Diablo III Open Beta Weekend

Diablo III was available to the public this weekend to whet our appetites for the actual game coming next month.

Of course we were limited to defeating King Leoric and a level cap, but that didn't stop millions of players flooding the open beta.

Me, included.

Hello ladies...I'm here to steal your boyfriends from you again.

There were a few problems with getting D3 launched though, something to do with the agent.exe updating setup files thingy. It took me about 2-3 hours worth of Googling to get it fixed, and even then, I'm still not sure exactly what was the problem was.

Still, after 3 hours of downloading 3 gigabytes worth of data, I was off to save the world of Sanctuary. At least, whatever that was allowed in the open beta.

Unfortunately I only had time to test out the Witch Doctor and the Wizard during the open beta weekend, but it was ok 'cause I had fun and those two classes were the ones that I was really interested in anyway.

Bikini goodness.

More bikini goodness

Unlike some other people.

Andy, holy shit dude.

So, what has changed? Let's take a look.

Skills

Instead of the skill tree we have back in Diablo II, we now have a more linear skill progression: you get one new skill everytime you level up, and a skill rune which enhances or modifies a certain skill every other level (starting from level 6).

At first glance, it seems to be much more limiting and simple, but that is not the case in my opinion. Now you have every skill available to you, unlike in D2 where you have to invest skill points into skills to have them available.

Many a times in D2, a Sorceress specializing only in Cold spells have met their doom or have had to request help from friends when they realise that a third of the enemies in Hell mode are immune to Cold damage.

In D3, you won't have that problem as all the skills will be available to you. Eventually.

The only thing limiting you is that you can only have 6 active skills at any one time; however, if one fight proves to be difficult and requires a change of tactics, all you have to do is to get somewhere safe, change those skills and you can go back into the fray again.

Like so.

So far, I found the Witch Doctor ridiculously fun to play, with all her zombie dogs, bats of fire, zombie hands, frogs and zombie spiders thrown at her enemies. It's simply addictive.

You might have noticed in the above picture, there are two new shortcuts between the skill keys and the other menus: the one marked Q is for health potions and the one on the right is the Town Portal key.

Yes...now Town Portal is now a skill by itself, no more tomes/scrolls of Town Portal taking up valuable space in the inventory.

The health potions shortcut is for emergencies where you can't pick up health orbs during combat. And you can't spam it either due to its cooldown, which is just long enough that you will want to use it only once or twice during major battles.

There are no mana potions of any sort, since every class has their own resource to use from and it regenerates by itself based on different conditions.

In D3, the skills are now directly based on your weapon damage, even for spells. This makes weapons all the more important for every class, and keeps the spellcasters still relevant even when in higher levels, which was a main problem for the magic users in D2.

By far the new Skills system is much more intuitive and more fun; in D2, it was very easy to fumble over the skills selection, as you can only have two skills at any one time (on the left and right mouse button) and to choose the rest, you have to assign them to keys F1 to F8.

Some people have complained that this removes customization, which I disagree. Everyone has the same pool of skills to choose from, your skillset now defines your playing style, as every skill is now useful. Compare to D2, where a multitude of skills were frankly rubbish, and to have any chance of actually surviving in the higher difficulties meant that most players had to follow pretty much the same skill build.

So much for customization aye?

Graphics

D3's graphics...well...they're...fine.

That's the best I can say about it.

The character models are rather lacklustre. It could be better, the textures and the polygon count feels lower than it should.

I'll still tap that though.

So D3 does not win much points there, but Blizzard has done a damn fine job of setting the mood/atmosphere and special effects.

The inside of the Tristram Cathedral is beautifully evil, with a giant hole straight down the center where a star has fallen through. And while I feel Blizzard has not done a good job with the player characters, Leoric the Skeleton King is rendered with much more detail: from the moment you put the crown on his decayed body, his armor and bones come together as he stands up as mighty as he was in real life, cracks his neck from decades of stillness, and lets loose a tornado of carnage.

Someone bring me my brown pants

The spells feel powerful as they rip through your enemies, and every spell is lovingly detailed. Lightning attacks will leave corpses charred black after their life has been snuffed out.

A little bit of butter...some garlic...perfect.

And the environment is now rather destructible, everything from gravestones and coffins lying around, to even destructible walls and chandelier ropes that will give you that slight extra edge against your enemies.

After some time, you even learn to recognise some of the tougher bosses by just noticing a small golden selection ring underneath them.

Weapons would even display a different colored background based on what elemental damage they are imbued with.

And like before, the color of the items name would indicate its rareness: blue means Magical, yellow means Rare item and so forth.

