Geforce now diablo 3: Is Diablo III playable on any cloud gaming services?

As you probably already know, there was no revolution. Before us is the good old Diablo, offering exactly the same gameplay as the previous two games in the series. Particularly impressionable immediately overlaid the developers with tons of curses, accusing Blizzard of secondary, marking time and excessive caution.

The launch itself added fuel to the fire, which can be called successful only by the most inadequate fans of the company. On the day of release, May 15, more than 3 million copies of the game were sold, and the battle.net servers, despite the pre-launch load tests, simply could not withstand such pressure from those who wanted to play. As a result — the birth of a meme with «Error 37» in the title role, innumerable screams of rage and a flash mob on Metacritic, which filled the user rating of Diablo 3 below the deepest circles of hell.

But if you put aside all this hysteria and just play, it turns out that addictive gameplay that drags you for long hours and provokes non-stop marathons with friends has not gone away. And this is the most important thing. Something that was worth waiting so long for.

⇡#Deceptive simplicity

Diablo 3’s addictive gameplay consists of several main components, the main of which can be considered a new system of skills and pumping. Destroying countless hordes of monsters, the character gains experience and grows in level. The main characteristics (represented by agility, intelligence, strength and endurance) are distributed automatically, with each of the five heroes highlighting the main one, which largely determines its effectiveness. The system is simple: the monk and demon hunter hit harder the higher their dexterity, the sorcerer and sorcerer get a similar bonus from intelligence, and the barbarian relies on strength to crush enemies.

Of course, at first, auto-distribution is surprising and suggests simplification. However, after a while you realize that it’s better this way, because the role of the parameters is very significant (in addition to the damage bonus, they also give some individual increases), and careful half-measures in the form of spreading the available points in all parameters would eventually lead to the creation of a hero of the species «neither fish nor fowl». And with such a system, it is simply impossible to “screw up” a character, and that’s good. Yes, and experienced players would still sooner or later find the best option for pumping, so the developers did it for them.

The creators did the same with skills. New possibilities open up to the thirtieth level, and further progress is provided by rune amplifiers assigned to each ability. The latter greatly diversify, and sometimes completely unrecognizable, change the effect of skills. For example, some monk combat styles allow you to knock back a monster with the last hit in the series, but there are runes that change this effect to stun, teleport a short distance, slow the enemy’s attack speed, or deal massive lightning damage to everyone who gets hit.

Only six skills can be used at the same time — two of them are assigned to the left and right mouse buttons, respectively, and the remaining four are activated by numbers. The great merit of the designers of this system is that there are no unused and useless skills. Generally. Of course, some are used more often, others less often, others even take the place of situational ones, but there is no unnecessary ballast here . Of course, on the first level of difficulty it will not seem so to you, but on Nightmare or Hell you will have to use all available options in order to win.

⇡#Four Circles of Hell

By the way, about the difficulty levels, which in the games of the series have always been a special concern — in order to gain access to a more advanced step, you first needed to get to the final on the lower one. Diablo 3 left the scheme unchanged, only adding a fourth, called Inferno, to the usual three degrees. If Normal is simpler than a steamed turnip (you can die only by completely relaxing or getting on the hook of a periodically jumping ping), then Nightmare already makes you tense up: there are more elite monsters, they appear in those locations where they were not there before, and they are much stronger than ordinary ones creatures.

In addition, unique and elite beasts receive new properties. If on normal difficulty they are usually just a little “thicker” than their infernal brother-soldiers, then on Nightmare infernal creatures increasingly like to surround and roast with fiery chains, shoot explosive “hinged”, surround the hero with walls or throw bright purple on the battlefield rays, falling under which means almost instantaneous death. And when on Hell a ruthless random number generator combines the properties of two or three pieces, life becomes completely unsweetened. How do you like, for example, opponents who first pull the character to themselves, then stun, and then literally drown in a poisoned puddle? What is happening on Inferno, the author, unfortunately, has not yet personally experienced, but the developers describe it this way: “We have assembled a team of the most experienced testers who barely managed to defeat Inferno. And then they doubled the difficulty — after all, real players still turn out to be better than any test team. In a word, do not think that everyone has seen it, having completed Diablo 3 once on Normal — believe me, this is just the beginning, and the game has a lot of interesting things in store.

Regardless of the difficulty, the destruction of the freaks roaming the expanses of Sanctuary brings a sense of primeval triumph — especially since the action is accompanied by a bunch of bright effects and amazing physics. Demons, succubi, zombies, sand creatures and other creatures scatter in different directions, waving ragdoll limbs, leak poison, burn like tarred torches, explode in bloody lumps on critical hits and part with their mortal existence in a dozen other ways. All this happens against the backdrop of breaking utensils, falling chandeliers, logs rolling in all directions and other physically active objects. The final touch in the battle canvas is inscriptions like: “Killed 35 monsters with one blow!” Neither give nor take — a frantic bacchanalia in the best sense of the word.

