After years of waiting, Diablo returned…..and gamers were ready.

3. Diablo 3 (2012)

Expansion: Reaper of Souls (2014)

Man goats, the eternal plague of fantasy gaming

When Diablo 3 was released it became the fastest selling PC game of all time. How much was expectation. How much was reality? Give the players what they want. Blizzard did. They gave them loot. Lots of loot. It is the heart of Diablo 3. It’s just a shame players were made to wait eleven years for it. The hype surrounding Diablo 3 was intense. It had to live up to expectations. And in many respects, it has. Graphically, it’s good, and multiplayer is the best it’s been in any of the games, and combat is reminiscent of the previous two games, if more tactical. One type of attack can’t get you through the entire game anymore though but the game still feels like it was designed to keep you up until after 2 am every night. I think as well Blizzard finally managed to get the inventory and skills management just right. It’s no longer the chore it sometimes used to feel like in its predecessors to keep on top of everything. The movies are still there as well, which as you’d expect from Blizzard, are fricking incredible and some players may even find themselves trying to gain progress just to see them. I know I did.

Sonic Boom! Damn, wrong game, sorry, I'll get my coat

But there were two things about DIablo 3 that almost ruined the game. The need for having to always be online has really annoyed me and my friends, and in fact anyone I know who’s ever played it. And that was the real money Auction House. You have to wonder what Blizzard were thinking. It was pay to win, and it cut to the core and incensed many of Diablo’s fans. The essence of Diablo 2’s success was farming for the famed legendary rare items that you wanted. The Diablo 3 Auction House ruined that. Using the Auction House became a way for anyone with spare real world $$$ to progress ahead of others in game. Diablo 3 lost many of its long term fans due to the inequities of the Auction House, and while it’s been consigned to history now, it’s still a bone of contention. My friend spat when I mentioned the ‘Auction House’ yesterday. He’s still bitter about the experience. It’s been 12 months. Let it go.

Reaper of Souls became the first expansion for Diablo 3, and now you have to fight a new bad guy, Malthael, the angel of death. The most notable thing about Reaper of Souls is the new Crusader class, a nice addition to the selectable heroes. The adventure mode is also good, especially if you only have fifteen minutes to spare. Reaper of Souls hasn’t been the genre game changer that Lords of Destruction was for Diablo 2. It’s more of the same, with a few improvements, but it does include the best chapter in any of the games so far. The additions that Reaper of Souls finally transformed Diablo 3 into something close to what I wanted in the game all along. The atmosphere is more sinister, and with no Auction House any more, the game is better than ever.

Diablo 3: 3.5 / 5* (Stupid always online necessity and f***** Auction House.)

Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls: 4.8 / 5 * (Finally, the game everyone wanted.)

No, I refuse to have my picture at the bottom of this article

Conclusions:

It was a tough choice to make.

When I started this I thought instantly I would end up with Diablo 2: Lords of Destruction would be the best of all Diablo games, but it just isn’t, anymore. When I dug into my gaming past, I realised, if anything, the reason Diablo2 is so revered is because there was over a decade between it and Diablo 3: That was ten years of Diablo fans waiting and replaying the same game over and over. Each game was also an improvement over its predecessor, so each release was better than the last.

But in the end, I had to go with Diablos 3. Of course I did. Yes the Auction House had issues, and always online is a real b**** to contend with, but most games these days require that. It’s the world we live in. But that’s the point. If I had to choose the one I want to play tonight, it’s Diablo 3, and that’s all there is to it…