It doesn't take much to wet a gamer's appetite, but when you're dealing with a highly anticipated title whose release people have been praying for since they last played Diablo II a few years ago, you prep yourself with a box of tissues and delve in to the mastery that Blizzard have crafted. This is Diablo III.
Not one to fall for trends and video game developments, Blizzard have stuck to the formula that made the first two games the classics that they are today: Click, click, occasional button press, click, click, click. It's not the intricate story that people are after or the roleplaying elements, it's the existence of potential loot in some random enemy that has gamers freaking out at anything that moves.
Except for the Barbarian class, all other classes have been switched around and induced with a realm of fantasy to include the likes of the Demon Hunter, Monk, Wizard and my personal favorite, the Witch Doctor. Your skills advance in accordance to your level and you are initially limited to two action slots that increase as you progress.
Story wise, Much fan service has been maintained by having your character arrive in the classical village of Tristram, still populated by familiar faces and still being tormented by Diablo. Replace skeletons with zombies, and you'll find that very little has changed since your last visit, save for a graphical face lift that mirrors that of StarCraft 2, in which it looks and feels like an HD remake of its predecessor.
I am looking forward to the full release of Diablo III so that I may stop being the only one of my friends playing it. The Diablo games are all about dungeon trekking with your people and unraveling the twisted, dark secrets of the underworld in unison.
Sparkileptic is an avid gamer and critic who dabbles with the written word.