Tying it all together is a rewarding levelling system which presents the player with a constant, steady stream of new skills and tied to each skill, runes - to explore, none of which are forcibly permanent fixtures and can be fiddled with ad-hoc. Finding the right balance proves one of the most important decisions youll make throughout the game, and in many ways will define the sort of experience you will have. Add to this some tongue-in-cheek achievements such as Massacre, given for killing a vast fleet of enemies without stopping for a breather and the game takes a rare opportunity to demonstrate its morbid sense of humour, even if it feels ultimately inspired by the glut of back-patting encouraged in games like Call of Duty. The flipside of its forcible online presence is that you will always find someone to play with, either joining a random game or creating a party of up-to-4 with some buddies. While those fully invested in the idea of exploration might resent the unpredictability factor of an excursion with other human players, it is a lot of fun especially when played with like-minded friends and extremely satisfying when a tough foe falls at your feet. At a more superficial level, fans will enjoy a visual style that is consistent with the previous games, albeit shinier and of course more pleasing to the eye. While hardly one game to test the mettle of your rig, environments pop visually, and character animations do the isometric-chic style a grand service. Presentation-wise, as mentioned before, the FMV sequences are dazzling in their artistry, but maddeningly dull in-game cut scenes - thankfully infrequent as they are - really let the package down. How are we able to become engrossed in a stand-off against a gigantic, hulking foe when were held at arms length from him? It is wholly un-cinematic and feels a little half-baked given the general meticulousness of the production otherwise. Meaty cleaving sound effects and voice-work is of a high standard, but it is the chilly, intense score that really drives the emotion home here. Most games can only dream to live up to this level of ambition and replayability; Diablo 3 is a shining example of the dungeon crawler, finely-tuned, expanding on what came before while gingerly managing to satisfy both the hardcores and the newbies.
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