My Hands-On With Diablo III Beta

When I first got my grasp on Diablo III beta, I was ecstatic, simply because it was the opportunity to experience a bit of the sequel of one of my favorite games of all time. Of course, there was roughly 3 gigs of data to download before I could have a go at the beta without any hitches, and the waiting was by far the toughest part of the entire experience.

Right when the download got to the ‘playable’ level, I slapped the ‘play’ button, hastily entered my battle.net account data (the haste resulted in me getting it wrong the first time), and found myself staring at the character screen.

After a few quick adjustments to the graphics and sound, it was time for me to select my hero. In case you didn’t know, or simply forgot, Diablo III has 4 different types of heroes, with each type available in both genders.

There’s the Barbarian – the only hero class that made it from Diablo II, and though the looks defer, the basics are almost the same. Then there is the Monk, who is an enhanced form of the Paladin you could say, but with much more agility and melee-focused skills.

Necromancer fans will be glad to see the Witch Doctor, who is a crude form of the dead-raiser from Diablo II, and Amazon/Assassin fans will look forward to the cool looking Demon Hunter class. The Wizard is a refined form of the Sorceress, and like all classes, comes in both male and female gender.

Being a Barbarian veteran in Diablo II, my instincts told me to click on select the massively built male version (the female version is just as massive, mind you) of the class. But I always loved the Necromancer and Druid as well, and since there was no real synonymous class to the Druid, I naturally picked the Witch Doctor.

On the Hero creation screen, the Witch Doctor looked pretty mysterious and threatening with his over-sized ‘ooga-booga’ mask and the freaky Wanga Doll clenched in his left hand. But when I finalized his name, I saw a bald, half-naked male with pupil-less eyes, plenty of piercings and a fat oval stomach.

At first I was a bit upset, simply because I was naturally comparing it with the looks of the Necromancer, who I dare say was very sophisticated and cool looking.

However, the more I stared at the shaking figure in front of me, the more I understood its simplicity and what it depicted. The Witch Doctor has a shaman-like appearance – a native figure that practiced the dark art in purer and more benevolent forms.

After a bit of philosophizing and wonder, I decided to start the campaign, and that’s when I took control of the weak-looking but powerful figure which I later started regarding as one of the most powerful heroes in the beta.

The beta campaign starts you off just outside New Tristram. The environment is morbid, has an aroma of sickness and evil in it, and just taking a few paces forward on the linear road you start off on shows you the horrors of the night. Zombies eat on the dead, and I naturally pressed ‘1’ to activate my first skill, though I had no idea what it did.

To my surprise, three undead dogs arose from the ground, and immediately ran towards the closest zombies, slaying them with a few bites. I grinned at the satisfying site of gold flowing out of the bodies of my enemies, and how the undead dogs came back to me after finishing their dirty work.

I then marched on, exploring the only town in the beta and having a look at the NPCs. Thankfully, in Diablo III, the important people aren’t the only clickable ones. You’ll find that most of the NPCs – important or not – have something to say, and listening to them really brings out the RPG flavor of the game.

After moving about and asking questions from a few folks, I resumed my explorations, which were quite restrictive since most paths were linear and unlike Diablo. During my journey, I managed to level up a few times, thanks to the ample amount of zombies and undeads wandering about. This is when I was first exposed to the character development system of Diablo III.