AnimaVirus

An excellent "open sandbox" space simulation. The storyline starts quite classic, but it doesn't bring the games down anytime. The graphics were goods when it came out, and aged quite well, simples but efficient. Music is good and fits very well the atmosphere, sounds meets what we ask them. Don't expect to play this game without a joystick, but with one the controls are amazing. All the interface works awesome : straight to the core. Physics, dynamics of combat, random attacks and piracy make the world very lively. All you could ask could be random events, and some are quite brought by storyline. There's some addons out there, some very little but which will improve the game a lot (like location finder, you'll understand if you play the game), and some extends the game playtime a lot, like freeform. I'm still looking for a space-sim game to be that good since then. A must have for any fan of the genre.

So, 12 years later, Diablo 3... I've spent quite some time on this one now, and i have very mixed feelings. Let's say it straight, I'm really disappointed. Most of what I'll say won't have any sense for those whose Diablo 3 is the first game from the Diablo series to be played, because it heavily relies on the game experience i had with its predecessor So, let's explore how the successor of Diablo 1 and 2, two games that were big hits and set as references for the H 'n S genre, is, after around 200h : - Maniability : It's as easy to control as it ****'s instinctive if you played any H n' S game correctly done before. - Graphics : I'd distinguish 2 parts of the graphical parts of the games : The Art and The Engine. The artistic part is solid, coherent, event if i think the visibility is too much open to give any sense of vigilance, you'll rarely be surprised by what is coming. The Engine... Would it be 2004 i'd say "woaaah", but seriously, for nowadays standards... Good thing the art team did a good job coming up with a very nice result which doesn't require very detailed objects, cause the engine have random frame rate dropouts on computers which are able to run it with 20% of their capacity. The detail level of monsters is low but fine considered they are fitted for their display at screen. It could be better, but the difference wouldn't be that great. The nearly unacceptable point is the players' characters detail. Kind of thing you expect from, let's say, warcraft 3, not a game which was released 10 years later. But otherwise, it's quite pleasant to look at. - Music : The music isn't bad in itself. It's about, -standard-. I can't really remember it right now that I'm not in front of the game, not a proof a real quality, but it's ok. Yet, that's one of the biggest let down i had : where's the creepy, heavy atmosphere that was genially crafted by matt uelman? Without the tense atmosphere, and the open views, the dark themed diablo universe loose its purpose, that is, well, being dark, oppressive. It now feels as empty, soulless - Scenario : There was one? I couldn't force myself to pay it attention : Since the atmosphere of the game is gone, so is any "immersive" credibility of it's story. It's not it's not here, i just couldn't help being not interested in it. It sounded stereotypical anyway, but whatever, that's not what you search first in that genre. And if you really wonder, most review confirm it as being bad/previsible - Gameplay : The most important part of the game. As going on and on with the game, i wished to reach the point when it becomes good. In the end, that point didn't exists. Well, It's flawed in so many ways. I'll just list most impactfull ones. Absolutely no char customisation except items. Ridiculous damage system : All damages are based on the weapon's damage, even wizard's spells. Yea spells with an good humungous 2 handed axe are better than your average wand... There was a tear in my eye once i realized it worked that way in this opus. Reduced and barely chosable skills, because once you eliminate inefficient or useless skills, your builds are quite limited. In fact, the gameplay can be reduced by : "items, items, moar items". That's about it. By time you get what you need, any so called challenge or required strategy will be acquired by stupid griding needed to get your gear up to the requirements. And then comes in all the other things that don''t go in any of theses categories : from the vastly criticised always online system (impossibilities to play sometime, can't play without network, plus i had my share of deaths due to lag in solo games, a stupid thing in itself), the ethically questionable EULA which say you pay for a right of use, and don't own absolutely anything (seems trivial, go search forums and you'll see it's not as soon there's a disagreement with Blizzard), unresellable game, the Pay2Win system with Real Money Auction House, if you don't want to do endless grind in the game. To tell you my feel with this game : it's like it was designed in a reverse order : We want a RMAH, so let's design the game so you rely solely on items. Just exping could be waste of that item economy, let's just put a low level cap, and remove any exp loose, and all characters the same, so very soon all the players have to care about are items. Yea that design kind of works. But when you dig it, it ****. Really. I wish i didn't continue to play for so long trying to find a game experience this game just doesn't have, I could have tried to get a refund then, because thinking i gave them money for an about below average game apparently designed solely around the idea of making money and even depriving the customers from the right to even own what they bought just really doesn't make me happy. Please blizzard, you now earn enough money as it is, now start again to make the awesome games you used to ...