I’ll be honest; I tend not to leave the house too often. Why
would I? I have everything I need at my disposal. Within the comfy confines of
my apartment I am truly at peace. Consoles and PC’s with worlds to explore. An
assortment of books to mentally devour. Food; when the realisation hits that I
haven’t shopped for over a week and I probably shouldn’t order Thai again.
However despite my love for being indoors, occasionally an opportune event
arises that presents oneself with far too many advantages to allow it to pass
by without attendance. The promise of merriment (Beer), sustenance (Pizza) and
GLORY! That event happened to be the Diablo 3 Taste Test event held at IGN AU
Headquarters. I assure you, all 3 promises were met.
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Diablo 3 on console incorporates everything you loved from
the PC version, and slaps in a few extras for good measure. We enter into the
familiar world of Sanctuary; See also “Unluckiest world ever”. It is up to you
to once again restore peace to Sanctuary by banishing the living dead and
demonic monsters who roam its planes. I immediately took a fondness on how the
game utilized the territory of console controls. Simple functions such as a
flick of the analogue stick to dodge and the use of the left/right triggers for
potions and buffs feels natural to the game. Whilst some might miss the almost
rhythmic sounds of staccato mouse clicking, it feels as if the game mechanics
were made to be ported to the world of consoles. The inventory management has seen
a complete overhaul to accommodate this new environment. We see the removal of
the mouse-friendly grid in favour of a wheel-select rotation. Whilst the wheel-select
can at times be sluggish, the inclusion of trigger-buttons to swap between your
menus adds fluid accessibility to your options.
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| Inventory Menu - Image credit: polygon.com |
What about the auction house I hear you say? It has been
confirmed that the auction house (love it or hate it) has been removed from the
console version. Whilst this means you can no longer grind your way to buying
the top gear you want, you are compensated by the knowledge that rare loot is
dropped at regular intervals and will more often than not be tailored to suit
the needs of the class you are playing.
After taking in these tweaks and turns, we come to perhaps
the more heavily marketed point of the port; The Multiplayer experience. In the
PC version we had the drop-in-and-play options to join our friends’ quests. The
mechanic wasn’t perfect, but overall it worked. Here we are encouraged to invite
our friends into battle whilst in the comfort of each other’s presence.
Throughout the taste tester event the phrase I heard recanted often was “One
Couch to Rule Them All”. Whilst I was indifferent to the bastardized LOTR
motto, I heartily enjoyed the co-op experience. There is a certain appeal that
comes with engaging your friends in a social gaming setting than just yelling
at them over a microphone and Blizzard have now captured this perfectly. The
inclusion of colour coded indicators on your character was a decidedly smart
move, as at times the combat could feel a little frantic. These colour codes are
also evident as arrows above an enemy’s head, allowing a clear visible
indicator to see what beasts you are directing your wrath towards at any given
time.
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| Playstation multiplayer - Image credit: Polygon.com |
The HUD occupies the corners of the screen and for the most
part is completely non-intrusive. The display is organised and user friendly,
allowing clear visibility of what skills you have assigned to the available
hot-bar slots. Reality is as long as you can remember what number control you
are using or alternatively the colour of your circle, you will never lose your
place or mistake yourself for a friends character. Unless they happen to choose
the same class as you. Then by all means a fight to the death is warranted. With the inclusion of an In-Game battle arena,
you can fight in the safe knowledge that no clean-up will be required
afterwards. Save for the tears of the losing opponent.
As always IGN put on another fantastic event, and the
Blizzard crew were wonderful enough to withstand our prying question and
occasional scrutiny. The upgraded mechanics and well-rounded co-op functions
have piqued a new interest in this game for those already familiar with the Diablo
games and those new to the series alike. As a long-time lover of the Diablo universe,
Diablo 3 on console will definitely be on my list of release date purchases.
Luring friends to the confines of my home will have never been easier.
