprised when I found a piece of armor I had to identify, since I didn't know how I figured I'd learn it later but then I saw the icon, "click to identify", I clicked and after a sec it was identified, I was amazed... What was the point of even having unidentified items to begin with? To make it a surprise what you picked up? I don't know why this game was released this way, new devs mixed in with the fact that it's been touched by Activision? Who knows, but all I know is that it's hard to recommend it even to fans, I'd say those who are most likely to enjoy it is people wanting a gateway into RPG's, but if you want something deeper and more meaningful then just keep looking since even Skyrim has this beat in complexity. I have no choice but to give this the score of 4/10, I'll keep playing it, but I won't feel that good about it... Only good thing about this is the Music and the few Skills there are, if that's enough then go right ahead and buy it. It's more mindless fun than a deep experience, which disappointed me atleast.… Expand

Lag, disconnections and absence of offline mode makes this game uncomfortable to play. Also i find RMAH an awkward addition that doesn't belong in the game. Oh, and no pvp, no stats to distribute.

I must say i had much higher hopes for Diablo III, the lack of customization, DRM and constant connection, expensive, and cliche story that basically is tacked on, it feels like blizz has given up trying to please the fans, instead are just spewing out simple junk that can be played with one hand while on the phone (which i actually did and it went fine) There was even midnight release all over for this in my country, and i later found out it was nearly impossible to login and with numerous errors so people who pre-ordered sort of got screwed over, To think a company with 10 million+ ? players dedicated to them, they'd prepare for release with better login servers and tested server load, which Blizz is famous for not doing in their games... This will most likely be the last Blizzard game i ever buy, i feel they've taken enough of my money without actually giving enough back, I will say that not all is bad with Diablo, its fun to play with friends on higher difficulty, and its quite nice to roam dungeons eventhough it's mindless farming if you think about it (Blizz in a nutshell) However i enjoyed this title to a extent, Story sucked, customization was poor ( there is none almost) as well as Meh graphics for 2012, Overall its a ok game, not a blockbuster or a memorable game, but it serves as time killing and some fun co-op moments.… Expand

Graphics - awesome. Skill mechanics - good. Story - not bad, but not good. Atmosphere is lost. World - too small, too linear, and I hate that the world is split into quests parts. Character stats and items mechanics - never seen worst. Totally stupid and poor. "Let's max primary stat and vita! Oh, you want your barbarian with evasion? No way, you'll get huge penalties if you do differently than we envisioned"
"You want to farm legendary items, which have very-very-very small drop chance? Okay, do it. But rare items is way better than legendary, and sometimes blue items way better than rares!"
Pony level is not funny, guys. Well, cow level was not very serious but it was scary anyway.
Disappointment of decade. Do not expect this from Blizzard. And still hope they'll say "It was joke haha, download our patch and you get play really cool Diablo!"… Expand

89, critics? Really? So much for the wisdom of the crowds. Diablo III may be the least inspired, least groundbreaking, least interesting and least addictive game that Blizzard has ever rolled out. Let's compare it to Diablo 2.
Ways it is a step backwards:
1. Characters aren't customizable
2. Runes removed (maybe they're coming back in an expansion but a sequel should be a step 3. Sets removed
FORWARD from the expansion, not backward).
Ways it is unimproved:
1. Storyline (still boring)
2. Dungeons (feels the same as DII)
3. Interface/fighting system
4. Henchmen
Ways it is a step forward:
*crickets*

So in short, if you don't mind paying $60 for another expansion of Diablo 2, you won't be disappointed. But given that its 10 years in the making, Blizzard should have been able to do better than that.… Expand

I was super excited and just bought it as soon as it came out..... If I had known it required you to be online all the time I would have saved my money. E.A.D. Blizzard !

First, like a coin operated video game, you will never see your character's name in game. The only thing identifying your character is an ugly computer ID code, which is the same for every character you create. Same with friends you play with, their "name" is always a computer code too. Average graphics (at best); average plot (at best); basic options missing (can't change text size for example); about 20 hours to finish, and the ending is just like "BAM, game done, over, nothing more to see here, move along!"

Also, people are getting hacked left and right, imo due to the RMAH that is like beacon to thieves. But Blizzard gets money for the RMAH, and, oh, what a coincidence, they get money for the "special" authentication program you can "buy" from them. Read the forums, and see how Blizzard's response to one poor guy that got he account gutted was "You did not purchase our special authenticator".

This game is corporate greed at it's worst in every aspect of the game.… Expand