During such hurricane battles, only one thing upsets — the constant need to stay in touch with the game servers, since all calculations are made there. In the first few days after the release, only a few could play normally, for the rest, the gameplay was a run from one freeze to another, seasoned with periodic crashes. Now the situation has improved significantly, but even more than two weeks after the release, “sticking” is observed — however, not as significant as at first. Things are clearly moving in a positive direction, and there are fewer and fewer problems.

Diablo 3 also cannot boast of manufacturability, but the game looks very nice. This applies not only to details like a convenient and beautiful interface, but also to the visual image of the game as a whole. And although we have already seen a lot (the second chapter almost repeats that of Diablo 2), but a nice picture and careful drawing together with nostalgia do their job.

⇡#Hell Awaits

A truly new addition to the series is the introduction of artisans — a blacksmith and a jeweler, who allow you to create new weapons and improve gems that drop from monsters. The last «chip» essentially replaced the horadric cube from Diablo 2, but the production of armor and weapons looks interesting. Before you start creating a new sword or helmet, you first need to teach the master «recipes». At first, for professional growth, an expert needs only money, but to reach the highest levels, he will have to run around, knocking out pages and books that carry sacred knowledge from infernal creatures.

However, it didn’t make much sense to create equipment — the good that drops from monsters, as a rule, has the best properties. «Craft» will be useful in the event that you need to patch holes in the uniform. For example, add armor or add resistance to a specific type of damage. In addition, there is one more meaningful use of the blacksmith’s talents — the creation of legendary items, the recipes of which must first be found or purchased at the auction for fabulous money.

The auction itself, by the way, is now represented only by transactions for in-game currency — until the initial economic fever has passed, there is a chance to make good money selling rare items. It is not known how prices will be affected by the introduction of the ability to purchase items for real money (promised in mid-June), but it is clear that Hell and Inferno will be a little easier for moneybags. The same goes for the upcoming PvP mode — we hope Blizzard will think over the system so that ordinary players have at least some chance in battles with the owners of a couple of credit cards.

We can talk about this game for a long time. Criticize the decision to tie the entire project online and discuss the inconveniences arising from this. Find fault with the plot, as if it were a full-blooded RPG. Complain about the binding to the auction (they say, the «drop» is not the same, everything is decided by money!) Or find some other stupid reasons for indignation. But the fact remains: no other Action / RPG can offer such a furious, polished process of destroying thousands of hellish creatures. And due to the flexible and effective system of skills, superbly implemented co-op, five dissimilar characters and «carrots on a string» in the form of constantly falling monsters of good, you can play Diablo 3 almost indefinitely. Definitely worth the wait.

The authors of our portal share their opinions about Diablo 3

Oleg Moskalev:

Diablo 3 is perfect in imperfect. Everyone was waiting for the third part: from teenagers who had never heard of the gloomy world of Sanctuary, to bearded men who were already over thirty. After getting acquainted with slashers with a dozen combinations of blows, after successful experiments with a genre like Borderlands, after hundreds of successful and not so clones, Blizzard’s game seems primitive. One of the five chosen heroes is still running around in the dark as before, slashing and slashing and slashing thousands of stupid monsters. Two types of attacks, several skills, hit points, strength, mana and stamina — that’s all that needs to be taken into account during a mass execution. Fat zombies shatter into pieces when they die, releasing nimble electric eels; sorceresses, with the help of vomit, give birth to the dead; thin skeletons with swords run through; little imps run like crazy; archers keep their distance and melancholy shoot arrows. The triumph of violence is created with the help of a couple of buttons, and the player is required only the slightest reaction and click, click, click, click …

However, the simplest mechanics at first glance catches exactly as then. Each class in this game is unique: the monk and the barbarian are great for beginners. The rest are more difficult to play, but experts will get used to them in no time. Having collected the equipment left after skirmishes with monsters, it is worth carefully studying it — for sure, at least one of the items that has fallen out will be much better than yours. The authors have made thousands of small but significant changes to the previous concept: the game has become a little easier, scrolls are not needed to open the portal to the city, an online auction has appeared in the menu, and instead of mercenaries, constant companions travel with the player. And all this — years of work and painstakingly adjusted balance.

Blizzard managed to enter the same river twice: Starcraft 2 worked on the same gears as the first part — the authors only changed the engine and wrote a new story. And here again, exactly the same story happened. Diablo 3 is an awakened volcano. Ancient, but still majestic. New engine, scenery, slightly «lightened» atmosphere and rebalanced. Otherwise, this is still the same “diablo”, for which you can have fun for more than a dozen hours, including during the cooperative passage.

Ivan Vasiliev:

Having muffled the fanfare in honor of the long-awaited release of Diablo 3 — there will be plenty of them anyway — I will immediately proceed to present my own impressions of the game process and the features that I personally found important.