They are all very simple visual cues that are easy to pick up and familiarise.

It's the little things that make the D3 experience a clear winner over D2 in this case.


Gameplay

Now for the main part.

So far, the gameplay in D3 is solid.

It's the same old joy of playing D2: leveling up and playing around with new spells, gathering gold and shiny new items.

Only now, its BETTER.

Oh I just can't wait to see what shiny loot will come out of your ass.

The inventory system now carries more stuff and is easier to organise; the spells are now better and more fun; gathering new loot is STILL as exciting as ever, and now gold actually has use in-game.

Previously, in D2, gold served only two functions: repairing your items and reviving your (constantly dead) hireling. Heck, if you were a spellcaster, you probably won't need to repair your equipment at all.

In D3 however, gold and unwanted magical items are now an important part of gameplay thanks to the inclusion of the BLACKSMITH.

Ooo...shiny...

The Blacksmith can craft new weapons and armor (with a set amount of random magical properties) if you have the right amount of raw material, which in turn is gathered by salvaging any magical item, destroying it in the process. Gold is required for crafting the item as well, and for training the Blacksmith, which will open up new items for crafting.

This new aspect of gameplay is a welcome change, as it now ensures that every outing is rewarding: even if you can't find any suitable magical item to replace your current gear, you can always salvage them and craft something new.

Blizzard seems to have taken a leaf from World of Warcraft for this particular Blacksmith aspect, well...more than a few leaves I believe, while designing D3.

The chat system in D3 is very similar to the one in WoW, right down to the exact same buttons on the left of the chat box. Heck, they even used the same font colors.

However, it is a system that works, so there's nothing to complain there.

They've added an achievement system, also similar to WoW and Starcraft II, for players who are obsessed with these kind of achievements, or who have apparently run out of things to do in D3.

It does come with certain rewards though.

So far, some achievements reward you extra experience points for doing things like killing multiple enemies with one attack, killing a lot of enemies within a short span of time and destroying objects in game. The rest of the achievements seem to be for bragging purposes and a certain few allow you to change the design of your banner.

The quests system has received a huge overhaul in D3. While the quests are still more or less as linear as it was before, the objectives are much clearer and if it is nearby, it will appear on the minimap.

In some dungeons, you will receive new quests in them and you can do it right away.

Even in death, there are couples who suffer from sexual deprivation.

Unlike in D2, quests now actually give experience points as rewards, and they're a large chunk at that, thankfully. Which makes leveling up far less of a grind than it is back in D2.

One thing that is very well executed in D3 is the co-op function.

It's now as simple as clicking on your friends list and joining your him/her in slaughtering the minions of Hell. Just like that.

Two bitches out on a quest to kill more bitches

If, however for any reason, you do NOT have any friends who owns D3 (my condolences), then you have the option of making your game a public game (where random strangers on the same quest as you join your game), or joining a public game.

The latter requires you to go to the main menu, choose the quest you want to do, click on the public game button, and then you're off with three other random strangers carving a path through demons and ghosts of Hell.

The only thing is that D3 only allows up to 4-player co-op, half of the maximum party size in D2 (that's 8 for the mathematically challenged readers out there).

Although, to be honest, even with only four people, the game can be quite chaotic, especially when you have the casters throwing spells and the Demon Hunters raining arrows all over the place. So there may be some merit to the limit Blizzard has placed on co-op.

The seamless way D3 goes into multiplayer is a huge plus compared to D2, and so far I have not felt too bad a lag while playing in public games. Although only time will tell whether that will hold up when D3 is finally launched.

Now there was one thing that most D2 players will agree on is that in D2, the information displayed in-game was pretty much less than accurate (to put it lightly): about the only thing the character stat sheet displayed correctly was the name and the player level.

So, Blizzard to completely overhaul that in D3 and now we have this:

That is...quite a lot of numbers...

But don't let the huge chunk of information overwhelm you, it is apparently very accurate and makes much more sense than the D2 character sheets. It even displays how long it takes for your weapon to make a single attack.

In RPGs, information is a critical aspect that is sometimes hidden from some players, but I feel that developers should be more open with that information for players to make better decisions. In this case, Blizzard has made the right move.

Gameplay for D3: A definite satisfaction.

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To conclude, every aspect of the game is a huge improvement over its predecessor. Whatever faults Diablo II had, Blizzard seems to have taken note and addressed them appropriately.

Of course it took them 12 years to come up with the sequel, so they really had a lot to live up to.

In fact, the wait was so long, Duke Nukem Forever actually shipped before they did. How messed up is that?

Overall, I found Diablo III a real joy to play with, and this open beta weekend only made me want more.

