Diablo III Console Review

There’s a new review for Diablo III’s console version over at RPGamer, with several complaints aimed at the game’s audiovisual department, its co-op implementation, and its writing, but also praise for its core gameplay and the seamless transition from the PC version.

In case you were wondering about the score, it’s 3.5/5, but since here at GameBanshee we think what’s in the review is more important than a number at the end, here’s a snippet:

Of course, the key to winning any fight is on the training ground, not the field. Character advancement comes in the form of special abilities in a variety of flavours (special attacks, defensive powers, passive perks), which can be modified with runes that may alter, amplify, or otherwise season those effects. None of these are locked in, so characters can be respecced on the fly as situations vary. Combined with a pleasantly wide range of bonuses from gear, customization becomes less about piling the biggest numbers up and more about experimenting with various ways to win. For example, my fiancée plays for straight up damage on single targets while my character messes around with damage over time and life gain abilities across an area, and both of us have progressed through the game swimmingly.

At the same time, the whole game boils down to cleaning up demon mobs. There are few special enemies that mix things up but for the most part bad guys just cluster around players at melee range and it is up to gamers to finish them off as best they can. Outside of a few bosses no encounter is truly memorable. It can be very easy to fall into a rut. Clearing two whole acts of the game with a rote of Leap, Battle Cry, Rend, and basic attacks to finish off the straglers can get a tad mindless. This setup might make for a better play experience than other third-person looters, but for all of Diablo III’s improvements the core feels like a game I’ve played a half dozen times before.

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Diablo III has been a long time coming, and in that time there have been many others to use the franchise’s formula. There have been so many that they approach being a sub-genre unto themselves as opposed to just “Diablo clones”, so this specific instance feels less like a new Diablo and more like another Diablo. This is not a great game, and it isn’t really all that special. It is a good game, though, especially if you have some friends around to share it with.