I had an absolute blast playing Diablo III at BlizzCon 2010. This action-RPG offers the excitement I love about the genre and the ridiculous polish I love about Blizzard games. Diablo III is shaping up to be one of the smoothest, deepest, and smartest experiences in the genre. At BlizzCon 2010 I spent several hours (more than I should have, to be honest) playing the single-player game with the new “demon hunter” class. This is easily going to be my favorite class.
Before I give you more details on the demon hunter, let me give you an idea of the kinds of action-RPG characters I enjoy. In Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance I loved playing as the sorceress and exploiting her ridiculously powerful ball lightning attack. In Marvel action-RPGs like X-Men Legends and Marvel Ultimate Alliance, I use characters like Cyclops, Iron Man, Ms. Marvel, and Spider-Woman — characters with awesome projectile attacks. Diablo III’s demon hunter fits into my play style perfectly.
The demon hunter plays like a projectile-hurling rogue with a bit of magic thrown in. She’s armed with dual crossbows that fire all sorts of ranged attacks. The projectiles can be imbued with various magical properties, which allow for exploding shots, slow shots, and more. The demon hunter can set traps and has the ability to jump across large distances with her “vault” ability. Obviously she’s not meant to be a hand-to-hand combatant.
Mixing and matching the demon hunter’s attacks was lots of fun. Hitting enemies with slow shots to decrease their speed, setting traps, and vaulting away as the traps blew the enemies to high heaven was one of my favorite tactics. Other times it was just fun to run-and-gun through levels. Firing off spread shots and exploding shots then jumping away for some mana recovery time was a joy. The demon hunter’s style and abilities give the action a sense of chaos; sure, my goals included killing enemies and snagging loot, but controlling the chaos added a layer of gameplay that’s not necessarily there for the other characters.
I was pretty high on Diablo III before BlizzCon. It’s Blizzard. It’s Diablo. Of course the game is going to be great. That said, playing as the demon hunter took my expectations to another level. I want to play this game (NOW! ) and I want to play as the demon hunter.
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Ray we will have to run around together. You nuke while I whirlwind.
That sounds like a fine plan.
Damn it… stuck with the toads… again :P