Gameplay remains much the same as past entries. The main story funnels you through a randomly generated world that features objectives like “kill this” and “find that” and while the quests are very generic the combat is undeniably fun. What is worth noting are the procedurally generated “events” that occur within the random dungeons. These act like mini quests that are optional but often feature worthwhile rewards and unique scenarios. The random factor to the series is greatly strengthened by these events as well as the semi structured nature to some of the main quest areas, keeping the random factor from getting dumb.

Photo courtesy of Blizzard

One note of disappointment arises from what I feel is a missed opportunity: throughout the campaign in minute doses and in a greater capacity through the events, the game hints at game mechanics that supplement the combat. During act 2 a group of villagers were attacked by demons and I was given a limited amount of time to escort as many of them as possible for a bonus reward of gold. This sequence lasted about 2 minutes and I felt myself yearning for more unique scenarios such as that. Hopefully Blizzard will include these elements in a sequel or the inevitable expansion pack.

The Loot Game:

The loot game for many is paramount to what makes Diablo special and Diablo 3 does feature some amazing loot with mechanics to support it. Gear in Diablo for many will be the only way to truly differentiate their class from the rest of the community and Blizzard has developed innovative systems to keep all loot useful and balanced. Magical loot can now be taken to a blacksmith and broken down into essence that can then be crafted into items. The catch is that you have to pay gold and later recipes to level your blacksmith to craft the better items, which of course feature random properties. The gems from Diablo 2 return and can also be combined and removed at a jeweler who must be trained similarly to the blacksmith.

Photo courtesy of Blizzard

Diablo for me is the action version of a rogue-like game that pits you against a dungeon full of foes and gives you little in the means of help. Death features a strong penalty. Diablo had you drop all your items and you had to struggle, especially if you were online, to recover your fallen gear. Diablo was very unforgiving in that death had you drop only your gold though you still had to run back to your corpse to regain your gear. Diablo 3 is far more forgiving than its predecessors. Death has you lose durability and spawn at the beginning of a dungeon or check point with all your gear intact. While this is much friendlier is actually does not make the game any easier after all, running to my corpse for my gear was more so a practice of patience than skill.