»GAME REVIEW
By Mike WORKMAN

Blizzard Entertainment is known for taking its sweet time when working on a game. So it’s no surprise that it has been more than a decade since the last Diablo title was released back in 2001 with the expansion of “Diablo II: Lord of Destruction.” Many gamers shed tears of joy once they finally got their hands on Diablo III and it certainly looks to be the game we’ve been dreaming about.

Diablo III takes place 20 years after the events of Diablo II. Long story short, the forces of heaven and hell have been at war since beyond memory and the realm of men has become the front line. The town of New Tristram has witnessed a falling star that crashed into the old cathedral and now the dead have risen and hell spawn demons roam the land.

The player can select one of the five character classes available – the demon hunter, the monk, the wizard, the barbarian and the witch doctor. It becomes very clear right off that each class has its own strengths and weaknesses. For large spells that affect lots of enemies, the witch doctor and wizard are excellent. For players that just want to get in close and smash some heads, the barbarian and monk are just for you.

The skill tree has been revamped to be much easier to understand than in Diablo II. Rather than gaining skill points to invest in abilities, skills are unlocked and no points are put into them. Players are encouraged to mix and match skills and abilities to suit their style of play.

The big thing about this game is exploring dungeons, killing hordes of monsters and getting better equipment as reward for killing really tough monsters. If that sounded a bit repetitive, than this might not be the game for you.

I won’t lie, there were times when I felt like doing something else with my time than going through tons of monsters just to search for loot. Diablo III itself more than makes up for this because it simply is a treat to view the graphics of this game. Diablo III is not the most powerful game graphics-wise but its art style and use of environment makes this game a beauty to behold.

As much fun as it was playing it, surprisingly it was not fun having to register online to play Diablo III. Players must have Internet access and a Blizzard account to even get to their character and start playing, which can be a pain to gamers who aren’t even interested in multi-player features.

Overall Diablo III is a fine addition to the popular Blizzard franchise. It has a streamlined leveling system and offers great choices for players with a range of play styles.

Minor annoyances might be the somewhat repetitive gameplay and the required Internet access, but compared to the whole Diablo III is totally worth a buy.

I give it 4 out of 5 joysticks.

  Mike WORKMAN