With the Diablo 3 launch date (05th of May, 2012) rapidly approaching, I felt that it was prudent to double check the system requirements to see if my ageing PC was capable of running the game.
I can’t be having my ‘puter conk out, just as I’m about to cleave big D’s face off with a flamberge now can I?
Upon logging into Blizzards page Saturday night, I stumbled upon the announcement that there was an open beta test over that very weekend; what smegging good fortune?!?! I downloaded the beta client and sat patiently as I waited for the Diablo 3 game to update; it reminded me of when Blizzard released a patch for Diablo 2 and it took forever to download on a 56k modem???
I did not read the ‘3 stage’ readiness bar that indicates that the game is 1) downloading, 2) playable and 3) optimum. I decided to try and play the Beta at ‘playable’ when the files were still downloading and my PC jumped around like a twat; I had no idea that the game needed to download further for stability and real panic set in that my RAM was shagged or that I needed a new graphics card.
I then proceeded to overclock my PC in the BIOS, check the RAM for voltage and functionality problems along witht he defrag of both my hard drives. Ran the game again…stut..t.sttt..stutter!!! ARRHGHGHG Was I to be denied Diablo 3? NO!
Once I logged back in, I realised my error and the game loaded fine. All that time wasted poncing about with the PC…….cunt.
Anyway, back to the review. Wow. What a game this is going to be. It reminded me of a cross between the original Diablo (there seems much more emphasis on the story and questing than D2) and Baldurs Gate 2. There is such a familiar tone to the game, anyone who has spent countless hours on either of the Diablo games or Baldurs Gate will hopefully know what I mean.
I played a few levels as a Wizard (you can choose male or female which is quite smart) and it was like popping on a pair of old slippers. The GUI is very familiar, as are the navigation hot keys which are pretty much the same as they were in Diablo 2.
I shudder to think how much of my life was spent questing on behalf of Deckard Cain, speaking of which; it was absolutely fantastic to hear the same actor play Deckard Cain return.
“Stay a while and listen!” <——– Give me the Horadric Cube old man or you’re going to get it!
I am happy to confirm that my PC was able to play the game with the rendering and texture settings to maximum (My PC is overclocked to 2.7ghz at the moment with 4gb or RAM) and the use of lighting (particular for dazzling spell effects) is amazing; I absolutely loved walking back into ‘Old Tristram’, what a nostalgic feeling!
My final point of praise has to go to the people behind the game music, top notch chaps. The dulcet tones of the original score have been fused with new compositions and I will definitely order the soundtrack at some point; I have spent most of today considering whether to cancel my pre-order and buy the ultimate edition!
Time to die, well, almost!
The Antikrish 