Damn you Blizzard.

Now I only have to wait 3 more weeks to save the world.

AHHHHHHHHHH KILL IT!! KILL IT WITH FIRE!!

DotA 2 Beta!

I finally got my grubby hands on a DotA 2 Beta key, and I've been playing it for the past two weeks.

Simply put, I can't wait for the full launch.

For the purpose of this post, I'm going to write from the perspective of a longtime DotA player making the transition to DotA 2.

Alrighty then, lets do this.

So, one major change is that there is no lobby per say, unlike in Battle.net. Instead, you go to the Play tab on the top toolbar and simply choose your region, game types and click search.

This will automatically help you find a game according to your criteria, and when Steam has found a game, you can then choose to accept or decline.

Yes I know I have more losses than wins. So sue me.

I've always liked Steam, it's seamless, smooth and fast. And it has that little overlay where you can find your friends and integrated browser for surfing Facebook and other websites while waiting for games.

It's still miles ahead of, say, Origin in its user-friendliness.

You might have also noticed that there's a create lobby button there, but it's only for private games for some reason. I have yet to try that function out.

Also, the curious thing is that for the time being, the All-random game type is not available. Possibly they're still coding the "swap heroes with other players" command.

So far, I've not have any connection nor lag issues with DotA 2, which may be attributed to Steam. On the other hand, it could be my connection is just stronger. In fact, loading only take seconds. The only thing that would delay a match starting is the amount of players available in the pool. However, currently there are a few thousand players, so so far I haven't had much of a problem with that.

One of the most important features that the team has added is the ability to reconnect to the game after you have disconnected from the game. Very useful feature for people that have shaky connections, and better for the game overall.

So, even if you have disconnected, DESPAIR NOT!! Rejoin and continue the fight!!

Unless you're a leaver.

In which case. FUCK YOU.

I hope Santa Pudge visits you for Christmas, ye damn leavers.

You can also report other players for offences such as verbal abuse, intentional feeding, and ability abuse. You can also commend other players for being forgiving, good leadership skills, friendly and for teaching other players.

I can understand the reporting players bit, the commending one seems somewhat unnecessary, 'cause at the moment seems to serve not much purpose other than having a few points on your profile.

Though I admit, having a few points on my profile does give a certain amount of gratification.

But enough about the lobby/Steam etc etc. To GAMEPLAY!!

The first thing that you will notice when you start a game is that you now get to actually see ALL the heroes in a single menu, as compared to Warcraft III (shortened to W3 for the rest of the post) DotA, where Icefrog had to distribute the heroes between several taverns to choose from.

You get about 1 minute to pick your hero then the game switches to the main map and another 30 seconds or so will pass before the game starts.

Dibs.

For the time being, not all the heroes are implemented in the game, new heroes get implemented every few weeks or so.

One of the best things about DotA 2 is that the developers are free from the restrictions of the Warcraft III engine, and have full reign of the game, thus letting them put in custom models, special effects and dialogues.

Each hero is beautifully rendered, and are detailed, right down to their animation. Take for example, the Alchemist: in W3 DotA, when he uses his Chemical Rage ultimate skill, he is basically replaced by a slightly different model; in DotA 2, you can see him change color and draw out his swords from the back. It all happens within a fraction of a second, but it's always the little details that bring life to a game.

I'm the brains. And I'm the Brawns.

They have added functions that would be limited by the W3 engine, or be too buggy of any use. For instance, items can now be dissembled from the inventory itself, as compared to W3 DotA, where you have to be back at the fountain, drop the item into the circle then press the "Dissemble" button. There are even dedicated buttons for the Courier and the Fortify Tower functions, so you don't have to, again, click on the circle at the fountain.

By the way, notice the little boxes on top of the heroes? Each small box represents 250 hitpoints. So just by looking at it, you can judge how much (or how little) hit points your enemies or allies have. Obviously, the more boxes, the more hitpoints they have. Which actually helps making the judgement of your relative damage output easier to comprehend.

A different approach has been given to the UI panel at the bottom of the screen, which is an inversion of the W3 version.

Dibs on her as well.

As you can see, the Skills take up most of the screen now, while the stats take up a much smaller screen between the loving detailed Hero portrait and Skills.

The basic 4 skills are now universally represented by the Q, W, E and R keys (with exceptions for a few heroes with more than 4 skills), this does get some getting used to as well, especially for this player who had to sorta fight against 7-8 years worth of DotA muscle memory. However, after 2-3 games, I got used to and liked the new shortcut keys.

A mouse-over reveals what the skills are and the stats. Each small orange box underneath the skill represents one skill point invested into it, other players can see what skills you have invested in as well.

