The majority of console titles being released nowadays are either first
person shooters or sandbox games. Isometric Action RPGs, a genre so
basic, so essential, I never thought would become scarce, hasn't seen a
decent release on the current console generation in almost 7 years. Not
one. Back in the PS2 era, the golden age of console action RPGs, we had
the holy grail. Baldur's Gate: Dark alliance, and its more than worthy
successor, Dark alliance II. The genre was so in vogue, even the
Everquest universe brought a worthy contender to the table with the
release of Champions of Norrath, and Champions of Norrath 2: Return to
Arms. Oh, those were the days. I used to sit on the couch with my
girlfriend (nowadays my wife) and play together for hours on end. Just
us, exploring dungeons, marveling at the prospect of a dropped piece of
armor or sword, which we would immediately pick up and analyze in order
to compare to the one we were wearing. Since the current generation of
consoles was released, we have waited, and waited, and waited for a
worthy successor of one of these games. And there hasn't been any. There
have been flops like Sacred, or Dungeon Siege's console version but
none that were remotely decent (with the exception perhaps of Lord of
The Rings: War in the North. Technically NOT an isometric RPG but a
brilliant coop action RPG game nonetheless, which filled somehow the
void we carried as gamers for over 6 years). Enter The Lord of
Destruction.
The wait is finally over. Diablo III is that game.
That worthy successor to Baldur's Gate: Dark alliance we had waited for
(for more than half a decade mind you). From the moment you pick up the
controller you can tell Blizzard nailed this port. It doesn't even feel
like a port. It's like the game was designed with this control scheme in
mind from scratch. Movement is fluid, combat satisfying. Everything is
there. The search for better and shinier loot is just as fun as it was
back in the PS2 with Baldur's. The co-op action is flawless. Minimap,
skill trees, chests, weapon racks, everything you may have possibly
missed is there, and then some.
If there is maybe one department
where the game takes a hit vs. the PC version are the graphics. They're
not bad. They do feel a bit...cartoonish. But they're totally current
gen. You just can't compare the graphics of a current PC (even a
mid-range one) with the graphics of a game, running in 720p on a console
like the PS3, released 7 years ago, and already on it's way out. If you
have never seen the PC graphics, these will look totally OK to you.
Nothing to write home about but not bad by any stretch of the
imagination. And my only other gripe with the game (now, this is a minor
thing and I'm definitely nitpicking), is that I wish 2 players playing
local co-op could enter their inventory at the same time instead of
player 1 having to wait while player 2 compares 10 different kinds of
armor in order to be able to enter his inventory, or at least, there
should be an option to enable this. I'm rocking a 55 inch screen,
there's plenty of room for both player's inventories. If a player has a
small screen they could disable this option. The upside is when my wife
is going through her inventory, I get to see everything she's carrying
and sometimes a weapon or piece of armor catches my eye so she gives it
to me and viceversa so it's not like it's super boring or anything like
that. Like I said, I'm definitely nitpicking. This game is seriously
awesome. I can't wait to see what Blizzard does with this game on the
PS4. Even if it's just a graphics overhaul, I'll buy the PS4 version in a
New York minute and play it all over again (Heck I intend to play the
PS3 version all over again several times). Just take my money Blizzard.
Keep releasing games like this on the console and keep taking my money.
And I hope this game sells like hotcakes so publishers realize there IS a
market for this genre on the consoles, and that gamers like us will buy
anything you release in this genre as long as it plays this nicely.
Now,
don't get me wrong, I love first person shooters as much as the next
guy, but sometimes a gamer needs a break from that. No online lobbies,
no 8 years olds yelling at the top of their lungs threatening to
quickscope me or anything like that. Just me, my girl, the couch and the
dungeons (wait, that sounded a bit kinky. But I digress). Sometimes you
just want to sit on the couch with a friend, relax, and just have some
fun. Sometimes, we need to get back to basics. And what a glorious
playground Diablo III is for that purpose. Welcome home Lord of
Destruction. What is thy bidding my master?
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