Starting from the loading window, it becomes clear that the developers have worked painstakingly and thoughtfully on the game. Agree, not in every game you will find at the time of installation a fascinating reading with pictures, filed on behalf of one of the participants in the events, and even accompanied by a pleasant “medieval” sound range.

In the game itself, literally every millimeter has been worked out. When creating a character, the user has the opportunity to choose his gender. I liked the convenient inventory: when you try to change weapons / armor, a window is shown to the left with an analogue that the hero already has at the moment. That is, you can quickly compare and evaluate whether it is worth switching to a new thing.

One of the nicest innovations is that each class has its own type of consumable resource, and not a common mana for all. The barbarian, for example, gains rage with each hit, using it to perform powerful moves. A similar system, but with some differences, is implemented for the monk. The rest of the heroes also have their own characteristics of the accumulation and release of energy.

Curiously, you won’t be able to fill up with healing potions anymore — you’ll have to wait to take a new dose. This decision makes the battles very dynamic, and also forces you to plan your actions and apply skills correctly so as not to be surrounded by enemies without a “first aid kit” and with a shot “ammunition”.

Although the camera is fixed in one position, it is very convenient. The three-dimensionality of the levels does not interfere with the passage at all: the vaults of the dungeons and the roofs of the houses immediately “dissolve” when the hero steps inside, and the view never overlaps.

If we ignore the details, then the third part of Diablo is as addictive as the previous ones. Even after many hours of non-stop play, I want to search another corpse, sell some more goodies, destroy another group of monsters, complete one more quest … Goodbye summer, I hear the call of the dungeons!

Alexey Apanasevich:

Even before the very first launch, Diablo III manages to evoke a whole bunch of extremely conflicting emotions. After all, at first the game seems to be beckoning: “Here it is, comrade, everything is yours, dear …” And the legion of yearned fans, announcing the neighborhood with a loud “Wait!”, is already sweeping the game off the shelves at a frantic pace. And neither the extremely miserable graphics nor the vile Cerberus in the face of «Error 37» frightens — after all, what, in fact, do they matter? Time-tested gameplay, multiplied by a pretty good story and a lot of «tributes» to the previous parts — what else do you need to be happy? But it doesn’t take long to realize that Diablo has changed. And the point here is not even so much in the completely killed variability of pumping and the role-playing system as a whole. Linear, like a sleeper, claustrophobic corridors of locations also seem to have nothing to do with it. And with the general transience and ease of passing at the first two levels of difficulty, in principle, you can put up with it.

It’s all about something else. Just before, twelve years ago, Diablo II majestically put its mighty body on the throne of the Action / RPG genre, and all other games tried to be like it and were made with an eye on the creation of the Blizzard dear to the heart. And even now, after such a long time, the spirit of Diablo is still strong, but now it is she who, albeit proudly raising her chin, is forced to stand in the shadow of other colleagues in the shop — after all, apart from nostalgic feelings and a charismatic title demon, she has nothing to trump ahead of competitors. The same Sacred 2 — the swan song of the Germans from the Ascaron studio — back in 2009year was more beautiful, deeper and incomparably larger than the third incarnation of Diablo.

Diablo III is outrageously simple, and in this simplicity it can be both ingenious and ugly. In any case, everyone will get something different from her. Someone — a new idol and a personal «Game of the Year», someone — a scapegoat, and someone — just a very solid and high-quality Product, which, however, did not become better after many years of exposure, and in some ways even departed.

Advantages:

• at higher difficulty levels, the game changes significantly, reaching the peak of fascination;
• five heroes, each with their own style of play;
• well-thought-out pumping system that allows you to adapt the character to any opponent;
• dynamic and addictive process of cutting monsters — both alone and in the company;
• the beautiful and dark world of Sanctuary.

Disadvantages:

• the first level of difficulty is required to pass, but it is too easy;
• even solo play requires a permanent connection to battle.net;
• PvP mode is still in operation;
• boring, typical plot.

Graphics	Diablo 3 is technologically obsolete even before its release. However, the project fully atones for this with a carefully crafted visual style, a variety of appearances of opponents, bright special effects and hurricane physics, generously scattering chips of environmental objects and scraps of defeated beasts around the area.	8
Sound	Music? She, of course, is here, and even quite good — but you can hear the compositions only on the menu or during short breaks in the camp. The rest of the game explodes with the roar of destroyed monsters, the thunder of devastating spells that break free, and a continuous hail of crushing blows.	9
Single game	It is possible for any of the five characters to complete the game alone, but as the difficulty level increases, you will probably begin to think about joining a group — however, nothing is impossible. The only downside is that even solo runs require constant communication with Blizzard’s servers, since all calculations are made somewhere out there, away from possible «cheaters».	8
Multiplayer	Multiplayer Diablo 3 is incredibly addictive and captivating. The more players — the stronger the hordes of monsters, so it is vital to crush the villains together, wisely combining the skills of the heroes and complementing each other. On 3 февраля, 2023 By alexxlab Sonstig