On the far right is the inventory system, which is now reworked into a 2-row, 3-column grid; as compared to the 3-row, 2-column grid of W3 DotA. The reason for this change I believe is to accommodate the current gold display and the quick buy box right above the inventory.

I like that quick buy box, by default you can buy the Town Portal scrolls by just right clicking on it whenever you are near any shops, instead of scrolling through the tabs trying to find the scrolls within mountains of items.

A nice little touch there.

Speaking of shops...

At any one location, the shop is now represented by ONE vendor. As a result....

Oh crud

Yea...That's just one page of basic items, separated into four tabs of different categories. That's not even touching the Upgrades/Recipes page. The picture above is actually showing the full list of items without descriptions nor names. The other view mode shows the name and costs.

The first time can be very confusing, even for someone who made the jump from W3 DotA, especially since the icons are now very different. The system works very well actually, it's just that it will take time to get used to it, mostly to remember the icon for the items.

Once you get the hang of it, the UI is actually pretty good.

In fact, the development team have thought ahead and added very useful features to the interface. First and foremost is the search bar on top, which was very helpful in finding items, and even more so as it displays results AS you type the name, so its all very quick.

As you might have noticed, there is a suggested items bar right next to it, which is a very useful hero-specific guide. Another time-saving measure implemented is that you can simply right click on the upgraded items (which consists of several items and sometimes a recipe), and buy the whole thing immediately!

I seriously love that feature. Back in W3 DotA, you had to buy everything individually and had to make sure you had every component on your hero to be able to combine it properly, which can be time consuming if said item requires 3-4 items (remember: you only have six slots, not counting the other items you already have).

However, this won't work with items that require the Recipe (if you're not at the fountain) or if one of the components is something that can only be bought at the Secret Shop (if you're at the fountain or the side shops).

So far, I do have an issue with DotA 2.

All the girls in DotA 2 look hot. Definitely not an issue here.

Most of the special effects are a bit underwhelming I feel, which makes it hard to pick out the spells during battles. Mind you, I could pick out exactly what was going on and what spells were used during a full scale 5 on 5 fight on W3 DotA.

In DotA 2, however, not so much. And it's not because I'm not used to the graphics either. The graphics for the special effects just feel a little flat, or blends into the surroundings too much.

Take for instance, the item Mjolnir (Yes, it is based on Thor's Hammer): it has a chance to proc a chain lightning with every attack; in W3 DotA, when the chain lightning comes out, it feels and looks like raw blue electrical energy striking the targets, and you can feel that holy crap, THAT IS LIGHTNING STRIKING MY ENEMIES; in DotA 2, the chain lightning erm....well for lack of a better word, looks a bit pathetic.

Still, it's just a graphical thing that I can get used to, it's just that I feel that some of the special effects need to be flashier.



_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

So, overall, I have to say, I'm very impressed with the game. Quite simply put, it IS the game that definitely trumps the current W3 DotA by far. Like, lightyears. No shit.

And to make the transition was a bit difficult at first, because everything looked different, it took me some time to learn to identify the items, the heroes, the spells, and even learn how to last hit properly again.

But in just 2-3 games, I was back on track, having loads of fun and working together with random people, with the sole goal of taking down the other teams Ancient.

At the moment, it's still in Beta testing, though I think more and more people will be selected for it.

Try your luck here.

DotA 2. I await your official launch.

Excuse me, I have to go on a killing spree.

Yessssssss

Video Games Live is back!

Video Games Live is coming back to Malaysia!! May 26th and 27th to be exact.

Tickets are no sale now, and the venue is Istana Budaya. Which means this time they have an actual concert hall with better facilities than the convention hall in KLCC they used back in 2010, although by no means did that hamper the sheer awesome-ness of the concert.

For those not in the know, Video Games Live is basically a concert series that features music from all eras of video game history.

The last time they were here, the concert creators Jack Wall and Tommy Tallarico, himself a video game music composer and musician, played a multitude of video game themes both old and new:

God of War, Legend of Zelda, Metal Gear Solid, Super Mario, Sonic, Kingdom Hearts, Halo, Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, World of Warcraft.

For that concert they even managed to bring Norihiko Hibino, the composer and saxophonist for Metal Gear Solid.

HOW FREAKING AWESOME WAS THAT!?

The concert ended with One Winged Angel, with a FULL orchestra. I pretty much went rabid fanboy mode when they played it.

Also, a short update in that Diablo III's release date has finally been confirmed for May 15th.

Add to the fact that the Avengers movie is coming out in May along with Max Payne 3, May 2012 just became the most awesomest month ever.