The more monsters you slaughter at once, the more experience points you get. It's just that simple.
It's been almost a dozen years since the last official Diablo release, and for those of you hankering for a killer role-playing experience in 2012, you won't be disappointed.
The Diablo III beta has hit, muchos hours have been sunk into playing it, and the Diablo franchise has returned in fine style with beautiful graphics and a familiar play style. Plus, improved mechanics simplify routine tasks like maintaining an inventory, upgrading equipment, and converting additional items to cash or material components on the fly -- something you used to have to return to town or a vendor for.
First and foremost, the character classes. You'll be fighting evil with them, so you should know what they're all about...
Barbarian: You know and love this class from the previous Diablo titles. The quintessential brawler, the Barbarian is geared toward plowing through crowds, using whirlwind attacks, and leaping across gaps to crush opponents upon landing on them. Abilities are fueled by a Fury gauge, which is supplemented by being attacked by enemies, returning attacks, and using certain abilities throughout the game.
Witch Doctor: The Witch Doctor is like Necromancer in Diablo II but arguably more interesting. With a background in voodoo, the Witch Doctor can summon monsters, cast curses, hurl poisons, and call on the help of the undead. For example, a basic spell makes dozens of undead hands rise from the ground to grab the ankles of your enemies, slowing them down. The Witch Doctor's spells are powered via mana, which regenerates over time.
Wizard: While not the toughest character out the gate in terms of stamina, the Wizard gets interesting very quickly. Within a few levels, your character can use ranged spells to fire lightning, fire, and ice at opponents, while also slowing time and teleporting through enemies and nearby walls. The Wizard isn't the greatest character to send slashing into a mob of enemies, but give one a safe distance to work with along with an adequate mana supply to fuel spells, and he'll happily destroy everything that moves.
Demon Hunter: A combination of Diablo II's Amazon and Assassin classes, the Demon Hunter functions as a ranged fighter using crossbows as a main weapon, throwing small bombs at groups of enemies, and setting traps to slow attackers. The Demon Hunter uses two energy sources: Hatred, which refills quickly and powers the attacks; and Discipline, which regenerates slowly and is used for defense.
Monk: Perhaps the most distinctive of the Diablo III classes, the Monk functions purely as a martial arts melee attacker, rushing in and out of battles quickly while raining blows upon opponents and deflecting projectiles as needed. The Monk utilizes Spirit as an energy source, which powers defensive moves and slowly regenerates through attack moves.
Keep your equipment in good repair and things tend to work out for the best.
After three runs through the beta, there's the simple-yet-critical question of "Is it fun?" Absolutely.
Even though the beta only contains a fragment of the first act of the game, it does not fail to impress. It's still a joy to run across the fields, crawl through dungeons, slay every monster, collect upgraded inventory, boost your character stats, and explore every corner of the map. Naturally, the graphics, sound, and music create an immersive environment the whole way.
The little things really make a difference in games like this, and true to form, Blizzard built in some neat new mechanics. We love being able to handle item management on the road, and being able to warp to a nearby town at almost any time. The environments are more destructible too -- think hanging chandeliers and such that you can use to kill large numbers of enemies, reaping bonus experience points. Another cool trick is summoning "familiars" to retrieve all gold that you encounter during your travels, a nice touch that takes care of some of the "housekeeping" so you can stay focused on the game itself.
Yes, Blizzard has taken their sweet time in getting Diablo III out -- the anticipated holiday release was even changed to "early 2012." Still, from what we've seen in this beta, the classic franchise is about to get even better come the new year.
